Everyone has their opinion about Prince's new music. I've debated countless times about the quality of Prince's newer material. Usually I am defending the new stuff and I disagree that his playing, songwriting, or singing abilities have weakened. I think in many ways Prince is better now than ever. "Musicology" is easily one of my favorites.

However, I had a bit of an epiphany the other day and it is-

Remember when Prince used to sound insane on his albums? I'm not talking about innovativeness, or lack of inspiration, or lack of focus. I am talking about those momenets when you heard weird sounds on an album and you thought WTF is Prince doing? Think of the extended version of "I wish U heaven". Hell the whole "lovesexy" album has weird sounds and FX going on throughout.

Around "Graffiti Bridge" Prince stopped using crazy ass weird sounds so much. His writing and musicianship was/is still top notch, but he started to sound sane, like he was actually from planet earth. Occasionally, there are glimpses of that weird sonic use: "The Rainbow Children", parts of the album, portions of "The Gold Experience".

I am not saying that Prince has lost anything. Soundwise he isn't as insane sounding as he used to be.I like much of his newer material more than the early stuff. I just think that a major reason why some of old school Prince fans fail to wholeheartedly embrace the newer stuff is because it's not the same and people resist change.

Skywalker said:

It's equally possible that some old school fans do not wholeheartedly embrace the newer stuff because its not different and they want change.
.

I think I know what you're saying, in that he used to be more adventurous, sonically. His music is, generally speaking, a lot more mannered now, even the instrumental albums seem to be very structured. I like a lot of the new stuff, but it does bother me that he'll probably never do something as quirky as " Ballad Of Dorothy Parker" or "Tambourine" again -- that off-the-wall genius side seems to be locked away for the time being...that side that made us go, "What the F**k is that boy gonna do next?"...and maybe that's just something that comes with age...he probably doesn't feel the need to be "on the edge "of anything anymore...
[This message was edited Thu May 13 15:56:19 2004 by paligap]

paligap said:

I agree with your sentiments. I just feel that alot of the old school fans should realize that at this stage of his career Prince will not be as innovative as he was during the 1980's. It's like expecting Stevie Wonder's next album (tenatively scheduled for June release) to have songs as innovative as Superstition or Pastime Paradise, or to expect Paul McCartney to write another Yesterday or Abbey Road medley. All genius has its peaks where everything they try is new, fresh and innovative. After a while that spark is gone and they are back to earth sculpting their muse through more traditional means with strong results. I just think people should understand that all great artists age and change with time, just like the rest of us do.

DorothyParkerWasCool said:

This is true...I mean, like he said, he's not pushing any envelopes anymore, he already pushed them off the table...

skywalker said:

Dude you need to stop. Why are you always trying to come up with these self-justifying rationales for why people just don’t dig Prince’s newer shit? Get over it man. Lots of people like myself just don’t think there is all that much good post-Lovesexy material. And we may have valid reasons, reasons just as good as your own. Maybe even better. Fine, you love the TGE and you think Musicology and TRC are just as good as anything else P’s done. Well I don’t, and it’s not cause of the lack of crazy sounds!! Talk about “WFT”? And what’s all this about people “resisting change”? Damn, that’s all us folks want Prince to do – keep changing up the game. What’s new and different about the Emancipation sound? The TGE sound? The D&P and Symbol sound? What’s new buddy? And please don’t bring that weak ass jazz argument my way and start talking about TRC, NEWS, and Xpectation. Here you got Prince doing shit that’s already done before and better. So far P has not shown me that he can add anything of his own to Jazz. Shit, these records sound straight up lazy! I’m not even sure he’s got Jazz down yet. And sure, fine, these three records mark a change for Prince…a transition into derivative and uninspired elevator Jazz. If that’s what you like, that’s cool. But I get enough of that shit at the mall.

...that's kind of funny, because I still think his current Music now is still out of this world. I wonder what he be on to write such fantastic lyrics before & now, and I was just thinking about that today!!!

He's just High on Life not some Chemical. The Music is Wonderful.. Musicology is a GREAT album.

Most listeners should understand that a song and a collection of song - album- is a mirror of what the artist is going through during the process of writing... let alone the other processes of creating the vehicle to deliver those words(: the music); producing, mixing and all that stuff that P decided to do by himself in his albums.

Every step is a whole thing that we receive made.

Prince is not 20 anymore. Most of those barriers he wanted to pull down back then (and sure he did in some way) do not exist now. I think the man gained that ground through a lot of criticism opening and paving the path for what now is so "done".
He's not breaking new ground???
How that can be said, after all his success he decided to try new things, like creating instrumentals like NEWS, C-NOTE... Adventure with TRC.
But not. It's impossible to satisfy everybody.
Some like Rockish Prince, other Funky P. Others got stuck in the 80's.

Give him a break!!
He can't express what fans want to express. He needs to express HIMSELF.
He already explored his feminine side, he's over with that, he found himself.
He said now he needs to be closer to God (Didn't he started that in Anna Stesia??), and he's expressing that...
I'm not agreeing with censoring his old songs, but that was THEN and this is NOW.
Life is evolution and nobody can live your part and say the words you want to say.
Most Prince fans are not teenagers anymore, so we cannot expect the man tell us how to live and what walls we must pull down.

Let's grow up a little. or you're gonna tell me you are 30 and Prince is your IDOL??

Get your own dream!

PEACE

Zelaira said:

Yeah...Musicology is a good album...I don't know about Great, but it's pretty good.

I have to agree that after LoveSexy, Prince stop being adventurous.

Remember the feeling that Prince's music gave you back in the day...that feeling that you were unique and that only a select few dug his music, even during Purple Rain, because his hardcore fans were definitely there pre-Purple Rain. Then he followed that up with "Around The World In A Day"...I mean, what genius. It was new, raw, and so different from the last CD that many fans that hopped on during "PR" era, dropped off. Well, that's what it's about. Keeping a fan base that's just as unique as you.

LoveSexy wasn't commercially successful, but you know all True Prince fans love the hell out of that time period. Prince was so raw and his "PHUCK ALL" attitude was liberating to most, to say the least.

However, all the stuff afterwards was good, but not as good as LoveSexy because it was without adventure, without that "PHUCK ALL" attitude.

I miss that part of Prince, and now it seems like we've lost that part of Prince for good.

He's still a terrific artist, but now he has to conform to rules and regulations. Something that I thought he'd never do.

Yes, I agree, LoveSexy was the last great CD he's done. The others are good, but not Great!

GeSmi1

it's kind of like when you saw the Matrix fo rthe first time..your jaw just dropped at the special effect..now anybody can do it. Unless somebody learns to infuse Funk and country or Rap and polka music..you ain't gonna see another groundbreaking genre come again. The 80's were just that..the 80's. A lot of shit that we remember as being groundbreaking ain't viewed the same way now. Look at at cell phone now as opposed to then...a walkman...a portable cd player...

paligap said:

Good post.

skywalker said:

I agree with P sounding insane then and not now. Probably because P isn't insane any more. P sounded and looked crazy from Dirty Mind to Purple Rain. He was at his craziest during 81-83. No one, and I mean no one was screaming in their songs like P was during this period. He sounded crazy as hell. That's one of the reasons I dug him so. The boy was off! And plus, he could he play. Yeah. P was the shit.

PrimordialOoze said:

yes i 2 miss that

THE FUNK!!!!!




























Yeah, I know he still has it, but it ain't the same as the old school Funk he used to do. I guess I'll just have to settle with this new groove he's playing.

*Maybe* he's settled into this new phase, but...

don't sleep on the brotha'! Just when you think you know what he's doing...BAM...he's doing some more crazy shit. He might be happy with the success of Musicology today, but tomorrow he could get pissed off at Sony and release something that blows all of us hardcore fans away. That's what I love about him. You never really know what's coming next!

I'll be honest here.

I miss the sex. Period.

Prince is hot, therefore, I want to see him on all fours, writhing around on the ground. K?

Prince seems to have surrendered to a far superior generation of computer programming sound engineers who can create rings of new sound around what Prince can do on his own.

I miss Prince saying whats on his mind with courage instead of hiding behind this endless cryptic nonsense that scrambled his song-writing to the point where non-fans were laughing at him. ChristinA, Eminem, Beyonce, Outkast and all the younger artists that the world is listening to are ALL SAYING IT STRAIGHT UP. So when go back and hear an album like Controversy and 1999 I say to myself, damn I miss when didn't pussyfoot around and had the gusto to get to the point. Some might argue that this is part of his art package. .but for godsake since Emancipation his albums have had even his most diehards guessing at what the fuck he's babbling about in most of his songs.

Interesting thread Skywalker. I'm interested in what you think?

this thread took me back...

i miss the screamin thrown

right in the middle of the sexiest

slow jam on earth,

i miss the prince, 'kiss my ass' strut

from dirty mind through little red corvette days

i miss the rude boy attitude from controversy

yet, i know that some of that magic is still

with today's prince

he's still that revolutionary and visionary

man that we fell 4 back in the day

Savannah said:

I think that Prince definitely was more blunt in the past than he is now.I think that has to do with age. When you are younger you tend to scream your thoughts, as you get more wise, you realize that a whisper works much better.

The things that Eminem, Outkast, Christina, and Beyonce speak of aren't nearly as deep,complex, or interesting as what Prince is saying now-let alone what he was saying when he was their age. Compare the topics Prince covers at age 23 on Controversy compared the the above mentioned artists at that age. Eminem comes close on some social topics, but he has no real deep thoughts and usually spews out knee jerk b-boy responses to his environment.

I think Prince has always been cryptic. In the 80's it was sort of his trade mark. On SNL the "Prince Show" skit is based on that era. Wondermask anyone?

I think Prince is working on too much too fast right now, more than he used to... and he doesn't spend the time to get the crazy sounds. He doesn't seemed concerned with the sounds, just the vibe of creating a song and moving on to something else (using sounds right of the keyboard menu)....

1+1+1 is 3 is an example of him quickly retreading, instead of pushing it into a new flavor.

BUT

a few newer songs like High and Supercute have some care taken to give them a "sound"

GeSmi1 said:

well I agree that you are wrong

YES! I AGREE! Why oh why is the sex going away? I miss the crazy wailing and writhing! I was too young to enjoy it when it happened and now that I'm older he takes it away!