Case said:

Andersen may not be biased, but I thought he was much more salacious.

I think we all (perhaps including Mr. Hahn) need to separate fanaticism from criticism. Yes, there are people who are clucking because they feel Prince can do no wrong and Alex's book works toward bursting that bubble. Meanwhile, however, there are people who already KNOW Prince can be a royal schmuck, yet still have issues with the book on other levels - accuracy, quality of content, the overbearingness of the author's bias. From what I understand, Hahn was involved as an attorney in defending Uptown against Prince and Londell. Well, I can see how the natural progression would be "hey, these folks I represented have a wealth of information on Prince, and I've learned a lot about the guy in this trial - let's write a bio!" - but in reading the book, I can't help but think that the trial is still going on in Hahn's head.

And again, that's just MY opinion. I've been a Prince fan most of my life and I've been very open in my criticisms of the guy on this site and other forums. I think it's great that Hahn took the initiative to write a book, and I think it's great that he had it published. But if you're gonna put your thoughts out there, be prepared to get some thoughts back.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

I don't think he was saying there were not negative reviews. And he knows that prince.org is very well versed on the negative reaction. He was just giving some examples of what wasn't negative. At least that's how I interpreted it.

princeville won't go for that. Daddy can do no wrong!!!!




j/k

Hahn is just an "ex-fan" and lawyer with an axe to grind. And now he see an opportunity to make some money off of someone he doesn't respect. U see he comes here to re-promote his book and tell us how un-biased he is yet can't find the time refute his desire to have Prince go against his religious beliefs just for purpose of entertaining the masses. Go check out his quote about why Prince should perform the song "Head" to see where he is coming from. Hahn had to know just from the title of his book that it would serve as an insult to Prince, not us fans but Prince the human being. Since Hahn was involved in the Uptown case he is very aware of the fact that he is not just some unknown author but a person Prince would recognize from the case. So the title "Rise and Fall" was a direct slap at Prince as a person. In other words payback. Its all rather transparent.

Case said:

Is Bono still the guitarist for U2?


The piggybacking of Prince's current high profile reeks of Bobby Brownism, and is extremely predictable.

I just read Alex' new comments regarding 'musicology' and the man's return. Although I found Alex' book to be very interesting I experienced a flash of anger when I read Alex describing the new disc as not impressed him. I have no right to be angry of course since Alex is a fan as much as I but can you imagine how infuriating this would be to Prince when he reads it? He records songs as good as 'illusion coma', 'dr. mr.man' and some lawyer basically describes it to be unchallenging?

Supernova said:

Yeah, that one was funny!! I know mistakes can happen... but man where was the editor on that one?!

I enjoyed the new stories in the book, although there was plenty of stuff I had read elsewhere. I have no problem with dishing the dirt and I'm never opposed to a critical view as long as it's fair. But Hahn's bias was evident throughout even though I didn't know of his history of legal battles with Prince's camp until after reading it. His view of Prince's music is so strongly colored by the bias that he writes off material that many consider some of Prince's best work. And there were enough individuals-who-declined-to-be-named to make me take most everything in there with a grain of salt.

Just read Hahn's bio on site. Apparently he was a replacement guitarist for the Volcano Suns. Quoth All Music Guide (see how easy it is to name a source?) on their album Bumper Crop: "Hahn's guitar lacks Williams' punch and doesn't sound as distinct." Their Farced review mentions, "Hahn's anemic guitar strangles". Surprise, another frustrated musician turned bitter critic.

Okay, one more edit for punctuation.
[This message was edited Thu Apr 29 12:29:06 2004 by freakebear]
[This message was edited Thu Apr 29 12:46:09 2004 by freakebear]
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Ronny said:

Prince is riding a really good wave right now --
I don't think negative reviews from Alex Hahn
will bother him as much as it bothers the fans.

Supernova said:

bobby brownism i like that term...

Coo you really have a country sized ego dont you? Typical of a lawyer!

AlexHahn said:

tricky99 said:

VERY well said!

I have been as dismayed as any fan at some of the strange and alienating things Prince has done in the past 12 years. I read large parts of this book and found it to be very uneven. In parts Hahn really gives us great insights but overall the tone of his writing is strongly biased. The undercurrent of his thesis is a profound dismay at how Prince has evolved his career. Even as an opinion piece it is of suspect quality because he really comes across as having an axe to grind. Shame really. Without an agenda but with pointed and well analysed criticism this could have been a superb almost scholarly piece of work.

I read Mr. Hann's book and I enjoyed it immensely (couldn't put it down) and it did not change my mind about Prince whatsoever. Prince has matured just as we have. It will be almost impossible to recapture his 80's success - with the hip hop scene dominating the POP charts. Also, it's a free country - from 2 Live Crew, to (I know that's a wierd example, LOL) Janet Jackson. Freedom of speech and press gives him the opportunity to express his opinion. I'm sure evilwhtmale would have written a similar type of book if he was writer, LOL

Mr. Hann (like many of us) just sounds like a fan who yearns for Prince to return to his 80's form. I wanted that to happen (with M.Jackson as well) also, but I have finally accepted and appreciate Prince for the artist he is today.
However, there are some typo's and mis-information - in his book. Alex just needed to spend a little more time researching & editing it before it was released. I am a writer myself http://www.lucrativeconce...tter.html, so I appreciate his talents as a writer.

I will admit coming on this site to promote your book - takes a lot of balls, LOL.
We defend Prince to the fullest on this site. But the book is a great read - very enlightening, and insightful, peace!

i thought the book was entertaining, and for the most part well-written. yes, there were some factual errors, but many if not most books contain a few errors here and there. I don't believe any of the errors were on major points.

That being said: I disagree w/ the notion that P has declined artistically in dramatic fashion since the SOTT era.

Imagine this: what if Silly Game, from Rave, had been on SOTT. How would it be viewed today?

Silly Game is hardly talked about at all. It's a bit of pop throwaway fluff. Not bad, not particuarly memorable. A nice, pretty little song.

But replace Slow Love w/ Silly Game on SOTT, and imagine if it had been there all along. I guarantee you, because of its context, the same song and same recorded would get much more respect.

It's the same w/ much of his 90's work. The quality level was still there - it's fans perception that changed. Whether that had to do w/ P's battles w/ Warners, the name change, his ill-advised rapping which marred otherwise stellar records.... And don't underestimate the harm that Graffiti Bridge, the movie, did to P's reputation as a "genuis". Suddenly he was laughable to an extent, and NOT COOL... which damaged his reputation, and fans' SENSE of him. Suddenly we were looking for things to criticize instead of really hearing the SONGS. So many great ones in the 90's.

What would we think of Parade if it were released today? What an oddball little album of half-baked song-fragments. I guarantee you most people would classify it as an oddity. And yet, in it's context and in its time, it's considered a classic.

There's a certain AURA about 80's Prince that the music doesn't justify, just like there is a certain STIGMA about 90's Prince that, again, the music doesn't justify.

There was no steep decline in the 90's. It's the perceptions that changed.
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lezenith said:

POSSESSED, THE RISE AND FALL (?????) OF PRINCE:

I'm new to thise site but when I read what that idiot had tos ay about P's comeback I felt I had to speak. I think he really has a hard time admitting that with Prince there was no downfall. Prince always did things on his terms. So he wasn't selling the units he was back in the 80's who is? Prince decided to take his music to the net. Pretty bold and something no other artist of his caliber was doing at the time. Financially it paid off for him. Prince is making more money now than he was even @ the height of his career. So what if P doesn't want to sang "Head" or "Erotic City" anymore. P is more than just sexual content but true musicianship.

Even now with the so called "Comeback" Hahn can't even admit he feels a little stupid now. Prince is back in media, magazines and record stores...Fall huh,lol. If that's the downfall of a great artist I think alot of other musicians wished they had a downfall like Prince.

Mr Hahn said: "As the book details, Prince's obsession with creative control and personal dominance, his unwillingness to explore a life beyond music, and his increasingly moralistic, conservative worldview make his music far less interesting than it was in the late 1980s. My initial listens to Musicology haven't changed this opinion. I continue to be dismayed to read that in concerts, Prince refuses to play classics like "Head" and "Let's Pretend Were Married" because they don't fit with his pro-monogamy, pro-marriage world view. Monogamy and marriage are cool, but they're boring topics for music. For me, rock and funk are about rebellion, and Prince at his best epitomized that. In 1984, he pissed off Tipper Gore; today, he's to the right of Al Gore."

Blacklion1 stole my thunder! As a postscript this is so lame it beggars belief. Personally I think the jury is still out on whether the current interest in Prince constitutes a new "rise". Right now, IMO, the book should have a short chapter added and be retitled "The Rise, Fall (and Rise?) of Prince" (the influence of Mani probably deserves a chapter of its own!). But what really irritates me is the author's total dismissal of Prince's 'religious/moralistic viewpoint' on the grounds that it is 'non-rebellious'. In fact isn't the opposite really true? Is not a refusal to swear in fact a BRAVER thing to do in our culture, where rebellion has been corporatised, than swearing? It's probably the most shocking thing Prince could ever do! He's being perfectly consistent with the Controversy credo (note the use of the 'new breed' rap on Rainbow Children!). He's still the opposite of what many people want him to be. But the biggest crime is the author's failure to engage Prince on these sorts of issues. Whatever one thinks of Prince's critique of modern corporate culture (and I disagree with much!), it is intelligent, rational, articulate. He seems to me to be still asking questions that make the audience uncomfortable. Hahn's reference to (the not very good to begin with) "Let's pretend" seems to me risible in the extreme. Self-parody?

JonSnow said:

I totally agree with u 100%!!!!

AlexHahn said:

CAN'T WAIT 2 BUY THE BOOK ALEX...I THINK WE R ON THE SAME PAGE.

I HAVE YET 2 HEAR CRAPOLOGY PLAY ON MY RADIO STATION...IF ANY PRINCE IS PLAYED IT'S STILL OLD SCHOOL STUFF.

BTW WHAT LAW SCHOOL DID U ATTEND.



-MONEYMADE

AlexHahn said:

For Your next book...

http://www.prince.org/msg/7/90705

So Prince should stay 20, not sing and write about his life and experiences, but...instead he should sing about what some vulture hack thinks are exciting topics for music? That sounds like a true artist.

From Mr. Hahn's site:

I don't see anything that has changed my views. As the book details, Prince's obsession with creative control and personal dominance, his unwillingness to explore a life beyond music, and his increasingly moralistic, conservative worldview make his music far less interesting than it was in the late 1980s. My initial listens to Musicology haven't changed this opinion. I continue to be dismayed to read that in concerts, Prince refuses to play classics like "Head" and "Let's Pretend Were Married" because they don't fit with his pro-monogamy, pro-marriage world view. Monogamy and marriage are cool, but they're boring topics for music. For me, rock and funk are about rebellion, and Prince at his best epitomized that. In 1984, he pissed off Tipper Gore; today, he's to the right of Al Gore. Musically, I'm still waiting to hear something genuinely new and surprising from Prince, a song or a style that shows an expanation of his artistic vision.

Some folks have no shame (shakes head)

Alex,

What were you trying to acheive in writing this book? Were you supposed to be this person exposing the truth behind the legend of our hero, or were you just creating a simple bio? It seems to me like you're just out to assassinate Prince's character, just like the Bashir guy did with Michael Jackson in that interview last year.

NWF said:

seriously
False propaganda to sell a book?
Majority of your so calle "Facts"
were wrong
you never corroborated evidence
i would of loved to seen interviews with the old members of the NPG
not even that
whatt were you tthinking?
im not saying kiss prince's ass
but at least give us some valid writings

I have to agree with Lovefor1another,
I don't need to read a book, or believe a lie. If and when Prince writes a book, yes, I may buy it, but not until then. If it's privacy that he wants, then give it to him. He gives so much to us, with JUST his music, his talent, what more do we, should we, could we want? He's a person just like everyone on this ORG, and let's give him his props, and some love and prayers. That's all period. All of us Oldschool fans, that have been here since way back, we know all that we need to know, so no thank you for your so called rise and fall of Prince, cause baby, he will never fall.> This I say to Prince thank you for standing for what you believe in>Romans 1:8

This book is full of mis-quotes and statements that were NEVER made to anyone. It's unreal....