Yesterday I went to the Rave listening-party in Amsterdam.
As expected Prince (or 0(+>) didn't show up, although some
people thought he would and brought their camera.
The event was originally mainly meant for industry people
but since so few of them showed interest fans were also
invited. In the end nearly 270 fans showed up, and only a
few industry people.


The location was a film studio in an industrial era. First
we entered a nice bar. Later we were brought to a movie
theatre. Everybody received a complementary drink and a
ticket for the first or second 'show'. In the meantime songs from Emancipation and New Power Soul
were played in the bar.


To brighten up the evening (who want to listen to a CD in a
dark room?) BMG Records had made a video to accompany the
CD. The video was made up of old video and movie parts. It
was a nice gesture but most of the time a bit annoying.
What can I say about the album? There are a few nice tracks
(Baby Knows, The Sun, The Moon & The Stars, Prettyman) but
again too many ballads. Almost everything is sung in
falsetto. The production is very clean and some tracks
lean to heavy on old Prince material.


Someone from the record company told me that they hope that
people who own at least one Prince record will buy this
album. Their whole promotion is based on 'The old Prince
is back' theme. 'Forget the silly name, forget the terrible
albums, BUY THIS CD.' I doubt it will work.


Nevertheless, the listening party was a nice move. So
thanks to BMG for the opportunity to listen to album 2
weeks before it's on sale. And yes, I will buy it.



Oh by the way, I will place a scan of the Dutch promo CD on
my site soon (http://www.denhaag.org/~ijssel) so stay tuned.