>But I think there has been some revisionist history at play
>here...
>The Time essentially = Prince...To me, the story that should
>be celebrated is The Time in 2011 have been able to make a
>strong, confident album on their own terms without the Purple
>dude...But we can't lose sight of that fact that Prince
>literally created the sound, look, swagger, and musical
>blueprint of the Time...

lol, I get what you're saying with the "making him look like an outdated scrub". I agree with the idea that we should be celebrating their "emancipation". While Prince created what we "know" of The Time as a base, over the years, the individual members have sort of created their own story (particularly, Jesse, Jimmy, and Terry) as they went their separate ways.

The deep fans like myself know that damn near all of their classic songs were Prince behind the scenes. We also know that Prince has been caught in a creative flux for a long while between what he really wants to do and what his fans would like to hear (not that the latter really influences him). 20ten was my favorite Prince record in quite some time. Largely because I was tired of hearing dillweeds trying to sound like him and missing something in the process with all the '80s revival that's going on. Also, because the funk he made famous seemed to be watered down with a number of elements. To hear it straight from the man himself was a great, albeit nostalgic moment. However, you know Prince probably has his mind on other shit. Same thing with the "Verizon Wireless Commercial Music" he was putting out earlier in the decade. I really feel somewhere in between The Rainbow Children and 20ten is the modern Prince epic. He's been living mostly on his name and (Internet) legend (of blockading anyone from using his music in "vain").

I think what we're hearing with this record, however, is validation from those who felt that Prince had good reason to be "afraid" of the band, the fact that the comment was made to build their collective "mystique" notwithstanding. Instead of a group of dudes meant to front Prince's occasional forays into comedic R&B, funk, and erstwhile "party" music... they seem and sound a lot less like Pretender Shells for Prince and more like the various musicians we've heard as producers, singers, and songwriters for the last 25 or so years. The kind of thing that finally shuts up the "they wouldn't be anything without Prince" knock.

A lot of us doubted (and I was worried a little about what we were going to hear w/regards to 2011 "concessions"). The boys delivered as well as I had hoped. Great songwriting, great production, and a great overall record.