RIP Prince...

I've seen Prince in concert many times, and had a few opportunities to interact with him. He was an odd dichotomy of things, and a perpetual ingénue with a trainload of masks. He was incredible on many instruments, an amazing showman, an astonishingly prolific songwriter / producer, and had a singular style that was all his. Yes, he was also singularly kooky. Stories of his eccentricities are in great supply. But, go dig up a copy of the "Sign of the Times" concert DVD and you'll get some idea of just how brightly his star shone.

Above all else, I admired his guitar playing. I've said many times that as a rock / funk guitarist, Prince was the most complete stylist on the planet. I've been told by people in his band / crew that they never heard him play the same solo twice, and that he never fell back on a collection of riffs. The man was a marvel. Dig his music and be thankful. And if de-elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy - punch a higher floor.
 
bvaughn0402 said:
He was like the Mozart of our age ... he changed music in the 80's ... and was such an amazing guitarist ... almost like the "Jimi Hendrix" of our time ... so sad ...
Click to expand...

I wouldn't go that far... at all. Prince was a huge inspiration to me as a kid when Purple Rain movie & CD came out, but really other than that and a few other hit singles he had, that's all I cared for. I'm a neoclassical rock guitarist myself, so comparing Prince to Mozart is sacreligious.

Prince could play a few notes on a guitar, just like John Mayer can, however he was no virtuoso on guitar.

He may have been a great Artist... but that's an entirely separate thing as to being a virtusoso and master of an instrument such as Mozart...

Mozarts, Bachs, Beethovens of OUR times????

Yngwie Malmsteen
Steve Vai
Randy Rhoads

Pick one of those three and I will agree with you all day they are the Mozart, or what ever great classical composer you want to relate to them.

But not Prince... he was JUST a pop rock star, he was no more talented than Rick Springfield, who I also like.

But he was nowhere in the same league as a Mozart or a Yngwie... not even close.

Classical music such as Mozart is the highest form of music and virtuoso skills on an instrument as musicians can strive to reach.... Prince wasn't even in the same universe as Mozart.

Mozart wouldn't even think Prince worthy enough to sharpen his pencil so he could write more notations haha

RIP Prince, you were good for the pop rock style you were known for, mostly the ONE cd Purple Rain...... but even Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumkins was more of a "artist/guitarist" than you, and you damn well were never close to Mozarts level of skill, haha.

Just have to keep it reall yall.

PS I also think Jimi Hendrix is overrated, after all it was just primitive blues based music mixed in with lots of noise, which I like Hendrix too, but just saying Prince was not even close to Hendrix either....

Sure I thought Prince had a little guitar POTENTIAL after the CD Purple Rain, but that's the thing, after Purple Rain Prince never really made any more ROCK GUITAR CDs.... the guitar stopped being his primary focus.

It's a insult to Mozart & YJM to say Prince was a Mozart, and it's a insult to Hendrix to even say Prince was close to Hendrix.

I'm not bashing Prince at all, I liked Purple Rain CD, but let's just keep it real and not make him into things he never was and never could have been.

Marty Friedman, Vinnie Moore, Eric JOhnson, hell even they are closer to Mozarts caliber on a instrument than Prince.

Prince dabbled on guitar just as he did on all the other instruments he played. He was more of a songwriter/singer/showman than a skilled instrument player/composer. That's just a fact.

PS PS special note to Yek... I see you just stated you put me on ignore just because eyou disagree with facts I put out and want to live in delusion? See, that tells me so much about you as a person Yek that you are WEAK when you have to go to the extreme of IGNORING someone just so you can go to your 'safe space" and not have to read anything they write.

And one more thing.... what's with all this shock that Prince is dead???? he was 57! That's quite old and LOTS of people start dying NATURALLY around that age.
 
Last edited:
Facemelter said:
I wouldn't go that far... at all. Prince was a huge inspiration to me as a kid when Purple Rain movie & CD came out, but really other than that and a few other hit singles he had, that's all I cared for. I'm a neoclassical rock guitarist myself, so comparing Prince to Mozart is sacreligious.

Prince could play a few notes on a guitar, just like John Mayer can, however he was no virtuoso on guitar.

He may have been a great Artist... but that's an entirely separate thing as to being a virtusoso and master of an instrument such as Mozart...

Mozarts, Bachs, Beethovens of OUR times????

Yngwie Malmsteen
Steve Vai
Randy Rhoads

Pick one of those three and I will agree with you all day they are the Mozart, or what ever great classical composer you want to relate to them.

But not Prince... he was JUST a pop rock star, he was no more talented than Rick Springfield, who I also like.

But he was nowhere in the same league as a Mozart or a Yngwie... not even close.

Classical music such as Mozart is the highest form of music and virtuoso skills on an instrument as musicians can strive to reach.... Prince wasn't even in the same universe as Mozart.

Mozart wouldn't even think Prince worthy enough to sharpen his pencil so he could write more notations haha

RIP Prince, you were good for the pop rock style you were known for, mostly the ONE cd Purple Rain...... but even Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumkins was more of a "artist/guitarist" than you, and you damn well were never close to Mozarts level of skill, haha.

Just have to keep it reall yall.
Click to expand...
Real wrong.....
 
boogieman75 said:
Prince is undoubtedly one of the best, if not the best guitarist ever.

Ask anyone who has seen him play live.
Click to expand...
Yngwie Malmsteen played circles around the dude. You gotta be on dope to think Prince was the best.
Steve Vai has more musical knowledge and virtuoso skill in his pinky than Prince had in his whole body.
Prince has only been dead about 8 hours and I'm already sick of hearing all these people coming out lamenting he was the BEST guitarist... yall must be deaf or never have heard Yngwie Malmsteen play. Yngwie, Rhoads, Vai, Satriani people like THAT, they set the bar for what the BEST is, there's only about a dozen people alive on this planet that are in the same league as those guitar gods.

Don't get me wrong, I "like" Prince...

but the death of Scot Weiland and Lemmy were way more of a bigger deal to me than todays death of Prince.

My OPINION is both Scott & Lemmy were more talented and more of a "artist" than Prince... of course that's opinion.

But the thing that infuriates me, is when people say Prince was a guitar virtuoso... you may like Prince guitar playing better than Yngwie. Vai. and Rhoads.... see that's your preference....

But FACT is Prince was not as technically skilled or as great as a composer on guitar as YJM, Randy Rhoads or Steve Vai.

Regardless of what you think of Vai, RR, and YJM. you have to admit they were true guitar virtuosos that were masters of their instrument to the highest caliber that one can hope to master the guitar and that they possessed supreme knowledge and understanding of the theory and compositional skills over said guitar.

I mean that is not something that's subjective to taste or opinion, it's tangible fact.

Prince was no Mozart.

Classical/Romantic/Baroque music is the highest most intelligent most demanding music ever created.... anyone that isn't composing music in that style is BENEATH the players that are. YJM is the greatest guitarist alive. Vai even though he don't play classical like Yngwie has even more musical knowledge than YJM. Those three, Vai, YJM, and Rhoads... well RR is dead, but yeah anyway, dude, those are the 3 best ever.

Don't disrespect Mozart and every other composer of that 200 year period.

The Baroque period lasted 150 years.... hundreds of famous Baroque composers... some that may have even surpassed Mozart such as Handel....

ALL of them were far more skilled and more of a virtusoso on their instruments than Prince.

This world is truly getting more and more dumbed down if people fail to realize that.

There is NO debating that classical composers such as Mozart would eat people like Prince & John Mayer for breakfast.

I hope Cliff comes out with new FW this weekend because I certainly don't care to read any further BS praise on here on how Prince was the "Mozart" of our time.

Please... GET REAL.
 
Facemelter said:
Yngwie Malmsteen played circles around the dude. You gotta be on dope to think Prince was the best.
Steve Vai has more musical knowledge and virtuoso skill in his pinky than Prince had in his whole body.
Prince has only been dead about 8 hours and I'm already sick of hearing all these people coming out lamenting he was the BEST guitarist... yall must be deaf or never have heard Yngwie Malmsteen play. Yngwie, Rhoads, Vai, Satriani people like THAT, they set the bar for what the BEST is, there's only about a dozen people alive on this planet that are in the same league as those guitar gods.

Don't get me wrong, I "like" Prince...

but the death of Scot Weiland and Lemmy were way more of a bigger deal to me than todays death of Prince.

My OPINION is both Scott & Lemmy were more talented and more of a "artist" than Prince... of course that's opinion.

But the thing that infuriates me, is when people say Prince was a guitar virtuoso... you may like Prince guitar playing better than Yngwie. Vai. and Rhoads.... see that's your preference....

But FACT is Prince was not as technically skilled or as great as a composer on guitar as YJM, Randy Rhoads or Steve Vai.

Regardless of what you think of Vai, RR, and YJM. you have to admit they were true guitar virtuosos that were masters of their instrument to the highest caliber that one can hope to master the guitar and that they possessed supreme knowledge and understanding of the theory and compositional skills over said guitar.

I mean that is not something that's subjective to taste or opinion, it's tangible fact.

Prince was no Mozart.

Classical/Romantic/Baroque music is the highest most intelligent most demanding music ever created.... anyone that isn't composing music in that style is BENEATH the players that are. YJM is the greatest guitarist alive. Vai even though he don't play classical like Yngwie has even more musical knowledge than YJM. Those three, Vai, YJM, and Rhoads... well RR is dead, but yeah anyway, dude, those are the 3 best ever.

Don't disrespect Mozart and every other composer of that 200 year period.

The Baroque period lasted 150 years.... hundreds of famous Baroque composers... some that may have even surpassed Mozart such as Handel....

ALL of them were far more skilled and more of a virtusoso on their instruments than Prince.

This world is truly getting more and more dumbed down if people fail to realize that.

There is NO debating that classical composers such as Mozart would eat people like Prince & John Mayer for breakfast.

I hope Cliff comes out with new FW this weekend because I certainly don't care to read any further BS praise on here on how Prince was the "Mozart" of our time.

Please... GET REAL.
Click to expand...


Dude, you 're embarrassing yourself....

Facemelter said:
Please... GET REAL.
Click to expand...

Yes please


Now seriously, RIP Prince.

I´m from Spain, so i prefer to compare Prince´s music with Picasso´s paintings: once they achieved everything in their art (including massive success), they explored through their creativity without caring about what others could think.

Very sad, we´ve lost another icon, truly one of a kind. :(


Jumping on a stage just becouse. True genius. ;)
 
Last edited:
Facemelter said:
Yngwie Malmsteen played circles around the dude. You gotta be on dope to think Prince was the best.
Steve Vai has more musical knowledge and virtuoso skill in his pinky than Prince had in his whole body.
Prince has only been dead about 8 hours and I'm already sick of hearing all these people coming out lamenting he was the BEST guitarist... yall must be deaf or never have heard Yngwie Malmsteen play. Yngwie, Rhoads, Vai, Satriani people like THAT, they set the bar for what the BEST is, there's only about a dozen people alive on this planet that are in the same league as those guitar gods.

Don't get me wrong, I "like" Prince...

but the death of Scot Weiland and Lemmy were way more of a bigger deal to me than todays death of Prince.

My OPINION is both Scott & Lemmy were more talented and more of a "artist" than Prince... of course that's opinion.

But the thing that infuriates me, is when people say Prince was a guitar virtuoso... you may like Prince guitar playing better than Yngwie. Vai. and Rhoads.... see that's your preference....

But FACT is Prince was not as technically skilled or as great as a composer on guitar as YJM, Randy Rhoads or Steve Vai.

Regardless of what you think of Vai, RR, and YJM. you have to admit they were true guitar virtuosos that were masters of their instrument to the highest caliber that one can hope to master the guitar and that they possessed supreme knowledge and understanding of the theory and compositional skills over said guitar.

I mean that is not something that's subjective to taste or opinion, it's tangible fact.

Prince was no Mozart.

Classical/Romantic/Baroque music is the highest most intelligent most demanding music ever created.... anyone that isn't composing music in that style is BENEATH the players that are. YJM is the greatest guitarist alive. Vai even though he don't play classical like Yngwie has even more musical knowledge than YJM. Those three, Vai, YJM, and Rhoads... well RR is dead, but yeah anyway, dude, those are the 3 best ever.

Don't disrespect Mozart and every other composer of that 200 year period.

The Baroque period lasted 150 years.... hundreds of famous Baroque composers... some that may have even surpassed Mozart such as Handel....

ALL of them were far more skilled and more of a virtusoso on their instruments than Prince.

This world is truly getting more and more dumbed down if people fail to realize that.

There is NO debating that classical composers such as Mozart would eat people like Prince & John Mayer for breakfast.

I hope Cliff comes out with new FW this weekend because I certainly don't care to read any further BS praise on here on how Prince was the "Mozart" of our time.

Please... GET REAL.
Click to expand...
you state your opinion, and then continue to say others are wrong about their opinion. that makes no sense.

let's keep the focus on the topic here, before this gets closed down.
 
RIP Prince, sad to see another prolific musical mind silenced before its time. Thoughts go out to his family, friends, and fans. Tough times.
 
Prince was the opening act in 1981 at the Coliseum in Los Angeles. He was first on followed by George Thorogood, The J. Geils Band, and the Rolling Stones. I think it was the "Tattoo You" tour.

Well, he comes out wearing a thong like bikini, overcoat, and heels. Wrong crowd! :)The audience started tossing beers at him as he was literally booed off the stage after 15 minutes. I remember him saying something along the lines of "My name is Prince and you will remember me one day" before he stomped off. He was true to his word that's for sure.

He will be missed. RIP Prince
 
In 1984, when I was in college, my girlfriend and I were out for dinner one Thursday night. After dinner, we were trying to figure out what to do when we walked past the movie theatre. On the marquee sign above the entrance...'Now playing...Purple Rain, final showing'. Prince was all over the radio in those days and they always played his music at the bars, so we definitely knew who he was. So, we decided to go see it.

The movie theatre was a movie theatre in the true sense of the word, one screen with a balcony and traditional decor. Still looked like it did when they built it, back in the early 1900's. They even still had ushers that showed you to your seat.

We paid for our tickets, walked to the seating area and the usher opened the doors to the theatre...it was completely empty. We looked at each other and said, 'maybe it's still early'. We chose two prime seats, sat down and moments later, the usher closed the doors and they started the movie. No one else showed up, so we had the entire theatre to ourselves for the whole movie!

Great memory!
 
Last edited:
RIP to a great musical artist..when I listened to Prince I could hear a little James Brown..a little Curtis Mayfield..a little Hendrix and a whole lot of mojo that was all his own..who was just as great an entertainer as he was a musician and composer..his talent and his mojo will surely be missed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom