For once, I agree with thesexofit on a musical issue. I give it a 1, and that is only because "Wasted Kisses" is on there.

Thing is, most of the tracks have potential, but are half-baked at best. Like Funky Music" could have been great, if it had only had a good, thumping drum track instead of the tepid Kirky J drum sound. Same goes of most of the album ("Push It Up" "Freaks on This Side"). Of course, some tracks like "Shoo Be Doo" and "When U Love Somebody" are just howlingly awful, and nothing could be done to improve them unless Prince had simply pressed "erase" right after recording them).

All in all, Prince should have worked some more on developing these tracks.

I have no idea why so many people hate this album. The horns are off the hook, and prince's drum programming was far better on this album than on Emancipation's urban contemporary efforts. Freaks On This Side is one of my favs. ALSO... Marva King's vocals R perfect with Prince's. Yeah, the album is short, yeah there R some tracks I could do without... But what about "Madd Sex", "Freaks On This Side", "Push It Up", "The One", etc? Personally, I thought it was Funk meets Urban Contemporary in the right way. The Go-Go feel of the drums on "Freaks" and Marva's vocals on "Push It Up", plus the horns, R enough reason 4 me 2 dig it.

Peace.

G.

I give it a "1" because the only song I like on the entire album is "When You Love Somebody". The majority of the album is shit hop.

toejam said:

I. Fucking. Love. You.

Please tell me you have the 'real' version of Come On, the 8-9 minute remix.

newpowergeneration said:

with prince doing the alternate vocals and rap? i can't play that too often because it's too cool for my ears to process. 'come on' is seriously one of my top five favorite prince songs - it's freakin' inspired. and i'm glad the remixes did the song justice, too.

NPS? "it's just a bit of sillyness, really"
i think they're all pretty much lil' funk jams thrown together in a couple minutes time
even the lyrics reveal them for what they are: tunes with very little thought put into 'em
prince was going through a cool time just before this album's release
and when it came out, it was a huge surprise because it was a big disappointment
songs like "mad sex" "freaks" and "wasted kisses" are aw'ight
"the one" is cool, but with a misleading title
considering it came out of a very spiritual time for prince
but alas, his arrogance returns
"come on" is the sole standout track
played live, this song is infinitely funky
i give the album a
4 out of 10

Snap said:

Well 2 each his-her own, y'know what I'm sayin? But these 2 quotes from before, 1st me, and then toejam, sum it up well, except I actually forgot 2 mention "Come On"!


A) The horns are off the hook, and prince's drum programming was far better on this album than on Emancipation's urban contemporary efforts. Freaks On This Side is one of my favs. ALSO... Marva King's vocals R perfect with Prince's. Yeah, the album is short, yeah there R some tracks I could do without... But what about "Madd Sex", "Freaks On This Side", "Push It Up", "The One", etc? Personally, I thought it was Funk meets Urban Contemporary in the right way. The Go-Go feel of the drums on "Freaks" and Marva's vocals on "Push It Up", plus the horns, R enough reason 4 me 2 dig it.

B) I don't rate it as high as 1999, Parade, Lovesexy or TRC, but it's actually one of the albums I listen to the most. Indeed, I think it's one of his most underated albums.

Listen to the interplay between the keys, guitar, synth strings and horns on "New Power Soul"...

Listen to the reverse hi-hat and rubbery bass on "Mad Sex" mixed with the bebop-ish piano/horn line...

OK, "Until U're In My Arms Again" might not be anything new to Prince, but it's a great display of his vocal abilities...

Listen to the stop-start rhythm of "When U Love Somebody" and the trampoline bass followed by the funk workout outro...

Listen to the lyrics of "Sho-Bed-Ooh" and the extra harmony used on the final chorus. And the light starlight keys in the background, not to mention the way the bass never starts "on the 1", it's always behind the beat...

"Push It Up". I used to hate this until I started hearing that crazy sound like a car starting in slow motion. And that crazy crowd noise used in the rap section. Oh, and the variation of the reverb on the snare...

Listen to the tightness of the horns on "Freaks" and the scary vocal effects. Reminds me of "There's Other Here With Us"...

"Come On" is simply the greatest track from the Emancipation/NPS/Rave era. Killer chorus, killer hook, camille voice. Enought said...

Listen to Rhonda's delicate playing on "The One" and Prince's silky vocals...

"Funky Music" is probably the only track I don't dig...

And finally, "Wasted Kisses" is up there as one of his most honest, hearfelt songs. Hidden among the story of someone being gunned down, I think there is some real truth in the song regarding his relationship with Mayte at that point in their relationship...

Anyway, there you have it. NPS is a great album.

I like some tracks from this album:

Come On
When U Love Somebody
The One
Untill Ure In My Arms Again
Wasted Kisses

aren't that bad..

6/10

Ummmmm .....

This is 1 of those albums which has some great & some fuckin awful moments ..... i love "Come On" a top tune which i could listen 2 straight after litening to Shockadelica & Erotic City & not feel hard done by
The One is a really good song, Mad Sex & Until ure in my arms again are not bad ..... BUT Shoo-bed-ooh is just crap (IMO) ,also not a fan of Push it Up or Funky Music .
I will say however as some1 has mentioned ,i remember the tour from this time & alot of the stuff on this album was pure jam stuff & although not great on cd is was amazing live

6/10

Giovanni777 said:

well, this definitely gives me a reason to give NPS another good listen
i like the above descriptions of the songwriting and performance of these songs

Anxiety said:

Heh heh, and to think that I was laughed out of town on the old .org (not to mention AMP) when I kept on relentlessly about how good the remix was. Seriously, Google Groups it if you don't believe me. I'm glad some people are showing the Come On love (as well as the rest of NPS). Inspired IS the word. I love how the song generates into a funky ass jam which sounds like it was recorded live in the studio with loads of other people (and about 5 seperate s). Amazing.

[Edit] (realising there is actually a point to this thread) and my vote for NPS? 8.7
[Edited 12/29/05 18:44pm]

Not as good as "Come", but 8/10

8/10

Total score 5.2


Thread closed


(opinion, way to high an average. )

no rock on it so it gets a 6.0

I'll give it a 4. That's how many songs i like & actually listen to when i do play it.

I give it 5.5/10

mellow1 said:

good logic

6 would be more fair than 5.2. Imagine if Prince had never released anything elce. I bet you'd all be giving it a 7 or 8 then.

Haven't listened to it in a while but going through it song by song

1. Newpower soul. ok, nothing great. 5/10
2. Mad sex. Nice funky little number, can get on your nerves after a while though. 6/10
3. Until you're in my arms again. nice but a bit boring. 5/10
4. When you love somebody. Can't even remember it so 4/10
5. shoo be doo. melodic bit of fluff. 5/10
6. push it up. I really like this, has some energy and some decent quality rapping. 6/10
7. Freaks on this side. I quite like this one too, better than jam of the year. 6/10
8. Come On. Classic Prince. 8/10
9. The One. So smooth it melts your cheese. 9/10
10. Wasted Kisses. Another minor classic. 8/10

So if my calculations are correct my average score for the album would be.....6.2 which is not bad at all considering.

very under rated "PRINCE" (i hate it when people say npg)album.
i give it a 6 or 7