2. "RE: 1999 is 30 years old today" In response to Reply # 1
>>Ultimately, the only one in the Prince canon that matters > > > >?
Its the one that represents the pinnacle of his skills as pure Prince mainly, ultimate bomb culture and religion in synth fried rock funk...no W&L, no old school James Brown or soulful sax, no paisley park bullshit etc..its him in his home studio doing his one man band thing (not completely but not with so many others being used as in future releases) to a T.
3. "i can agree to this." In response to Reply # 2
this is Prince at his apex as a one man band
NO! LIST Tom Petty M J Zeppelin Springsteen Neil Young Eagles Ray Charles Madonna Chuck Berry South Park TV Songs Justin Timberlake "Food Glorious Food" "Twilight Zone" theme "A Boy Named Sue" "Night Moves" "The Situation" "Superbowl Shuffle"
4. "RE: 1999 is 30 years old today" In response to Reply # 2
>>>Ultimately, the only one in the Prince canon that matters >> >> >> >>? > > >Its the one that represents the pinnacle of his skills as pure >Prince mainly, ultimate bomb culture and religion in synth >fried rock funk...no W&L, no old school James Brown or soulful >sax, no paisley park bullshit etc..its him in his home studio >doing his one man band thing (not completely but not with so >many others being used as in future releases) to a T.
I see your vision.....
GOAT of his era......long live Prince.....God is alive....
6. "I think Dirty Mind achieves the same thing better..." In response to Reply # 2 Sat Oct-27-12 05:00 PM by Jakob Hellberg
>>>Ultimately, the only one in the Prince canon that matters >> >> >> >>? > > >Its the one that represents the pinnacle of his skills as pure >Prince mainly, ultimate bomb culture and religion in synth >fried rock funk...no W&L, no old school James Brown or soulful >sax, no paisley park bullshit etc..its him in his home studio >doing his one man band thing (not completely but not with so >many others being used as in future releases) to a T.
Not necessarily saying it's a better album (I think so though) but it fits your description just as well and without any of the blatant 80's MTv-crossover that SOME songs on "1999" has. To be fair, the production on "Dirty Mind" is downstripped, almost lo-fi demo type stuff whereas "1999" is the 80's machine-park in full effect so I guess it's mostly a matter of preference... "1999" is more radical in terms of *sound4* I guess even if I could counter that as well, again:preferences and aesthetics...
10. "RE: I think Dirty Mind achieves the same thing better..." In response to Reply # 6
>Not necessarily saying it's a better album (I think so though) >but it fits your description just as well and without any of >the blatant 80's MTv-crossover that SOME songs on "1999" has. >To be fair, the production on "Dirty Mind" is downstripped, >almost lo-fi demo type stuff whereas "1999" is the 80's >machine-park in full effect so I guess it's mostly a matter of >preference... "1999" is more radical in terms of *sound4* I >guess even if I could counter that as well, again:preferences >and aesthetics...
i kinda like to think that in Nov 82 he actually DEFINED that sound.
i mean who was really truly freaking linn and oberheim ish like him?
sure herbie was the first to get the stuff on Mr Hands....
but "freak it"---
and yeah Thriller had the same stuff and STILL in my opinion
he defined electric pop.
NO! LIST Tom Petty M J Zeppelin Springsteen Neil Young Eagles Ray Charles Madonna Chuck Berry South Park TV Songs Justin Timberlake "Food Glorious Food" "Twilight Zone" theme "A Boy Named Sue" "Night Moves" "The Situation" "Superbowl Shuffle"
13. "RE: I think Dirty Mind achieves the same thing better..." In response to Reply # 10
>i kinda like to think that in Nov 82 he actually DEFINED that >sound.
agreed
>i mean who was really truly freaking linn and oberheim ish >like him?
no one. The closest was Todd Rundgren -- who I think is one of Prince's secret muses.
Kashif was close as well, I credit him with really tuning the ears of R&B listeners to an all-synth and keyboard set up.
Ditto for the System on a lower level (they were actually all-Oberheim down to the socks, with the drum kits and all)
>sure herbie was the first to get the stuff on Mr Hands....
I don't think Herbie was really fuckin' with the Linn Drum like that, especially not on that album. His song "Textures", which is all electronic, was said to be assisted by an Apple II computer of all things.
Though I will say that Herbie was probably the only one besides Prince to actually attempt to capture the "timbre" of brass synth as if it were actual horns. He was doing it since '79, what Prince was doing in '82 (really, on the Time's second album) was out of this world. If you played it live, it would sound kind of like fat kazoos. But if you hear it on THAT record?
The whole "gimme some horns" thing makes perfect sense.
>but "freak it"--- > >and yeah Thriller had the same stuff and STILL in my opinion > >he defined electric pop.
again, agreed. I thought about it, but Prince really did "change" music for a few years after it.
I think of some routine shit like the "Double Trouble" theme song (side note: Peggy Bundy has some badness in her family) and how it reminds me of Prince's "Let's Pretend We're Married"... then I realize that it was Prince who took that shit and made it money (mo maxxx-o).
He had people hiring him to get that sound on his records.
14. "As one whose favorite 'Prince' song may very well be 'Uptown'" In response to Reply # 6
>Not necessarily saying it's a better album (I think so though) >but it fits your description just as well and without any of >the blatant 80's MTv-crossover that SOME songs on "1999" has. >To be fair, the production on "Dirty Mind" is downstripped, >almost lo-fi demo type stuff whereas "1999" is the 80's >machine-park in full effect so I guess it's mostly a matter of >preference... "1999" is more radical in terms of *sound4* I >guess even if I could counter that as well, again:preferences >and aesthetics...
I think Dirty Mind has more of an impact on Prince the artist, in changing his direction, than really defining his signature sound. While a number of those songs (the title track, "Head", aforementioned "Uptown") sound like "Prince", some of those could sound like what you'd hear out of a random night in CBGBs during that time as well.
I also really do have an affinity for that era of Prince, particularly in how well he captured that "feeling" of the new wave rock of the time -- I really do wish he had released the '81 version of "Hard To Get" as a B-Side in this period, because of it.
When most people think of Prince -- they think of that Linn Drum, the way the synths are played, and little sprinklings of rock and/or "R&B"-isms ... and I think that was definitely achieved in that 1999 era.
8. "I'll add on to the 'pinnacle of Prince as one-man-band' commentary" In response to Reply # 0
I think that what Prince was building from the beginning, and especially from Dirty Mind forward really came to a head here. He had completed his "sound" in full.
Now Prince continued to blossom and branch out into other shit... but when you think of "Prince" sounding music, it all was here.
I do find a lot of it very "'80s crossover" but you have to realize that sound is basically what Prince built in the first place
I think I remember listening to this in full not too long ago and came to the same conclusion. Kind of surprised at shit like "Let's Pretend We're Married" still. It sounds sort of routine until you realize shit like that was some of the first of its type.
the live sets from this era are still my favorite
Prince's synth voices in this era were his GOAT (though I wasn't too much a fan of the "paranoia chords" and detuning he would sometimes drop over songs like "Automatic" and on some of Vanity 6's shit)
makes me wonder what the hell was in dude's head with this shit when he came up with it
9. "This is key:" In response to Reply # 8 Sat Oct-27-12 06:21 PM by Jakob Hellberg
>I do find a lot of it very "'80s crossover" but you have to >realize that sound is basically what Prince built in the first >place
Yhis is pretty correct IMO, he really invented that sound more-or-less. At the same time however, it also makes a record like "Dirty Mind" sound much more idiosyncratic because whereas "1999" ia the 80's to the max, "Dirty mind" really sounds very unique, at least to my ears.
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