First, let's get something straight: AT NO POINT ON THIS THREAD DID I SAY MAROON 5 IS FUNKIER THAN PRINCE. I said they are a very good pop-funk band (which they are) and that they have better grooves these days than Prince does.
Examples: (from their last CD)





I stand by what I said. If Prince makes something hot, I will give him props, too. Jesse's last CD shits all over Maroon 5 in terms of funk. Prince's material as of late just hasn't been all that appealing in my opinion. He's had a couple here and there like Lavaux and Black Sweat but the vibe that he used to have is gone from his music. Maybe its the jesus juice he's been drinking? [img:$uid]http://forums.macresource.com/smileys/dunno.gif[/img:$uid]
Whatever the case, I'd rather see him rocking his old material than sputtering out what he's been doing.

LOL U musta had trouble sleeping!

BlaqueKnight said:

First, let's get something straight: AT NO POINT ON THIS THREAD DID I SAY MAROON 5 IS FUNKIER THAN PRINCE. I said they are a very good pop-funk band (which they are) and that they have better grooves these days than Prince does.
Examples: (from their last CD)





I stand by what I said. If Prince makes something hot, I will give him props, too. Jesse's last CD shits all over Maroon 5 in terms of funk. Prince's material as of late just hasn't been all that appealing in my opinion. He's had a couple here and there like Lavaux and Black Sweat but the vibe that he used to have is gone from his music. Maybe its the jesus juice he's been drinking? [img:$uid]http://forums.macresource.com/smileys/dunno.gif[/img:$uid]
Whatever the case, I'd rather see him rocking his old material than sputtering out what he's been doing.

How old are the guys in Maroon 5, 30??? Let's compare the funk Prince put out at 30 to the stuff Maroon 5 has put out, then we can see who's funkier.

Take maroon 5's popular catchy grooves, prince's voice and we have a hit record

Maybe he should call these guys for his next album, even if they were in diapers when he started. Sometimes it's nice to try something new.

Paris9748430 said:

How old are the guys in Maroon 5, 30??? Let's compare the funk Prince put out at 30 to the stuff Maroon 5 has put out, then we can see who's funkier.

I specifically said that I DID NOT say they were funkier than Prince. Currently, they have better grooves than what Prince is putting out. That does not eradicate Prince's past input in any way. Next time you quote my post, at least respond to what I actually said instead of something someone else said.

alphastreet said:

Take maroon 5's popular catchy grooves, prince's voice and we have a hit record

Maybe he should call these guys for his next album, even if they were in diapers when he started. Sometimes it's nice to try something new.

Maroon 5 already have hit records. Neither of them need each other.

POSSIBLY NSFW

It's to promote prostate cancer prevention.

The song is alright, I think Maroon 5 have some kind of talent but this song is not even funkier than what Prince has done recently : There is more funk in Feel good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful first 30 seconds than in this entire song.

mynameisnotsusan said:

POSSIBLY NSFW

It's to promote prostate cancer prevention.

I'm sure it does.

Cotontige said:

The song is alright, I think Maroon 5 have some kind of talent but this song is not even funkier than what Prince has done recently : There is more funk in Feel good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful first 30 seconds than in this entire song.

That may be true but Maroon 5 is "pop-funk" and Feel Better fails is a couple of ways. Yes, itis funky, butit is James Brown style funk and James did it way better than Prince has ever done. The other way it fails is in the lead vocal. Prince is squawking through the song and its actually kind of annoying. Its the same thing he was doing in "My Name Is Prince". If you are not a die-hard fan who likes everything that Prince does, its annoying. "Give A Little More" is much more melodic vocally even though Prince in general is a better lead singer. Its also a better arranged tune.

BlaqueKnight said:

Cotontige said:

The song is alright, I think Maroon 5 have some kind of talent but this song is not even funkier than what Prince has done recently : There is more funk in Feel good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful first 30 seconds than in this entire song.

That may be true but Maroon 5 is "pop-funk" and Feel Better fails is a couple of ways. Yes, itis funky, butit is James Brown style funk and James did it way better than Prince has ever done. The other way it fails is in the lead vocal. Prince is squawking through the song and its actually kind of annoying. Its the same thing he was doing in "My Name Is Prince". If you are not a die-hard fan who likes everything that Prince does, its annoying. "Give A Little More" is much more melodic vocally even though Prince in general is a better lead singer. Its also a better arranged tune.

I'd have to say for me the lead vocal and arrangement on Feel Better, or almost any recent Prince tune is more interesting and better (more progressive) than the Maroon 5 tunes. I perceive music the same way as I perceive visual art, and Maroon 5 makes some great traditional portraits of "funk", but Prince is beyond that, he is cutting away traditonal parts, emphasizing raw texture on other parts, and putting the emphasis on a different kind of sound effect than Maroon 5. It's like Prince is more of a Picasso, distorting and exaggerating certain parts of the formula to call attention to other details or concepts behind it. Maroon 5 is doing more traditional portraits. And beleive me, Picasso was perfectly capable of painting a completely lifelife traditional portrait. He wasn't interested in that. I don't think Prince is normally interested in publishing a conventional arrangement or traditonally melodic or harmonious sound in much the same way as Picasso was about images. He's trying to go beyond that since he probably conquered traditional ground before Dirty Mind while still in high school, and always to this day in his countless live jams with friends.

My Name is Prince is a thousand times more intereresting than anything I've heard Maroon 5 do. It's like a loud comic book drawn by an alien sound that relates the cliche boasting of contemporary rap to the retro theme of "The Wild Bunch" and almost childlike fairy tale/bible verses. It's crazy. And possibly annoying to some. But I think Prince is usually trying new things with music, pop bounderies, sound texture, and even creative approaches all the time, and often it doesn't fit into what is cool sugar to the ears. It really matches his wardrobe. That's another way of looking at it too. The image that Maroon presents visually matches just how conservative or experimental they are. Prince's image often takes some retro element and cuts away stuff and exaggerates a detail in a loud way. Like butt-out pants.

That being said that one Maroon 5 song "This Love" was a great traditonal pop song. I love it. I do like hearing all the Maroon 5 stuff. But I learned a long time ago that Prince doesn't ever try to traditonally deliver anything you want, he always wants to bug you a little bit with his choices. I don't think Maroon 5 has it in them to have the ability to bug you with a creative choice and still be true to themselves.

ufoclub said:

I'd have to say for me the lead vocal and arrangement on Feel Better, or almost any recent Prince tune is more interesting and better (more progressive) than the Maroon 5 tunes. I perceive music the same way as I perceive visual art, and Maroon 5 makes some great traditional portraits of "funk", but Prince is beyond that, he is cutting away traditonal parts, emphasizing raw texture on other parts, and putting the emphasis on a different kind of sound effect than Maroon 5. It's like Prince is more of a Picasso, distorting and exaggerating certain parts of the formula to call attention to other details or concepts behind it. Maroon 5 is doing more traditional portraits. And beleive me, Picasso was perfectly capable of painting a completely lifelife traditional portrait. He wasn't interested in that. I don't think Prince is normally interested in publishing a conventional arrangement or traditonally melodic or harmonious sound in much the same way as Picasso was about images. He's trying to go beyond that since he probably conquered traditional ground before Dirty Mind while still in high school, and always to this day in his countless live jams with friends.

My Name is Prince is a thousand times more intereresting than anything I've heard Maroon 5 do. It's like a loud comic book drawn by an alien sound that relates the cliche boasting of contemporary rap to the retro theme of "The Wild Bunch" and almost childlike fairy tale/bible verses. It's crazy. And possibly annoying to some. But I think Prince is usually trying new things with music, pop bounderies, sound texture, and even creative approaches all the time, and often it doesn't fit into what is cool sugar to the ears. It really matches his wardrobe. That's another way of looking at it too. The image that Maroon presents visually matches just how conservative or experimental they are. Prince's image often takes some retro element and cuts away stuff and exaggerates a detail in a loud way. Like butt-out pants.

That being said that one Maroon 5 song "This Love" was a great traditonal pop song. I love it. I do like hearing all the Maroon 5 stuff. But I learned a long time ago that Prince doesn't ever try to traditonally deliver anything you want, he always wants to bug you a little bit with his choices. I don't think Maroon 5 has it in them to have the ability to bug you with a creative choice and still be true to themselves.

Well, you may feel that way and far be it from me to tell you how you "feel" but I hear "Prince does James lite" yet again on top of an annoying, squawking lead. My Name Is Prince at least had a unique groove - Feel Better does not. Its not a great song by any means; not bad but nothing spectacular either. It might stand out from Prince's latest work but that's about it. Also, different doesn't always equal better. I see a lot of Prince's material as "different" but not necessarily better than other conventional songs of the genre they fall into. He's made a career out of "different".

The Maroon 5 aren't new to the game and they have carved a nice little rep for themselves of growing their style while remaining consistent. They don't need the Prince crowd's approval; they have their own crowd and their own sound - and its not dated-sounding like a lot of Mr. Nelson's work as of late.

[Edited 1/8/11 12:59pm]

BlaqueKnight said:

they have their own crowd and their own sound - and its not dated-sounding like a lot of Mr. Nelson's work as of late.

[Edited 1/8/11 12:59pm]

I'm listening to "Give A Little More" and honestly I don't hear anything remotely new, the song is a done in a dated style, like late 70's disco funk. The arrangement, the melody, the groove are by the book and completely faithful to the way it was done back in the late 70's. It's nice, but it's a time worn sound to me, and it could have been any good funk pop band, even local. Only the sound of the voice gives it away as Maroon 5. But could it have been the other old-dated-style guy... Jamiroquai? Are they interchangable? Maybe!

"Feel Better" does not sound like a dated sound (it's a dated rhythm structure, but so is every Maroon 5 song), it's been stripped, exaggerated cartoonishly, mixed in your face, and the result is like a mutated reference to a James Brown groove, but I don't think there was anything with that actual sound going on before. And it's unmistakenly Prince. It's definitely not a top Prince song, but it still manages to sound more original to me than "Give a Little More".

That's my opinion anyhow.

BlaqueKnight said:

ufoclub said:

I'd have to say for me the lead vocal and arrangement on Feel Better, or almost any recent Prince tune is more interesting and better (more progressive) than the Maroon 5 tunes. I perceive music the same way as I perceive visual art, and Maroon 5 makes some great traditional portraits of "funk", but Prince is beyond that, he is cutting away traditonal parts, emphasizing raw texture on other parts, and putting the emphasis on a different kind of sound effect than Maroon 5. It's like Prince is more of a Picasso, distorting and exaggerating certain parts of the formula to call attention to other details or concepts behind it. Maroon 5 is doing more traditional portraits. And beleive me, Picasso was perfectly capable of painting a completely lifelife traditional portrait. He wasn't interested in that. I don't think Prince is normally interested in publishing a conventional arrangement or traditonally melodic or harmonious sound in much the same way as Picasso was about images. He's trying to go beyond that since he probably conquered traditional ground before Dirty Mind while still in high school, and always to this day in his countless live jams with friends.

My Name is Prince is a thousand times more intereresting than anything I've heard Maroon 5 do. It's like a loud comic book drawn by an alien sound that relates the cliche boasting of contemporary rap to the retro theme of "The Wild Bunch" and almost childlike fairy tale/bible verses. It's crazy. And possibly annoying to some. But I think Prince is usually trying new things with music, pop bounderies, sound texture, and even creative approaches all the time, and often it doesn't fit into what is cool sugar to the ears. It really matches his wardrobe. That's another way of looking at it too. The image that Maroon presents visually matches just how conservative or experimental they are. Prince's image often takes some retro element and cuts away stuff and exaggerates a detail in a loud way. Like butt-out pants.

That being said that one Maroon 5 song "This Love" was a great traditonal pop song. I love it. I do like hearing all the Maroon 5 stuff. But I learned a long time ago that Prince doesn't ever try to traditonally deliver anything you want, he always wants to bug you a little bit with his choices. I don't think Maroon 5 has it in them to have the ability to bug you with a creative choice and still be true to themselves.

Well, you may feel that way and far be it from me to tell you how you "feel" but I hear "Prince does James lite" yet again on top of an annoying, squawking lead. My Name Is Prince at least had a unique groove - Feel Better does not. Its not a great song by any means; not bad but nothing spectacular either. It might stand out from Prince's latest work but that's about it. Also, different doesn't always equal better. I see a lot of Prince's material as "different" but not necessarily better than other conventional songs of the genre they fall into. He's made a career out of "different".

The Maroon 5 aren't new to the game and they have carved a nice little rep for themselves of growing their style while remaining consistent. They don't need the Prince crowd's approval; they have their own crowd and their own sound - and its not dated-sounding like a lot of Mr. Nelson's work as of late.

[Edited 1/8/11 12:59pm]

I surely won't try to tell you if your appreciation for Maroon 5 is "right" or "wrong", it's just my 2 cents added: I agree with ufoclub. I think that Maroon 5 are a great band, but - similarly to Jamiroquai btw - I tend to be bored by them. There is too much painting-by-the-numbers and a lack of risk in their music imo. The greatness of Prince is indeed that his musical output somehow matches his appearance - very unique, a bit over the top, sometimes even lacking taste and going too far. The result sometimes can be crap like "Undisputed", but it can also be pure genius like "I love u, but I don't trust u anymore". On a Maroon 5 record, we probably won't find something as terrible as the first song, but I still wait for something as good as the second one from them.

Prince is 52 now, and if his current music doesn't move you as Maroon 5 does, that's fine. But it really is an apples-to-oranges thing to say that imo. Maroon 5 are now at their prime (we don't know how they will sound in their 50s), so let's compare them to the Prince of "Purple Rain" or "SOTT" for a second. I know who wins in my book then.

I guess a re-working of Sam and Dave's "Hold On I'm Coming" passes for Prince's own sound these days? "Feel Better" is NOT Prince's own sound; its Prince's spin on other sounds. Its Prince doing what he does well - meshing other sounds and putting a "Prince" spin on them. This groove is pure late 60s/early 70s style. How anyone can attribute this to Prince is beyond me. Its not a bad groove but Prince didn't originate it. I've noticed that a lot of Prince fans live in a "Prince bubble" and end up attributing a lot of sounds and styles to Prince simply out of ignorance of the source material.

Anyway, I maintain my stance - "Maroon 5's Give A Little More" is just a fun little pop-funk song that has a good groove to it but I find it more interesting than a Prince-interpretation of late 60s grooves and far, far more palatable than songs like "Sticky Like Glue". Again, I'm not claiming that Maroon 5 is funkier than Prince. Prince has some tight funk grooves in his catalogue. (although Sticky Like Glue ain't one of them). I'm just saying that as a song, Maroon 5's present output is better. Since they are a pop funk band in a market that is very different from how it was in the 80s, I will NOT simply use age as a basis for a comparison and ignore how vastly the music business has changed since the late 1980s. That is simply illogical.

I'll stick to the facts. 4.5 million youtube hits says that I'm not the only one who is digging Maroon 5's track. They are a pop band and pop bands have parameters. Unlike in the 80s, nowadays if you break too far out of the set parameters you get dropped from the label. Its a different time in music now and who's to say what they would have sounded like in a more unrestrained era. Prince has made some great songs; I just don't think that Sticky Like Glue or Feel Good, Feel Better fall into that category. I think Maroon 5 is doing pretty well by being able to retain some type of groove and carve out a unique style for themselves in an era where rhythm seems to be a cuss word in the music industry. They are not and never have been my favorite band but I respect what they do, considering the fact that they are playing in a pop arena. And UFOClub, if you are going to compare Maroon 5's song to an era, know that it is NOT 70s AT ALL. Its mid-80s, if anything. When the drums kick it, its reminiscent of a sped-up TTD's "Wishing Well", not 70s disco.

BlaqueKnight said:

And UFOClub, if you are going to compare Maroon 5's song to an era, know that it is NOT 70s AT ALL. Its mid-80s, if anything. When the drums kick it, its reminiscent of a sped-up TTD's "Wishing Well", not 70s disco.

you're talking about "Give a Little More"?

I was just listening to a 12" of "Double Dutch Bus" which was a novelty hit form 1981, but I think the brisk drumbeat with the light funk rythm was something invented by disco in the 70's.

BlaqueKnight said:

I guess a re-working of Sam and Dave's "Hold On I'm Coming" passes for Prince's own sound these days? "Feel Better" is NOT Prince's own sound; its Prince's spin on other sounds. Its Prince doing what he does well - meshing other sounds and putting a "Prince" spin on them. This groove is pure late 60s/early 70s style. How anyone can attribute this to Prince is beyond me. Its not a bad groove but Prince didn't originate it. I've noticed that a lot of Prince fans live in a "Prince bubble" and end up attributing a lot of sounds and styles to Prince simply out of ignorance of the source material.

Anyway, I maintain my stance - "Maroon 5's Give A Little More" is just a fun little pop-funk song that has a good groove to it but I find it more interesting than a Prince-interpretation of late 60s grooves and far, far more palatable than songs like "Sticky Like Glue". Again, I'm not claiming that Maroon 5 is funkier than Prince. Prince has some tight funk grooves in his catalogue. (although Sticky Like Glue ain't one of them). I'm just saying that as a song, Maroon 5's present output is better. Since they are a pop funk band in a market that is very different from how it was in the 80s, I will NOT simply use age as a basis for a comparison and ignore how vastly the music business has changed since the late 1980s. That is simply illogical.

I'll stick to the facts. 4.5 million youtube hits says that I'm not the only one who is digging Maroon 5's track. They are a pop band and pop bands have parameters. Unlike in the 80s, nowadays if you break too far out of the set parameters you get dropped from the label. Its a different time in music now and who's to say what they would have sounded like in a more unrestrained era. Prince has made some great songs; I just don't think that Sticky Like Glue or Feel Good, Feel Better fall into that category. I think Maroon 5 is doing pretty well by being able to retain some type of groove and carve out a unique style for themselves in an era where rhythm seems to be a cuss word in the music industry. They are not and never have been my favorite band but I respect what they do, considering the fact that they are playing in a pop arena. And UFOClub, if you are going to compare Maroon 5's song to an era, know that it is NOT 70s AT ALL. Its mid-80s, if anything. When the drums kick it, its reminiscent of a sped-up TTD's "Wishing Well", not 70s disco.

It is traditional...almost to a point..its still modern because Avril uses 80's lyrical arrangements over some light 70's instrumentation...which in a sense it is not exactly disco; but does have alot of by-the-numbers style in it...especially when it comes to the guitar work.