Some call New Power Soul an NPG album alongside Exodus and Goldnigga, while others say it's a Prince album, and I'm confused. Whose album is it, anyway?

New Power Soul is an NPG album, the 3rd.

Others may call it a Prince album all they want to, the fact is, that it is an album by the NPG.

An age old argument this one.

IMO.

it's an album, not NPG..........

(himself) is on the cover solo, not the NPG,

When the videos were aired, MTV wrote "The Artist - The One", "The Artist - Come On"...

also there's the symbol on the single to The One.

I know some disagree with me.

But:

I count "Newpower Soul" as a (the Symbol / The Artist Formerly known as Prince) album.

No matter how Prince tried to paint this release as an NPG album, it's much more of a Prince album than the other two billed to the NPG. From the sole pic of Prince (or ) on the cover to the lead vocals on each track (Prince) to the majority of instrumentation being played by Prince, it's a Prince album in all but a name (although the is displayed on the cover). The other two albums were much more of a band effort in instrumentation, not to mention the vocals (Tony M on Goldn*gga and Sonny T on Exodus). To me it's a bit like a sister piece to Emancipation (in sound and vibe), like the Black Album was to Sign of the Times.

People can have all the opinions they want to have. Whether they like it or not, the fact remains.

It's credited the NPG and is therefore the third NPG album, and should be recognised as such.

HOWEVER, it's P. on the cover, his vocals, everything - So, really, it's another Prince album, just not credited so.

I like pzlyprk's analogy above about the Black album (uncredited) and SOTT. Or even, how about the Camille album? Credited to Camille, which is Prince - I see this exactly the same situation.

MikeyB71 said:

People can have all the opinions they want to have. Whether they like it or not, the fact remains.

Not giving opinions, just stating fact here. The other two NPG albums were a band effort. New Power Soul was, for the most part, Prince. It's a bit like George Clinton in the 70s. Virually the same bands were recording Funkadelic and Parliament albums, but they'd be billed under two different names. The same goes for George's early 80s output. It was his P-Funk band playing on the albums, but the albums were labeled George Clinton. Just because P slaps NPG on an album cover, it doesn't change who did most of the work on the album. If you truly want to look at FACTS, 1999 displays "& the Revolution" on its cover. Should this album be seen as a P & the Revolution album? Don't think so. He played and sang 98% of that album. P chooses at will how he's going to label his albums. The point is that New Power Soul is no more an actual NPG BAND album than Emancipation (there's probably more outside people working on Emancipation than NPS), but Prince chose to label it as New Power Generation. That label doesn't change the fact that it's a Prince album in all but a name.

pzlyprk said:

MikeyB71 said:

People can have all the opinions they want to have. Whether they like it or not, the fact remains.

Not giving opinions, just stating fact here. The other two NPG albums were a band effort. New Power Soul was, for the most part, Prince. It's a bit like George Clinton in the 70s. Virually the same bands were recording Funkadelic and Parliament albums, but they'd be billed under two different names. The same goes for George's early 80s output. It was his P-Funk band playing on the albums, but the albums were labeled George Clinton. Just because P slaps NPG on an album cover, it doesn't change who did most of the work on the album. If you truly want to look at FACTS, 1999 displays "& the Revolution" on its cover. Should this album be seen as a P & the Revolution album? Don't think so. He played and sang 98% of that album. P chooses at will how he's going to label his albums. The point is that New Power Soul is no more an actual NPG BAND album than Emancipation (there's probably more outside people working on Emancipation than NPS), but Prince chose to label it as New Power Generation. That label doesn't change the fact that it's a Prince album in all but a name.

I am not disputing any of what you say, i am well aware of Prince's input to NPS.

The point i am trying to make is that no matter what any of us think, Prince intended NPS to be released as an album by the NPG. Nothing is going to change that.

I agree with the comments made so far in this thread, i too regard the album as a Prince effort, and i agree with your statement about Prince labeling it as a NPG album, despite it not being much of a band effort.

But it is the 3rd album by the NPG, that will not change, that is the way Prince wanted it to be released. We should respect that.

It's up to the artist to determine how he wants people to view the album. Prince viewed it as an NPG album, so it's an NPG album.

It is a Prince album, and I like it.

Prince. Just like the Madhouse releases. Technically, because he chose it to be an NPG release, the categorization remains as such. It's on the shelf next to my Prince CDs, though. Same with Goldnigga and Exodus. I don't consider (or "Dave") a separate entity either. That would make me a Fam™.

NouveauDance said:

It's credited the NPG and is therefore the third NPG album, and should be recognised as such.

HOWEVER, it's P. on the cover, his vocals, everything - So, really, it's another Prince album, just not credited so.

I like pzlyprk's analogy above about the Black album (uncredited) and SOTT. Or even, how about the Camille album? Credited to Camille, which is Prince - I see this exactly the same situation.

Exactly, the names on the jacket say one thing, but what it is in actuality is different. The album sounds like more of a band effort than NPS.

thedance said:

IMO.

it's an album, not NPG..........

You're wrong. Prince himself said it was an NPG album, and it's credited as such. He was also when Exodus came out, but we know that's an NPG album. When he was on Leno, performing "Come On" and "Come On (Remix)", they were announced, and promoted as New Power Generation. Not The Artist, not , not TAFKAP. But New Power Generation.

Doesn't matter if he's on the cover or not. We all know he's part of the band, and it's a side project just like Exodus and Goldnigga.

Giovanni777 said:

It is a Prince album, and I like it.

I agree. I've only recently begin to really appreciate it. Like I stated on another thread I view it as Prince's P-Funk type side project via the 90's. Mostly. It's funk/groove oriented. Lots of horns. And the graphics are very P-Funk like. I think I'll listen to it again tonight.

Bfunkthe1 said:

Giovanni777 said:

It is a Prince album, and I like it.

I agree. I've only recently begin to really appreciate it. Like I stated on another thread I view it as Prince's P-Funk type side project via the 90's. Mostly. It's funk/groove oriented. Lots of horns. And the graphics are very P-Funk like. I think I'll listen to it again tonight.

I think i will too.

Alguy said:

Some call New Power Soul an NPG album alongside Exodus and Goldnigga, while others say it's a Prince album, and I'm confused. Whose album is it, anyway?

Okay, whatever you want to call associated artists albums is fine, but they are ALL Prince albums...Prince witten, Prince produced and Prince directed. Do they have input from NPG musicans, sure. But they are just side Projects which Prince didn't deem enough to call his own, maybe because the sound is different to what he's designated as 'his current sound' (ie: The Time, The Family, Sheila E). I'm not making seem like they are sub-par, they are just different outlets for his expression. So its Prince, but Prince with a different sound with added input from the NPG. For example, The One Prince has said was built around Rhonda's bassline.

[Edited 8/20/10 13:47pm]

MikeyB71 said:

People can have all the opinions they want to have. Whether they like it or not, the fact remains.

And there we have it.

We all know that Prince is on the cover and his presence is more obvious than on the previous

NPG albums due to him singing lead this time. No-one's denying that

However, Prince decided that Newpower Soul was a "New Power Generation" album.

He wanted the album seen as the 3rd NPG album rather than the follow up to Emancipation

That's how it's credited on the album cover, so that's how it is.

End of argument.

"Opinions" are irrelevant, as the facts speak for themselves.

its an npg album.....if you are going to call it a prince release then you need to include ALL the npg releases because you can bet your bottom dollar that prince was behind almost all of the music on all 3 npg releases.....just because he sings most of the songs on new power soul doesnt make it a prince release.....it was meant to be a fun party type album....not to be taken too seriously.....thats why he made it an npg release and that is what it is.....

I file all albums by Prince, Prince And The Revolution, Prince And The New Power Generation, and The New Power Generation, under: Prince

I file all albums by Parliament, Funkadelic, George Clinton, The P-Funk All-Stars and George Clinton And The P-Funk All-Stars, under: P-Funk

If you really analyze the discographies and personnel of the releases this is the simplest and most logical conclusion. For that matter, Madhouse should be filed under Prince as well...

BorisFishpaw said:

MikeyB71 said:

People can have all the opinions they want to have. Whether they like it or not, the fact remains.

And there we have it.

We all know that Prince is on the cover and his presence is more obvious than on the previous

NPG albums due to him singing lead this time. No-one's denying that

However, Prince decided that Newpower Soul was a "New Power Generation" album.

He wanted the album seen as the 3rd NPG album rather than the follow up to Emancipation

That's how it's credited on the album cover, so that's how it is.

End of argument.

"Opinions" are irrelevant, as the facts speak for themselves.

It's not so much about fact vs opinion as it is semantics.

It's a bit like this: What year is The Black Album from? Well the FACT is it was officially released in 1994. So, using this logic, if you are lining up your Prince albums chronologically it would be placed on your shelf somewhere around Come. Furthermore, you should label it in your itunes as being from 1994. However, that's just semantics. We all know The Black Album is from 1988 and comes before Lovesexy...despite the official info.

Sure, New Power Soul is officially released as an NPG album. However, no one can disregard the fact that Prince is the only one on the cover, creating/playing/singing most of the music, and starring in the videos. Prince was never as front a center on the 1st two NPG albums as he was on New Power Soul. Call it an NPG album if you want, it's simply semantics.

Take this "officially released as " logic further and one could argue that albums are not actually Prince albums and shouldn't be considered as such. It's silly.

[Edited 8/21/10 8:07am]

[Edited 8/21/10 11:19am]

The one that is sitting on my shelf is mine.

I don't consider it a true "Prince" album because he himself did not consider it that way . . . side projects are just that, a way to release other music while keeping some distance from your own discography.

It's just another side project, it's just that he's more in the foreground on it.

skywalker said:

BorisFishpaw said:

And there we have it.

We all know that Prince is on the cover and his presence is more obvious than on the previous

NPG albums due to him singing lead this time. No-one's denying that

However, Prince decided that Newpower Soul was a "New Power Generation" album.

He wanted the album seen as the 3rd NPG album rather than the follow up to Emancipation

That's how it's credited on the album cover, so that's how it is.

End of argument.

"Opinions" are irrelevant, as the facts speak for themselves.

It's not so much about fact vs opinion as it is semantics.

It's a bit like this: What year is The Black Album from? Well the FACT is it was officially released in 1994. So, using this logic, if you are lining up your Prince albums chronologically it would be placed on your shelf somewhere around Come. Furthermore, you should label it in your itunes as being from 1994. However, that's just semantics. We all know The Black Album is from 1988 and comes before Lovesexy...despite the official info.

Sure, New Power Soul is officially released as an NPG album. However, now one can disregard the fact that Prince is the only one on the cover, creating/playing/singing most of the music, and starring in the videos. Prince was never as front a center on the 1st two NPG albums as he was on New Power Soul. Call it an NPG album if you want, it's simply semantics.

Take this "officially released as " logic further and one could argue that albums are not actually Prince albums and shouldn't be considered as such. It's silly.

[Edited 8/21/10 8:07am]

Totally disagree.

It's not about semantics at all, it IS about facts vs opinions.

Even if it were about semantics, then Newpower Soul would STILL be filed with the other NPG

albums. If you're gonna file Newpower Soul with your "Prince" albums, then to be consistent you

should file Goldnigga under "Tony M" and Exodus under "Sonny T". Since the only difference

between the albums is 'who sang lead vocals'. Either that or you should file ALL the NPG albums

with your Prince albums. If people wanna file side-project albums with the the main artist that's

fine, nothing wrong with that, but at least be consistent about it.

It's a pity that the 4th NPG album "Peace" was never released. Maybe if more NPG albums

featuring Prince's lead vocals were out there people would "get it" more.

(p.s., "the black album" is from 1987, not 1988)

Alguy said:

Some call New Power Soul an NPG album alongside Exodus and Goldnigga, while others say it's a Prince album, and I'm confused. Whose album is it, anyway?

It's very simple... what does it say on the cover?

[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v380/Zeo/newpower.jpg[/img:$uid]

the answer is: "New Power Generation" - Fact.

Anyone saying anything else is merely giving their "opinion". The "facts" speak for themselves.

Of course we know that Prince's image is on the cover, and we're all well aware that he sings

lead vocal on the album. But that's really irrelevant to the argument. Why should "who sings

lead" be used as a defining criteria for where to file an album? The other NPG albums are just

as much Prince albums as Newpower Soul is, and the the same could be said for the Madhouse

albums too. But the FACT is that Prince didn't want Newpower Soul viewed as the follow-up to

Emancipation, he wanted it viewed as the follow-up to Exodus. He could've credited the album

to "" if he wanted, but he chose not to.

^^^ And with that ....

BorisFishpaw said:

skywalker said:

It's not so much about fact vs opinion as it is semantics.

It's a bit like this: What year is The Black Album from? Well the FACT is it was officially released in 1994. So, using this logic, if you are lining up your Prince albums chronologically it would be placed on your shelf somewhere around Come. Furthermore, you should label it in your itunes as being from 1994. However, that's just semantics. We all know The Black Album is from 1988 and comes before Lovesexy...despite the official info.

Sure, New Power Soul is officially released as an NPG album. However, now one can disregard the fact that Prince is the only one on the cover, creating/playing/singing most of the music, and starring in the videos. Prince was never as front a center on the 1st two NPG albums as he was on New Power Soul. Call it an NPG album if you want, it's simply semantics.

Take this "officially released as " logic further and one could argue that albums are not actually Prince albums and shouldn't be considered as such. It's silly.

[Edited 8/21/10 8:07am]

Totally disagree.

It's not about semantics at all, it IS about facts vs opinions.

Even if it were about semantics, then Newpower Soul would STILL be filed with the other NPG

albums. If you're gonna file Newpower Soul with your "Prince" albums, then to be consistent you

should file Goldnigga under "Tony M" and Exodus under "Sonny T". Since the only difference

between the albums is 'who sang lead vocals'. Either that or you should file ALL the NPG albums

with your Prince albums. If people wanna file side-project albums with the the main artist that's

fine, nothing wrong with that, but at least be consistent about it.

It's a pity that the 4th NPG album "Peace" was never released. Maybe if more NPG albums

featuring Prince's lead vocals were out there people would "get it" more.

(p.s., "the black album" is from 1987, not 1988)

I totally understand what you are saying. I don't even necessarily disagree. Officially it is a NPG album. However, I still maintain this is an argument about semantics. Two

1. Using your logic why would you correct me that The Black Album is from 1987, not 1994. Again, isn't the official release date 1994? Just like New Power Soul is officially an NPG album? Do you file The Black Album as being from 1994?

2. When you listen to "The One" or "Come On" and people ask you who you are listening to do you answer, "The New Power Generation", or do you answer "Prince"?

[Edited 8/21/10 11:36am]

BorisFishpaw said:

Alguy said:

Some call New Power Soul an NPG album alongside Exodus and Goldnigga, while others say it's a Prince album, and I'm confused. Whose album is it, anyway?

It's very simple... what does it say on the cover?

[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v380/Zeo/newpower.jpg[/img:$uid]

the answer is: "New Power Generation" - Fact.

Again, I don't disagree with your position. However, you seem to not question the fact that his name is strategically placed on his shoulder.

BorisFishpaw said:

skywalker said:

It's not so much about fact vs opinion as it is semantics.

It's a bit like this: What year is The Black Album from? Well the FACT is it was officially released in 1994. So, using this logic, if you are lining up your Prince albums chronologically it would be placed on your shelf somewhere around Come. Furthermore, you should label it in your itunes as being from 1994. However, that's just semantics. We all know The Black Album is from 1988 and comes before Lovesexy...despite the official info.

Sure, New Power Soul is officially released as an NPG album. However, now one can disregard the fact that Prince is the only one on the cover, creating/playing/singing most of the music, and starring in the videos. Prince was never as front a center on the 1st two NPG albums as he was on New Power Soul. Call it an NPG album if you want, it's simply semantics.

Take this "officially released as " logic further and one could argue that albums are not actually Prince albums and shouldn't be considered as such. It's silly.

[Edited 8/21/10 8:07am]

Totally disagree.

It's not about semantics at all, it IS about facts vs opinions.

Even if it were about semantics, then Newpower Soul would STILL be filed with the other NPG

albums. If you're gonna file Newpower Soul with your "Prince" albums, then to be consistent you

should file Goldnigga under "Tony M" and Exodus under "Sonny T". Since the only difference

between the albums is 'who sang lead vocals'. Either that or you should file ALL the NPG albums

with your Prince albums. If people wanna file side-project albums with the the main artist that's

fine, nothing wrong with that, but at least be consistent about it.

It's a pity that the 4th NPG album "Peace" was never released. Maybe if more NPG albums

featuring Prince's lead vocals were out there people would "get it" more.

(p.s., "the black album" is from 1987, not 1988)

I totally forgot that Peace was going to be an NPG album. There's really no known track list for it though, correct?

skywalker said:

BorisFishpaw said:

It's very simple... what does it say on the cover?

[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v380/Zeo/newpower.jpg[/img:$uid]

the answer is: "New Power Generation" - Fact.

Again, I don't disagree with your position. However, you seem to not question the fact that his name is strategically placed on his shoulder.

^ My thoughts too Skywalker, the Symbol "tatoo" on the shoulder..: this is a album for sure,

well IMO.

It's one of those things like I've heard some people say that 1999 is a "Revolution" album and not a Prince album..I think you can make an argument for both..

In this case I'd say it's a NPG album, it does have it on the album cover of course..and yeah although Prince is on the cover, he's basically just the lead singer of the NPG, like part of a band..It's a bit tough to say for this one

[Edited 8/21/10 11:44am]