The Real Reason Prince Isn't Considered The Best Artist.

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Jarvius, Jul 28, 2015.

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  1. Jarvius

    Jarvius Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Gautier,Ms
    Yeah I know, another Prince thread. But hear me out.

    I've realized that no artist that came after '77, is never giving any love for being "the greatest artist ever". I now we all prefer certain music, and the age bracket on this site is probably 40% 20-30 year olds & 60% 31-60 year olds. Which brings me to this. Is the real reason why Prince isn't considered the best, is because he's an 80's artist?

    The 80's were only 35 years ago. Not long at all. Judging from the Beatles, Elvis, Zeppelin love, most here, were in their mid 20's early 30's in the 60's & early 70's. Thus making Prince a little out of sight for some.

    Prince did what almost every artist of the 60's & 70's thing, possibly better. Is it his image?
     
  2. SamS

    SamS Forum Legend

    Location:
    Texas
    It's cause he's weird, and enjoys playing up that persona. Elvis, The Beatles, etc. loved being pop stars and used that to their advantage.
     
  3. Gaslight

    Gaslight ⎧⚍⎫⚑

    Location:
    Northeast USA
    Because I said so.
     
  4. pdenny

    pdenny 22-Year SHTV Participation Trophy Recipient

    Location:
    Hawthorne CA
    I didn't even know he painted.
     
  5. milankey

    milankey Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kent, Ohio, USA
    Please don't say you are serious.
     
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  6. Jarvius

    Jarvius Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Gautier,Ms
    You ever thought that maybe it's just him? I mean I know we don't consider Syd Barrett to be the greatest, but he was super weird. Drugs or not.
     
  7. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

    His compositions lack what the great composers' works have in terms of emotional range and melodic coherence (he has the harmonic invention).

    He makes up for it with the most incredible voice and other musical abilities, and da funk.
     
    warewolf95, Durm, JediJoker and 11 others like this.
  8. Matt I

    Matt I Forum Resident

    Location:
    Alabama
    If Everything started and stopped with The Beatles how could anybody else be considered the best?

    Personally, I like Prince but he isn't everybody's cup of tea.
     
  9. Steve G

    Steve G Senior Member

    Location:
    los angeles
    he's considered it by a lot of people. like, well, Miles Davis...
     
  10. The real reason nobody is considered the Best Artist is because it's 100% subjective.
     
    Darby, Folknik, Scope J and 54 others like this.
  11. egebamyasi

    egebamyasi Forum Resident

    Location:
    Worcester, MA
    He is the best artist formerly known as Prince.
     
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  12. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    A lot of artists from the 80's are not taken seriously, but I don't know if Prince is one of them. I still like him. Great talent.
     
    theMess and telepicker97 like this.
  13. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    The reason being is that Amy Grant eclipsed his work in every way.
     
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  14. wavethatflag

    wavethatflag God is love, but get it in writing.

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    I think in the minds of many of the great unwashed, including me, and by "great unwashed" I mean people who are not hardcore Prince fans, he peaked with Purple Rain, and it was basically downhill from there and into near obscurity. I wasn't familiar with Prince until 1999, his fifth album. So, from my frame of reference in the 80s, it was as if he burst upon the scene, had one huge album, and then steadily released albums, each one selling less than the one before it. (Yes, maybe the numbers don't bear this out, but that's my impression). I think his brief foray into über popularity is much of the reason he is not considered "Best Artist" by many.

    Plus the whole "slave" and symbol thing while he was fighting Warner Bros. detracted attention from his music. He sort of made himself the issue, rather than his creative output. Another, but perhaps lesser, reason he hasn't maintained his popularity is he's never had a good re-issue program, has he? My Prince CDs are old. No bonus tracks, no newly released archival material that reminds you why he was so great to begin with, no nice CD booklet placing his work in context and reminding you why he is important as a popular musician. It occurs to me that if you put Prince's songs he performed himself into a box set with all the songs he wrote for others or which were made popular by others, you'd have something that makes the case, at least arguably, that he should be in a "Best Artist" category.

    I don't think it has a lot to do with him coming to the fore in the 80s. Madonna did also, and I think many would consider her the "Best Artist" of female pop acts. Michael Jackson peaked in the 80s, and some would say he's Best Artist, period, weirdness be damned.
     
    Last edited: Jul 28, 2015
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  15. rockledge

    rockledge Forum Resident

    Location:
    right here
    He wasn't the best artist because he didn't have it all.
    He has talent, he has image, and he has stage presence.
    But he just was never that interesting. His publicity stuff was always a bust and didn't go over that well.
    And his music was hit or miss. A lot of people just didn't care for it.
    He was also at his top game when there were a LOT of other pop artists out there doing well.
     
    wilejoe and DrBeatle like this.
  16. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    He's too flakey, weird, and difficult to work with. That's not a good combination when you have to work with other people.

    Plus, the whole "changing his name into an unpronounceable symbol" thing nearly killed his career dead.
     
    Last edited: Jul 28, 2015
  17. Merrick

    Merrick The return of the Thin White Duke

    Location:
    Portland
    He had huge hits throughout the '80s, including the Batman soundtrack in '89, and while he still made a lot of good music in the early to mid '90s, the '80s sound he helped popularize was quickly considered passe and the rapid rise of hip-hop left him in the dust. Additionally...

    This was huge, IMO. Michael Jackson also suffered when the focus moved away from his music, but Jackson never put the focus on himself, others did. Prince put the focus on himself and publicized a battle that, frankly, nobody but Prince and WB cared about. And then he really screwed the pooch by getting the freedom he wanted and completely mucking up the releases of Emancipation and Crystal Ball and basically infuriating his remaining fan base. He didn't exactly fade into obscurity in the late '90s but I think the common conception was that he's lost his way. And while he had a resurgence in the '00s, he's basically squandered that as well with weird release schemes and relentlessly cracking down on any online distribution, including not just YouTube but people covering his music on YouTube.

    I think this speaks to the larger issue of the kind of extreme control that Prince has taken over his catalog. He has likely thousands of hours of material in his vaults that he won't release, as I mentioned above he's ruthless about online distribution of his music, he has obviously had a contentious relationship with WB over re-releasing his back catalog. He announced that there was going to be a special edition release of Purple Rain for its 30th anniversary, but that was last year, and so far nothing. He's very mercurial and marches to the beat of his own drum, which is what led to some of the best records of all time, but at the same time, has also led to this perception of him as a weirdo, which has diminished his appeal for many.
     
  18. skriefal

    skriefal Senior Member

    Location:
    SLC, Utah
    Your conclusion is based upon a bad assumption. The bands that you mention have a wide following even outside those who were in the 20s/30s age bracket in the '60s & '70s.
     
  19. Stone Turntable

    Stone Turntable Independent Head

    Location:
    New Mexico USA
    “The best” is by and large a useless thing to fixate on.
     
  20. wavethatflag

    wavethatflag God is love, but get it in writing.

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Good point about the Batman soundtrack, I forgot all about that. I didn't really like it, but it was all over MTV as I recall. Still, I couldn't hum one track from it if held at gunpoint. Which is to say, if humming a track from the Batman soundtrack would save my life, I'd be dead. :)
     
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  21. JohnnyQuest

    JohnnyQuest Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paradise
    His catalog is spotty.
     
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  22. daveidmarx

    daveidmarx Forem Residunt

    Location:
    Astoria, NY USA
    If ever I was in such a situation, I'd at least try to busk something! :sigh:
     
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  23. ganma

    ganma Senior Member

    Location:
    Earth
    No such thing as 'the best artist'.
     
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  24. Merrick

    Merrick The return of the Thin White Duke

    Location:
    Portland
    Find the song "Trust" from the Batman soundtrack. It's a killer tune and IMO very memorable. :)

    Also, I should point out that Prince is one of my all time favorite artists. He'd easily be in my top ten, and I think even with the spottiness of his catalog, he's better than 85% of the bands that get mentioned here on a daily basis. But I can also see why his behavior alienates a lot of people.
     
    Jayseph likes this.
  25. Paranoid Android

    Paranoid Android Forum Resident

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