You know, I've always viewed Terrence Trent Darby as a Prince clone of sorts, not really giving much credit to him as an individual artist.

This is a shame cause I never viewed Prince as a Hendrix/Stevie wonder clone.


Anyways, I've been listening to some of Terrence's music post name-change to Sananda Maitreya (something I found eye-rollingly Prince-like at the time), but unlike Prince who's namechange ended up being some very strange episode in a career that could have done without it, Sananda's name change and music took a radical change for the better in my opinion.

His music is vibrant, smart, whimsical, and oh-so soulful in places. I regret not having payed more attention to him when he started with the new Sananda Maitreya material.



The following song is reminiscent of some of the best of old soul classics, a little dash of biker rock, and of course, a Prince-like anthemic vibe to it. But its not just simple imitation here--there's something unique and vibrant about it.

Me likes.






[Edited 8/17/09 20:30pm]

'Holding On To You' is one of the best, if not the best song he's ever written and recorded.

Holding On To You isn't after the name change, is it?

sosgemini said:

come to think of it, no.
But he had already started the whole spiritual rebirth vibe by then.

yeah Imago, shame on you

bboy87 said:

I just find him so starnge, how can anyone do such a great first album like "Introducing the hardline according to Terence Trent D'arby and then go completely nuts. Is he gay or a vegan or something now

Huggiebear said:

yeah...I find him strange too and not in a good way either.

Huggiebear said:

I think he has several albums better than that one.

Is he biracial?

i think the Hardline is still his best. although symphony or damn is a close 2nd. a few songs too long though that throw it off sonically and cohesively.

Holding On to You is overrated IMO. its too grandiose for its own good. Undeniably and It's Been Said from that same album are better. More understated. overall TTD sometimes seems like he's trying too hard to be poetic and profound.

he still surprises me with stuff like Shalom, Surrender, Vibrator, etc. I only have the Wild Card album of his as Sananda tho

I LOVE the Vibrator album: "Holding On To You", "If You Go Before Me", "Undeniably", "It´s Been Said". So many GREAT ballads on ONE album... It was his last album before the name change, he released "Wild Card" under both names.

SUPRMAN said:

For sure

SUPRMAN said:

It's my favourite song ever by any artist

Imago said:

Yeah exactly

scriptgirl said:

As far as I know he's black/white/native American

Imago said:

Oh and "Holding On To You" doesn't remind me of Prince at all . And I don't see much similarity in their music at all I must say.

WTF?? Is he gay? Is he vegan? Is he biracial??? WHO THE FUCK CARES The man has a luscious voice & he's done brilliant work beyond his debut. Maybe if you cared less about his personal shit & more about the music you'd know it

I've always liked "Holding Onto You", but he has many that outshine it. My only regret about him is that I've never seen him live

CalhounSq said:

I think they were just being ironic, because of the whole Prince comparison
...at least I hope

I've not heard any TTD since Symphony or Damn. Kinda lost track of him.

Neither Fish Nor Flesh is one of the most underrated albums ever i think.

That song, Holding On To You, is it a parady?! A pisstake?!

Those are the WORST lyrics I ever heard in my life!

My god, I couldn't listen to that regularly - I'd die laughing!

Vibrator is one of the best albums of the nineties, an absolute masterpiece. I saw him live on his Vibrator tour 1995 in cologne and it was magical.

I think - as an artist - Sananda/Terence has matured nicely . I loved his first album - and was in Germany in 87 so i got to see him BEFORE he hit it big in the US ...

"symphony or damn" and "vibrator" were 5 stars in my opinion ... and the album back in 2003 or so was great ... i have listened to these albums MORE than any Prince album in a long time ... although Prince has always maintained a "fav" position (probably because he is always out there ) --- sananda just doesnt tour like he should (imo) . Back around 03 he came to the US but half the tour seemed like it was cancelled -

ludwig said:

Hey, I was at that concert too!!!

rocknrolldave said:

I'm curious. Are you Toni & Simon's friend from the UK?

Imago said:

It depends. If this is in relation to investigations into criminal activities, then I'll have to say "no"...if it's just an innocent enquiry, then yes.

CalhounSq said:

You took the words out of my mouth. People here are so fical. I think Vibrator was one of his best records. If you go back and listen to The Hardline I am sure people would laugh (especially to songs like Rain, and Dance little sister).
Vibrator was so good. So many good songs!

Vibrator
Read my lips (I dig your scene) - one of my fav
Holding on to you
Undeniably
We don't have that much time together
TTD"d recurring dream
If you go before me.

wow I didn't know he was this good, I loved wishing well since I was 5 though, so much!

ludwig said:

The Vibrator concert I saw in Vienna was the best concert I have ever seen in my life . And I have been to many good concerts including 50 by Prince.