1992
Tag: Prince
the atrium of Prince’s Paisley Park
paisleypark.com
audio review : De La Soul Is Dead ( album ) … De La Soul
Dissing yourself is an effective way to prevent other people from dissing you. It’s called self-deprecation and De La Soul takes it to the extreme for what might be hip-hop’s first critic-proof album. De La Soul Is Dead utilizes skits to tell the story of three thugs, led by a guy named Hemroid, who decide to give their new tape a listen after stealing it from a kid they just beat up. They’re listening as you are, in real time, stopping the cassette to state their opinions between tracks.
It’s a clever concept; check for read-along dialogue and comic illustrations in the featured booklet; one that loses its ironic charm if the album is indeed “garbage”. Thus the rap trio, along with producer Prince Paul, do everything in their creative power to make it match the qualitative level of their Rising debut. That it does. The two projects are actually quite similar; twenty-something tracks of mostly good songs with a quirky assortment of samples and bits planted about.
my rating : 4 of 5
1991
audio review : Purple Rain ( album ) … Prince And The Revolution
This album includes songs from Prince’s Purple Rain movie of which he “are” A Star; a chick-chasing rock star, that is, who isn’t ashamed to wear high heels, sing in gay falsettos and yell his little heart out. “Baby baby baby baby,” he screams maniacally to a girl; one of The Beautiful Ones; “I want you!” It’s one of the set’s most dazzling highlights.
Dramatic vocals over airy guitar/keyboard melodies and funky drums; the Revolution bit refers to his backing band; is the rule here. That’s if this (Crazy) show has any rules at all. Other notable songs include Darling Nikki; a sex fantasy about a horny rich girl who likes to “grind”; a sizzler entitled I Would Die 4 U and the epic title closer.
my rating : 4 of 5
1984
Stevie Wonder or Prince : Who has better songs?
Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Prince have always been the top artists that come to mind when I think of (pop/soul) music icons. Determining who has the best songs between the three is for me a no-brainer. Michael Jackson is number one. He’s my favorite singer and songer. A vote between Stevie Wonder and Prince isn’t quite as easy.
Still it’s not hard. Both have some great songs, a lot of good songs, plenty of mediocre ones and barely any bad ones, but Stevie wins out. All songs considered, he simply has more great/good ones; mostly due to his Wonderful vocal melodies. The verses on I Just Called To Say I Love You, for example, rank among the best I’ve ever heard.
That his verses sometimes outshine his choruses; Queen In The Black is another example; when it should be the other way around puts Prince closer behind him than he otherwise would’ve been. Prince’s best songs are from the 1980s; Purple Rain being his obvious magnum opus. His more recent highlights include Sticky Like Glue and 1000 Xs And Os.
my vote : Stevie Wonder
Pop Life ( song ) … Prince
1985
Controversy ( song ) … Prince
1981
Prince songs : 4Ever
2016
audio review : 1000 Xs And Os ( song ) … Prince
The one thing I hate about this song is the title, rather its awkward stylization. It should be A Thousand Hugs And Kisses, but if any song artist can be forgiven for such an aesthetic flaw; the grammar rules of my site omit those two ugly apostrophes; it’s Prince. He’s been doing it with his songs for so long, it’s become somewhat of a trademark.
The one thing I love about the song; a demo version of which has been circulating among hardcore Prince fans since 1992 or 1993; is the beat; easily one of the best he’s ever sang to. It’s produced by, or co-produced with, Joshua Welton and not even Prince’s middling chorus; he’s singing to his “baby”, meaning a wife or live-in girlfriend; can bring it down.
my rating : 4 of 5
2015
Prince and his band performing at Indigo in London : Indigo Nights
2007
1000 Xs And Os ( song ) … Prince
2015
audio review : Hit N Run [ Phase One ] ( album ) … Prince
It wasn’t a good idea to start this album with samples from Purple Rain because they only remind listeners how much better Prince’s music used to be. That’s not to say this new album is bad; the OX song, June and Fallinlove2nite are worthy additions to his Hit list; just that it pales in comparison. That’s despite a consistently “fun”ky soundscape from producer Joshua Welton.
my rating : 3 of 5
2015