Probably not the best topic to bring up whilst the excitement of the celebration still lingers but...

Does anyone feel the same as I do about Prince albums these days? The staying power just seems to be very lacking over recent years. Maybe its just me and my change in musical taste, or maybe Ive just become more fussy about what I like and dont like. But having been a Prince fan since day one I cant put it down to some arbutary taste of a musical whim. Something in the water just aint computing right now.

TRC when I first heard it was the best thing to come out of Paisley Park in a very long time. But now, 10 months or so later and I never listen to it any more. Maybe I killed it to death with constant rotation, although I tend to play every new Prince album to death when I first get it and a lot of them still see the light of day in my CD changer, even now.

Without trying to review the already reviewed-to-death TRC, I do think that my boredom with the project comes with my lack of any interest in the lyrical content. Musically it is quite good, although it isnt anything special or pioneering, but lyrically it holds no interest in me.

Rave un2 was the opposite though. Lyrically it wasnt so bad, again nothing special but at least it was a little more diverse than the cryptic babbling of TRC. But musically Rave was over produced and rather dull. This had even less staying power than TRC has had.

NPS. Well, this was just a poor album all round and spent even less time in the CD player than the two albums above.

And as for ONA. People are raving about the fact that its a piano piece and that its what they have been waiting for from Prince since the Truth. But personally I think it sucks. Theres no more than a couple of tracks that make me want to hear them again. That album belongs in a hotel elevator! Boring.

So where does that leave me? Firstly it leaves me with very little Prince music that I feel like listening to at the moment. But it does show some light at the end of the tunnel. Since NPS things have been slowly improving (except for ONA!). I think our man has become too bogged down in his desire to please us and stopped experimenting with his sound. Who knows?

Anyway, I just wanted to know what some of your opinions are on his recent work and how they make you feel when (or if) you still listen to them.

By the way, Days of Wild from the celebration: I presume this is a cuss free, clean version of the track that he handed out last week. Any good?

I agree with you to a point. As far as TRC I also do not listen to the album as much as I did when I first got it. While it has nothing to with the lyrics it is by far the best release in a while,I wish he was still creating trends and not following them.

I agree with you. But lets face it, he isnt becoming as dull and boring as Lenny Kravitz!!!

But I do feel like you though. Every onece in a while I need to take a long break from Prince. Something I am doing at the moment. I probably wont bother listening to him again until i get something new. Then it will kickstart my obsession again and I will be jumping from era to era yet once more!

(unless what he sends me next sucks even more than ONA!)

Twenty years from now, you'll still be more likely to hear When Doves Cry on the radio than anything Prince has released since.

"Prince can write a hit at the drop of a hat." - Levi Seacer Jr.

"Then he better do it." - IrishEcho

I like 'TRC' but I rarely play it.On the other hand,I used to play the 'Love Symbol' CD to death! 8 months after that CD came out,I was still listening to it on a regular basis.I don't know what happened,but I used to listen to Prince alot more than I do these days.Perhaps some of the "excitement" has worn off,or maybe it's just ME who has changed?

C´mon, people. It's not the music, you're just getting older! We all are. As we hear more and more music and purchase it on a weekly basis there is just so much other material to be consumed.

I've noticed the same phenomenon with TRC too, but it really is just me. You know, I just got a few weeks ago the 30 or so missing Prince outtakes that I didn't have before. Now, five years ago I would have played 'em to death twelve hours a day. Now? I've listened to each song perhaps twice. And you know it isn't because "She's Just A Baby" would be boring, it's because Bowie's got a new album out, Andrew WK is throwing a gig around the corner, Wyclef's new video features an extremely foxy doll, Atomsmasher just re-united or what not. When you expand the palette you tend to use the individual colours more infrequently.

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[This message was edited Mon Sep 23 10:48:48 PDT 2002 by nightwing]

I think Jonny is right all the way.
The last nice album again was Gold, especially the unreleased material from that period. I can't believe (most of them are americans, all the reviews i read, Prince is back and it's great blah blah blah, come on I am from Europe, I don't want or never asked for preaches about religion, I want music!!!

When I wanna hear about god or religion I go to a church, when i wanna hear music I put on a cd, If u play TRC u get the church experience, well that sucks, sorry if i offend people, but it's my opinion. About the ONA shows, come on, to hear it once is alright, but they are all the same and never exciting. Where are the day's when he did real shows like, Lovesexy, SOTT, GOLD etc etc.

If u ask a 20 year old about Prince the answer u get is WHO? never heard of him. That's not what Prince wanted, but hey, it's his own fault.

Style
www.paisleyparkvault.com

where R the Day's O wild?

?
[This message was edited Wed Feb 26 1:21:55 PST 2003 by IstenSzek]

Stylecipation said:

Bullshit. If a 20-year-old hasn't heard of Prince he hasn't heard of James Brown or Jimi Hendrix either.

nightwing said:

I agree with your comment on Prince's band! They are indeed brilliant and tight, but the music is not as thrilling and "exciting" as it once was. It was funny watching them play the SOTT movie and the 3/21/87 First Ave gig in the Love 4 One Another room at the Celebration, because I was wishing he and his music was as energetic as it was back then. What a sharp contrast from then to now! I mean, even Prince has to look at those performances and say, "DAMN!!! I was FUNKY!"

Anytime you overindulge in something, you are eventually going to get sick of it. And it's not Prince's fault. I feel the way a lot of you do about Prince's latest music, but I also feel that way about all of Prince's music, and all of anyone's music. You can't listen to Sign of the Times or Lovesexy constantly for four days a week and not want to put it up and get something else out. So you take a break from it, and maybe a month or two later, you take it back out and relive the magic. No music (to me) is that great that you can just listen to it all the time and not get tired of it. When that happens and someone makes some kind of flawless album that you absolutely can't stop listening to, let me know.

Alexnvrmnd,

Surely you have to keep in mind that those performances you are comparing the ONA shows to focus on playing music and not constant dancing. That dancing used to add a lot of energy to the shows. But Prince just wants to chill back and relax and flex his musical muscle now. Perhaps that's what you are alluding to with the "extra energy" back then.

To be honest with you guys, I don't think it's fair to say that the TRC album is not as creative as past work. To me, TRC is one of his most creative albums ever. Not my favorite and not the best, but I think he's at another creative height right now.

I think some Prince fans are subject to the overexposure they put themselves through. If memory serves me, in a recent Prince thread where someone asked how often do you listen to Prince the vast majority said they listen to something by Prince everyday. EVERY single day.

Admittedly, he has a large catalog, including bootlegs of outtakes and live material; but I really think most Prince fans (at least most of the ones here) need to look outside of the Purple Palace and find some equally compelling music to occupy their time and expand their horizons. It IS out there.

If I listened to Prince every single day that I listened to any type of music I might be sick of him too. ANY music by any artist can be overplayed to the point of you becoming jaded by it - if you play it to the point that some here say they do.

Man/Woman cannot live by Prince alone.

I've been listening 2 Prince since 81' And yes it's been a musical parade since then!! He's always had his ups and downs. The few points listed above I agree with. We all r getting older, just as Prince. I'm sure his music taste has changed over and over again. 2 say his albums of late r getting boring is a critical statement. I have noticed a lot of Prince fans r at a crossroad. Continue along w/the parade, or jump ship. I witnessed Prince live in Seattle a few months ago, and he has not lost it!! In my opinion he's gained a lot. When a fan can have the type of access 2 him like we did @ the show...It's unreal!! What Prince has gained is trust in his fans. Some will stay and some will go, but the parade will keep going. And yes some of the past albums haven't been the greatest.
Prince is the type of musician that can go off the beaten path 4 a long period of time, and still keep a large amount of fans. Even the general publics ears seem 2 perk up when there is some type of mention of him. Strange but true, I feel that some day Prince will release an album that will put purple rain 2 shame. And if he dosen't oh well...I'll still b a part of the parade.

Stylecipation said:

I totally agree 100%.

I hardly ever listen to TRC anymore. However, I DO listen to recordings of the One Nite Alone tour all the time.

Go figure.

Never, Never, Never I can listen to him forever even if I'm mad at him. His work is Musically Perfect. I love him.

JonnyBoyRebel said:

Ya know, I was quite a bit younger when I got into Prince, around '85. I've found that as I get older, I'm simply harder to impress. It's not really that Prince is doing anything wrong...if anything I'm kinda glad that we're past the flashy era; I'm more interested in hearing great songwriting and production.

Honestly, I expect some more really great "real albums" down the line that get me excited all over again, but only within reason...you're only young once after all.

Dauphin said:

Hey,whatever happenned to Dauphin??

And why is this thread in the "Music: Non Prince" forum??

Yeah,I'm being silly tonight,so forgive me...lol...

who is Prince?

how the hell did this thread get pulled back up???

Novabreaker said:

YOU are sniffing purple coke my friend. Bigger than James AND Jimi? Whateva, fool.

Supernova said:

That is the most intelligent and reasonable post I have ever read by you Supernova. I have gained a new respect for you.


MY QUESTION IS THIS: WHY IS THIS POSTED IN THE NON-PRINCE MUSIC SECTION?

Prince has been boring for many years now.

I played TRC the other night and I always discover something new each time I listen 2 it

i can't honestly say his albums are gettin boring, cause as a budding guitarist everytime i break out a song in which he's rockin on his axe i still get chills...
here go the songs that still floor me musically
purple rain
she loves me 4 me
everywhere
when doves cry
the question of u
i will
the sensual everafter
dreamin about u
computer blue
i would die 4 u
the beautiful 1ns
pink cashmere
whyu wanna treat me so bad
i'm yours
live 4 love
pop life
sign o the times

I questioned his playing skills in general after listening to ONA.. I thought that this man would use the piano to the fullest instead of just added a chord melody to the song. He had a little 'twang to the title track, but that was it!?
Other than that, it was basic skills on the piano which most artists who can play can uphold on the piano. I am not asking the man to blow my mind on it, but at least give the song a little depth with some playin skills, if ure going to soley rely on the piano and vocals alone.. it did get boaring to me. Also, after listening to artists such as Ben Folds who is a MUCH better pianist than prince, it made me believe prince should add more to the tracks... Simply because for example, when ben folds plays live and such.. he really adds the punch to the tracks when he plays the piano (it was just him and the piano alone) and he could dazzle on the piano, and still sing the song beautifully.


dunno, just a thought

I actually think that the music on TRC was his best for years but I can't stomach it because that crap narration and those dreadful lyrics just make me wanna throw. I thought One Nite Alone was a pleasent little album but nothing spectacular (although I did at first, but I hardly play it at all now.) Emancipation & The Truth were the last albums of his that got heavy rotation from me.

() edit.
[This message was edited Sun Jul 27 10:44:54 PDT 2003 by Cloudbuster]

BlaqueKnight said:

Pardon me? Oh, I've got plenty of intelligent and reasonable posts on this bloody site. Along with some goof-off posts, some let's go in depth with this posts, some let's have some fun posts, etc. I'm a lot of things, but never one-dimensional.

Supernova said:

Where you been? Good to see you!