Purple Rain: The Official Prince Thread.

[evenslow]

have the Prince posers ever listened to Sign o the Times?

[Jorge]

No but I would like to.

[evenslow]

No but I would like to.

Think you would like it quite a bit

[Strat]

sign of the times is fantastic. always loved that one.

However, yes, he has released so much goddamn music, and hoarded even more, that i was never 100 invested. I loved his classic albums and various singles throughout the laste 90's to current. What the hell did i love about cream as an 11 year old boy? HIlarious. I was a slave to the groove. Always.

Though ive dug into Around the world in a day and that is such a fantastic album.

[Kevin Davis]

I'm not overly familiar with Prince's catalog, apart from a short list of hits that have never really done much for me, so I've watched a handful of the videos that have made the rounds this week and I gotta admit -- I actually find his guitar playing kind of obnoxious. This "just watch him play man, you think he's just this pop star but then you find out he actually plays like 556 instruments and OMG his guitar playing will BLOW YOU AWAY!!" business just doesn't resonate with me at all. I've seen virtuoso guitar players before -- at some point you stopped being "wowed" by people moving their fingers fast on a fretboard. What are some good examples of his playing that aren't just him shredding over a funk vamp?

[evenslow]

Though ive dug into Around the world in a day and that is such a fantastic album.

Bizarre follow-up to Purple Rain but ballsy in retrospect. Raspberry Beret and Pop Life are worth the money alone.

[Strat]

Though ive dug into Around the world in a day and that is such a fantastic album.

Bizarre follow-up to Purple Rain but ballsy in retrospect. Raspberry Beret and Pop Life are worth the money alone.

The Ladder and Paisely Park, and Raspberry Beret

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

sign of the times is fantastic. always loved that one.

However, yes, he has released so much goddamn music, and hoarded even more, that i was never 100 invested. I loved his classic albums and various singles throughout the laste 90's to current. What the hell did i love about cream as an 11 year old boy? HIlarious. I was a slave to the groove. Always.

Though ive dug into Around the world in a day and that is such a fantastic album.

Damn, I can remember hearing "Little Red Corvette" when it was brand new, sitting in the backseat, amazed by the over-the-top catchiness. I bought the "Raspberry Beret" single when it was new. But by the time he had gotten to "Cream" and all that stuff, I had enough of him. The extreme sexual aspect of it all was really lame, IMO. Those songs were uncomfortable to hear around just about anybody. Instant channel-changers by default. And as popular as those songs were at the time, they disappeared from sight just as fast as they had arrived. Kind of like "Let's Talk About Sex".

And it probably would have helped if he had revealed the reason for changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol then, not 10 years later. Everyone thought he was fucking retarded.

[Jorge]

I'm not overly familiar with Prince's catalog, apart from a short list of hits that have never really done much for me, so I've watched a handful of the videos that have made the rounds this week and I gotta admit -- I actually find his guitar playing kind of obnoxious. This "just watch him play man, you think he's just this pop star but then you find out he actually plays like 556 instruments and OMG his guitar playing will BLOW YOU AWAY!!" business just doesn't resonate with me at all. I've seen virtuoso guitar players before -- at some point you stopped being "wowed" by people moving their fingers fast on a fretboard. What are some good examples of his playing that aren't just him shredding over a funk vamp?

I think there's a tremendous amount of soul and melodicism in his solos, not just straight-up shredding.

[Kevin Davis]

I'm not overly familiar with Prince's catalog, apart from a short list of hits that have never really done much for me, so I've watched a handful of the videos that have made the rounds this week and I gotta admit -- I actually find his guitar playing kind of obnoxious. This "just watch him play man, you think he's just this pop star but then you find out he actually plays like 556 instruments and OMG his guitar playing will BLOW YOU AWAY!!" business just doesn't resonate with me at all. I've seen virtuoso guitar players before -- at some point you stopped being "wowed" by people moving their fingers fast on a fretboard. What are some good examples of his playing that aren't just him shredding over a funk vamp?

I think there's a tremendous amount of soul and melodicism in his solos, not just straight-up shredding.

None that I've heard. Any examples?

[evenslow]

I'm not overly familiar with Prince's catalog, apart from a short list of hits that have never really done much for me, so I've watched a handful of the videos that have made the rounds this week and I gotta admit -- I actually find his guitar playing kind of obnoxious. This "just watch him play man, you think he's just this pop star but then you find out he actually plays like 556 instruments and OMG his guitar playing will BLOW YOU AWAY!!" business just doesn't resonate with me at all. I've seen virtuoso guitar players before -- at some point you stopped being "wowed" by people moving their fingers fast on a fretboard. What are some good examples of his playing that aren't just him shredding over a funk vamp?

"This thing is totally obnoxious and I don't respond to it now show me good examples."

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

I'm not overly familiar with Prince's catalog, apart from a short list of hits that have never really done much for me, so I've watched a handful of the videos that have made the rounds this week and I gotta admit -- I actually find his guitar playing kind of obnoxious. This "just watch him play man, you think he's just this pop star but then you find out he actually plays like 556 instruments and OMG his guitar playing will BLOW YOU AWAY!!" business just doesn't resonate with me at all. I've seen virtuoso guitar players before -- at some point you stopped being "wowed" by people moving their fingers fast on a fretboard. What are some good examples of his playing that aren't just him shredding over a funk vamp?

He has his moments, much like Jimi Hendrix. 95% of the live stuff that Hendrix recorded professionally was pretty subpar by his standards, and we are stuck with it now. He had really bad luck in that department. With Prince, I have seen things where I was like HOLY FUCK HE'S INCREDIBLE, and other things that were just flat out mediocre and obnoxious.

[Kevin Davis]

I'm not overly familiar with Prince's catalog, apart from a short list of hits that have never really done much for me, so I've watched a handful of the videos that have made the rounds this week and I gotta admit -- I actually find his guitar playing kind of obnoxious. This "just watch him play man, you think he's just this pop star but then you find out he actually plays like 556 instruments and OMG his guitar playing will BLOW YOU AWAY!!" business just doesn't resonate with me at all. I've seen virtuoso guitar players before -- at some point you stopped being "wowed" by people moving their fingers fast on a fretboard. What are some good examples of his playing that aren't just him shredding over a funk vamp?

"This thing is totally obnoxious and I don't respond to it now show me good examples."

"I have had limited exposure to his music, but my experience with it has been pretty much the exact opposite of what everyone is saying about it. Is there a side to it that's different than what I've seen?"

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

I'm not overly familiar with Prince's catalog, apart from a short list of hits that have never really done much for me, so I've watched a handful of the videos that have made the rounds this week and I gotta admit -- I actually find his guitar playing kind of obnoxious. This "just watch him play man, you think he's just this pop star but then you find out he actually plays like 556 instruments and OMG his guitar playing will BLOW YOU AWAY!!" business just doesn't resonate with me at all. I've seen virtuoso guitar players before -- at some point you stopped being "wowed" by people moving their fingers fast on a fretboard. What are some good examples of his playing that aren't just him shredding over a funk vamp?

"This thing is totally obnoxious and I don't respond to it now show me good examples."

"I have had limited exposure to his music, but my experience with it has been pretty much the exact opposite of what everyone is saying about it. What am I missing?"

It is kind of underwhelming, but you have to think of him as the ultimate musical pimp...the musical Shaft. He was a bad ass motherfucker who could do anything, and that went a long way from the very beginning. He was one of those people like Neil Young who would deliberately go the opposite direction of where everyone wanted him to go, and was totally uncompromising. He wouldn't sing on "We Are The World" because he thought it was a shit song. That took balls! And like I said above, he had his moments, and deliberately withheld a lot of his best stuff. That's why he is someone that I always admired from afar. His musical legacy is way too complicated to get into unless you are way into that kind of stuff...kind of like Frank Zappa. It's impossible to find a starting point, there is a lot of crap to sift through, etc....

[evenslow]

I'm not overly familiar with Prince's catalog, apart from a short list of hits that have never really done much for me, so I've watched a handful of the videos that have made the rounds this week and I gotta admit -- I actually find his guitar playing kind of obnoxious. This "just watch him play man, you think he's just this pop star but then you find out he actually plays like 556 instruments and OMG his guitar playing will BLOW YOU AWAY!!" business just doesn't resonate with me at all. I've seen virtuoso guitar players before -- at some point you stopped being "wowed" by people moving their fingers fast on a fretboard. What are some good examples of his playing that aren't just him shredding over a funk vamp?

I think there's a tremendous amount of soul and melodicism in his solos, not just straight-up shredding.

None that I've heard. Any examples?

Oh I don't know how about *super sarcastic voice* PURPLE RAIN.

But seriously start with that really obvious one. The buildup to the super melodic lick he repeats through the end of the song with the "Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoo" refrain.

How about the exquisite pop solo on I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man? If u don't like that how about his work with strings on Take Me With U or Raspberry Beret? Or his drum machine programming on The Beautiful Ones? Or his use of synthesizers throughout Dirty Mind (in the context of a 1980 "black artist" pushing all kinds of boundaries).

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

"I have had limited exposure to his music, but my experience with it has been pretty much the exact opposite of what everyone is saying about it. Is there a side to it that's different than what I've seen?"

Well, he has performed both "Even Flow" and "Creep" in concert, if it means anything.

[Strat]

I dont view him as a shredder. The guitar is a literal extension of his being and it shows with every note/lick/progression he plays.

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

I dont view him as a shredder. The guitar is a literal extension of his being and it shows with every note/lick/progression he plays.

As much as I am "not into" him, I can't think of another artist where I have had more HOLY FUCK moments by random things that I have seen throughout the years. Even though a lot of his stuff doesn't interest me, those moments were enough for me to declare him the king of pimps. They are probably all lost to time now.

[evenslow]

I'm not overly familiar with Prince's catalog, apart from a short list of hits that have never really done much for me, so I've watched a handful of the videos that have made the rounds this week and I gotta admit -- I actually find his guitar playing kind of obnoxious. This "just watch him play man, you think he's just this pop star but then you find out he actually plays like 556 instruments and OMG his guitar playing will BLOW YOU AWAY!!" business just doesn't resonate with me at all. I've seen virtuoso guitar players before -- at some point you stopped being "wowed" by people moving their fingers fast on a fretboard. What are some good examples of his playing that aren't just him shredding over a funk vamp?

"This thing is totally obnoxious and I don't respond to it now show me good examples."

"I have had limited exposure to his music, but my experience with it has been pretty much the exact opposite of what everyone is saying about it. What am I missing?"

His musical legacy is way too complicated to get into unless you are way into that kind of stuff...kind of like Frank Zappa. It's impossible to find a starting point, there is a lot of crap to sift through, etc....

Demonstrably untrue. Just stick to the 80s for starters. Listen to the following run:
Dirty Mind
1999
Purple Rain
Around the World in a Day
Parade
Sign o the Times

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

I'm not overly familiar with Prince's catalog, apart from a short list of hits that have never really done much for me, so I've watched a handful of the videos that have made the rounds this week and I gotta admit -- I actually find his guitar playing kind of obnoxious. This "just watch him play man, you think he's just this pop star but then you find out he actually plays like 556 instruments and OMG his guitar playing will BLOW YOU AWAY!!" business just doesn't resonate with me at all. I've seen virtuoso guitar players before -- at some point you stopped being "wowed" by people moving their fingers fast on a fretboard. What are some good examples of his playing that aren't just him shredding over a funk vamp?

"This thing is totally obnoxious and I don't respond to it now show me good examples."

"I have had limited exposure to his music, but my experience with it has been pretty much the exact opposite of what everyone is saying about it. What am I missing?"

His musical legacy is way too complicated to get into unless you are way into that kind of stuff...kind of like Frank Zappa. It's impossible to find a starting point, there is a lot of crap to sift through, etc....

Demonstrably untrue. Just stick to the 80s for starters. Listen to the following run:
Dirty Mind
1999
Purple Rain
Around the World in a Day
Parade
Sign o the Times

Well you have to add piles and piles of unreleased/bootlegged songs to that, the songs that were withheld and released much later, tons of b-sides, the concert videos...I said "musical legacy" not "basic discography".