SHOCKADELICA1 said:

CLASSIC. damn.....did I write this?

I have tremendous respect for MJ's performance ability, voice and yes, his songwriting. Both MJ and Prince had a huge impact on 80's pop culture, and no one could doubt that both are more talented than most.

Both are thought of as nuts (or worse) by non-fans, and they've both been compared to each other for decades. The comparison never made any sense though. It's be like comparing Paul McCartney to Al Green.

Considering this is a Prince fan site, I'm not going to bash MJ about his personal life, or his recent music. As a fan of music, especially funky music, Prince wins every time. When MJ wanted to try rock, he hired Eddie Van Halen or Jennifer Batten to sound legit. Prince never wanted to try rock, it was just in his blood. He didn't need to hire some guitar slinger because he could put it down. When Michael wanted to be funky, he'd hire Quincy Jones or Teddy Riley to produce. When Prince wants to get funky, he just hits the record button and starts playing. Prince never wanted to try to be funky, he just was, and more importantly, still is.

Don't get me wrong though, Michael can be funky. Off The Wall is a killer album, and I love a lot of his work with his brothers. I haven't found much of MJ's music to be to my liking since around the "Ghosts" era though.

Michael Jackson is a great performer. Prince is a great artist. period. Michael Jackson may have sold m0re units with fewer albums but it cannot be the measuring stick 0n which u c0mpare the 2 as far as talent. MJ is a better dancer than Prince but he isnt as prolific or artistic as Prince. MJ puts out a bubble gum cd every 5 or m0re years. P puts out m0re daring and challenging music yearly

i grew up listening 2 Prince and MJ. Micheal Jackson doesnt appeal 2 me anym0re. I look back at MJ and go "damn why did i listen 2 this bullshit" I look back at Prince's output and go "damn this man was ahead of his time"

For sure, MJ is the King. When it comes trials, truly poor judgment, infantile "never had a childhood" kind of behavior and dangling babies of balconies, he is without peers. As for music, MJ gets a lot of help, puts out an album every five years for which he can record dozens of songs using dozens of producers ultimately picking those he thinks have the most hit potential, MJ's a good singer and dancer.

doveoflove,

that is EXACTLY the same view that i have on MJ vs. Prince.
Thanks 4 puttin it out there 4 me!

SHOCKADELICA1 said:

That might be the most ignorant post ive ever read here. Btw, ive added my responses into the above quote.
[Edited 3/26/06 18:29pm]

Graycap23 said:

Well I've come to the conclusion that you have no clue what you are talking about...

So let us go step by step...

1. How certain are you that Michael Jackson doesnt play any intruments. You all keep saying Prince plays every instruments. He doesnt! Michael Jackson plays the piano quite well...

2. Michael Jackson has won more awards to his name than Prince will ever have. So Prince has an Oscar... Michael was nominated for one and a nomination is honorable. Especially for his age at the time. Not to mention, Michael has recieved every concievable music award on the planet.

Shall we go through the main awards?

Grammy - 13
AMA - 24
Billboard - 39 (Icluding several awards for his decade achievements)
Biggest Selling Albumm - Thriller - 50 million +

Michael Jackson one of the best-selling male pop artist of all-time, with over 350 million albums and singles sold worldwide.
Thriller is the best-selling album of all-time, with over fifty one million copies sold worldwide [1].
HIStory: Past, Present, & Future is the best-selling multiple-disc album of all-time (7th best-selling album overall), with over eighteen million copies sold worldwide [2].
Blood On The Dance Floor/HIStory In The Mix is the best-selling remix album of all-time, with over six million copies sold worldwide [3].
Jackson has nine platinum singles, second only to Elvis Presley among male artists.
[edit]
Chart records
Jackson's Thriller remained at number one for thirty-seven weeks, the longest stay by a non-soundtrack album to date. [citation needed]
Jackson was the first artist to have seven top-ten singles from one album (Thriller).[citation needed]
Jackson was the first artist to simultaneously have the number-one album and number-one single on Billboard's Pop Charts and Black Charts.[citation needed]
Jackson was the first artist in the 1980s to have two simultaneous top-five hits ("Beat It" and "Billie Jean" on April 16, 1983).[citation needed]
Jackson was the first and, to date, only artist to have five number-one hits from one LP, Bad ("Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror", "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", and "Dirty Diana").[citation needed]
Jackson had nine number ones in the 1980s, more than any other artist during the decade.[citation needed]
Jackson has the most Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles for a male recording artist. [citation needed]
Jackson was the first artist to ever have a song debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 ("You Are Not Alone").[citation needed]
Jackson's album Bad remained in the top five of the Billboard 200 for thirty-eight weeks, longer than any other album to date.[citation needed]
Michael Jackson has had thirteen number-one singles on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Chart and behind only Elvis Presley's seventeen among male artists.
Michael's US Number Ones (13)

1-Ben (1 week)
2-Rock with You (4 weeks)
3-Don't Stop Till you get enough (1 week)
4-Billie Jean (7 weeks)
5-Beat It (3 weeks)
6-Say Say Say (6 weeks)
7-I Just Can't Stop Loving You (with Siedah Garrett)(1 week)
8-Bad (2 weeks)
9-The Way You Make Me Feel (1 week)
10-Man In The Mirror (2 weeks)
11-Dirty Diana (1 week)
12-Black Or White (7 weeks)
13-You Are Not Alone (1 week)

I mean we could go on and on...

It is the public who deems what good music is and the public has resoundly said that they would rather buy a Michael Jackson album before they bought a Prince album.

During Michael Jackson era no other artist has more No.1 hits than he does other than Mariah Carey...

Last I checked I think Michael Jackson is a better singer than Prince. Michael Jackson has an amazing range and an amazing falsetto. However, this is more subjective...

Style...

O.K.

During Michael Jackson trial last year, he never showed up to court wearing the same thing twice. Each suit was custom made. The one he wore to the verdict reportedly cost $90,000... Style is highly subjective, however not everyone digs everything Prince wears... I mean come on...

Overwhelming say what you want to say about Michael Jackson he has a legacy of music that is far more accomplished than Prince and the American public agrees because Micahel Jackson has sold nearly 4x's more albums than Prince.

Michael Jackson - 300 million
Prince - 100 million

You do the math...

Michael Jackson has broken more records than any other solo artist... he is only surpassed or in competition with Elvis... Prince is no where on the charts.

When talk about bodies of work... yes Prince has an amazing body of work, but who has listened to them other than hardcore Prince fans? NOONE!!!

You ask the average person walking down the street name any Prince album released from 1990-2000 they couldn't tell you. You know why? Because Prince isn't and never has been as famous as Michael Jackson.

I will concede Michael Jackson's personal struggles have made him the butt of many jokes, but Michael Jackson has always had the last laugh... many people dismiss him without remembering his contribution to pop culture and popular music.

I could go on and on...

Michael Jackson is a great lyricist... You act as if Michael couldnt talk about God in once sentence and talk about sex in another...

jlpugh said:

Why are you even responding (or copy and pasting) to a bunch of MJ haters on a troll thread. I see you're new, but don't even bother, you can't make someone like another artist they've disliked for years. SHOCKADELICA1 only beats you in that she mentioned Prince has one oscar and MJ none, plus she loves NPS

I've said it before and I'll say it again, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, will one MJ fan PLEASE post a video of MJ playing ANY instrument. PLEASE!! Because I want to see it. I want to see this guy play something...ANYTHING...so that I don't have to think y'all are full of shit every time I read someone saying that MJ playz on teh instrumentz.

He play the piano quite well? After 40 years in the biz, you would think there would be footage of some kind of homenut playing the piano, wouldn't you?

And, oh yeah, Prince wins.

I have nothing to add. Just marking my place for future reference.

thedoveoflove said:

Alot of crap?? Tell him to have sex with someone born in the same decade as him. Michael's "live" shows?? Better than P....you must be smokin something!!!

TheBigBang said:

MJ DOES NOT play an instrument on a professional level. Anyone who says that he does is a LIAR.

Who gives a flying fuck

How old are you people...10?

Someone summed it up...'Only Mariah Carey has had as many number 1's as Michael' Now that's talent

Prince a poor man's Michael Jackson? Michael Jackson is just for fans of pop music who don't know how to appreciate a true musician when they see one. PRince beats Michael in every category. Sure, Michael's more popular, but that doesn't mean he's better. If u like MJ so much, then go to his fan websites.

In a martial arts style of combat, Michael would probably win.
Simple fistacuffs, Prince.

This probubly won't put this arguement to rest but..

MJ is good at making popular music.

Prince is good at making artistic music.

Thriller isnt the best selling album of all time.
That accolade belongs to The Eagles for a greatest hits album.

doctamario said:

So Prince wins in every category... apart from popularity.

There's only one way to decide who's best:

FIGHT!!!

This subject has been beaten to death like a dead horse

Michael Jackson's worst enemy is Michael Jackson. He's been so busy trying to create a sequel to Thriller that his music has constantly stayed the same instead of him trying to take it to the next level. I don't dislike stuff from 87-91 and a few things beyond but you could tell he was following the "Thriller Notebook" with Bad and everything afterwards. At least Prince's music has evolved. MJ never takes risks, unless you considerer working with the producer of the month a risk. I hope MJ listens to 3121. If he can make an album even a quarter as good then I'll give him props. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening.
[Edited 3/26/06 23:04pm]

muirdo said:

maybe in the USA. Worldwide it's Thriller, and always will be.

Marrk said:

aww bugger.

There's no comparison between the 2... They have some things in common, they are around the same age, pop music icons, great live entertainers....

But prince is just on another level musically, I have to say, I don't even consider that debatable, It is just my personal opinion of course, but.. my opinion is also that water is wet and the night is dark.

I don't think Jackson realised his true potential, I think he went off the rails, You have to blame the 80's and the people who seized Jackson as a commercial product, luckily prince survived the 80's.

I still like the Jackson 5 stuff and off the wall, and some of the other funky tracks he released before thriller. But, I really feel sorry for that man, I think he did have a great potential.

You can't really compare artists in this way though.

Over time

1970 MJ 9/10 Prince N/A

1975 MJ 6/10 Prince 1/10 (Games with Pepe Willie)

1978 MJ 6/10 Prince 6/10

1980 MJ 7/10 Prince 10/10

1982 Both 10/10 (Thriller and 1999, wow!!!)

1987 Ditto (Bad and SOT)

1991 MJ 8/10 Prince 9/10

1995 MJ 6/10 Prince 7/10

1998 MJ 2/10 Prince 2/10 (Suck blood on dancefloor and NPS)

2000 MJ 0/10 Prince 4/10

2004 MJ -10/10 Prince 7/10

2006 MJ No comment, Prince 10/10

I know who my money is with.

(quietly steps in the room)
at least Prince was NEVER aquitted or even accused of molesting young boys.

(KNOWS im going to get shot for saying that and quietly step out of the room)

prince puts out far more material than MJ. But MJ's albums are generally better than prince's. MJ takes his time and after 3-5 years work hits you with a brilliant album. prince is the opposite. He release albums every year but only has a few gems on each album. MJ's albums are perfect, and the time he spends to work on each one really shows. The time prince spends on each album also shows. I think prince can learn from MJ and take his time with music. I think he's find, and the fans would find he could produce better material if he spent 3+ years on each album, like MJ does. I also find that prince doesn't have what MJ has. There's something about MJ. Now, as an example, I am so damn excited about the future of MJ with all this news about working with 50 cent and John Legend. New MJ music gets me wet. New prince music is just like 'yeah....so?' because it's so often that we get new music from prince. With MJ it is exciting and always a big event when he releases a new album.

Shuddup Already! Damn...

DarlingDiana said:

Okay, you can't really sustain that argument for any album after Dangerous. And Dangerous was not the product of 3-5yrs work, the first half of the album is a load of rubbish. There were five years between Thriller and Bad, and Bad was a load of rubbish. The best song on it (MITM) wasn't even written by MJ. And let's not forget that Invincible was undeniable a load of rubbish, even though each song had like three hundred song writers...

Quality of Prince's albums? Prince has at least three masterpiece albums: 1999, Purple Rain and Sign O' The Times. As we've already said, the involved Prince and only Prince (plus the Revolution) in terms of songwriting, production, instrumentation, etc. And I'd argue that Parade constitutes a fourth masterpiece. MJ's two best albums are OTW and Thriller. He wrote only a handful of the songs from these two LPs. And he hasn't even come close to matching them ever since. So since 1979 MJ has given us two 'masterpiece' albums whilst making us wait three to five years for each release, and they wouldn't even have been masterpieces if it wasn't for people like Rod Temperton writing songs for MJ. On the other hand, Prince has given us three possibly four masterpiece albums and he releases stuff at least every two years.

And for the last time. Sales don't mean anything. MJs albums may well have sold more than Prince's but given the amount of money his record company spends on promotion and multi-million dollar videos, they bloody well should sell by the bucket load. Prince has never had that level of corporate promotion behind him, largely because that's not he wants to his music to be seen/promoted. Besides which, people like the Teletubbies and Bob The Builder have had more chart success in the UK than say Ryan Adams. Are you going to start arguing that theme tunes from children's programmes embody more talent than Ryan Adams' music because they sell more? Thought not. So don't bother with attempts to apply that argument to the MJ-Prince comparison.