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Did U know Prince's new album was recorded in only 1 day? And that it's only 4 tracks long 2? U better believe it. Cameron Officer tackles the latest confounding musical statement from 1 of the most eccentric pop geniuses ever

Will the real Prince Rogers Nelson please stand up? It's almost as if the pint-sized pop perfectionist was mysteriously replaced with a completely mad, talentless look-a-like sometime around 1998. Surely few other artists in contemporary music have fallen so far in both popular standing and critical opinion.

Well, maybe the name Paul McCartney could be chalked up under that heading also, but he managed to garner quite a bit of praise for Driving Rain and people even ventured out to purchase it in small knots of 10 or 20.

The same can't be said for Prince.}}}

Surely one of the most prolific artists this side of Frank Zappa, Prince has been through more reinventions than Madonna in a costume shop and, for a while in the mid-to-late '80s and early '90s, he was an eccentric leading light in pop. A multi-platinum selling eccentric leading light.

But while tracks like "Little Red Corvette", "Sign O' The Times", "Purple Rain" and the still utterly masterful "When Doves Cry", with its robo-pulse and emotive lyric, will get people out on the dance floor like no other neo-psychedelic funk rock will, these days his album releases garner about as much attention as Steve Urkel in a supermarket.

Some online biographies completely give up at about the Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic stage, while others don't have a good word to say about him after he changed his name to a squiggle, pissing off typesetters the world over.

The 'Love Symbol' thing was done to prove a point and get out of a recording contract he no longer wanted to be in. He officially changed his name back some time ago, but the music didn't seem to change back with him.

He remains the reclusive Howard Hughes of music in his Minneapolis base, making Kraftwerk look positively outgoing by comparison.

Since the late '90s, he's released triple and double albums, rarities and demo compilations, all primarily on the Internet. He's apparently become a Jehovah's Witness of late, and his last commercially released album (2001's The Rainbow Children ) was a musical exploration of themes dealing with his adopted religion.

Sheesh, whatever happened to "Rasberry Beret", man? What about that yellow guitar, Sheila E's lacey fingerless gloves and promiscuous, nudge-nudge lyrics about "cream"?

Things are never that simple in Princeland.

And so we come to his latest release. It's a concept album (What? Prince releasing a concept album? No, surely not!) called N.E.W.S . It features four tracks, which all play out to around the 14 minute mark.

It's bland free form funk jazz that is so featureless, I actually forgot it was on twice. The tracks have fey names ("Love", "Peace", "Faith" and "Charity") and, although I gave up on the whole thing about seven minutes into track number three, I'm pretty sure it's an instrumental album.

No, N.E.W.S isn't going to be heralded as a return to form for Prince.

In fact the only thing left for him to do to alienate his audience even further is to perhaps send us all some of his poo in a bag. I really, truly wouldn't put it past him.

It's funny though, isn't it? We abhor factory conveyor belt sound-a-like music, yet when someone like Prince comes along - someone who is clearly mad but still willing to experiment with sound even if no one else in the world cares - we all screw up our noses and go "Oh no, I don't like that . In fact I don't even want to give it a go."

But I'm not standing on the sideline waggling my finger at all you naughty close-minded people here.

Like you're bound to, I think N.E.W.S is bloody awful, as was The Rainbow Children and pretty much everything else he's put out since Diamonds And Pearls .

But I know that once Prince has popped his tiny clogs, he'll be hailed as a revolutionary genius of sound, despite even those who claim to be big Prince fans not knowing the names of any of his albums beyond Graffiti Bridge .

We've all got selective memories when it comes to this particular pop genius, and mine stops at about 1990. Still, for some reason it feels comfortable knowing that he's around. Knowing that in this be-media-savvy-or-die, demographic driven age, there's room for someone who plays and understands music so well, but just can't get anyone to sing along with him.

Long live the Prince.

Cameron Officer

it said:

to which, i shock-laughed so hard i actually spat on my monitor... but you know, I totally agree with this guy later:
...

Nice save!

So, an interesting review with a twist. Hey Cameron, next time can we get a link to the org?

Cameron is most certainly on heroin

Wow, this guy reminds me of Bart. Hates everything Prince has done in the last ten years, but still wants to keep up with him. Sad...

all I have got to say is anyone who thinks Princes music is crap since 1990 has no idea. This is when Princes music started to grow. In my opinion Princes best music didnt start until 1993. But then again I'm probably a loser like the rest of the 30000 odd that sold out 2 Melbourne shows in 40 minutes on September 30.
[This message was edited Sat Oct 4 10:09:41 PDT 2003 by brettobee]

Two things stood out in this review, signifying that the writer is full of shit (well maybe not full but he aint got that far to go).



Actually, "The Rainbow Children" released in 2001 received overwhelmingly positive reviews for its musicianship. And the "One Nite Alone" tour blew away critics as well. The fact that the writer did not like "The Rainbow Children" does not negate the critical acclaim Prince received for both TRC and the ONA tour.



Seems to me if you are going to give a review of a book, film, or cd, that you should give it at least one complete reading, viewing, or listen, no matter how bad you think it is. In fact you probably should review the material more than once to have an authentically considered review. Not even going over the material once, however, totally exposes the "reviewer" as a fraud.

Actually, "The Rainbow Children" released in 2001 received overwhelmingly positive reviews for its musicianship. And the "One Nite Alone" tour blew away critics as well.


yeah i thought that too, even ONA live, xpectation (for the few journo's who heard it) and NEWS got generally good reviews, i think NEWS is probably the most critically insulted thing hes done since 2001 in general!




Seems to me if you are going to give a review of a book, film, or cd, that you should give it at least one complete reading, viewing, or listen, no matter how bad you think it is. In fact you probably should review the material more than once to have an authentically considered review. Not even going over the material once, however, totally exposes the "reviewer" as a fraud.[/quote]



yeah, alot of people on the org didnt get into NEWS until the 3rd or so viewing, ive just started listening to it again after lending it to a jazz loving friend (he didnt like it) and my opinion of it changes daily!

obviously, mr. cameron is not a rainbow child!

Oh well, you can't please everyone. Some people still want Prince in butless pants simulating to be fucking onstage. That would be kinda embarrassing in my humble opinion, since the man is getting close to 50 years old.

I for one like NEWS as I like all his funky/jazzy exercitions. Some don't like it, so what. There's enough backcatalogue to please everyone!

quote]

It's bland free form funk jazz that is so featureless, I actually forgot it was on twice.



Was this guy really listening if he forgot it was even playing? Some people are just stuck in the past. NEWS is fantastic!

will the real prince rogers nelson please stand up.um,he is.prince has and i suspect always will do his own thing.whether it is perceived as good or bad is irrelevant.he is maddening at times,giving up sublime songs(nothing compares to u, etc)whilst releasing lesser tunes instead.i havent heard n.e.w.s and it may be rubbish,but thats not really the point,who else would record an album of instrumentals in one day?its an experiment.playtime.making music for the sheer fun of it.if its no good,well no matter its done and the next idea will be round the corner.sure i miss the sheer excitement of hearing a new prince track on the radio for the first time and theres a chance we may never hear one again.but while he's living and breathing and messing around in the studio theres a chance he will choose to change direction and produce the commercial goods.whatever he decides to do i'll be waiting in anticipation.

I appreciate everyones opinion 2 the best of my ability, but this guy is simply out 2 lunch. it is apparent 2 me that he listened 2 the album with bias, not an open ear, and doesn't appreciate a new venture in music when he hears one. whoever hired this chump 2 write this article should seriously reconsider giving this man his paycheck. u don't have to like the record, but bashing the artist and panning the record without giving any of the reasoning behind u're opinions is unprofessional and stupid.

madfunk said:

I'm sure he wouldn't want to be either.

NuPwrSoul said:

I don't recall any positive reviews for TRC.

jtgillia said:

Where does it say he hated it? One gets the impression that he didn't care for it and that is not quite the same.

starr said:

Who is "some people"? If you're referring to the author of this review, it is my impression that he liked Prince's old stuff, but hasn't cared for his stuff since 1990. That doesn't necessarily mean he is stuck in the past. It could also be interpreted as that he thinks Prince hasn't evolved musically along with the times since - meaning Prince is stuck in the past - because the music Prince has been doing since hasn't held out against what contemporary artists have been doing whereas in the eighties it did.
[This message was edited Sat Oct 4 17:35:53 PDT 2003 by scififilmnerd]

scififilmnerd said:

Get the hell out of here, NO SERIOUSLY GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE... U BABY
[This message was edited Sat Oct 4 20:47:15 PDT 2003 by lmas]

There are alot of people who are going to find NEWS boring.

I'm a big fan and i do. It's mostly a snorefest.

One more comment...NEWS is bloody fantastic if you get where P is coming from. This excludes 99.8% of the world. Prince refers the the Rainbow Children. The rest can listen to Justin Timberlake. He is making his music for himself & the .02% of the world that are on the same journey. To all the knockers simply PISS OFF

scififilmnerd said:

i would suggest that you stick to being a nerd that gets off on sci-fi films. this site is dedicated to p fans, not weirdos. luv ya!

brettobee said:

co sign!

scififilmnerd said:

There were actually quite a few that praised the musicianship as I stated. They more often than not decried the religious message, the cryptic references, and the "Bob George" voice narrator. Even when they gave it so-so reviews, they still said (if reluctantly) that the musicianship was remarkable and refreshing.

http://www.metacritic.com...wchildren/

funkaholic1972 said:

---

Your Right. It is sad but, true there are people that want to see a almost fifty year old man doing the same things he did when he 24 years old. I am not really sure how one can be considered talentless when the just finished a tour last year that sold out all the venue and received great reviews.

let's b real n.e.w.s lost the shit out of me and i'm a pretty good piano player,but after a few times hearing it i soon warmed up 2 it.but damn u and i know prince could release some better jazz than that.madhouse got that shit whipped.trc was a cool album but news was some shit he should have held back releasing and played among friends.like i always say my man has problems picking out songs 2 release and play live.but he dont give a rats ass about someone else's opinion, so he lives and dies with his choices.which aint always good if that choice is made with your ear not listening 2 anothers opinion and that other person is a part of what u are doing.hell let the band members make some choices.wonder what rhonda would have relesed as a single?

madfunk said:

hehe...

the final word on NEWS is that it must be inspired coz it doesnt sell. Dont you know everything that is brilliant does'nt sell. Except of course Michael Jacksons Invincible!
[This message was edited Mon Oct 6 1:03:33 PDT 2003 by brettobee]

Cameron said:

- No big news here...I will always see ´NEWS´ as a side project. A jam session made only for fun. I like it a lot.


- The rest of the world doesn´t care about nothing. Teens are listening to Justin, Britney and Marilyn Manson and older people are listening to bland rock of Sting and Springsteen...
Prince doesn´t care. He is doing his own stuff.

.
- well...ok, nothing so innovative in the 90s, but he made great music in the mid-90s. I am sure other people here agree. ´Gold´ is still one of my fave albums and I still love ´Days of wild´ , ´The ride´, ´Shh´, etc


- Yes, it´s personal. I still have great memories of the 94/95 years. i loved the ONA tour, but I have great memories of Michael, Sonny, Barbarella, Hayes and Mayte. I was watching the B-day concert of Miami 94 and it still rocks very much for me. Those were magical years. I am sure I am not the only one here.

brettobee said:

Yep - guess you are. Either that or you have a well developed sense of humour. Grow?? What are you on? I love tha man and have enjoyed some of the stuff he has done in the last 13 years but besides TRC and The Truth - none of it evidenced growth musically speaking. And quite a lot of it was pants.

scififilmnerd said:

There were plenty.

vivid said:

- well, I think Prince grew as a musician. He improved some of the arrangements too, and had two tight kick ass bands (musically speaking) in the 90s. But in terms of songwriting, I think his 80s output was more original.