A CELEBRATION: NEWPOWER SOUL

With Crystal Ball still rotating its way through my playlist, the word came out that a new album was due to drop. Credited as a New Power Generation release NewPower Soul I was curious how much of it would be a group workout and how much of it would be pure .

Slotting the cd into my player, I loaded up NewPower Soul. And as instructed the groove did make my head bop, up and down up and down. As if hypnotising me into the groove. While lacking the punch of some of the other album openers the bouncy vibe laid the work for the album – focused on dance grooves and fun rather than reinventing or pushing musical bounds.

Case in point, Mad Sex, a slithering little song that just kicks back in the groove of the track. Nothing overwhelming about it, the track quickly lost my attention and ended up being background music. Saved for the lyric book that tried to entice me back with every new verse.

With its ethereal vibe Until Your In My Arms Again is a song that shows off the artistry of song writing, of laying down on a page the truth, in all it’s painful glory. The longing is tangible, the pain real. The sadness ever present despite the beautiful arrangement and vocal.

When You Love Somebody to me always feels like it would have been more at home on emancipation. It has a Disc 1 vibe to it, sliding up next to somebody’s somebody. Now you know I love SS, so I was bound to fall for this track too. A playful track punctuated by horn stabs and carried by a hopeful though that you accept the good and the bad in relationships and a flip side to the whole “why do you put up with such $hit” line. What the final breakdown has to do with the song I don’t know, but it’s funky so I let it be. Lol.

When I first heard Shoo-bed-ooh I was hooked on the stripped back feel of the track, but now whatever appeal it had has overstayed its welcome. It just feels lightweight. Shame, cause I once really loved this song.

Unfortunately lightweight is how I would describe Push It Up! Unfortunately by referencing “Jam of the Year” it just highlights what the song isn’t, a kick a$$ funk jam. Instead it comes across undercooked and under baked.

Thankfully Freaks on This Side with its sample of “Now” does justice to the comparison. With a modern funkadelic feel, the track warbles along through the verses and hits with a hook in the chorus. A smile raiser.

From the first note of Come On I was there. The prancing beat, and slinking synth bass line had me. Then that playful melody danced across my speakers. So before a word was spoken I had bought it. Thankfully the chorus lived up to the catchiness of the groove. And was I ever so pleased it was the lead single with the remixes that came along with it.

The sex you up title has be awarded to The One. It had always been a hidden gem in the catalogue with its simmering seduction and enchanting arrangement. Lost on many during the 2003 live tour of Australia I for one was happy it was in the set. Reminiscent of The Question of U, it’s one of my favour ballads.

It’s a shame Funky Music follows it. This run of the mill funk groove did nothing to me back then and fails to move me today. Dressed up in all the production value it can muster, it just fails to impress.

Am I alone in thinking the most interesting track on the set is Wasted Kisses? I remember when I first listened to the album, Funky Music lost me and I pressed stop. It wasn’t until I played the album a second time later that night as I was drifting off to sleep that after a few minutes of silence I was jolted upright by the song. There is a great deal of sadness inherent in this track, and I think that is the appeal. Addressing the same issues as I Hate U, but done with a darker funkier edge it remains a favourite of mine.

In whole the album was disappointing. I remember it not sticking around too long amongst the stuff I listened to that year. And to be honest it was the start of a sense of apathy that crept into my appreciation for Prince / . From here and the next few releases I would buy them religiously, listen to them find a gem or two and then kind of park the album. It was a time where if I wanted to really feel the funk I was delving back into the catalogue than relishing the new material. Even today as I relisten to the album I can’t help but think it is a tad disjointed, almost a rushed collection of individual songs than a cohesive set. Sure there are some wonderful songs on here, but as an album it just doesn’t sit right.

Swa

It was his lowpoint, and the reason I stopped being a fan between 1998 and 2005, the music was full of phony frivolity, accessible dance beats and little else, its the most self indulgent parts of Symbol, Come and Chaos and Disorder sewn together and made even worse. I agree with Alex Hahn too, it had a funk lite sound, Truth was much better.

Mark E-

[Edited 7/9/09 3:56am]
[Edited 7/9/09 4:04am]

no you arent the only one who loves wasted kisses, i think most people who hate the cd still truly respect that track.

i however love the album. come on, wasted kisses and when you love somebody are amongst my favourite prince songs (tho admittedly it is a long long list)

To start, I wholeheartedly agree that "Wasted Kisses" is by far the best song on the album.

I said this not too long ago in another thread but I had sky high expectations for Newpower Soul. At the time of the albums release I had only been a fan of Prince for about two years. I was not yet jaded and I did not differentiate '80s Prince from current Prince. At that time to me Newpower Soul, potentially, could have been as good as Parade. I loved Emancipation to death. Crystal Ball had a lot of highlights but I did not view it as a "proper" album. The Truth was great but probably because of it's limited exposure I viewed it as an album for the faithful. In my eyes Newpower Soul was going to be the commercial blockbuster that Emancipation should have been. Maybe three discs was too much for the masses but with Newpower Soul Prince was going to be back on the top of the charts, I was sure of it. I still remember that it took me a couple of weeks to get a hold of the album. I live in a small town and none of the local shops stocked Newpower Soul so on a trip to "the city" (Halifax) my mother picked up a copy for me. In retrospect I should have known that there was a problem with the album due to the fact that it was so hard to find a copy. OK, so finally, I had the new Prince album. I excitedly put on my headphones and pressed play. About fifty minutes later I was dumbstruck. That album was, and remains, the biggest musical disappointment of my life. Sure there were some pleasant enough songs but to my ears Prince had lost it. There was nothing magical about Newpower Soul. There was no passion. It just seemed like a piece of product. I told myself that "maybe it's a grower" and listened to it two more times. Sadly, it was not a grower and I was just as disappointed with it as I was on the first listen. Newpower Soul was the album that made me lose faith in the little guy. A year later Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic only confirmed that the magic was gone, at least temporarily. I still listen to Newpower Soul a fair bit and I like it a little more than I initially did but for me it was the beginning of a period of mediocrity that did not end until Musicology.

Wanted kisses is for sure the high light of this collection....
It' is a masterpeice imo...wishit was longer...like 5 min longer....

The rest of the songs are cool and funky...I liked every thing except
"funky music"

That album came out when I started collecting Prince cd-s religiously and I only had Purple Rain, Graffiti Bridge, Diamonds And Pearls, Symbol, Come, Gold Experience and the Hits/B-Sides at the time. In fact I wasn't aware of all the negative publicity around it so, with the New Power Generation credited on it, I was expecting something in the style of D&P or Symbol.

I remember I liked Newpower Soul and Mad Sex right away although they were not the kind of songs I was expecting.

I hated Until You Are In My Arms Again and When You Love Somebody at first but I have come to like them since then.

Same with Shoo Be Doo although this has grown on me and it is one of the personal favourites of mine out of that cd.

Now Push It Up and especially Freaks On This Side are two of the worst songs he has ever recorded in my opinion. I tried to like them but I just could't.

Then comes the single Come On. Easily the best song on the album and at a time a big big favorite of mine. The beat is just great. I don't think it has stood the test of time very well but it is still a song I pretty much like until now.

The One is OK too, I can see its appeal but it is not my piece of cake. A good track though

Funky Music is up there with Push it Up and Freaks as another horrible song

Wasted Kisses was a pleasant surprise: a song which is better than at least half if not more, of the rest of the songs and yet used as a hidden track. A bit like Alanis Morrisette's hidden track from Jagged Little Pill. Nice move.

I have to say I never got all the hate for this cd from the fans. Yes it is far from his best album, some of it sounds like it was made in a few hours but it is still much better to my ears than Exodus or Chaos And Disorder, and although it has dated, it hasn't dated as much as Diamonds And Pearls. Not a masterpiece but a pretty pleasant album with the exception of the three songs I mentioned above.
[Edited 7/9/09 12:19pm]

this album and the HIGH album-or rather the HIGH song seriously had me thinking the man had lost his muse and lost "it" just like stevie did.

thank goodness he proved me wrong

but man-play this album next to his output only 5 years previous..or even three and its amazing how poor it is.

yet prince being prince decided to heavily promote it-giving interviews etc

why oh why didnt he do that with THE TRUTH???

saying that tho

COME ON is the shit!!!

jonylawson said:

Pulled it out off the shelf and popped it in to have another listen. Not a bad CD just not my fav.

I liked newpower soul.

nyse said:

mzsadii said:

The One & Come On are up there with his best. Wasted Kisses was awesome too. The rest was just AWFUL

Dazza said:

The One & Come On are up there with his best. Wasted Kisses was awesome too. The rest was just AWFUL