Just got my hands on this one and it's pretty good. Not quite as strong as Glamorous Life or Romance 1600, but pretty damn good.

I was wondering how much input Prince had in this album? It says on the Sheila E wikipedia page that Prince "produced" One Day, Koo Koo, Pride and the Passion, Boys Club, and Love on a Blue Train, but that he didn't have anything to do with the rest of the album. As we all no, this could mean that Prince ghost wrote the whole thing

A lot of the songs don't have that "Prince sound" to them, so I am inclined to think he ghost wrote just those 5 songs, but you never know with P. Anybody have any details?

As far as I know, Prince's involvement was with the five you mentioned, and the rest of the writing credits are what the liner notes say they are.

I love that album and think, if properly promoted, it could have done well. There's some great stuff on it.

my 2 favorites on the album are actually ones Prince didn't write...

Hold Me & Faded Photographs

It's great album, the highlights for me are the Prince tracks.

I love Pride And The Passion, the last 50 seconds of that are fantastic, if only there were an extended version

Prince was on fire in 1986-1987.

It's actually my favorite Sheila E album. I don't know how much more involved Prince was than you say.

sextonseven said:

Ditto. It's my favorite Sheila E. album too.

I think it's much stronger than in The Glamorous Life. It's her best Paisley Park CD by far. It's more focused, more grown up, and the songs are a better quality.

You can kind of tell Prince's songs. They stand out like a sore thumb (a couple of them). I never liked "One Day" too much, but I don't hate it. I love side 1, because if you skip past "One Day", and just go with "Wednesday Like A River", "Hold Me", "Faded Photographs" and "Koo Koo", it's like an EP within the LP. They're a great quartet of songs.

There's a great extended version of "Love On A Blue Train" that awesome.

The other "sore thumb" Prince song is "Pride (And the Passion)". I like to start side 2 with "Boys Club", "Hon E Man" and "Love on a Blue Train". "Soul Salsa" is the same jam session that "Merci for the Speed of a Mad Clown in Summer" was, and the idea was repeated later on "Family Affair" on the Sex Cymbal album.

Either way, the album is wonderful. Even with the two corny Prince tunes (which really do seem juvenile compared to the more adult songs like "Hold Me", and "Faded Photographs", I still love the album as a whole.

in Romance 1600 seemed to have a "hollow" sound to it. Very vacant and thin. in the Glamorous Life was more straight 80's Prince R&B. Sheila E. had more of her personality on it, I think.





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[Edited 4/14/10 17:20pm]

I love Faded Photographs and Koo Koo, funky ass groove!

I'm surprised at how many people like this album. Other than "Koo Koo", I think the songs are bland, as was the album artwork. The Glamourous Life was much better.

I have the 12 inch version of kookoo

I might have 2 give it another listen but from what I remember the rest of the album isnt very good.

Diana80 said:

Of her three Prince albums, The Glamorous Life is the one I like the least. Only six songs and one is an instrumental. Disappointing.

I think this is Sheila's best album.It contains songs that are stronger and more focused than what we heard on the two previous albums."Hold Me" is the most soulful thing that Sheila has ever done....a sexy,sultry R&B ballad with an impressive vocal delivery.The rocking,catchy "Faded Photographs" is excellent,featuring a strong,powerful chorus."Pride And The Passion" seems like a sequel to "The Glamorous Life",as the lyrics deal with a woman afraid to commit to love."Boy's Club","Hon E Man" and the naughty,suggestive "Love On A Blue Train" are truly the funkiest jams that Sheila has ever done.

It's a shame that this album was released at a time when Sheila had temporarily put her own career on hold to play drums for Prince.This is the album that could have taken her career to new heights,if it had been promoted more aggressively.There are at least four potential hit singles here.

Bree8016 said:

"Faded Photographs" is my favorite song on the album.This should have been a single! With a brilliant video,the MTV crowd would have been all over it.This could have been a huge pop hit for Sheila.

sextonseven said:

Dude,I totally agree! I think 'The Glamorous Life' is overrated.It sounds hastily recorded.I read somewhere that it was recorded in just a few days,and it sounds like it.A few strong tracks (title track and "Belle Of St.Mark") but the other songs are just 'ok' to me.Nothing to write home about.

The 'Sheila E.' album sounds like more time and effort was put into it.Vocally,Sheila sounds more confident,too.

Efan said:

I agree.The album needed some effective promotion and it would have been a big hit.Warners should have released these four singles,in this order:

"Hold Me"
"Faded Photographs"
"Pride And The Passion"
"Love On A Blue Train"

I never understood why they chose "Koo Koo" as a single The song has a great message,but it lacks a strong hook/chorus.It's too subdued.

Wildboy said:

Prince had nothing to do with the other songs. He co-wrote the 5 songs you quote with Sheila, and played most instruments on them.

There exist extended versions of "Love On A Blue Train" and "Koo Koo" as well as a few b-sides (without any Prince involvement as well).

You can check www.princevault.net for these kind of questions, as well as my in-progress discography (link below)

I think it's great that Prince only produced five tracks.He allowed Sheila to define herself,to come up with some ideas and songs on her own,without his input.That's why this album is so satisfying.

Diana80 said:

I think it's her sexiest album cover!

You gotta love the outrageously erotic lyrics in "Love On A Blue Train"


funny when our eyes met,the walls around me turned wet

let me take your ticket,I'll show you where to stick it....ugh!






...
[Edited 4/15/10 5:23am]

SoulAlive said:

Totally agree. I never understood why she didn't do more videos either. Hold Me could've used one. I also wish she had released the longer version of Hold Me just because.

Love on a Blue Train is a jam. I love it. It could have been turned into an extended jam session in concert and I would be totally happy. It's one of my absolute favorites of hers.

Hold Me is the only weak song on the album, I find it dull. Why on earth was it the lead single.

I prefer the second half of the album, Hon E Man is the best of the non Prince tracks and also the most Prince like.

Romeoblu said:

nobody can convince me he's not involved with that one too.

Love this album! She is so FUNKY on this release...

Faded Photographs is the standout track 4 me. It has a Pat Benetar [ who I am a fan of] kinda vibe to it. The rest of the songs are OK, but nothin special.

I love that album!
I got into a bidding war on ebay for it. I paid waaaay more than I should have, but I really wanted it.

lipstick said:

Yep,this is the standout song.It's a hard rockin',catchy and infectious track with a strong,powerful chorus.There's a female vocalist/bandmember on this song who sings the chorus with Sheila and it gives the track that added "punch".I like the drama and urgency of this song and the lyrics were perfect for a great video.This song had "Top 10 pop hit" written all over it.

Efan said:

Yeah,it's a shame that this album didn't get the promotion/attention it deserved.I really believe that this is the album that could have made her a superstar solo act.One of the problems was,when this album was released,Sheila was already in Prince's new band.She had temporarily put her own career on hold.That's probably one of the reasons why this album was under-promoted.There wasn't even a video for the first single.Also,by 1987,things were in disarray at Paisley Park.Most of the albums were being released with very little promotion.Sheila E. and Jill Jones's albums suffered as a result.

On the one hand,it was great seeing Sheila play drums for Prince and the SOTT/Lovesexy Band is truly his greatest band,imo.However,it meant that Sheila's own solo career was put on hold for awhile.

Efan said:

She did perform "Hold Me" on TV shows. There are a couple of appearances she did on various variety shows where she performed that song.

Remember, she was also in a little band called Prince at the time, so her priorities were minimal with the album.

Sheila E. got lucky in that she got the opportunity to release more than one CD under Prince's auspices. She showed growth and established herself as a talent on her own. Her songs always seemed to fit her even the ones originally slated for other protegees. This CD is tight and deserved more promotion.

My standout tracks we're Koo Koo, Love On A Blue Train & Hon E Man.

Also this brought about what I consider her best B-Side "Paradise Gardens". That song is sheer bliss. The percussion is sexy as hell on that one. I remember when it came out I couldn't stop listening to it and Madhouse 13 and 1/4.
[Edited 4/16/10 11:27am]

HonestMan13 said:

But she wasn't the only one.

Eric Leeds released two CDs.
The Time released four.