View Full Version : March Music Madness: Prince vs. Bjork
newtrix1
03-18-2004, 04:51 PM
Please vote on your more favorite artist between Prince and Bjork.
thank you.
notes:
Justifying your vote is not required, but....in the event of a tie, winning band will be determined by the voter who posts the best justification (explanation) as to why they like the band they voted for (or why they don't like the other band).
Winners have been declared for matches below.
Semi-final round will begin next.
Status:
elimination match 1 (winner declared): Yes (4 votes) apathetically beats Jethro Tull (2 votes)
elim. match 2 (winner declared): The Flaming Lips (13) handily eliminate Dave Matthews Band (5)
elim. match 3 (winner decalred): Wilco (11) holds off The White Stripes (9)
elim. match 4 (winner declared): “Old school” Taking Heads (12) teach “Kid A” Radiohead (4) a lesson
elim. match 5 (winner declared): No Landslide for Fleetwood Mac (9) who win by a nose over “C-indy-rella” Yo La Tengo (8)
elim. match 6 (winner declared): Jah shines light on Marley (12) over Dylan (9) in the battle of the Bobs
elim. match 7 (winner declared): AC/DC (11) do a dirty deed to Cream (6)
elim. match 8: (in progress)
Dusty Chalk
03-18-2004, 08:31 PM
Bjork. Prince is cool, though.
mad rhetorik
03-18-2004, 08:51 PM
She's got a pretty ample history in the music business. Icelandic punk (Kukl), quirky new-wave (The Sugarcubes), jazz vocal (Gling-Glo)...and then you have her expansive solo career, most of which is excellent. Oh, and she's from Iceland. Bonus points.
What does Prince have? Well, he had a bunch of average to good funk/r&b/dance albums from the 80's, peaking with the obvious classic <b>Purple Rain</b>. From there he had a few more good albums (<b>Around The World In A Day, Sign O' The Times</b>) and then it's all downhill, lots of self-indulgent and middling junk. Don't even get me started on the "Artist Formerly Known As Prince" bullsh-t.
Worf101
03-18-2004, 09:24 PM
Bjork is still on the rise possibly... but she's not even in the same county with Prince... His Purple Badness damn near ruled the 80's. His stuff was tight... his bands... all had to play, sing harmony (in tune) dance in time and look good. Yeah, he's fallen on bad times but Prince on a Bad day is better than Bjorks best. He single handedly brought back TBM! Total Band Movement!!!! He was a God... Bjork wears funny dresses... Man how can you even ask this question????
Seriously, as a musician, Prince is Da Man. I didn't like all he did but he hit more than he missed... One of the few I'd PAY to play with...
Da Worfster... :cool:
nobody
03-19-2004, 05:36 AM
Damn...for me this is even tougher than the battle of the Bobs. Bjork is one of my favorite modern artists, someone I still get excited about whenever she releases something new. Prince is one of my all time favorites. I think they're both innovative and unique artists. My gut tells me to go with Prince since he's paid more dues, and was such a pivitol figure in the 80s. Then again, while Prince mixed and matched genres, a case could be made that Bjork creates her own genres. She may indeed be the more innovative of the two.
Aw hell, I'm feeling a bit nostalgic today, and since I just listened to a bunch of Prince records a couple nights ago, I'm bowing to the purple one. Give it to Prince.
Mr MidFi
03-19-2004, 06:59 AM
This would make an interesting comp...alternating "best of" tracks by Price & Bjork. Someone make this comp and send me a copy, please. I'll make it worth your while.
And the pick is...Prince. By a nose.
Bjork sings like a bag of cats being hit by a hammer. Her inflection sounds like she has Downs Syndrome. I can't STAND her twee, pretentious nonsense. She is ridiculous with her precious faux arteest song and dance. For the life of me, I do NOT understand why people think she is cool.
Why is being Icelandic cool? I'm half Icelandic. Does that make me half cool too? That may be part of her popularity, her exoticism, but I grew up hearing that accent, so it means nothing to me.
I'm not really that much of a fan of Prince. Used to work with a guy that was a huge Prince fan in the early 90s so I got to hear everything he ever did up to that point a lot (too much). I think he's nearly as image conscious and pretentious as Bjork (especially when he changed his name to . . . I can't find it on my keyboard . . . "Mr. Squiggle"), but I like a handful of songs beciuse of the huge bands and massive production.
Prince limps to the lead in this one, but he would of lost to just about ANY band in any of the other past matches.
Davey
03-19-2004, 08:51 AM
My objective personality would tend to agree with Worf, Prince is just way more of all the things he mentioned at this point in pop musc history and there's really nothing Bjork could do to change that because, as big as her following is, it is still totally dwarfed by the legacy of Prince and the bazillions of records he sold in the 80s, of which I have quite a few on vinyl.
But the poll is completely subjective since we are being asked to "vote on your more favorite artist between Prince and Bjork" so Mr. Objective takes a holiday while Mr. Subjective votes for the Icelandic pixie because she makes me all happy inside the way Prince never has. Beginning with Post, she has been near the top of my favorite artists and now has a string of albums to her credit that I believe is unsurpassed in the last decade.
But Prince ruled on this years Grammy's.
MindGoneHaywire
03-19-2004, 10:36 AM
Prince. I agree with Troy's Bjork comments & while I'm not a fan of the productions or even some of the arrangements on some of Prince's stuff I think he has a superior talent for crafting great great pop songs. If I was interested in Bjork's experimentalism or whatever it is exactly that she does then maybe I'd be more inclined to think more highly of her, but she's just never connected with me. I'm not a huge Prince fan but if saddled with a choice I'd much rather hear his music than hers.
Swish
03-19-2004, 10:50 AM
I never got the whole "Prince" thing to be honest. He's such a weird-ass too. I remember when his personal chef resigned because he was tired of making mac and cheese for that andrrogynous goofball.Yes, he can play guitar and has some memorable tunes, but he's awfully weak lyrically and had plenty of duds to go along with his better stuff (Cream? WTF was that POS?
To the dismay of my wife, I really like Bjork. Yes, her voice is certainly different, but I like unique vocal styles and am tired of hearing the adoration poured on all the over-singing of the various pop stars on the radio (Whitney, Celine and so forth). When Bjork chooses to belt, it's a thing of pure beauty to me, and I'll take her any day of the week over TAFKAP.
Swish
-Jar-
03-19-2004, 11:56 AM
I'm with Swish and Davey..
I'm going to see Bjork tomorrow night... hehe ok not the Swan Princess, I'm talking about Brant Bjork formerly of Kyuss and Fu Manchu. Plus Nick Oliveri, also formerly of Kyuss, recently booted from Queens of the Stone Age, is going an "accoustic set" - should be a very interesting show!
-jar
Davey
03-19-2004, 12:18 PM
Bjork...and I'll take her any day of the week over TAFKAP.
But you're supposed to vote as well! I think you did this before too, maybe with YLT, just posted your opinion but didn't vote. You got something against voting? Not that it matters, just thought you could use some ribbing :)
3-LockBox
03-19-2004, 12:25 PM
I'm not really familiar with all of Bjork's stuff. I've heard a few songs from her that I liked, but I've also heard some rather wince inducing stuff as well. (her Oscar performance was nearly laughable)
They are a good comparison though...both are idiosyncratic, both are meglomaniacs, and both have an annoying habit, vocal self-indulgence. Prince liked to do this Camile thing, where he'd sing slow then speed up the playback, presumably to sound like a girl, but it just came off as creepy. He also occassionaly screws up a superb piece of music (like 'Paisley Park') with a prolonged, over-rought "eeeyyhheeyyee". (now that's funky) Bjork has a pleasant voice at times, but tends to catterwahl, slipping in and out of different vocal inflections and accents, or just screeching, all in one song. Is it unique? Well sure it is...its like me making an album of piano music, even though I can't really play the thing. That would be unique as well, right?
But I still like Prince, although I haven't bought anything new from him in years.
skewiff
03-19-2004, 12:34 PM
I agree with Davey and Worf, his '80's output was outstanding, one funky MF. Big fan of Prince.
Bjork dressed up as Duck, I rest my case.
Tony
np Get Born.....Jets
Swish
03-19-2004, 03:58 PM
But you're supposed to vote as well! I think you did this before too, maybe with YLT, just posted your opinion but didn't vote. You got something against voting? Not that it matters, just thought you could use some ribbing :)
Yeah, I know I have to click that friggin' radio button, but I'm getting old and forgetful and need to be reminded, so thanks for the help. No, really, thanks. I mean it. Really. Thank you. Thanks. Really. Have a nice weekend. :D
Thanks,
Swish Baby
newtrix1
03-19-2004, 05:59 PM
Well, I'm not sure I really have a good justification. I think I'd actually find it easier to justify choosing Bjork (more innovative, leader within her genre, more "real" than Prince). In fact after I voted for Prince I listened to Vespertine, and kind of wondered if I'd made the right pick. Vespertine is a beautiful cohesive piece of modern music. More melodic than other stuff I've heard from Bjork, although I'm not completely familiar with her whole cataloge.
Prince was a master of catchy, hook ladden, pop rock/funk with goofy but attention getting lyrics. When Purple Rain came out, I was smitten with it thinking "could Prince be the next Hendrix type persona"?? Well, the dope wore off, and time and reality have proven that to be a misguided prophecy. :p Purple Rain (the album) sounds rather dated now, and PR (the song) is still fun but a little worn out. Unfortunately I missed his performance at the Grammys.
I also can't deny that his entry into the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame this week didn't sway my decision.
This is another match-up in which the results are surprising me. I figured Bjork to win by a slight margin. Oh well, the gap is closing.
So, Prince fans...your favorite song by him? Mine's Sexy MF :cool:
Bjork gets my vote. Ever since I saw her ages ago hopping around on the SNL stage with the Sugarcubes, I've been a fan. Always thought the Sugar Cube dude (were they more than a duo? I can't remember) was pretty much just an add on. She has always had the "it" factor for me. Prince has more of an "ick" factor. Although I count Purple Rain as, at least when it came out, an important album, I swear, I haven't played it in 15 years. Vespertine, Post, and Debut all get spin time in the Nasty house as well as my two old Sugarcube CDs.
Audio Girl
03-19-2004, 11:11 PM
I've never gotten her...never will; I've always loved the Prince even when he was the artist formerly known as. Chalk (and not Dusty!) one more up to Prince.
MH
Bjork gets my vote. Ever since I saw her ages ago hopping around on the SNL stage with the Sugarcubes, I've been a fan. Always thought the Sugar Cube dude (were they more than a duo? I can't remember) was pretty much just an add on. She has always had the "it" factor for me. Prince has more of an "ick" factor. Although I count Purple Rain as, at least when it came out, an important album, I swear, I haven't played it in 15 years. Vespertine, Post, and Debut all get spin time in the Nasty house as well as my two old Sugarcube CDs.
Worf101
03-20-2004, 08:41 AM
So, Prince fans...your favorite song by him? Mine's Sexy MF :cool: kiss."
I like a ton of Prince Stuff... Most of Purple Rain but "Sign of the Times" is a killer tune. Relevant, deep, brooding and well written. Kinda reminds me of an updated version of "Inner City Blues" if you catch my drift.
Da Worfster
:cool:
DariusNYC
03-20-2004, 01:20 PM
I gotta go with Prince, as in the 80s he represented everything that can be great about pop music. His music brought people together, black and white, male and female, young and old, smart and dumb, music geek and casual radio listener, critic and fan. It was a truly glorious force, and he was perhaps the last great pop figure to do that. (Recently you've seen acts like Eminem and Outkast have something like that ability, on a smaller scale.) Dirty Mind, 1999, Purple Rain, Sign o' the Times, and arguably a couple others were definitely great albums. Purple Rain being one of the largest landmarks of 80s music. He's a great songwriter, a great guitar player, a great singer, and a great live performer. He mixed rock and funk and soul and 60s pop, the sacred and profane, the holy and the sexy; he played with gender roles and sexuality; he pissed off Tipper Gore, but Karenna understood. Prince is truly one of the all-time greats for what he did during the 80s; he towers over all but a handful in popular music since the Beatles.
Bjork kicks a$$ -- I really like her, and objectively I rate her very highly -- but she has finally had a much more narrow impact. She creates great music for music geeks but what about my grandma? I'm always searching for music with a real impact on all sorts of people; Prince had that and Bjork doesn't.
DariusNYC
03-21-2004, 12:22 PM
I'm half Icelandic. Does that make me half cool too?
Yes. I was wondering what it was that made you half cool, and now it's finally revealed.
Of course, if you were all Icelandic, like Bjork or Sigur Ros, you'd be all cool. It's that simple.
ForeverAutumn
03-21-2004, 03:44 PM
Bjork sings like a bag of cats being hit by a hammer.
So eloquently said.
While I'm not a big fan of either, I have to choose Prince over Bjork. When all is said and done, if I were tied down and forced to listen to either, I could survive a bout of Prince music. But I think that my head would explode if I were forced to listen to Bjork for any length of time.
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