Ok, just watching some clips at Housequake.com w/ Tora Tora and the NPG. My question is this, why have albums like Goldnigga and Exodus. What purpose do these albums serve being noted as NPG albums, when obviously Prince's influence is so big in them.

Did Prince ever let them be creative with these albums, or was that whole thing just a way to get more Prince music out? I go for the latter, but what do y'all think?

del
[Edited 6/28/05 13:07pm]

this was done so Warner Bros would release more Prince music
they owned the "Prince" name and "image"
that's why he wrote and produced many other songs under different names
under NPG he could release more albums (same for Madhouse as well)
"Prince" could not use his name or image on the NPG album
otherwise it'd be another "Prince" album which Warners wouldn't release
for fear of flooding the market?
something like that

And I guess, Snap, that would make sense. I saw the video (original) for Count the Days and recall the bassist singing. There was no prince around anywherein the video. Then I see the live version on housequake.com and sure enough, prince is singing (behind that black and white vail and as Tora Tora). Of course, he couldn't have his image during the original video and this always confused me.

It's a shame, though, that this album or another was not made entirely by the band, but somewhat promoted as so. I bet the NPG could have come up with some truly funky shit on their own, without any input from Prince whatsoever.
[Edited 6/28/05 12:37pm]

1nonly said:

It's no different to The Time, The Family, Vanity 6, and all the other protege acts, except that Prince was, at least for Exodus and NPS, much more upfront about his involvement, being PART of the band, rather than behind the scenes.

and if i remember rightly, one of the reason's why The Gold Experience release was postponed was because Prince and Warners were fighting over a release date for Exodus. Warners wanted to treat it like another Prince release. Prince wanted Exodus released in favor of Gold. Warners would not release both at the same time, which meant that they'd hold back Gold until Exodus had been out for awhile. This was also another reason why Prince wrote "Slave" on his face, and also why you see David Letterman holding up the CD and saying it will never be released. This is when we first started hearing "free the children" (Prince's songs). [edit: actually the song 7 makes reference to this as well... time until his Warners contract expires] He was constantly fighting Warners to get more music out.
[Edited 6/28/05 13:27pm]

Yeah , saw it too on Housequake , great song , i didn't know it
Does the 'Exodus' album have any Prince vocals on it ?

Dewrede said:

Yep, on all or at least most all songs. Sonny takes the lead on a few cuts.

ok , thanks , i'll buy it
(although i heard it's hard to get)

'Exodus' is worth buying just for 'Return of the Bump Squad'. I love that P-Funk vibe. And the bass, mmmmm.

ok
sounds like i really should buy it
[Edited 6/28/05 23:31pm]

Exodus is one of my least favorite albums
but i do like "Return of the Bump Squad"
and "Mashed Potato Girl"
one of Prince's funniest moments ever

Snap said:

I don't know about least favorite album and such. But yeah, Return of the Bumpsquad and Mash Potato Girl are cool....I always move the sound to the left speakers on that one just to listen to prince pull a Sopranos. For those that have heard it, they know just what I'm talking about.


"Broke-ass muthafuckahs!"
"Ohhhh!!! He called us broke!"

classic man, classic!

yonipuja said:

Amen! EXODUS is a fucking cool album any1 who doesnt have it should get it. Return of the bump squad, the exodus has beugn, big fun etc are all HOT FUNKY JOINTS!

1nonly said:

The NPG albums are by 'NPG' rather than 'Prince' for the same reason that the
Madhouse albums are. Which is the same reason that the 'Tin Machine' albums are
not by 'David Bowie' or 'Parliament' isn't the same as 'Funkadelic' (Well,
maybe that last one isn't such a good example). It's all about context.