I finally am listening to this much hated cd...

It's really not bad. If you forget that it is Prince, and just listen to it, it's actually rather good.

I think everyone assumes Prince is supposed to do the same shit, all the time (I am guilty of this).

I just had a thought, though.

If I can dig it when David Bowie branches out, why can't I dig it when Prince does it?

Been struggling with that one since that symbol CD came out...

When I heard "Sexy MF", I wanted to hunt Prince down and stab him through the heart for making such an absolute turd.

But I guess all musicians make turds at siome point(Bowie's "Too Dizzy")...

Although he COULD get rid of the fucking horns...

I hate horns.

Probably the best instrumental albums from prince. One of the best out of all his albums infact!

FunkJam said:

I don't know about that bit...

No NEWS is good news

PANDURITO said:

Maybe, but I like instrumentals. Things like movie soundtrack music, ambient, new age, etc...

Jazz can go to hell, though..

I agree.
It's not THAT bad!

Sometimes I even listen to it

TheMaster said:

Woaw ! You cannot like prince then and... James Brown... and Miles Davis... and Sly Stone... etc

The worst part of NEWS is the song lyrics...they are among the most poorly written of his career.

I've packed away the NEWS cd so I won't be listening any time soon. I did set through one playing.

TheMaster said:

Me 2! And i also like alot of video game music. I love jazz tho!!

BeautifulFrance said:

I liked him, fine, until he went fucking horn-crazy...

Which, for me, started in the Live 1985 Syracuse VHS...

I hated it, then, too, but I thought it was just that one live show.

Boy was I ever wrong.

FunkJam said:

Haven't really got into many video game music pieces, except the "Omikron: The Nomad Soul" pieces done by David Bowie (The man who replaced Prince as my #1 fav artist).

For a good example of the ambient stuff, try "Moss Garden" or "Subterraneans" by Bowie.

I think I hate jazz because it's just fluffy feel-good music (in my opinion). I hate feel-good music. It's the dark, serious, music that makes me feel good, not some fluffy shit that someone wants to make me feel good with.

Maybe it's the arrogance of the composer, thinking the fluffy shit makes EVERYONE feel good.

All I know is I hate it with a passion. It's what I hated about Rainbow Children, along with the Darth Vader shit.

TheMaster said:

I don't understand you. There is no arrogance here. There is someone who loves different types of music and who has with his musicians the technical ability to play whatever they like.
You hate Jazz. Full Stop. It is a matter of taste. There is no arrogance in Jazz. The only arrogance I see comes from a few elitists people who pretend they love Jaaaaazz music like if it was the sign of the absolute good taste.

Jazz is in fact an incredible form of expression which requires a lot of structure and sense of improvistion at the same time. When you go in a club and listen to great jazz musicians, you will notice how down to earth and humble they are...which most pop musicians are clearly not.

You hate TRC. Alright. Fair enough. For me it is a masterpiece. I would have never thought before TRC that I would one day feel the same way as when I discovered new Prince stuff back in the 80s. Regarding news, I think it is interesting. It is another side of Prince music. I would not call it a Jazz album though.
[Edited 11/24/05 3:47am]

I like this Cd for quiet thinking and alone time. I don't use it for much else though.

It's not even good enough to be elevator music.

FunkJam said:

Same here. I love Nobuo Uematsu of the Final Fantasy games.

I like video game music because there is usually a strong melody... Something that was missing in NEWS IMO.

you just want to hear is voice

NEWS was a very good jazz cd.

PurpleKnight said:

I have to agree. Granted I've only listened to NEWS a couple of times, not counting the times I've used it to go to sleep (works like a charm by the way ). I've wanted to like it but, there's just no energy in it at all. Even NPS had some.

NEWS has some great music on it. However, I don't think much of East and there is about a whole minute of next to silence at the end of North, surely he coulda put a quick little idea in there.
The saxophone work sounds great, the guitar licks are a bit subtle, but the best thing about NEWS is the bass and drums work! Rhonda's bass sounds great and I love that solo riff she gets in South. Mr. Blackwell's drummin is solid and there are plenty of grooves and drum fills for drummers to learn (like me ).
I wish the first part of West could have gone for longer, I love that simple three chord progression and they could have soloed over that for AGES. But the rest of that track is good also.
And in conclusion, I like the cover design.

Anything I missed?

coolcat said:

Well i havent really played the final fantasy games, so i dont really know what the music is like. Altho i do know they have some epic piano songs! I really like the music from resident evil, metal gear solid and tekken seires. But sadly alot of game ost's are out of print cause few people buy them.

TheMaster said:

Cause when Bowie branches out he'll do something substantial and artsy, like the "1.Outside" album or "Baal". The only Prince thing that operates even remotely on the same levels is "The Rainbow Children", "NEWS" is far too elevator music to be branching out to anything else than elevators.

I like listening to "NEWS" when I'm trying to feel asleep though.

Curious misspelling, "feel asleep". I'll leave it there, it's more to the point.

Novabreaker said:

What about Crystal Ball (the song)?

I do have one good thing to say about "NEWS". It's better than "The Truth".

Because no matter which era each of us discovered Prince in, he was standing apart from everyone else of that era. When he changes to something else, he may be still standing apart from the other artists, but he loses that particular "stand apart" quality that attracted him to us....whatever era that may be. He has too many types of fans to please.

calldapplwondery83 said:

Heh, I meant the "middle-aged Prince".

PurpleKnight said:

[snip - luv4u]
.
[Edited 11/26/05 10:12am]