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I’ve totally gone off Prince

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A recent posting here mentions a new album by the IWNTTPOYMH – and I felt a small vestigial thrill of excitement until I remembered that I had totally gone off him.

The funk workouts, the attitude, the humour – I used to find it so beguiling. Now I find it annoying.

I saw the triple album Emancipation in a local shop for 99c, which is about 40p in proper money. Ooh! I thought – and picked it up. And then I put it down again, knowing that I would be just buying another item that I would only play once. Besides, I don’t recall anyone going bananas for it when it came out.
Anything post 2000 that I have missed? Was Musicology is the high point? The song I played no more than three times before yawning myself into lockjaw.

I’m usually very loyal and forgiving with acts that I like – but with Prince I really do think he lost it. Harsh?

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Comments

  1. A pedant writes: don’t you mean ICNTTPOYMH?

    I bought Emancipation when it came out. Fell for the hype hook, line & sinker. Still annoyed about it.

  4. Was it me who mentioned the album?

    I’m a Prince stalwart. It has been a struggle over the last ten years or so but every duff album has included at least two corkers. For the record, I highly rate Come and Chaos And Disorder. We had a discussion here on The Afterword about converting Emancipation to a double CD. We all chose different tracks but the love, overall, was tremendous.

    The two albums he released last year are 75% great, the best he’s scored in years. I do wish he’d cut out the chit chat between tracks. Plectrumelectrum is a storming album with only two dodgy moments. Art Official Age is soulful and funky. The three tracks with Andy Allo are amongst his best ever, especially Time. It benefits hugely from the input of another producer than Prince, which is also the case for the new one. However, I do wish he’d cut out the chit chat between tracks and there are two too many ballads.

    So. If you have ever been a believer, try Art Official Age slightly edited and join the Tidal free trial for HITNRUN on Monday!

  5. Question for BC
    Have you bought any other funk albums in recent years ?
    Have you listened to any funk recently ?
    Funk is upbeat party music. As we age and settle into a quieter existence it may be that funk is less often on the menu.
    So perhaps it’s just that you’ve gone off funk.
    I haven’t but I hit it in concentrated bouts.

    • I must say that I ‘ve never been big on funk – maybe that’s it.

      When I think of brilliant Prince numbers, I think of Alphabet St, Raspberry Beret, Mountains, Kiss, Take Me with U, 1999. Not too fussed about the extended funk workouts and the ballads – hell no.

  8. I like my funk – I recently recommended this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Classic-Funk-Various/dp/B00Y2XZRNQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441352282&sr=8-1&keywords=classic+funk on here – great value. But some tracks work – Chicken Fat, Shut Up & Dance – but some just come off as lame retreads.

    I have to agree with BC that despite continually trying Prince does too many lame funky jam type tracks on record these days. Acknowledged, they can though sound better live.

  10. I hate those threads where someone interrupts an enthusiastic and knowledgable discussion with a lazy “meh – never saw anything in him” comment. And this is my opportunity to do just that.

    Like my funk, me, too.

    Meh.

    • Yes! For me Prince is one of those guys who’s always telling you that he’s about to bring the funk and that things are going to get funky, and that we’re going to funk all night and you won’t believe how great the funk will be when the funk eventually gets here, but then… meh.

      That said, I do like Bobgeorge, Sign Of The Times and Anotherloverholeinyohead. That would be my Prince Three.

    • Yes, yes, yes. But the diminutive prancer doesn’t deliver. That’s Poppy’s point (and if it isn’t, it damn well should be). The funk stays resolutely in my face, I stay on up. He is a lightweight. I diskard him uterly. Irritating little pantywaist fucker.

  12. One of the most multi talented artist ever. Can do all of it any of it and delivers big time

    He can write pop hits in his sleep but prefers tooling round in his studio.
    The criticism is either he is not writing white boy PPP / Rock any more or he does those boring funk jams from people in the main who don’t seem to like funk much.
    He bores easily and and needs someone to say no but to call him a lightweight is laughable.
    Mr Saucecraft I fart in your general direction

    • ‘he can write pop hits in his sleep’ – really?

      Do you not think he keeps trying and nothing comes close to the freshness or originality of Sign O’The Times etc?

      • No I dont think he has any interest in another purl ple rain , sign of times etc
        Re pop remark I base that on what I’ve reAd of people hearing sum ruff at Paisley Park that he doesn’t release.
        I think he is a really self indulgent egotist who ain’t chasing hits no more.

        • I’d love that to be the case – but wasn’t some of his last albums an attempt at being ‘poppy’? I’ve bought (just about) everything he did (bit patchy on the last 10 years I admit), have seen him live 4 times – and the last, last year at The Roundouse was the absolute best – I just don’t buy that he could do tracks as innovative as SOTT but instead releases songs like Stare (Dirty Mind re-treads) instead.

  15. It’s a bit of a cliche that the work of certain artists after a defined period is casually written off across the board: it’s been true for Bowie (after the 70s); Van Morrison (after the 80s, mea culpa and REM (after Bill). Prince’s reputation has befallen much the same position as Van and relates to the same time-frame, so I’m pleased to have been involved in previous discussions on here – touched on by various comments above – resulting in tacit agreement that actually, some of his 90s work wasn’t half bad either. I’ve always been a vociferous cheerleader for ‘The Gold Experience’ to be acknowledged as a classic at least as strong as his 80s output.
    I would now also argue, as Tigger and others have that his post-millennial work is not the washout that the general consensus would have you believe. As ever with the little guy, quality control is never a majorly consistent factor, but when he’s good, he remains very, very good. Many hardcore fans rate ‘The Rainbow Children’ very highly, but I personally can’t get around the overtly religious themes and the irritatingly bonkers segues. I don’t see Musicology as the great/dreaded ‘return to form’ that many considered it to be at the time; there are some decent tunes on there, and the title track indeed is so much better played/heard live; but other songs promise more than they deliver. I would rate 3121 and particularly Planet Earth as much more solid in terms of songwriting and performance. The latter was Rolling Stone’s Pop Album of the Year in 2007, and it stands as a high-quality collection of fun, engaging and thoughtful songs in a variety of genres. 2010 is rather ordinary in comparison, if well-produced. And as others have said, the double whammy from last year, particularly the 3rdEyeGirl collaboration, is well worth your time and attention.

    So I would suggest that far from having lost it, Prince is what he has always been – sometimes frustratingly hit-and-miss (’twas always thus, even in his so-called Imperial Phase), gloriously capricious and yet when on form, pretty well untouchable.

    • Well put.

      I know it was 1998 but The Truth, included in Crystal Ball, is brilliant from beginning to end. I think you can make a good case for it being his best album. There are zero weak tracks. I agree that even his acknowledged imperial phase albums included at least one. It is mainly acoustic and is very soulful with a rock edge, like the better Unplugged albums. It is possible to download it by itself. Or, at least it was a few years back.

      • I have never got round to buying the Lotusflower/MPLSound double – have you, Tigger? I love the cover of Crimson & Clover, but have only heard snatches of the other songs on this collection. Worth chasing up?

        • I’ve got the 3cd set with Elixir. It’s a mixed bag. Elixir is actually a Bria Valente album written, produced etc by Prince. I’ve played it once and have no plans to play it again. The shocking thing about Elixir is that the tracks are so same year. MPL Sound is Prince in a cul-de-sac, getting nowhere, so giving up and just going through the motions but not bad for all of that. Lotusflower is worth paying the £6 that the 3 disc set currently costs. It has a high hit rate on the quality counter for at least half of it, with bags of variety and the odd track (I’m thinking Colonized Mind and Crimson and Clover) is really good.

  16. Well, I had written the bugger off about 20 years back, but I saw the second Birmingham show last year and he was absolutely phenomenal. I danced my socks off from start to finish. I must admit I never play funk records at home but when you’re there live it is perfectly fine.

  19. I saw Prince just the once around about Lovesexy and it was one of the best gigs I’ve been to. In that context, the funky side is great – and I loved it. Like being in a jazz club (nice) listening to a 40 minute freeform thing loosely based around one groove. That can be really enjoyable – but playing it at home or in the car…well…

  20. @tiggerlion
    Had heard Time after all

    Second last track on plectrum. Not as good as others to my mind and yes the. Linking. Spoken stuff really irritating

    Been loving the funk stretch outs on the earlier news album.

    Superb bass on it.

    • Are you sure? It isn’t on Plectrumelectrum but is the second to last track on Art Official Age. For proper funk, it’s the bass that counts. You can hear him strap his bass on and bring the funk. It’s fantastic for all its six and three quarter minutes. Andy Allo sings brilliantly and is assertive enough to put Prince in his place. Very sexy.

  21. I saw the first Prince gig in Birmingham last year. Phenomenal and eye wateringly expensive…….

    I was so impressed I promptly logged on as soon as I got home and bought more tickets for the second show.

    Also eye wateringly expensive, also astoundingly good……

    • After seeing him live two nights in a row in the 80s, I stopped going to gigs for years.
      I didn’t want to be disappointed in other artists’ failure to be Prince…those two gigs were so mindblowingly great.
      Obviously I started going to gigs again after a while, but most bands/artists don’t even come close to what that little genius does on a stage.
      As for his albums, I can’t think of anyone who’s been able to make consistantly great albums, especially for that many years, so I’m happy with the few great tracks that he still records and make my own playlists discarding the duff tracks. It would be a bigger problem if we still had to play all of our music on vinyl, skipping tracks manually and turning the records over…

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