It would be the stuff of great rock folklore if Prince actually planned all of this current adulation for his contribution to and subsequent dominance of the music world. It would make him a genius on a whole new level if he actually had the foresight to imagine that the direction that he chose through the 90s would result in what most of the general public considers to be a rebirth. Could he have planned to go independent - which means most peope wont see or hear what he was doing regardless of how daring and exciting it is (NEWS, Emancipation, The Rainbow Children and the One Nite Alone tour) - and fall out of public view just to come out of left field and wipe out everyone?

Whether Prince really does have a crystal ball or not, he has come on like a hot new artist that can do something that no one else can. Just as he did in the 70s with For You and playing all the instruments and signing all the parts, and in the 80s with 1999 and Purple Rain and Sign O the Times and...well, you know the story. We had been lulled to sleep with performers who cant and dont sing or play instruments or write songs. We had digressed to a level where various nude body parts had become more famous than the music. We worshipped bad behavior, lies, and just plain stupidity - the truth and honesty in contemporary music is almost gone. You have to seek it out. It used to be on the radio. If youre too young to remember it, you dont even know it exists.

Thats is where the Musicology comes in. This is why Prince is wildly popular again. He is at once a throwback to those days of substance and the door to hope for the future of popular music. When was the last time you saw any "new" artist be able to sit on a stool and play guitar or piano and sing well enough to capitavte an audience for more than 3 minutes with songs that he wrote for himself? People used to ask me why I was still a Prince fan. "Isn't he washed up?" or "Oh yeah, Purple Rain" and a smirk of pity for me because they thought I was stuck in the 80s and out of touch. Just when everyone had written him off, Prince lays down the law and reminds all of who is king.

A master plan? A manufactured "comeback" with built in album sales on a whirlwind concert tour? Perhaps. Prince is too smart to admit anything. He IS a genius and he has proven it over and over again in different ways. So go get the album. Pick up tickets to the show. B funky.
[This message was edited Thu Apr 29 7:05:32 2004 by oldschoolfunkmaster]
[This message was edited Thu Apr 29 7:22:27 2004 by oldschoolfunkmaster]
[This message was edited Thu Apr 29 11:21:14 2004 by oldschoolfunkmaster]

oldschoolfunkmaster said:

its not a come back
he's been here for years!

oldschoolfunkmaster said:

The last time I saw something like this was on Austin City Limits last week(U know who U are PBS watchers). Beck was playing. I don't know how old it is. It looked like it was filmed in like '72 or summin(I know...it's PBS). It was tight as hell. He played with the Flaming Lips and had a rather lengthy "Acoustic" set. He also played this accordion looking think that he played on the floor. They tore "Where It's At" up.