jtfolden said:

I'm sure that was Prince. It seems that beginning around 1991, Prince often made odd choices for lead singles - Gett Off, MNIP, etc... and stronger tracks were skipped over or released later when radio had grown tired of the album by then.

Agree, although I actually think 'Get Off' was perfect, because it came out way before the album and was more of a stand-alone single (and it was important for Prince, maybe, to connect with the 'black' audience a bit more), and then just prior to the album the more 'pop' singles came out and really drove sales. You can't really argue with the 6 million or whatever Diamonds & Pearls sold.

.

But after that? Prince really lost his judgement on how to sell his music. In that new Rolling Stone piece (linked on another thread), one NPG member (can't remember whom now) says that they'd spent months doing band-recordings for what became the Love/Symbol album (1992), and it all sounded great, and then Prince went off by himself one afternoon and cut 'My Name is Prince', which the NPG thought was kind of mediocre. And then he issued it as the lead-off single (too soon after the previous album, as usual) and basically killed the album.

.

And yeah, Emancipation is another odd one. While there's clearly no #1 hit on it, 'Betcha By Golly Wow' is just the weirdest choice. The 'Philly-soul' sound was really not 'in' in 1996 and had no chance at radio; not to mention Prince's covers on this album aren't better than any of the more popular versions. He should have issued and promoted (a slightly shortened version of) 'The Holy River', which was much more important and indicative of the general theme and vibe of the record.

.

By the time he did come up with another good lead-off single again ('The Greatest Romance Ever Sold'), nobody at radio cared anymore.

I think it's rated properly. A 3 out of 5. Like many have said. Too much filler. Same-sounding production. I remember being overwhelmed by the blandness. It was the beginning of the end of my fandom...before it returned in 2014.

EMANCIPATION has always been a great album. Though I don't understand the choice of the lead single...

But what is the point of talking about an out of print album ? Prince wanted this album to die.

RODSERLING said:

But what is the point of talking about an out of print album ? Prince wanted this album to die.

So because it's out of print the music isn't worth talking about???

MattyJam said:

RODSERLING said:

But what is the point of talking about an out of print album ? Prince wanted this album to die.

So because it's out of print the music isn't worth talking about???

Obviously, Prince didn't want people talk about, listen or buy this album.

MattyJam said:

RODSERLING said:

Despite generally low rating that this album gets, i absolutely love this album. In my top 15:

.

jam of the year

right back in my arms

somebody's sombody

in this bed i scream

one kiss at the time

dreamin' about u

soul sanctuary

emale

the holy river

joint 2 joint

saviour

face down

sleep around

the love we make

emancipation

missfee said:

RODSERLING said:

Obviously, Prince didn't want people talk about, listen or buy this album.

This is pure BS.

ThePanther said:

jtfolden said:

I'm sure that was Prince. It seems that beginning around 1991, Prince often made odd choices for lead singles - Gett Off, MNIP, etc... and stronger tracks were skipped over or released later when radio had grown tired of the album by then.

Agree, although I actually think 'Get Off' was perfect, because it came out way before the album and was more of a stand-alone single (and it was important for Prince, maybe, to connect with the 'black' audience a bit more), and then just prior to the album the more 'pop' singles came out and really drove sales. You can't really argue with the 6 million or whatever Diamonds & Pearls sold.

.

But after that? Prince really lost his judgement on how to sell his music. In that new Rolling Stone piece (linked on another thread), one NPG member (can't remember whom now) says that they'd spent months doing band-recordings for what became the Love/Symbol album (1992), and it all sounded great, and then Prince went off by himself one afternoon and cut 'My Name is Prince', which the NPG thought was kind of mediocre. And then he issued it as the lead-off single (too soon after the previous album, as usual) and basically killed the album.

.

And yeah, Emancipation is another odd one. While there's clearly no #1 hit on it, 'Betcha By Golly Wow' is just the weirdest choice. The 'Philly-soul' sound was really not 'in' in 1996 and had no chance at radio; not to mention Prince's covers on this album aren't better than any of the more popular versions. He should have issued and promoted (a slightly shortened version of) 'The Holy River', which was much more important and indicative of the general theme and vibe of the record.

.

By the time he did come up with another good lead-off single again ('The Greatest Romance Ever Sold'), nobody at radio cared anymore.

It may have been an odd single to pick, but"Betcha" actually received heavy airplay on all of the r&b stations out here..."Somebody's Somebody" did pretty well too. The hip hop stations even re-mixed "Somebody" into their playlist.

RODSERLING said:

EMANCIPATION has always been a great album. Though I don't understand the choice of the lead single...

But what is the point of talking about an out of print album ? Prince wanted this album to die.

You really should not be putting words in a dead man's mouth.

Prince has a YUGE number of OOP albums. That doesn't mean anyone wanted it to die or that we should cease talking about it even if they did. That's beyond silly...

[Edited 5/9/16 15:26pm]

Tremendous Masterwork! Absolutely no doubt about it. The 90s albums all have such great sound productions, too….”Emancipation” is no exception. Crisp, clean and crystal clear, while also warm and fat……mmmm, yummy!

Some good songs specially The Holy River is a masterpiece, The love we make is another one good song so is Face down

MattyJam said:

friend2001 said:

I just dont get how he could go from such fantastic drums with Michael Bland to such bland drum programming from Kirky J. In an obvious hurry to get it out for some reason (3 months after Chaos and Disorder?) and handing over the drum programming was a huge mistake.

[Edited 5/6/16 7:55am]

Well, it's the difference between a live drummer and a drum programmer. Did Kirky J play any live drums on Emancipation? Does he even play the drums?

He played live drums on the tour. He iwas no Bland or Blackwell but he was every bit as good as Bobby Z was.

RODSERLING said:

FUNKYNESS said:

I like "Slave" quite a bit.

RODSERLING said:

- MY NAME IS PRINCE is a great song, and a very good choice 4 a single - BETCHA BY GOLLY WOW was mediocre, but it was a hit in the US and in the UK. Incredible, but true - HOLY RIVER was released as a single and was a hit on the radio.

.

I think it's a pretty crappy song, but regardless of our mutual tastes I don't think it was a 'good' single. It failed to make the US top-30, had an embarrassing sleeve, and included a horrible rap section. Basically, it confirmed casual fans' fears from 'Sexy MF' that Prince was going down a one-way pseudo-rap direction, and not doing it very well.

Rough rule of thumb - Prince's cover versions in the studio are awful. Most live covers are good, but there were far, far too many of them. Covers of any kind were entirely unnecessary anyway - there was absolutely no need to release Betcha when he has several better songs on the shelf.