Yes, it's my opinion one of THE worst, that this is one of THE worst songs EVER released by Prince.

This song straight out of the Emancipation/Newpower Soul puke-fest.

Now I kinda like Newpower Soul, in the same way I like Lolly, Big Fun and Milli Vanilli - I like the crapness.

But ICP&C is just a horrid, horrid 'song' - There are often many comments about it on forums like .org, about it being "funky" and such out of date buzz-words as "off da hook", "da bomb" and other such phrases.

I'm here to inform you, ICP&C is a horrid track, it represents EVERYTHING that is bad about Prince's output since the mid-90s. The people who like ICP&C are the people who love Top 40 music circa-now.

Show your DISTAIN for this awful, awful song - show your support for it too if you enjoy being seen as the chimp that you are!


» MetroArea
[Edited 2/20/05 14:27pm]

it honestly ain't that horrible of a song. just a pitiful narrative, is all.

Life 'O' the Party is the worst song on that album IMO.

I actually really anjoy ICP&C

I love that song. It was my favorite on the album for a while. Now my favorite is The Marrying Kind.

jayaredee said:

I agree, Life o' the party is the worst. i never have listened to it all the way. Although i don't like illusion, coma, pimp & circumstance either, but it is listenable...

jayaredee said:

"lotp" on the album is gawd-awful, but it was cool live.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

It was awesome live. Imagine our chagrin when we heard the album version on the way home from the screening.

TheOrgerFormerlyKnownAs said:

exactly. it was like a slap in the face...

I see a lot of support for this dreadful track, I admit, I wonder "why" - I see no redeemable qualities - it's like an Emancipation/NPS track.

There are tracks I like on Musicology, but this ain't one of them.

Prince put it #2 after the lead single and title track, so he must've thought it had merit too, but then he thought Mr. Happy and Jughead had merit, so.....

MetroArea said:

but it's 10 times better than "mr. happy" and 10 million times better than "jughead"...

newbie?

jonylawson said:

nope.

No, No, No, No, NO!!!

This song has oomph. It has definition. It has style.

There are quite a few songs from Prince I would call poor but NEVER this one. I don't get the comparisons with Emancipation / New Power Soul. Where those albums were full of bland numbers (a few gems hidden in Emancipation - the less said about New Power Soul the better) ICPC could never fit in this category.

So, in conclusion, I get a bit tired of threads clearly made up to get a response. Don't go starting any "Purple Rain is Crap", "When Doves Cry is Lame", "Tom Jones' version of Kiss shows Prince up" threads, please!

i disagree.

I don't mind it musically - like it when Prince strips down a track to it's basics. But lyrically, it doesn't stand the test of time, it's a pretty ugly story that I don't want to hear about perpetually. A bit like the segues on Exodus, good for a laugh a few listens, but then you get bored with the story.

I can see your point -- ICPC is NOT the kind of song that Prince's core fan base loves him for. When I first heard it, I thought, "Oh no, not another "Undisputed" as track 2 on a Prince album." But, I have to say, ICPC is funky...the music (especially guitar) is cool to me. I can understand how the song can harken memories of some songs from NPS and Emancipation, but I personally wouldn't rate it that low.

I would put the sappidty sappness of "Graffiti Bridge" and the ring-the-dork-bell sound of "Jughead" much further down on the list of Prince's lowest moments than ICPC.

There's not one Prince song that I've ever heard that I'd call 'awful'.

Some of them are less inspiring than others, but to call any one of them awful... Well, I can't see it myself.

As for 'Illusion, Coma, Pimp and Circumstance', I think it's a great reminder of Prince at his most minimalistic funkiest. When I first heard it, it was like Prince poking me in the ribs and telling me not to be so dismissive of any element of his work and telling me that he can still produce the same sort of music that he was creating back in the day.

It ain't my favourite Prince song at all, but it's Prince doing one of the things that he does best; telling a story to a funky, danceable beat.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Pretty much how I feel; beat isn't terrible, chorus could be a little better. The narriative itself is pretty dull. He's done much worse, even on the Musicology album.

It's not even as good as My Medallion which ICPC is clearly modeled after.

lovemachine said:

You think so, lm? They sound nothing alike to me.

I don't consider it his worst song ever but it's definately the worst song on that album and "Life Of The Party" is the second worst.
[Edited 2/20/05 17:10pm]

The song is pretty horrible but sounds like a masterpiece next to Cinnamon Girl. Now that song is AWLFUL!!!

That's my favorite on the album.

vainandy said:

What'd you think of the album overall anyway?

TheOrgerFormerlyKnownAs said:

Damn, I thought I was the only one who had that reaction...

Here's the deal--- I'm generalizing, but a lot of older Prince fans never thought Prince should have mixed hip hop in his funk. The Gold Experience ( the era, the attitude, the band, the look) was to me what 1999 and Purple Rain was for a lot of others-----I dig Prince's take on rap/hip hop. So you have a big batch of P fans who don't like Prince doing hip hop because they think he is "above it". That's why NPS, Emancipation, P Control and songs like Illusion, Coma, Pimp and Circumstance get bashed.

I mean, look at Metro Area's favorite artists. He/she is most likely an old school funkateer( noting wrong with that) who doesn't want Prince mixin' in the hip hop.
I don't mind Prince rapping and I like ICP&C.
[Edited 2/20/05 17:26pm]

MetroArea said:

THIS is a very generally ignorant statement. However, to your merit, this IS just your opinion. I, for one, hate most all of the songs in the Top 40 these days, but I love the fun nature of ICP&C.

Uh-oh.

I like Mr. Happy and Jughead.

Small wonder that I like ICP&S, too?

Actually, I have found that the song I liked the *least* upon first listen is the song that ends up being one of my faves.

(Although Dorothy Parker STILL hasn't grown on me, and should be eliminated in the next SOTT round! But I digress....)

One of the things I love best about Prince is his lyric writing, and ICP&S is fun. Everytime I think about, "She knew which fork to use, but she couldn't dance....", I just start crackin' up! I love the stripped down musical sound of it --- makes the guitar at the end really stand out. I love listening to this track on the treadmill -- puts a little pep in my step.

But hey, don't sweat it. That's one of the wonderful things about being a fan of the man. If you don't like this train, another one will be along before too long.

One man's "LoveSexy" is another man's "Judhead".

Ro

**LoveLife, LoveGod, LoveSexy**