{{{Interesting article in boston globe. http://www.boston.com/ae/...n_is_news/

LIFE IN THE POP LANE
Prince's return is `N.E.W.S.'
By Renee Graham, Globe Staff, 9/30/2003

Almost all singers and musicians, at some point, utter the old line about making music for themselves. If the public and the critics enjoy it, that's all right, too -- but ultimately, they'll claim, true artists create music to meet their own exacting standards and personal satisfaction.

Every musician says it, but only one lives those words with complete conviction -- Prince.}}}

You remember Prince, don't you? Little guy from Minneapolis, plays guitar like he sold his soul at the crossroads, wrote huge hits about God, sex, and little red Corvettes. He could be as soulful as James Brown, as funky as George Clinton, or rock as hard as Jimmy Page. His creativity and abilities were so boundless that calling him a genius seemed an understatement.

With his long absence from radio, MTV, and the pop charts -- all of which he once ruled -- it probably seems that Prince has faded into the misty purple of a self-imposed exile, a self-indulgent recluse whose weirdness finally capsized his career. Yet Prince has continued churning out new music, even if few seem to notice or care.

With none of the fanfare that used to accompany his every move, his latest album, "N.E.W.S.," was released July 29. Its four songs -- "North," "East," "West," and "South" -- are all instrumentals running 14 minutes each, and tend more toward experimental and contemporary jazz than toward the rock-inflected funk and soul that made him an icon two decades ago. Joined by Eric Leeds on saxophones, John Blackwell on drums, Renato Neto on piano and synthesizers, and Rhonda Smith on bass, Prince plays guitar, keyboards, and percussion.

As has been the case with his last few albums, there's no video, no single, no promotion. The album is available in stores (and to subscribers to his online NPG Music Club), but don't look for fancy, eye-catching displays -- Prince doesn't even appear on the CD's cover. Compared to such classic albums as "Sign `O' the Times" and "Dirty Mind," "N.E.W.S." seems a trifle, albeit one with some interesting moments. With its clashing time signatures and jutting sax accents, "East" hints of Jaco Pastorius-era Weather Report, and the spacy bass-nasty "South" is the closest thing here to a standout track. Given that there are no vocals, one might have expected a sky-scraping guitar extravaganza, but Prince doesn't go there.

Mostly, this is background music with an attitude. It isn't inaccessible, but neither is it inviting, since it's so removed from the music that made Prince the most stunning artist of his generation.

He was only 19 when he recorded his 1978 debut, "For You," a one-man opus on which he composed, arranged, produced, and performed every track. Six years and five albums later, the precocious potential of "For You" blossomed into the fulfilled promise of "Purple Rain." By the time his debut film and accompanying soundtrack were released, in 1984, Prince was one of the biggest stars in the world. "Purple Rain" sold more than 10 million copies, featuring such songs as "Let's Go Crazy," "When Doves Cry," and the anthemic title song. He even picked up an Academy Award for best original song score.

"Purple Rain" was his commercial zenith, but for years each Prince album would be an event. Through the neo-psychedelia of "Around the World in a Day" to the shimmering funk of "Parade" (and especially the hit, "Kiss") Prince was one of the few artists about whom one could always believe the hype. Still, by the 1990s, legal tussles with his former label, Warner Bros., and his subsequent public protests -- which included changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol and scrawling the word "Slave" on his cheek -- largely obscured his music.

Even after he extricated himself from his Warner's contract and released the rambling three-CD set "Emancipation," in 1996, much of his audience had disappeared. Whether they were turned off by his eccentricities or simply more interested in younger, newer artists, no one seemed interested in Prince's music.

No one, that is, except Prince. He's 45 years old, and he could still enjoy a major comeback, though he might counter that he's never really gone away. Whatever one's feeling about Prince and his music today, there's something sublime about an artist unshackled by the need to conform. He releases music on his own label, NPG, and if doesn't sell the way it once did -- a press release says "N.E.W.S." has sold about 70,000 copies -- at least it isn't compromised by those who view art as only as product.

Without a hit album since 1991's "Diamonds and Pearls," you get the feeling Prince is unswayed by chart positions. Instead, he manages something few musicians can claim. He makes his music his way, even if it means there are far fewer people enjoying it.

Renee Graham's Life in the Pop Lane column appears on Tuesdays. She can be reached at rgraham@globe.com
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.

nice read...fair & balanced!!

nice

I'm saving this.

As a Prince FAN (yes, I understand that those of you even more FANatic than I will insist I call myself a FAM--ironic), it would still be nice that the rest of the world understand that: Prince hasn't gone anywhere.
But this wouldn't be accomplished until he releases an album that is truly not worthing. Rainbow Children was close, but like LoveSexy, too much for the American public to digest. We have to remember that we've become bombarded by absolute commericial crap ono MTV and ClearChannel Radio, so the majority of American's wouldn't know how to digest a Prince album.

thats a good article on an otherwise unapreciated album.

Good point about the Jaco/Weather Report sound. I remember him saying that he didnt like Rhonda Smith's jaco influence but thought she was a good player.

Jaco is awesome

Although this was a complimentary article on prince's Music (for once)..i get the feeling that his story..ie fighting with warner bros, weirdness, etc..is more prominent in the article than his music.she said he had not had a hit album from 1991...why do they always try to quantify his music interms of sales...Bruce Springsteen for example (and others) has not sold like born in the usa another great album of '84 like purple rain...they don't say well "bruce is not selling like he used to" and "he has not had a hit album since..."they appreciate what the artist has created and see it as growth.why is there this bias towards this partifular artist?..still a little confused...maybe ssomeone can answer that for me ..

cloud9mission said:

Only when playing funk. He said he preferred the LG style on the bass for his funk cuts, he only said that with Rhonda there is always a Jaco influence, but no way did he imply that he didn't like the jaco influence overall.

Novabreaker said:

Yes, he just said that he wouldn't play like that himself.

Great read. At least this person seems to have done some homework unlike so many that don't.

finally an article that is about the music.weather u like p or not, the music on this CD is pretty darn good.

See once again the writers are having trouble giving this album its due praise. They do but then they have to put it down in some kind of way. It is funny to me when people compare Prince's albums. I think one of the reasons we all like Prince is because each album is different from the last. So to talk about 'Dirty Mind' and 'Sign O the Times' and compare them to N.E.W.S is really silly. I wish that people (and by that I mean the media too) would stop looking over their shoulder to see what other peoples reaction to this CD is. Feel free to enjoy. If someone does not like it then they just don't like it. Personally I rank this album up there with all Prince's great stuff and I would even put it up there with 'HeadHunters' by Herbie and Co. Yes I said that and I mean it this album is remarkable people believe it now or learn it later. Prince is truly a genius and his art will live on well past his days on this earth.

N.E.W.S. is quite a good album in it's genre: funky fusion. My father -who is a fusion fanatic- really loves the album and even turned on some of his jazz musician friends to N.E.W.S.

The funny this is, back in the 80's we used to have big arguments about Prince, my father couldn't stand him. Being a Christian he thought Prince was a descendant from Hell trying to poison his little kid's mind with all kinds of sexual vulgarities. But these days with Prince focussing on the music, Prince has become one of the artists he plays most: TRC, The Vault, News, Alladin DVD, he loves them all.

Now maybe some of you think: why share this story? But for me it is like justice is finally done to Prince after all these years!

the article is well written, but VERY one sided. it is SO from a commercial perspective. some people have a need for validation in order for them to be able to enjoy art...

but hey, more power to these people who only see music through the eyes of the mainstream. in the end, they got their's... and we got ours...