Who's More Talented: Prince or David Bowie?

[arwalden]

Poll question: Who's More Talented: Prince or David Bowie?

What's the first song you think of whenever you hear either of their names?

[XNASA]

1. "Life On Mars" & "Darling Nikki" nt

[arwalden]

3. Young Americans & Little Red Corvette

[progmom]

5. oops

posted in the wrong place

[XNASA]

10. You wouldn't say that if.....

...you had been in Chicago last year and witnessed hedges singing it onstage at live karaoke.

[progmom]

14. Darling Nikki???

Yikes. :o

[XNASA]

15. Somebody has pictures, somewhere.

[Magrittes Pipe]

16. Every woman in the place wanted to go home with me that night.

Most of the men, too.

[progmom]

17. I think you misunderstood

They all wanted you to go home.

[Magrittes Pipe]

18. Normally I would agree with you.

You weren't there. ;)

[progmom]

20. word spread quickly

a mass alert was sounded.



seriously.

[arwalden]

11. I Also Liked "I Wanna Be Your Lover"

[seemunkee]

2. Ziggy Stardust

[Texasgal]

4. Major Tom and Purple Rain.

I like both, but I think Bowie is much more gifted!

[kmla]

6. Actually, both are very gifted pop artists.musicians.

But I gave the nod to the diminutive purple one, simply because of his range - writer, producer, musician, etc.

Like them both, though.

On edit: added tunes...

Heroes/I Would Die 4 U

[XemaSab]

7. They're both really talented...

I'll say that Bowie has a greater catalogue so he has shared his talent with us a bit more.

[progmom]

9. he's also older

:poopcorn:

[arwalden]

19. He's Quite The Chameleon Too...

... if wasn't quickly adapting to new trends, he was busy setting them.

[johnnie]

8. That's not easy for me

Prince was never my thing, but I'm also not one to ignore a fact just because I don't dig the music. Bowie is a well accomplished musician and composer and so is Prince, but I have to say that I think Prince is a better musician. Bowie is much more diverse in my opinion and he has been able to stay up to date much better than Prince has.

As for talent, that is hard for me to pick. If it is about who I like better, I will go with Bowie.

[progmom]

12. Prince

Space Oddity and Let's Go Crazy

[Magrittes Pipe]

13. Rock 'n' Roll Suicide/Darling Nikki

As far as talent, as far as anything, they're pretty similar. Both brilliant, but capable of spectacular failures; both trend-setters, but also hopeless slaves to fashion; both made movies; both androgynous....

It depends on my mood. I probably prefer Bowie just a bit, but Prince had a better ass. Bowie = better composer, Prince = better instrumentalist.

[Mike Daniels]

21. Station to Station and Raspberry Beret

I'd say they're equally talented except when it comes to acting.

[NewWaveChick1981]

22. They both have a lot of talent, but Bowie wins in my eyes!

Suffragette City and Kiss.

[bridgit]

23. David Bowie, no contest = Fame...

[Ramsey]

24. OMG!!!

NO CONTEST!!!!!

[gollygee]

25. Moonage Daydream and When Doves Cry

I LOVE David Bowie so I'm biased on this one :D

[skyblue]

38. Bowie plus favorite Prince song.

Bowie produced Iggy Pop. So have to appreciate that. Bowie's Heroes very memorable. Huge influence on musician friends, my CD's are buried my brain is fried (right now, only) so song list not all there. My favorite Prince song would be Starfish and Coffee.

[Rabrrrrrr]

26. Tough choice - they're both bloody amazing.

Prince is surely the better guitar player, perhaps even the better all-around-musician, since he knows how to play so many instruments.

And Prince has some serious musical genius and creativity and shitloads of integrity and vision.

Bowie also is a musical genius, fabulously creative and constantly reaching for more and seeing what new things can be done, i think more so than Prince.

Really, really tough choice. But I'd go with Bowie.

[ET Awful]

29. You said pretty much what I was going to say.

Except I couldn't pick one over the other. They're both supremely talented.

[maxsolomon]

27. Bowie is better, but Prince is more "talented"

Bowie, god love him, is a ripoff artist, and plays guitar, sax, & piano at a rudimentary level. He works best in collaboration with other talented people.

Prince plays all his own instruments at a virtuoso level. He is a killer guitarist. Collaborators aren't really. They're chess pieces for him to move around.

Who writes better songs?

Lets see, I have probably 15 Bowie albums, many on vinyl, and about 10 Prince albums.

"Ballad of Dorothy Parker" aside, Bowie. Prince has never beaten "Rock & Roll Suicide" or "Moonage Daydream", and now that he's in his late 40's, never will.

The wisdom of MaxSolomon hath been rendered unto thee.

[MissMillie]

36. I think that would be my answer too

Prince really manages to CREATE something new every time he goes into the studio. I don't get that sense w/ Bowie (though I enjoy Bowie VERY much).

[Beware the Beast Man]

28. Though I prefer Bowie, in terms of raw musical talent,

Prince wins.

[philosophie_en_rose]

30. Bowie. Because Prince is just crazy.

You should all read Kevin Smith's diary of working on a documentary for Prince. Turns out it was all part of Prince's elaborate fantasy world.

Bowie is far more comfortable in his own identity (Ziggy Stardust included). Prince takes himself far too seriously, and it shows in his music.

[enigmatic]

31. Bowie

And "Heroes" is the song..

[wildhorses]

32. David Bowie~Rebel, Rebel

Prince~Purple Rain

[DainBramaged]

33. Actually, who is older, and who is crustier now?

[Nicole]

34. 1999 & China Girl

I pick Bowie

[jobycom]

35. Prince--Bowie is not as musically talented, though he makes himself

interesting in many ways. Even Bowie admits he was just churning out songs for money for a decade. At his best he's very lovable, though. My rather uninformed musical opinion is that Bowie is best at hearing a song, Prince is better at creating a song. Bowie seems to work with his crew better, and his songs seem more collaborative efforts (nod to poster above who used the same expression), but I don't get the feel that Bowie had a vision and went into the studio to put it on tape. More like, he had the bones of a song and went into the studio to record it, adjusting what his musicians and producers suggest until he likes the sound of it. It's less his artistic expression and more his craftsmanship. It usually produces a smooth song, but to me when he's off he's boring and mechanical. (That sounded all negative--I love Bowie, I was just explaining why I see Prince as more of an "artist").

With Prince, I see more of a solo vision--Prince imagines a song and plays it over and over until it matches what he wants it to be. He has more musical talent and pure "artistic integrity." When his songs are off, they are still more interesting than Bowie's bad stuff, though more grating to listen to.

I guess I see Bowie as a craftsman, Prince as an artist. Then again, I grew up on Prince while Bowie was just, by his own admission, pumping out songs for money, so my impression of Bowie wasn't formed at his creative best.

[Bassic]

37. David Bowie, HANDS.... DOWN......

He is probably the most talented singer, musician and songwriter to have graced the second half of the 20th century. His stuff is just brilliant.

[peekaloo]

39. Golden Years and Let's Go Crazy. I pick Bowie, though.

Never really got into Prince, though I did sneak into the filming of one of his videos. (Little Red Corvette).

[Onlooker]

40. Prince

Prince is a more talented musician and remains so, but Bowie is the superior pop artist. In 50 years, I think Prince will still be considered important while Bowie will be considered kitsch. And I prefer Bowie's music to Prince's.

[ProfessorGAC]

41. Can't Answer. Cognitive Dissonance!

I'm such a big fan of both. And, i guess i don't know what "talented means". Prince is a better musician, but i think David's a better songwriter. They're both outstanding signers and they both have vision.

To answer the other question:
Changes for Bowie
When You Were Mine for Prince

The Professor

[henslee]

42. Prince by a longshot. Bowie has not rocked in years. It's a good thing

he sold shares in his publishing catalog online while he was still popular. I think he made like a bilion dollars.

[Shell Beau]

43. Purple Rain is one of my favorite all time songs, so being

somewhat biased, I am going with Prince!