Best Ever Albums

Re: CLOSED: PPNW - R2: Prince def. The Birthday Party

videoheadcleaner — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 07:51:42 GMT

Author: videoheadcleaner

Posted: 06/28/2013 11:51

Prince ruins the party!

14-12

Re: CLOSED: PPNW - R2: Prince def. The Birthday Party

Bork — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 21:12:54 GMT

Author: Bork

Posted: 06/26/2013 01:12

Prince is the best post-bluegrass artist ever.

Re: CLOSED: PPNW - R2: Prince def. The Birthday Party

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 21:04:35 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/26/2013 01:04

Everybody realises this is Prince we're talking about here, right? Multi-instrumentalist, crazy prolific, genius producer, immense songwriter, party like it's nineteen motherfucking ninety nine, purify yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka, all singing, all dancing, doing the best fucking Hendrix impression this side of Jimi himself, sexy as fuck little androgynous nymphomaniac Jehovah's witness, author of a good portion of the best songs ever by anybody, so far ahead of his time motherfuckers are still trying to catch up now, crying in the purple rain motherfucking Prince. Prince. With no disrespect meant to The Birthday Party (who are a band that, whilst I personally find them pretty average, many of the people whose tastes I most trust absolutely adore), the fact that this matchup is so close is madness. Prince is up there with Bob Dylan and The Beatles and David Bowie and Bob Marley and Frank Sinatra, as far as I'm concerned; a true genius who transcends genre preferences and stands as one of the greats, one of the beloved icons, of popular music. I wouldn't believe anybody who told me that there wasn't a Prince song they love. I wouldn't believe anybody who told me that there weren't five Prince songs they love. I'm just going to list a bunch of Prince songs here, in no order, as a reminder of how amazing Prince is, just in case you forgot (occasionally I forget, until I remember the songs he is responsible for):

(RIP JMan)

As I said earlier, Prince is not so much post-punk as post-disco, but everyone seems to agree he is definitely new wave. Whatever he is, he's better than pretty much everyone ever. Prince's 1980s discography is better than anybody's, and I genuinely believe that. Even outside of his '80s stuff, there is plenty to adore, even if the light shone increasingly infrequently in the intervening years. This was a man who was unafraid to take real risks ('When Doves Cry' has no bass whatsoever; let that sink in for a minute, especially given the audience his record labels were violently encouraging him to pander to), and somebody who took the album format seriously. These weren't albums made up of a bunch of rushed filler surrounding a couple of big singles; they work as real, thought-out masterpieces - always sonically and thematically cohesive, and never less than brilliant. Prince, despite his ability to write dozens of songs a day and the subsequent need for side projects (Apollo 6, The Time, whatever the fuck Sheena Easton was during the late 1980s), put time and effort into making his albums complete pieces, made to appreciate, admire and (most importantly) to cherish. Take Dirty Mind for example; true to its title in every way, the album is perhaps the most sexual I've ever heard - every track contains moments of tension and release, and it feels at once smooth and sultry, but also totally representative of our most primal urges. 1999 (the album) is just pure pop-rock genius, an album so catchy and immediately familiar that it feels as though you've grown up on it, even on first listen (and 'Little Red Corvette' is, in every sense, Prince doing The Cars better than The Cars could ever have wished to). I can't add anything more to the deserved praise heaped upon both Purple Rain and Sign ☮ The Times, universally admired albums that are quite rightly heralded by a huge amount of people as being among the very greatest of all-time. I don't mean to neglect his other great albums (Controversy, Lovesexy, The Black Album, The Gold Experience all deserve everything ever said about them and more), but that's just a brief snapshot of why Prince deserves to win this matchup, and probably every other too. This is Prince we're talking about here. Seven hours and fifteen days, dressed to the nines, incendiary live performer, ageless, endlessly pushing boundaries, change his voice to make himself sound like a woman on a fucking lead single, precursor to hip-hop and neo-soul and modern R'n'B and everything in between, working up a black sweat motherfucking Prince. Prince.

Re: CLOSED: PPNW - R2: Prince def. The Birthday Party

videoheadcleaner — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 05:33:04 GMT

Author: videoheadcleaner

Posted: 06/25/2013 09:33

It's Post-Punk and New Wave. Prince fits into New Wave perfectly.

Re: CLOSED: PPNW - R2: Prince def. The Birthday Party

junodog4 — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 12:20:20 GMT

Author: junodog4

Posted: 06/24/2013 16:20

I don't care that he's not quite post-punk. I'd vote for Prince in a best bluegrass artist tournament. Prince = titan.

Re: CLOSED: PPNW - R2: Prince def. The Birthday Party

meccalecca — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 11:20:39 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 06/24/2013 15:20

lethalnezzle wrote:

(even if he's a fucker for allowing so little of his stuff to be on YouTube).

That's probably label-related. The man's clearly had his problems with record labels over the years.

I'm really on the fence with this vote. I love The Birthday Party but Prince is an icon and true original.

Re: CLOSED: PPNW - R2: Prince def. The Birthday Party

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 11:02:45 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/24/2013 15:02

Prince would be eligible in most genres and for most of them he'd get my vote.

Re: CLOSED: PPNW - R2: Prince def. The Birthday Party

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 07:24:29 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/24/2013 11:24

OK, I nominated Prince. It was dumb. I'll probably do some promo from a strictly new wave standpoint tomorrow, but for now here's why Prince is one of the best new wave artists ever (even if he's a fucker for allowing so little of his stuff to be on YouTube). He's definitely not post-punk though, I know that obviously. Post-disco maybe. But yeah, listen to the album Dirty Mind, just because everyone should. Also, vote for him because he's better than The Birthday Party.

CLOSED: PPNW - R2: Prince def. The Birthday Party

videoheadcleaner — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 04:50:47 GMT

Author: videoheadcleaner

Posted: 06/24/2013 08:50

PRINCE (Coach: lethalnezzle)

BEA Rank: 59

seeded

Vs.

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY (Coach: Saoirse)

BEA Rank: 889

beat The The (R1)

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.