Did I put crack in my coffee by accident this morning? Working from home, I decided to put on Newpower Soul, and as if that weren't bad enough...I'm kind of enjoying the first half, especially Until U're in My Arms and When U Love Somebody. I think I'm clearly ill and shouldn't go into work at all.

No, you're on a natural high, I hope. It is enjoyable to go back and listen to stuff with fresh ears and no expectations.

Yesterday (in response to another thread here) I burnt a 'new' 12 song Emancipation CD for myself - it's great! By focussing on it as though it were the official release, I'm digging every one of these songs as much as the music on Symbol or Gold.

MendesCity said:

why did u become ill?

Yes , i recently started enjoying it too
Really don't see what's supposed to be so bad about it

Ive always loved NPS. I think its a really cool, fun and funky album. I play it 2 alot of non P fans and they love it. Tracks like mad sex, push it up, freaks on this side, (eye like) funky music and the classic wasted kisses all kick ass.

So there!

Nath xx

Just finished. The biggest problem...it's too short! Ends a bit abruptly. And I think the other problem is that it doesn't flow too well after the first couple of songs--bogs down around "Come On" and "The One." But, really, I'm starting to hear some of the tracks on this as very underrated: "Freaks on This Side" is pretty damn out there musically, despite its corny lyrics.

And I'm still not going to work, dammit!

NPS has a type of funk not found on any P album. It still doesn't gel for me though.

sabaisabai said:

It's kind of fake funk want to be ghetto -let your head bob- kind of record....
but I don't know... it's a wanna be EXODUS.

Miguel

If I work out the percentage of songs that I really like from each album, Newpower Soul works out as my favourite Prince album of the 90s.

It reminds me a lot of the Controversy and 1999 albums. It's got the same weird-funky vibe to it. Not the same sound - the same overriding feeling.

I've always liked the NPS album, I just to play it quite a lot in 98 and 99, I enjoyed it better than the Rave album!! I just thought of it as a groovy party album

I listened to it recently and still thought it was shit.

There is some crap on it, but don't let that cloud your judgement on the entire record. New Power Soul has some really tight, funky jams on it.

The title track is awesome. Way, way better than Musicology.

Mad Sex is tight! Listen to the jazzy piano part and the pissed-off vocals (I love the way he says "skench!").

Until U're In My Arms Again is sweet. Sounds as if it would've fit nicely onto Emancipation.

Shoo-bed-ohh is boring and lifeless. When U Love Somebody is fairly pleasant but nothing special. Push It Up has a funky little bass, and is kinda catchy. Freaksonthisside is rubbish.

Come On is a wonderful record. One of his best R&B records IMO.

The One is every bit as good as the work he was doing in the 80s.

I Like Funky Music is a fun little party anthem, with Erotic City style vocals.

And don't forget how great Wasted Kisses is!

I dig this album way more than The Gold Experience, Symbol or D&P.

PurpleKnight said:

I gotta agree with a lot of that. Except for a few nice tracks, there's no real vision or them for the album, something P almost always has (even when it's a bad one).

Despite the plastic production that was also featured on Emancipation, I still like NPS better. At least it's got some funky tunes on it and on Emancipation the closest tracks to the funk style are Face Down and Emancipation, both tracks that I don't like. NPS is a cool lil' party album.

Despite the fact that NPS is surely not Prince's best work, it's not as bad as some people make it. There are some excellent tracks on it (title track, until u're..., when u love somebody, come on, the one, wasted kisses).

A major problem with NPS (I also "rediscovered" it lately just to check if it's really as bad as many say) that I have is that it is somehow inconsistent. It seems that our little man has put together some "Emancipation" outtakes with some new NPG funk tracks, it just does not seem to go together that well. As a result, the album is missing some flow or vibe. On the other hand, the hornz work may be some of the best Prince/The NPG ever put on record, they play some really funky hooks (also, great piano on "mad sex").

Furthermore, we should not forget that NPS officially is a New Power Generation record, that means some kind of "side project". No one would complain about it being bad if Prince had released some other official record in the same year, but he didn't, so everyone was keen on getting NPS as the new record (although it wasn't really one actually). But, o.k., if you compare it with Exodus, Exodus wins imo. Also, Prince would have done better not to be in the foreground that much so everyone can get that it is a different project he is in (like on Exodus, maybe not with that strange Tora Tora thing, but just being more in the background).

I think that for many people NPS just fits in the whole "Prince lost it in the 90's" legend, so they take it as a proof for their theory (which I don't support). What they forget imo is that if you take any Prince side project album from the 80's (which is the golden Prince era to that folks) and virtually put it into his discography as a regular Prince album, it will also be a disturbing low point. The man always kept the best material for himself. It's not that NPS was surprisingly bad, Exodus just was extremely good.

Come On is AWESOME! Funky! New Power Soul is a funky album.

Love it!