Hi, /mu/, just visiting.
Why didn't Prince play the guitar more? Both solos and in general. I mean, the man was ( :'( I can't believe I have to say 'was') a guitar god. I always put him in my top 5.
I was basically born listening to Prince. I was raised by my grandparents, and my Uncle was 16 when they adopted me, and he was literally like the world's biggest Prince fan. We used to go to the flea market that was at the Fairgrounds once a month and get bootlegs of his. I have always loved Prince.
But since his death, his music has become much more available, so I spent weeks going back and listening to all of his stuff, as I only own like 6 of his albums, and he has so many. I just can't help but notice the lack of guitar work. Just a random example,"At the end of "Free" he plays a quick lick just a few seconds long, but it's so awesome and makes you want more. Or more famously, the beginning of "When Doves Cry".
Do you think that this was ultimately a good thing? I know he saved a lot of his best playing for live performances, but I really wish we just had at least one really guitar heavy album to look back on now, something to show people, to let them know what he was really all about.
Growing up, kids at school and even adults always called him gay. Or even worse, they compared him to Michael Jackson, like he was just some pop star who sang and danced. People are still surprised when you tell them he was a composer who could play every instrument. and they are even more surprised when you tell them how good he was on guitar.
Do you think he did this on purpose to keep us always wanting more, to make us value every time he he played a solo? The solo in Purple Rain always makes me cry. He may not have been the most technically proficient, but neither was Hendrix, and Prince played with just so much soul; he could make it playful and fun, or sad, or whatever he was feeling. A true great.
Where do you guys rank him? I assume that you all are familiar with him.
>>66122609
yeah I didn't read any of that but Prince's guitar playing is objectively god-tier, even outside While My Guitar Gently Memes
idk depends on taste. but it's either Jimi or him
>>66122673
>While My Guitar Gently Memes
What's the meme there? Like I said, I don't come to /mu/. I assume that is all many people know of his work because it is the only thing there was of him on youtube prior to his death.
I suppose I forgot that I wasn't on /lit/, where people actually read and write posts over 140 characters...
>>66122905
brevity is the soul of wit, bitch
>>66122905
when I read
>( :'( I can't believe I have to say 'was')
i thought this was a pasta and stopped reading
>>66122732
Wow, you really think so?
It is always really hard to say who is the best. There are a lot of criteria that at least I look at.
For me, of all the factors I take into account, I put technical proficiency at the bottom, though Prince had his fair share of that. Hearing him play live, he always played perfectly, with absolutely zero mistakes. And that is saying a lot. Even the greatest guitar players get a little messy during some of their harder solos, and they never sound quite as good as the studio versions.
Prince had a lot of creativity, and a lot of emotion in his playing. For me, that is why I rank him so highly. Influence I think is important to, and that goes hand in hand with originality..
My top five (in no particular order) are:
Robert Johnson
Jimmy Page
Jimi Hendrix
Prince
And I can never decide on a fifth....maybe Buckethead?
>>66122905
Mostly because of what he does at about 4:05 into that performance.
>>66122973
>brevity is the soul of wit
Wow, you quoted Shakespeare. /lit/ doesn't even like Shakespeare. Personally, I think he sucks, and is for high school girls.
Now, would you mind asking my original question, about why you referred to
>While My Guitar Gently Memes
?
>>66123152
Because it's always used as an example of a good Prince performance. It is effectively a meme. Not hard to figure out.
>>66123085
Is that when he throws his guitar into the air? Is that somehow supposed to be a bad thing?
>>66123172
Okay, that may not be hard to figure out, you don't have to be a dick. Like I said, I assumed it was because that was the only thing there was of him on youtube prior to his death. That wasn't even one of his best solos. You would think people would just point to Purple Rain.
>>66122905
>I suppose I forgot that I wasn't on /lit/, where people actually read and write posts over 140 characters...
why don't you shag your faggoty ass back to that shitty board for losers lmao
>>66122609
>tfw prince died while you were in a mental institution
weird feeling honestly
PURPLE RAIN > THRILLER
>>66123272
No. it is the mad fret work at the beginning of his solo
>purple rain solo
Prince was definitely one of the greats. I'd put him up with Jimi but both don't compare to Fripp.
Still, Prince was smart not to hide behind his guitar. It would have pigeon holed him as the second comming of Hendrix when that was the furthest thing from his aspirations. Also he managed to never be overly self indulgent on his records.
Being a Minnesotan I told myself there would always be another chance to see prince. Saddly that's not true anymore.
>>66123337
Oh. How does that make it a meme?
>>66122973
I accidentally replied to you earlier, but i will reply to you on purpose now.
When I was little, I dressed up like Prince from the album cover to "Parade" and went and saw "Under the Cherry Moon".
At the end of the movie, Prince gets shot and killed. As the credits began to roll, I started wailing. I mean, I was balling my eyes out. Just outside of the theatre doors, a crowd of concerned women had gathered along with my uncle and grandmother trying to comfort me and assure me that he was still alive.
When I heard that he died, after he had just done 3 shows here in Louisville, 2 of which I saw, I kept waiting for someone to come and tell me he wasn't dead. The little boy inside of me is still waiting for someone to come and tell me that it's okay.
Yes, those tears are very real.
>>66123494
>Oh. How does that make it a meme?
I don't consider it a meme. You are the one that branded it a meme. As i said. I consider it a very good example of Prince's amazing guitar prowess.
>>66123468
Yeah, you're 100% correct. He wanted to show that he was so much more than that. It's just so amazing to think about. He was such a great guitarist that he had to actually refrain from playing the guitar too much.
Still, I wish he had given us just a straight up rock album with tons of guitar. He showed he could do heavier stuff, I mean some of his stuff boarders on metal at times, but he only ever shows us that but for a glimpse.
>>66123524
No, I'm not. I didn't know to whom I was responding. i was referring to the other anon who said
>While My Guitar Gently Memes
>>66123494
You are too good for this board.
>>66123597
I never come here. My favorite band is Tool, so me and /mu/ do not get along.
>>66123594
then i withdraw my comment. I was Prince fan from way back as well. I am old enough to have seen Purple Rain during the time it was first in theaters and I bought the album shortly thereafter. I was about 21 when Little Red Corvette video was playing in rotation on MTV
>>66123645
I've only seen praise for Tool here, desu. Maybe the rare contrarian says something negative, but that's it.
>>66123758
wut?
I tried years ago to come here and talk about Tool. All I ever get is that they are psuedo-intellectuals and their fans are terrible. But no one can ever seem to provide evidence of how they are pseudo-intellectual, as very few of their songs touch on any philosophical or spiritual concepts. I just got into an argument about this in another thread.
Well, I posited that they were objectively good and influential, and then basically got name called.
I saw a prog metal list the first time I ever came here, and it had Queensryche "Operation Mindcrime", an album that I literally laughed at the first time i heard it, but no Tool, when Undertow and Aenima were two of the most influential albums of the 90's.
>>66123658
Wow. I don't mean this in any way disrespectfully, but how do you come to this board? I find that /mu/ is one of the youngest boards on 4chan. Not that there is necessarily anything wrong with that, but I'm sure you can see the issue. They get excited about a lot of new shitty music that won't stand the test of time.
>>66123758
Oh, and the other reason I don't come here is because of all of the fucking categorization and sub categorization. I don't even know what 90% of the shit they say even means, like math rock, or post-punk desert sludge metal, or whatever the fuck.
It's like, dude, I like good music. Ya know, MUSIC. GOOD. Like Waits, Zappa, Bjork, The VU....
>>66123873
I commend you on not immedialty responding with a slur on my age. I started coming to 4 chan in 2006. I have been involved in a Computer based career since 1985 and try to stay current with what is happening online. Never really enjoyed "Reedit". I also have had a love for music from a very early age. This was my first AM Radio that I bought when I was about 8 years old.
>>66123844
/mu/ isn't a hive mind, no matter how much people think it is, and opinions change. The
>yes
>no
>maybe
Meme is very real. And those who think it is a hive mind either fell for memes or didn't hang around long enough. You probably just came at a bad time.
>>66124024
>he isn't into secind wave, hellenic black metal
It can be a little daunting but if you're as autistuc about it as some of us are it's pretty easy. Not for everyone and that's totally fine.
>>66124221
No, man, that's cool. I'm 33. Like I said, I saw Under the Cherry Moon in theatres.
>>66124309
I'm a wee bit older. I'm 55
>>66124326
is it true that life starts at 40?
>>66124326
Well. I can't say that for a fact. Everyone's life experiences are different.I can't say i was less happy at 20 then i was at 40 or even 55. But I have a really easy going personality. Mind you my life has never been bad per se.
I didn't really like Prince until I saw a live concert video of the song Take Me With You that they would constantly show on MTV back in 1985. He did a rather tasty solo towards the end. And then I heard Let's Go Crazy and REALLY started to pay attention. I say the man didn't play the guitar enough. Maybe there are other guitar players both living and dead who could mop the floor with him, but the man was no slouch. He certainly knew his way around a fret board, and could jam with the best when he wanted to.
If you want a guitar album from him listen to Plectrumelectrum
>>66123336
Obviously
>>66122609
I rank him 1
>>66122609
I would put him on 518. place on my universal guitar ratings
>>66122905
>What's the meme there
Most of /mu/ is contrarian faggots who try to shit on anything popular
>>66123758
How new are you? That "soft rock dronefest" shit was posted every day for months a few years back and still gets brought up half the time Tool is mentioned
The OP in this thread is such a massive fucking faggot
If I met the guy in real life I'd break my hand from punching his face as hard as I could
>>66128941
whoa man, don't be like that. be nice and love âll people ;)
>>66129030
Eat shit and die screaming
>>66122609
Nowhere anything resembling a list of greatest guitarists. He was a good guitarist but didn't really have a remarkable style, he always stuck to box shapes and had a cheesy tone. Hendrix was significant because he entirely changed the language of the Electric guitar, that's why he could get away with not being a flawless player or playing mostly pentatonic based leads. Prince didn't do anything for the instrument.
I liked his melodic playing (Purple Rain) more than his "shredding", he had a good ear for melody. Just some real talk, Prince was more influential in the use of synths and drum machines in pop music.
>>66129121
>le box shapes are bad meme
>>66129046
>eat shit
jokes on you, that's my fetish
>>66123336
Sign 'O' The Times > Purple Rain
>>66122609
He's ok, nothing special. He could do blooz wankery ok, his playing is dime a dozen 80s cheesefests
>>66129121
agree
that solo in guitar gently weeps that normies go OMG HE'S SO GOOD would be seen as horrifically tacky if it had been someone like EVH or Richie Blackmore playing the exact same notes in that solo
he was a very cheesy guitar player but people think he's cool because he's black
