Graffiti bridge is literally the 80s end point. Has many 86 leftovers re recorded. After that he waved goodbye to that version of prince. Lovesexy has an over determined sense of optimism and joy and rebirth. But, it also has alphabet st, glam slam, I wish u heaven, Anna Stesia and when 2 r in love. It is true that after sott, his editing got worse (though the 90s were the decade of overlong albums in fairness), his vision for albums got less interesting (when when there were songs in the 80s not so great, they still felt part of something bigger,or were just interesting in some way).
― candyman, Saturday, 3 October 2020 18:23 (three years ago) link
The black album is actually much better than ppl give it credit for. Too funky, as the man himself might say.
― candyman, Saturday, 3 October 2020 18:24 (three years ago) link
That live Glamorous Life percussion is exciting and impressive.
― brotherlovesdub, Saturday, 3 October 2020 18:24 (three years ago) link
Sheilas solos in the sott movie and lovesexy 88 live shows are proof she was a goddess both in front of and behind the drums
― candyman, Saturday, 3 October 2020 18:25 (three years ago) link
Thing most irritating about lovesexy isthat it really makes no sense outside of itself. It's such a total hermetic prince universe album that I can see why ppl didnt quite get it.
― candyman, Saturday, 3 October 2020 18:27 (three years ago) link
Releasing it as a single track was an incredible act of self-sabotage; I can't understand how any WB executive let him do that.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Saturday, 3 October 2020 18:30 (three years ago) link
Maybe in 88 it didn't matter as much as vinyl and tapes were still popular formats
― candyman, Saturday, 3 October 2020 18:41 (three years ago) link
Exactly. I bought it the week of its release on tape and never had reason to think about the track thing until upgrading to cd in the mid nineties
― and i can almost smell your PG Tips (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 3 October 2020 19:26 (three years ago) link
I had just gotten my first CD player a couple of months before and I had no problem with it. Go figure!
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 3 October 2020 20:14 (three years ago) link
Genius percussionist, all round awesome musician, but as a drummer she feels stiff and awkward to me.
― assert (MatthewK), Saturday, 3 October 2020 20:27 (three years ago) link
You guys are nuts.
At the same time, it is a tragedy that so many prince drummers were subordinate to the drum machine on stage. I blame prince being anal about replicating the records/thinking he was being esp novel/forward thinking.
― candyman, Saturday, 3 October 2020 20:31 (three years ago) link
How do y'all rate Prince as a drummer? To me it's the instrument on which he's least interesting? Not bad, just rote. As opposed to, Stevie Wonder, whom I'd rate equally as keyboardist and drummer.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 3 October 2020 20:55 (three years ago) link
I love the four song opening salvo on Parade - P on drums, one continuous take
― assert (MatthewK), Saturday, 3 October 2020 21:08 (three years ago) link
and "Tambourine," of course.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 3 October 2020 21:11 (three years ago) link
prince’s drumming is what makes “the cross” run fast
he’s still very good at them though
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Saturday, 3 October 2020 22:19 (three years ago) link
yeah I always feel mildly anxious when "The Cross" goes too fast
― assert (MatthewK), Saturday, 3 October 2020 22:31 (three years ago) link
He's kinda sloppy as a drummer when he tries to get fancy. I saw him in a club once and for some reason he played bass on "Kiss," strumming an awesomely muddy approximation of the chords.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 3 October 2020 22:34 (three years ago) link
He prob doesn't play with a click track.
I like him as a drummer and wish he played more. I love him on parade, tambourine, soft and wet. Hes no technician but he can def come up with funky, unusual stuff.
― candyman, Saturday, 3 October 2020 22:38 (three years ago) link
How do y'all rate Prince as a drummer? To me it's the instrument on which he's least interesting? Not bad, just rote.
Least interesting = least interested, probably. His favouring the Linn probably speaks to his relative lack of interest in drums as an instrument or an element of composition / improvisation. He could play real drums well enough to lay down a track & then do all the stuff that actually engaged him over the top, and he learnt one machine well enough to do the same. Done, move on.
Similarly, he lets Sheila thrive when she's doing fun percussion stuff that surprises him above the regular beat, which he doesn't care about?
― erratic wolf angular guitarist (sic), Saturday, 3 October 2020 22:39 (three years ago) link
I think he's actually an awesome, totally original drum machine programmer. Like Dorothy Parker, or that Time song I referenced, 777-9311?Just nuts.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 3 October 2020 22:40 (three years ago) link
There are all these pop stars that play drums like they really know how, like Bieber or Bruno Mars or the guy from Panic at the Disco. But Prince plays like a guy who plays well for someone who lists drums last on their resume.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 3 October 2020 22:42 (three years ago) link
iirc according to susan rogers he did not play with a click track, correct
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Saturday, 3 October 2020 22:46 (three years ago) link
yeah he's great on the Linn obv! but he stuck to that one machine - it didn't spark interest in picking up newer drum machines and learning what he could do with them
(never owned anything post-80s, but my impression is that NPG onward is predominantly live drums, and iirc Batman sounds likely programmed on computer or hardware sampler, rather than a current drum machine?)
― erratic wolf angular guitarist (sic), Saturday, 3 October 2020 22:54 (three years ago) link
Wait, none of you have seen or heard him on the sott tour playing drums on beautiful night? Not saying goes mitch Mitchell or anything but hes pretty famn good.
― candyman, Saturday, 3 October 2020 22:56 (three years ago) link
*not saying hes
― candyman, Saturday, 3 October 2020 22:57 (three years ago) link
(I'm assuming you all like mitch Mitchell as much as me)On this subject, is it me or is Morris day a really leaden drummer? Going in ckoreen bacon skin and the alt version of international lover
― candyman, Saturday, 3 October 2020 22:58 (three years ago) link
the drums on “lady cab driver” sound live and are pretty sick
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Saturday, 3 October 2020 23:02 (three years ago) link
i think the proper narrative to understanding prince is seeing people argue about him online
/sincere post
― ILX’s bad boy (D-40), Saturday, 3 October 2020 23:02 (three years ago) link
Yes, LCD is a good call
― candyman, Saturday, 3 October 2020 23:04 (three years ago) link
I actually don't know if sheila e being a major crush for me as a teenager is making me overrate her as a drummer but I'm going to say no
― candyman, Saturday, 3 October 2020 23:05 (three years ago) link
Batman is largely done using preset sounds on the Roland D-50 iirc which was a very popular kinda hybrid sampler-synth
― and i can almost smell your PG Tips (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 3 October 2020 23:44 (three years ago) link
👍🎹🥁
― erratic wolf angular guitarist (sic), Sunday, 4 October 2020 00:39 (three years ago) link
I wish he did more songs like alphabet street actually. Prince in ultra sparse mode is usually incredible.
― candyman, Sunday, 4 October 2020 05:46 (three years ago) link
yeah he's great on the Linn obv! but he stuck to that one machine
Although, by 1987 and Sign o' the Times he was often using his Fairlight to program his backbeats. Certainly on the title track.
― Soz (Not Soz) (Vast Halo), Sunday, 4 October 2020 10:25 (three years ago) link
Shame he never found a new machine after the 80s ended.
― candyman, Sunday, 4 October 2020 11:47 (three years ago) link
Lots of Fairlight on Parade and SOTT.
― SQUIRREL MEAT!! (Capitaine Jay Vee), Sunday, 4 October 2020 13:06 (three years ago) link
a lot of people think of "slow love" as the worst song on here but from an arrangement perspective it's one of the best. so many gorgeous things happening at once by the end. i didn't get a chance to talk about the remaster (which is necessary and valuable just because it replaces the old digital version, which had remastered singles sitting alongside unremastered album tracks, disjointed and horrible, the digital music revolution wasn't worth it, etc.) but it in particular benefits from the raised detail
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Sunday, 4 October 2020 15:53 (three years ago) link
Slow love is wondrous. So lovely and detailed. Even his vocal sounding a boy detached seems to make it better.
― candyman, Sunday, 4 October 2020 17:14 (three years ago) link
Yeah it’s the zenith of that dreamy orchestral style he was shooting for on Parade
― assert (MatthewK), Sunday, 4 October 2020 21:00 (three years ago) link
Yep, Slow Love is pure chills-down-the-spine soul. One of the best songs on the album
― J. Sam, Sunday, 4 October 2020 21:10 (three years ago) link
'Yeah it’s the zenith of that dreamy orchestral style he was shooting for on Parade'
check out the 86 version of old friends for sale. unbelievable that he never released it (only the weaker, 90s re-recording made it out)
― candyman, Sunday, 4 October 2020 22:09 (three years ago) link
a lot of the outtakes have really generic late 80s production/sounds that are quite annoying i find. cocoa boys has a cool u got the look type of synth running through it, but otherwise sounds a bit sterile. and that version of i need a man, is just monotonous, though i guess it has the novelty of hearing prince appearing to sing to another man. i hate soul psychodelicide, its the kind of thing thats cool live, but on record, gets repetitive. id rather they put other outtakes on here instead. most of prince's instrumentals kinda suck (though and that says what isnt bad).
― candyman, Sunday, 4 October 2020 22:11 (three years ago) link
still, just having all my dreams here, is almost worth the price of the whole thing.
― candyman, Sunday, 4 October 2020 22:12 (three years ago) link
prefer an allusion to soul psychedelicide in "Joy in Repetition."
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 4 October 2020 22:23 (three years ago) link
Cocoa boys is like a less good battle of the bands type of joy in repetition narrative song. I found myself giving zero fucks about the story in it
― candyman, Sunday, 4 October 2020 22:35 (three years ago) link
One thing about several of these songs is they have a lot more extended sections compared to anything he released after 1999. Sometimes, I don't really need all that, though I so love the 12" version of wonderful day (a rare prince song where the snares aren't all on the bloody 2 and 4 for once) and I actually think one of the best things on here is the shep remix of strange relationship, to my surprise. He really made it a bit special.
― candyman, Sunday, 4 October 2020 22:38 (three years ago) link
The edit of crystal ball really was a good idea too. Well done prince. Makes the song much more focused and teasing rather than 'where TFare they going with this' as with the long version
― candyman, Sunday, 4 October 2020 22:40 (three years ago) link
Yeah, I noticed most of the outtakes, as thrilling as they are, went on a minutes more than necessary at least (e.g. " “Adonis and Bathsheba" "Walkin' in Glory").
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 4 October 2020 22:42 (three years ago) link
Yeah, prince usually kept things to the point, or in my view, was better when doing that (by and large), so many of these songs, even all my dreams I hate to say, could use an edit. Some of the extended sections are either unnecessary or just a bit indulgent. Fun for the band I'm sure, but that's it. I think I've overdosed on prince with this set. Starting to get irritated with prince-isms. Need to escape the oppressive all engulfing nature of the super deluxe edition bulky mass
― candyman, Sunday, 4 October 2020 22:49 (three years ago) link
Fantastic review, Brad.
Lovesexy was my first Prince LP, and many days it remains my favourite.
― comorbidities in the BK lounge (stevie), Monday, 5 October 2020 09:59 (three years ago) link