It's definitely not as though I'm unable to recognise Prince's skill on the guitar, same with SRV or Van Halen, but I don't think of technical ability as holding much great value in and of itself and I tend to think of guitar playing as intrinsically tied in with the music it serves.
I guess I also find it personally important to push against the idea that you can have a "well-rounded" musical appreciation, that you can see the worth in almost everything. I think that's an abrogation of personal taste, a refusal to engage with your own subjective aesthetic. The things I like are great, everything else is garbage.
Re: Purple Rain: The Official Prince Thread.
Posted: Wed April 27, 2016 11:33 pm
by Jorge
Birds in Hell wrote:I listened to the album on the way to, and then again on the way home from, work today.
AMAZING.
You know how I said there was I couple of tracks I didn't quite connect with yet?
Forget I said that, this album is spectacularly brilliant.
If Backspacer was a woman, I'd want to be a polygamist.
I have NO criticism. None.
Re: Purple Rain: The Official Prince Thread.
Posted: Wed April 27, 2016 11:36 pm
by Self
Birds in Hell wrote:I guess I also find it personally important to push against the idea that you can have a "well-rounded" musical appreciation, that you can see the worth in almost everything. I think that's an abrogation of personal taste, a refusal to engage with your own subjective aesthetic. The things I like are great, everything else is garbage.
That's where we differ. A good song can be found anywhere if you're willing to give it a chance.
Re: Purple Rain: The Official Prince Thread.
Posted: Wed April 27, 2016 11:36 pm
by Birds in Hell
We all go a little mad sometimes.
Re: Purple Rain: The Official Prince Thread.
Posted: Wed April 27, 2016 11:37 pm
by Birds in Hell
Self wrote:
Birds in Hell wrote:I guess I also find it personally important to push against the idea that you can have a "well-rounded" musical appreciation, that you can see the worth in almost everything. I think that's an abrogation of personal taste, a refusal to engage with your own subjective aesthetic. The things I like are great, everything else is garbage.
That's where we differ. A good song can be found anywhere if you're willing to give it a chance.
Perhaps I've given the wrong impression but I definitely wouldn't disagree with you there.
Re: Purple Rain: The Official Prince Thread.
Posted: Wed April 27, 2016 11:38 pm
by Jorge
Birds in Hell wrote:We all go a little mad sometimes.
Sometimes it snows in April.
Re: Purple Rain: The Official Prince Thread.
Posted: Thu April 28, 2016 12:33 am
by McParadigm
I'm sort of team spenno here, in that I think there are limitations on your ability to appreciate the playing of a musician who is making music you don't enjoy. The aforementioned SRV is a great example for me. Can I recognize that the playing is technically great? Absolutely. Can I identify some surfacy qualities that make it great? Sure. Can I effectively discuss or even admire what makes it stand out against contemporary players in the same format, the way I can when comparing (for example) George Harrison's playing and Paul McCartney's? No. There is a larger aesthetic understanding and a resulting amount of exposure that comes from admiration, which allows you a deeper and far richer ability to admire what you are hearing.
Re: Purple Rain: The Official Prince Thread.
Posted: Thu April 28, 2016 12:39 am
by McParadigm
I also think Dave Gilmour spent a lot of his most famous years as a very capable easy listening snoozeball, whose work was given worth by a combination of a great keyboard player and a songwriter with vitriol.
And also that not liking the Rolling Stones is a surefire route to having absolutely no worth as a human being.
Re: Purple Rain: The Official Prince Thread.
Posted: Thu April 28, 2016 12:41 am
by Strat
You can think Dave Gilmour is a better guitar player because he just tickles your fancy in that sweet spot a little more, but you would be wrong and you should feel bad. Prince is all around sexy and hits you in all your sweet spots before you even know whats happening.
Technical proficiency aside, Prince is the correct answer.
Re: Purple Rain: The Official Prince Thread.
Posted: Thu April 28, 2016 12:50 am
by surfndestroy
Who was the better artist, Bowie or Prince?
Re: Purple Rain: The Official Prince Thread.
Posted: Thu April 28, 2016 12:58 am
by Jorge
McParadigm wrote:And also that not liking the Rolling Stones is a surefire route to having absolutely no worth as a human being.
Whatever Dad!!!
Re: Purple Rain: The Official Prince Thread.
Posted: Thu April 28, 2016 1:02 am
by McParadigm
theplatypus wrote:
McParadigm wrote:And also that not liking the Rolling Stones is a surefire route to having absolutely no worth as a human being.
Whatever Dad!!!
go make a blogsite page about it you ungrateful shit
Re: Purple Rain: The Official Prince Thread.
Posted: Thu April 28, 2016 1:21 am
by bada
Re: Purple Rain: The Official Prince Thread.
Posted: Thu April 28, 2016 1:35 am
by zeb
So Prince is an objectively better guitarist than Gilmour?
Re: Purple Rain: The Official Prince Thread.
Posted: Thu April 28, 2016 1:45 am
by LoathedVermin72
Not this shit again
Re: Purple Rain: The Official Prince Thread.
Posted: Thu April 28, 2016 1:58 am
by zeb
Why is that conversation such a trigger for you, LoathedVermin72?
Re: Purple Rain: The Official Prince Thread.
Posted: Thu April 28, 2016 2:00 am
by Birds in Hell
The last two pages have essentially been about this shit.
Re: Purple Rain: The Official Prince Thread.
Posted: Thu April 28, 2016 2:05 am
by LoathedVermin72
Re: Purple Rain: The Official Prince Thread.
Posted: Thu April 28, 2016 2:07 am
by Wendy Carlos's Twin
I'm a Prince poser. I've always admired him from afar and I have his greatest hits CD.
It is also worth noting that Prince recorded non-stop for 40 years and only released about 5% of what he recorded, some of it the worst material he could have possibly included because he hated his record company with a passion. He was one of those people like Bob Dylan and Neil Young who deliberately hoarded his best shit.
Re: Purple Rain: The Official Prince Thread.
Posted: Thu April 28, 2016 2:08 am
by Jorge
Wendy Carlos's Twin wrote:I'm a Prince poser. I've always admired him from afar and I have his greatest hits CD.
Same. The only Prince albums I own are the Ultimate Prince collection and Purple Rain.
