I’m not looking for debate or paens to a favorite icon. I’m looking for a technical or factual musical answer. Aside from his gender bending persona, what is it in his music that leads people to consider him such a great musical presence? I have listened to a good deal of his music in the last couple days, and I cannot hear anything notable. Some songs seem to be just rhythm tracks. Nothing melodically or harmonically seem to stand out as different. Is there really any there there?
Not for me. My SO was watching a tribute last night. It all sounds the same to me with no notable melodies. I don’t hate his music (like disco for example) but for me his music is just meh.
I wonder too if he suffered from what I like to call the “Beatle Effect”. You can be Sir Paul McCartney, OBE, etc. and filthy rich, 60 years old or more and still playing sold out stadiums, but all they want to hear is the stuff you wrote in your 20’s. it must get very depressing if you like to think you still have talent for composing.
I feel the same way. I did not hate or love his music, I did not even realize he was that well liked.
It seems like when ever anyone dies, they become Icons.
Many musicians were highly recommended impressed by his talent. Google his performance on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” at the George Harrison memorial to see.
A lot of his talent was in areas that aren’t flashy or obvious.
With saying anything to my kids about why, yesterday I put on his original version of “I wanna be your lover”.
Not a song they’d ever heard, within two bars of the intro, and with no prompting, they were up off the couch and funkin’ their little bottoms off. The proof of the pudding and all that…
His name was Prince, and he was funky.
Hmmm. So far, no substantive answers. Wrote a catchy rhythm track that **Novelty Bobble’s **kids found danceworthy. Not quite genius level, though. I’ll keep hoping for something more enlightening.
Instead of trying to paraphrase what it says, go read this article in Rolling Stone.
I can get that his musical style wasn’t for everyone, and it’s not your cup of tea, it will not resonate. Doesn’t mean he wasn’t a musical genius. I could give two shits for the Beatles, but I’m not going around saying “meh, they’re not all that”.
I’m not a Prince fanboy, although I do like some of his music. But I have to respect someone who can have this said about him:
As the previous poster said, Prince is an extraordinarily talented musician. He played multiple instruments and was an outstanding vocalist.
Whether that makes someone a “genius”? I don’t know. I really don’t know what makes a person a genius, though it’s probably something along the lines of someone who does things that were just not imaginable or without precedent. A musical innovator.
One thing that needs to be pointed out is that, like most musicians, the public has never heard even a fraction of his music collection. But apparently in Prince’s case, that fraction is even smaller. There have been reports of a secret vault with thousands and thousands of unreleased songs.
Most of the public also only followed Prince’s crossover music (Purple Rain). They didn’t follow his later career in the 1990s. “Damn you” is one of my favorites, as is “Diamonds and Pearls.” Both of those songs were more R & B songs and less popular than his earlier hits.
He wasn’t creating a new genre of music like early jazz or rock and roll musicians, but he had probably as much impact on the evolution of electric and synthetic music (modern pop) as Madonna and Michael Jackson.
Seems clear to me that he was innovative, original, prolific, and extremely talented in terms of his ability to compose and actually play a variety of instruments. I think that would qualify as a ‘musical genius’.
All of it? The Current is streaming most of his catalog A-Z (some they couldn’t make FCC safe :p) - its 26 hours. I went to bed last night with DMSR and woke up this morning to Little Red Corvette. Neither with sound anything like Positivity, which just finished, followed by Ripopgodazippa - which is different yet again - jazzy. It may not be your cup of tea, but it isn’t 26 hours of the same song.
A lot of his popular stuff is a sound from the 1999/Purple Rain era - i.e. what you are likely hearing is 10 years of a forty year career.
He was also very influential in discovering and producing new talent, writing songs (some of which (some of the ones other people recorded) you probably don’t even know are his), and just plain musicianship.
When asked what it feels like to be the world’s greatest guitarist, Eric Clapton replied, “I don’t know. Ask Prince.”
This looks like it could actually do better in Cafe Society. I’m going to report for a forum change.
(And who in the hell knows what is in “the vault” or if we will ever get to hear it.)
Not really true:
http://www.snopes.com/eric-clapton-quote-about-prince/
If Prince was a genius, I think it’s because of a combination of factors: he played a lot of musical instruments at a high level; had a facility for composing music in a lot of styles; and could manufacture a chart-topping hit seemingly at will. Not to mention his dancing, his videos and cinematic efforts.
All in all, an exceptionally creative person.
Consider this musician as one who is not impressed. Prince? Meh.
Moderator Action
Since this is about a musical artist and his music, let’s move this to Cafe Society.
In Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists, Prince was ranked at just number 33.
Before anyone poo-poos the ranking, know that it was constructed on the opinions of other guitarists, including the likes of Ritchie Blackmore, Dave Davies, Rick Derringer, Kirk Hammett, Lenny Kravitz, Robby Krieger, Nils Lofgren, Brian May, Roger McGuinn, Tom Morello, Joe Perry, Robbie Robertson, Carlos Santana, Eddie Van Halen, and Joe Walsh, among many others.
mmm
How would Prince know what it feels like to be Jimmy Page?
Even if you don’t like his music, I can’t see how anyone could deny his technical virtuosity on a multitude of instruments including voice, his compositional ability, his fluency in many styles of music (Pop, rock, country, jazz), or the originality of his sound. He may well have been the most talented musician/songwriter to date in popular music.