it's true Prince was much better when he was in the Beatles
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 25 September 2018 22:09 (five years ago) link
Macca's a virtuoso on one instrument and we all know which one that is
― Οὖτις
yeah, he's fantastic on lead guitar
― The Silky Veils of Alfred (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 25 September 2018 22:13 (five years ago) link
Also, until he died, I had never met anyone who had bought a Prince album after Under The Cherry Moon or D&P
― Paul Ponzi,
Because they were two years old?
You moved goalposts. You knew no one who bought SOOT or Parade?
― The Silky Veils of Alfred (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 25 September 2018 22:14 (five years ago) link
seeing as Paul McCartney is not yet dead, i think we should hold off on comparing him to Prince and Bowie. won’t be long though (hopefully)
― flopson, Tuesday, 25 September 2018 22:14 (five years ago) link
xp No, everyone I knew bought those (me too)
My point--which you've just proven--is that dude's reputation was based almost entirely on his early work (and, err, Chappelle) until very recently
― Paul Ponzi, Tuesday, 25 September 2018 22:17 (five years ago) link
well, sure, that's the case for most artists
― The Silky Veils of Alfred (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 25 September 2018 22:18 (five years ago) link
Prince was great from ~81-89. Sign O' the Times is one of the greatest album ever made by anybody. But he lost it in the 90s and 00s. He produced about two CDs' worth of good material in his last three decades of life.
Bowie has no front-to-back great albums. He was at his best from 1977-79, but I could go the rest of my life without ever needing to hear the Berlin-era instrumentals again, except maybe "V-2 Schneider." Blackstar was his first great album in 35 years.
― grawlix (unperson), Tuesday, 25 September 2018 22:19 (five years ago) link
actually agree w all that
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 25 September 2018 22:33 (five years ago) link
Macca also has no front-to-back great albums, with the possible exception of "Ram"
Prince has, idk, three? SOTT, 1999, Purple Rain
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 25 September 2018 22:34 (five years ago) link
Bowie and Prince comparison is obvious, even before their dizzyingly close, sudden deaths. Both are popular and respected across so many demographics and borders of taste, both had imperial phases that neatly fit into the entirety of the 70s and 80s respectively, both known for reinvention and unpredictability and singularity, both icons of androgyny. But again, Bowie wasn't even close to the musician that Prince was. Neither is Joni, who is a brilliant guitarist, but she cannot do what Prince could do seemingly effortlessly on every instrument he picked up and then threw into the air.
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 25 September 2018 22:35 (five years ago) link
This thread's going in a weird direction. We're knocking Mitchell because she chose not to play drums, bass, and synths with Prince's virtuosity? She didn't fucking want to! She wrote Ladies of the Canyon through Hejira, a sequence of albums adored by...Prince.
― The Silky Veils of Alfred (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 25 September 2018 22:42 (five years ago) link
otm
― omar little, Tuesday, 25 September 2018 22:43 (five years ago) link
not knocking her, just making the case that Prince was sui generis and compared to the amount of Bowie tributes & covers & references, Prince has not gotten his due.
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 25 September 2018 22:46 (five years ago) link
Depends where you live. Maybe I have a bias because I participate in those 2016 tributes to Bowie and Prince; with each man the good writers delineated what made each man different.
― The Silky Veils of Alfred (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 25 September 2018 22:48 (five years ago) link
Trumpet. His own one.
― Zach Same (Tom D.), Tuesday, 25 September 2018 23:37 (five years ago) link
every single dance track that samples kate bush is unforgivably awful and demeans us all every time it is played by anyone anywhere.
― com rad erry red flag (f. hazel), Tuesday, 25 September 2018 23:54 (five years ago) link
Speaking in pop terms Bowie is more iconic in looks than Prince, but Prince’s music has way more pop appeal than Bowie.
I guess Bowie’s catchiest songs are “rebel rebel” and “heroes” but as pop singles they are weak against something like say, “kiss” which has that timeless, immediate pop hit sound.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Tuesday, 25 September 2018 23:55 (five years ago) link
Smiley Smile, Wild Honey, Friends, 20/20, Sunflower and Surf's Up are all extremely enjoyable albums with, at worst, one or two subpar tracks that I don't think would seriously ruin anyone's overall enjoyment of them. I'm sure even casual BB fans have listened to and enjoyed other albs that aren't flawless from soup to nuts and besides, weird/creepy is a pretty essential part of the overall BB aesthetic imho.
― Ward Fowler
i agree about weird/creepy being an essential part of the beach boys aesthetic! but i don't agree that it's an aesthetic everyone can be expected to enjoy. even "wild honey", which is a really solid and consistent album, is very much an album out of its time and off-kilter in a much more off-putting way than "magical mystery tour". they're short albums, they come off as unambitious, spookily skeletal, not making A Statement. god knows when i got into the beach boys i was looking for Big Statements like "pet sounds" and "smile". you think i knew what to do with a fucking brilliant song like "i'm so glad", let alone their putting a _cover_ on an lp in '67? hell no. obviously i've come around but immediate appeal is something strikingly lacking from post-"smile" beach boys.
― milkshake duck george bernard shaw (rushomancy), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 00:00 (five years ago) link
Ilx generally speaking has horrible taste in music
― F# A# (∞), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 00:02 (five years ago) link
Let's Dance, Space Oddity, Modern Love, China Girl, and Ziggy S. all seem catchier and more like pop hits to me than the somewhat dreary and plodding Heroes (which, in keeping with the spirit of the thread, I have never much liked).
But I simultaneously see your point, and agree with those who contend that they were both significant artists and it's not a contest.
As for multi-instrumentalists with a long streak of success both as a solo artist and as a producer, may I direct your attention to one Quincy muthaflippin Jones?
― I was working as a waitress in an oxygen bar (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 00:03 (five years ago) link
i actually listened to wild honey in its entirety just now - it's short - and by the time i got to "how she boogalooed it" i was _still_ going "what the fuck is this? what the fuck are you even doing?" which is why i like the beach boys, but not everyone is into that sort of thing.
― milkshake duck george bernard shaw (rushomancy), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 00:20 (five years ago) link
Got me into Kate Bush:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o712mgqVZXI
― The Silky Veils of Alfred (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 00:30 (five years ago) link
xp The songs on Wild Honey are fairly straightforward, though? Maybe just a bit "off," in certain ways?
― growing up in publix (morrisp), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 00:34 (five years ago) link
hey rushomancy -- I'd love just once to see you... in the nuuuuuude
― growing up in publix (morrisp), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 00:36 (five years ago) link
ilxors who almost make u wanna go homo
― F# A# (∞), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 01:36 (five years ago) link
noel gallagher plays guigsys bass parts and boneheads rhythm parts on the albums fyis just sayin
― Dmac TT (darraghmac), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 03:36 (five years ago) link
Years ago I had a listen to the Purple Rain deluxe and then it struck me why I'd never cared much for Prince's music when I was growing up in the '80s (the only album I have and like very much is Lovesexy) and later on as well: all his music and lyrics seem to be about "me, me, me". Nothing in his music seems applicable to my own modest life. And his lyrics are way trivial. Even if Bowie or Simon Le Bon are spouting nonsense, that nonsense could be romanticised and applied to a higher plain. Not so with Prince (that I've heard).
― Max Florian, Wednesday, 26 September 2018 14:42 (five years ago) link
personally, I identify with drinking banana daquiris til I'm blind every xmas
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 26 September 2018 14:48 (five years ago) link
I'd add Dirty Mind to that list.
You don't think "Band on the Run" is front-to-back great? I guess I can see seeing "Picasso's Last Words" as the weak point there.
― Plinka Trinka Banga Tink (Eliza D.), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 14:52 (five years ago) link
ooh yeah not a bad track on Dirty Mind, fair enough
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 26 September 2018 15:12 (five years ago) link
Back to Beach Boys -- just revisited Friends (after revisiting Wild Honey) last night)... gawd, this string of albums is so excellent. Warm, creative, unexpected, great tunes, lyrics only these guys could write, etc.
― growing up in publix (morrisp), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 18:21 (five years ago) link
(Tried listening to Pet Sounds but quickly got bored, lol)
Halfway thru 20/20 now... it's even better than I remember!
― growing up in publix (morrisp), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 18:33 (five years ago) link
Zig Zag Walk is my favorite Foghat album.
― Freddy "Boom Boom" QAnon (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 27 September 2018 16:11 (five years ago) link
Ambient music is the only worthwhile music
― groovemaaan, Thursday, 27 September 2018 19:55 (five years ago) link
Ha I've been feeling that
In my late teens when I was first confronted with ambient music I thought "there is nothing going on. Boring!" When confronted with Stockhausen I thought "this is a collection of sounds. Boring!" I don't know whether it's aural exhaustion, or the fact that "music-with-content is now occupational", but ambient music and electroacoustic music is pretty much my go-to for pleasure-listening. Stockhausen et al. is extremely pleasant to listen to while preparing dinner, the sound of chopping veg. and frying oil fits right in with the music itself.
― fgti is for (flamboyant goon tie included), Friday, 28 September 2018 13:46 (five years ago) link
extremely pleasant to listen to while preparing dinner, the sound of chopping veg
Nah, I prefer https://youtu.be/WR6y71x3tSY
― Inuit innuendo (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 28 September 2018 14:05 (five years ago) link
I don't like you if you have over a hundred 5.0 ratings on RYM― He said captain, I said wot (FlopsyDuck), Thursday, September 20, 2018 1:58 PM (four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― He said captain, I said wot (FlopsyDuck), Thursday, September 20, 2018 1:58 PM (four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I'm going to raise the number to two hundred
― He said captain, I said wot (FlopsyDuck), Friday, 28 September 2018 14:15 (five years ago) link
I often prefer the clean radio versions of '90s hip-hop singles/hits to the album versions. Specific examples that have occurred to me just this past week: Mystikal's "Shake It Fast," Juvenile's "Back That Thang Up," the clean version of Dre's "Next Episode," the clean version of Jay-Z's "Can I Get a ... " etc.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 28 September 2018 14:51 (five years ago) link
Yeah, I will always enjoy (prefer?) the Wu's 'swords slashing' sounds on the edited versions I heard first
― Paul Ponzi, Friday, 28 September 2018 15:17 (five years ago) link
― brimstead, Friday, 28 September 2018 19:27 (five years ago) link
I'll put this here: Everyone Says I Love You, Woody Allen's musical comedy starring Edward Norton, Drew Barrymore, Alan Alda and Julia Roberts, is underrated
― Paul Ponzi, Sunday, 30 September 2018 12:03 (five years ago) link
skip spence's "oar" -- over-romanticized obscurist sham
― Zach Same (Tom D.), Tuesday, 2 October 2018 09:47 (five years ago) link
Totally agree with that one.
― Gavin, Leeds, Tuesday, 2 October 2018 10:03 (five years ago) link
Yes, a few of us were just saying this on the dedicated Oar thread
― Paul Ponzi, Tuesday, 2 October 2018 12:56 (five years ago) link
Not so controversial after all!
― Zach Same (Tom D.), Tuesday, 2 October 2018 13:24 (five years ago) link
― groovemaaan, Thursday, September 27, 2018 3:55 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
been feeling this a lot lately too lol
― marcos, Tuesday, 2 October 2018 13:47 (five years ago) link
Lingua Ignota's All Bitches Die is an infinitely more moving and important feminist statement than anything Beyoncé has ever done.
― pomenitul, Tuesday, 2 October 2018 13:54 (five years ago) link
the standard for controversy: “i don’t like beyoncé”
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Tuesday, 2 October 2018 14:08 (five years ago) link
So it appears.
― Zach Same (Tom D.), Tuesday, 2 October 2018 14:12 (five years ago) link