Being a Prince fan I would say no.
Prince's band is too well oiled,
too open to being spontaneous,
their style is too varied,
their musicianship is too precise,
most importantly they really seem to feel every note they play.
That's one person's opinion-what do you think and what are your reasons?

Hmmm...call me biased, but I can't help but think about Bowie's tour band these days...Gail Ann Dorsey could kick Rhonda's bass any day of the week, though Bowie's drummer ain't got a thing on Mr. Blackwell. Renato's The Man, but then again, Mike Garson is THE MAN. And Earl Slick vs. Mike Scott would pretty much come off as a tie. And I can't even compare Prince and Bowie. I think my head would explode if I tried.

'Can any group around today beat Prince and the NPG in a battle of the bands?'

No.

The E Street band any day of the week, but they've been together for much longer so it's not a fair fight.

lovemachine said:

So what happens when the E Street band has to play funk or Bruce needs to sing a bedroom ballad?

Mr Conan's side kick versus Jon Blackwell?

skywalker said:

With this statement I'm guessing you have never seen Bruce play so it's pointless to discuss. Besides with your past history on this site I am quite certain that you are so into Prince you refuse to believe that there are OTHER talented bands.

Marcus Miller & his band, without a doubt, would CREAM Prince and the NPG.

It depends on what kind of music you're talking about.

For Prince's style of music, no . . . well, probably not . . .

But if you mean ROCK or Alternative, then yes . . Prince cannot do Alternative . . .

BlaqueKnight, come out, come out, wherever you are!

lovemachine said:

Past history huh? What's that mean? I have seen many a Bruce concert as my best friend is a huge fan. Pointless as you might see it to discuss the fact is-Bruce and the boys don't do funk. They don't do ballads for the bedroom. They have less dimensions than Prince and his band. So quit acting like a know it all snob.

Se7en said:

Alternative- stripped down rock/blues with much distorted guitar. Ever heard The Cross? Jimi Hendrix and Neil Young are the grandfather of "alternative" music. Prince can do Jimi. Prince can do Neil Young.

Anxiety said:

I don't agree with that. While I love Bowie and his band and Gail, she is not as funky as Rhonda. Bowie's music is much more languid, while Rhonda's lines for Prince are more dextrous and require a bit more skill in my opinion.

.
[This message was edited Tue Apr 13 20:53:30 2004 by mrdespues]

mrdespues said:

I'm no bass player, so I can't compare Rhonda's and Gail Ann Dorsey's bass playing abilities. But, I saw Bowie two nights ago, and as a singer, I think Gail Ann Dorsey's far better than Rhonda. But, right. Bands, instruments, I don't know. I'll shut up now.

if any1n saw the grammy's last febuary, they would have 2 agree that robert randolph and the family band 'could definitely give prince some serious competition... and i gotta mention the incredible sounds i heard last april, at columbia sc's 3 rivers festival courtesy of ohio players and lakeside... both bands went 45 mins after each other and had the audience debatin which one was gonna rock the house the hardest....needless 2 say it was a hard fought draw 'cause both bands shut it down leavin neither a dry eye or room/time/reason 2 sit down.....

skywalker said:

I'm not saying that Prince isn't one of the best performers around . . . I'm just saying that competition is pretty fierce, and I'm not sure how he would rank . . .

I saw David Gray last Superbowl Sunday -- the ticket was free and I'm not a football fan. Anyway, I only knew about 3 David Gray songs, but that concert was AMAZING. Granted, David Gray has "one" style, and rarely strays from that, but his onstage presence and sound is superb.

Prince can do Jimi. True. Prince can do Neil Young. Also true. The fact is, he doesn't. Why is that?

skywalker said:

By past history I mean that you are always starting these threads like this that just say "prince is the best blah blah blah". You don't even need to look as far as your past threads just look at your replies in this thread. You are so one-sided it's not even interesting.

You start a topic asking if any band is as good as the NPG and then when told that there is you say that they can't be because they don't play "funk" and something called "bedroom ballads" as well. Do you not see the humor in this? This would be like me saying the NPG can't be anywhere near as good as Bruce because they can't play "Born To Run" or folk music as well. It's like comparing apples and oranges. Perhaps you should have clarified that you were looking for the band that plays "funk" and "bedroom ballads" the best.

As for not making my argument that the E Street band is better then Prince (which I believe they are) it's because regardless of what you say you don't know anything about them if you don't think excel at all genres of music. Hello....this is what they are known for worldwide.

As for Prince being great....he is... so inhale.

lovemachine said:

I understand why you feel that I am one sided in thinking that Prince is pretty much the best musician of his generation. I don't think I am alone in that. However, you make the assumption that I believe this because I listen only to Prince,worship his every move,etc. The truth is that I like many different artists (Bruce being one of them) and I like a multitude of different musical genres . Still no matter how much I dig the others, Prince just does it for me. You come off as a presumptious asshole because you assumethat a person sheltered in their musical tastes just because ( at a Prince fan site no less) they state reasons that they dig the man and his music.

Yes, I asked the question "can any band around today beat Prince and the NPG in a battle of the bands?" You said Bruce and the E Street band. I simply stated that they can't shift styles like Prince and his band. They are more one dimensional. I used it as an argument for why Bruce and his boys couldn't win the battle of the bands. I didn't say Bruce sucks, I didn't doubt his greatness, nor was I looking for you to assure me that Prince was cool. I was trying to set up a dialogue as to why I didn't think Bruce and his band could take on Prince's and you got insulting and personal quite fast. Prince can do Born to Run type of music, or folk (one of his major influences was Joni). Bruce can't do funk. Bruce can't do Adore. So instead of saying "oh yeah I saw Bruce play 'Flashlight' in 1987" or another kind of evidence/basis for your claim, you disregarded the entire topic that you contributed a post to.

OdysseyMiles said:

EXACTLY!

PRINCE &THE NPG....THE MAFIA OF FUNK

ONE BASSLINE FROM RHONDA IS LIKE PRINCE PUTTING A CONTRACT OUT ON YOU..MUSICALLY

"EXSQUEEZE ME..BAKING POWDER?"....

No. if you can't play your instrument well, and I do mean well, don't even hop on stage with P. You have got to blaze, plain and simple. That being said, there isn't a band out right now that's as versatile as P's band. Being a musician myself, you have to pride yourself in being a musician and P's band does just that.

ThreadBare said:

EXactly. I think Marcus MIller alone would cream them. LOL. I"m also gonna mention The Pat Metheny Group. I know it's a jazz group...but ...i still think they'd take em'.

Living Colour could, easily.

Believe it or not, but so could Toto (except for vocals)

The Time sure come close.

Skywalker, I have to give you big props. You broke that brother down in a professional non insulting manner. You get my respect for that. And I also agree with you. Prince plays all type of music and he plays it well. Thats why most of us are on his sight right now. As far as randolph, he put on a heck of a performance but again he plays one type of music. He plays it great, but you get my point. Bruce and the boys can play their asses off, but what happens when it is time for a slow song ,or a funk song, and lets not even go to the guitar solos. Bowie is the man. I have a very long running respect for him, but what happens when it is time to play piano, or bass, or guitar or acoustic, well you get my point. Their all great but in a battle of the bands I have to go with prince. Prince is the only man in my opinion that can reland the mothership, and I have personally witnessed the landing of the mothership.

SteamForest said:

Bruh, I'm listening to Pat Methany's take on "Third Stone from the Sun" on "A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix." He and his musicians are killer.

2freaky4church1 said:

Oh my gosh, yes.

Yes.....James Brown's band is tight and Maceo has one of the tightest bands alive. Also The Gap Band still jams hard live. P-Funk with the right lineup. There are lot of great bands Prince and the NPG are just one of them in the top of the spotlight.

Sting also puts together great groups. Best group I've seen live is Dr. Zhivegas he will kick anybody ass!!(Bet you never heard of him.) Stay tuned....