For the record, I actually think TRC is a good album. I just think with less of an emphasis on that fusion jazz found in songs like Rainbow Children, his songs would be a lot more memorable. Give me more songs like 1+1+1=3 and Last December and less songs like Rainbow Children and Muse 2 The Pharaoh.

Since when is music about "being memorable"? That may count for mainstream pop, but not for serious musicianship. Music is about soul, about feeling. It needs to touch you. I have always liked especially those Prince songs that were the least accessible. The songs that need to grown on you. The songs in which you can discover something new, even after listening to it for 100 times. TRC offers a lot of music like that.

There are certainly very jazzy songs on TRC. Come on. I just don't happen to really like the sound with Prince often, I don't think it suits him very well. He's pulled off other genres much better, resulting in much more compelling music.

VERY jazzy? The only tune with a slight jazz feel to it is the title track. That`s one out of a whole dozen.

I personally have no idea how anyone with proper hearing can consider TRC better than SOTT though, but that's me.

SOTT is without doubt a great record. It`s my second favorite by Prince. But its an 80s album. It got the 80s sound, feel, vibe. The drum programing is very 80s.
TRC on the other hand is timeless. 10 years from now you can play it and people who are not familiar with it won`t know if it was recorded in 1975, 1995 or 2005.

Either way The Work is average as all hell. Boring.

Then you will probably find any James Brown tune boring. Funk is very repetitous. But that`s the mastery of it, to keep a steady beat without messin up and laying some great solos over it. "The work" is a pretty solid funk song. It packs every dancefloor.

What do I find exciting? Prince songs that actually go somewhere interesting in their sound. I'm not saying this album didn't have that, but the songs I mentioned certainly didn't to me.

Strange. I think that the title track is one of the most complex and interesting songs Prince has ever recorded.

I never claimed to be a complete student of music, but I do know and appreciate quality whenever I hear it. Am I that familiar with jazz? To be fair, not really. That I'll admit.

It`s no shame to not be familiar with Jazz. But it`s a shame when you tak about TRC as a jazz-album and Prince as a wanna-be jazz-artist when you don`t really know what Jazz is.

I think it's time to evolve again since he's going mainstream with the new album.

Who says that he`s going mainstream with the new album? And do you really want him to go mainstream? What for? Mainstream means little musical compromize -- cuz you need to please the masses. I am not interested in a Prince album like that.

Otherwise the entire deal with going mainstream again will have been kinda pointless for him, though really satisfying for us fans.

Again, sho says he will go mainstream? "Musicology" doesnt sound like a mainstream cut to me.

Jazz : A style of music, native to America, characterized by a strong but flexible rhythmic understructure with solo and ensemble improvisations on basic tunes and chord patterns and, more recently, a highly sophisticated harmonic idiom.

That definition describes both N.E.W.S and all the Madhouse stuff.

Do you consider 'When the lights go down' to be more jazzy? Because it seems to me to be much more structured around a basic melody with improvisations off it.

Just wondering.

AsylumUtopia said:

highly sophisticated harmonic idiom -- that doesnt sound like News or Madhouse.

Seriously, no Jazz musician would ever consider these albums as "Jazz". Like I said, they are on the edge, but in order to play Jazz, you need to be a jazz player. Prince isnt.

Btw, Kenny G. isn`t Jazz either.

Now i don't want to be a pedant, but that right there is a circular argument.

Do you mean you have to go through training, learn the art of jazz etc.?

Prince is a good jazz player and I like the jazz elements. It is a bold and new direction for a rock star and only a few have to chops to pll it off. Prince is perfect for this direction. His father was a jazz musician.

TheFrog said:

No, you misunderstood me. What I mean is ... you can`t just decide to play jazz because you feel like it. I mean, yes, you can do it, but don`t expect to sound right.

Prince is a pop musician. He masters different styles of music to a certain extend. But he`s not a jazz-player. He couldn`t keep up with the real pros, neither on guitar, nor drums, piano and bass. That doesnt make him a bad musician. He`s just not a Jazz player. Let`s look at Santana. He has experimented with Jazz, but he never recorded jazz albums. Even his version of Trane`s "A love supreme" remains a rock-experiment in the jazz field.
Get me now?