Was Prince actually a bit shit?

version

Well-known member
I've always liked the odd tune, but I've never gotten into a full album and the way some people talk about him left me expecting a lot more. I like songs like Sign O' the Times, Head, Erotic City, Partyman and Black Sweat, but Purple Rain and a bunch of the other stuff is just awful.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
'Purple Rain' works loads better if you mentally insert a 'B' at the start of the second word.
 

luka

Well-known member
A sense that he is playing at music, that it's a kind of pretending and dressing up, only ever skin deep.
 

version

Well-known member
There's just something lacking, it all feels a bit thin and nothing really sticks or makes a strong impression.
 

luka

Well-known member
Something you get with Prince to an unusual, hypertrophic degree is the sense of a very intensely lived fantasy life. This is the source of his magnetism. He inhabited that other world.
 

luka

Well-known member
"I came," she said, "hoping you could talk me out of a fantasy."
"Cherish it!" cried Hilarius, fiercely. "What else do any of you have? Hold it tightly by its little tentacle, don't let the Freudians coax it away or the pharmacists poison it out of you. Whatever it is, hold it dear, for when you lose it you go over by that much to the others. You begin to cease to be."
 

version

Well-known member
Yeah, he seems to be more powerful as a character and personality than as a musician, although he was a brilliant guitarist.
 

version

Well-known member
"I came," she said, "hoping you could talk me out of a fantasy."
"Cherish it!" cried Hilarius, fiercely. "What else do any of you have? Hold it tightly by its little tentacle, don't let the Freudians coax it away or the pharmacists poison it out of you. Whatever it is, hold it dear, for when you lose it you go over by that much to the others. You begin to cease to be."

Are you rereading Lot 49 or just znore's post on it?
 

luka

Well-known member
That quote was in my head from rereading the essay yesterday. I'm in the zone,a little over 400 pages in.
 

luka

Well-known member
Found a bit of flaked off, saturated sugar cube. Ate it. Sat on this hill looking over the river valley reading.
 

version

Well-known member
I think I'm gonna reread it soon. I've been going through mountains of papers and whatnot on it for ages and rereading sections, but wanna do the whole thing again.
 

pattycakes_

Can turn naughty
It's his world as much as his music that you're buying into.

Guy had autistic levels of creative freedom. But fortunately also the work ethic to go with it. Ofc there's fluff, but the highs are high. I Wanna Be Your Lover is so on point. Amazing piece of pop writing but with all kinds of shit tucked away in there to make it weird and different to other stuff going on at that time. The instrumental at the end.... And his abilities to perform, dance & sing made him at his peak, one of the all time greats. Saw him live twice. First time at the O2 on shrooms lol with maceo parker. Did a long set and an amazing and long encore. Some bits were so funky it hurt. And then it rained purple at the end. One of my most memorable gigs easily. And this was in the 00s. 2nd time I saw him he was in decline but still a powerhouse.
 

luka

Well-known member
I'm looking forward to reading about it. The historical background. The Hereros. The Kyrghiz.
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Some of his stuffs amazing

Also might be overreaching here but didn't he effectively give birth to all that amazing 80s electro soul? I know jam and Lewis were his protégés

I've never been that into his music, it wasn't sentimental enough for me - that's why I always preferred MJ, if that's the battle that needs to be had. Of course with Mj that sentimentality often congealed into schmaltz.

I like what Luka says about the mimicking, posturing. The arrfulness, the irony.
 
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