SexyBeautifulOne said:

Creepy stalkers must die.

This thread is interesting.

I can see EWM's point, in that for years Prince hasn't received much media attention, and releasing independent records with hardly any promotion - he was also getting largely mediocre reviews.

Many fans were saying 'reviews don't matter', 'it's all about the music' etc, etc.

Now he has major label backing and a big promotional budget, he's receiving good reviews and much more media attention - many fans are now putting weight behind reviews and pointing out how good Musicology is in their opinion, with said opinions being backed up these positive reviews.

To me, I don't hear anything on Musicology that I haven't heard before from Prince - some it sounds like Emancipation, some of it sounds like Truth, some of it sounds like New Power Soul, some of it sounds like Rave.

All these albums are from the wilderness years when he was getting less than stellar reviews.

Most fans want to see their favourite artists do well, nothing wrong with that - I guess we get a sense of validation from it.

But the positive reviews of Musicology have very little to do with the quality of music on that record, because it has much of the same production and writing values of the albums I listed above.

Musicology's success is part timing, part industry mechanics and not much else. He could have released any of the albums released under his name(s) 1996-2001 and I imagine they would have received much the same reviews as Musicology.

EWM: Would you agree that TS and CI are bad outputs??? In my view, it's some of the best work he's done in recent years...certainly better than TRC, I think you and I will agree...

Evil White Male knows why reviews sales and charts suddenly matter

And he knows someones gonna bite every time

By the way EWM, whats your favourite humming noise. Mines the sound of a fridge running

I think the reason that some of us care about how Prince is charting etc. is because some of us have been with Prince since the VERY beginning. It's more personal when you were witness to the massive success of the mid 80's. When I got into Prince he was pretty much underground, then Purple Rain happened and the whole world joined our purple party. It was nice to see the artist you love on the cover of magazines and on the charts, kind of gave you bragging rights. Then when you see it all go away and your artist become more known for his bizzare behavior ( ) than his music, it's awesome to be witness again to the upswing. Sure Musicology isn't musically what the Rainbow Children was, or may not be Prince's greatest work, but who cares?? The world is once again paying attention to the artist that I've loved my whole life, and I feel like a proud parent watching people talking about and noticing Prince again. So that's why it matters to me, so why don't some of your killjoy's just relax and enjoy the ride, if not, please get off at the next stop so the rest of us can.

WonderU said:

cosign. It's a sentimental thing with some of us, you know? It's the kind of thing that you'd have to have emotions and a heart to understand.

So that's why it matters to me, so why don't some of your killjoy's just relax and enjoy the ride, if not, please get off at the next stop so the rest of us can.

That's just patronising to the people who have a difference of an opinion to yourself.

Not everyone who's wetting their pants over the commercial success of Musicology has been a fan since the beginning.

The topic of the thread isn't about whether people enjoy seeing their favourite acts do commercially well, it's about why media reviews suddenly have weight behind them with some fans when for years the mantra uttered by many has been 'commercial success and reviews doesn't matter, it's all about the music' - but now commerce and reviews are on a positive tip, they suddenly make a mediocre album great.

Hmmmmm.

sermwanderer said:

Mine is the sound of a car still running after it's crushed someone's body through the side of a house.

who's house? the car owner or the person's.