Okay I just got verizon online several weeks ago. I haven't downloaded much. But something told me to go over to the NPGMC and get some of the older downloads that were to slow for my puter prior to my DSL. I downloaded "The Chocolate Invasion"..... "Killer" album! "Stellar" production! Great material! That is what I needed. Yo man why in the world didn't he release this thing to the overall public????? That is the Prince that I knew and loved man! I'mma play that 20 times more than 3121!!! Anyone feel the same bout' this album?

its aight.. im just tired of this production job he keeps doin on his music..

the npgmc2001 production..

My play liscence has expired and I can't get it to work again. The album is stuck on my hard drive unable to be heard, but hey I've spent money on worse things.

Sdldawn said:

Nah dog. I'm a producer and it is well done. I like the newer Prince material post Purple Rain, ATWIAD, Under the Cherry Moon, etc. I lot of his older material was mixed and mastered bad. This stuff is really done. Plus it's not safe! And that is what musicians like. I like when Prince was a musicians musician.

UncleGrandpa said:

Dag dog. Why didn't ya just burn it to CD?

jojofran said:

wow.. what a bold statement
[Edited 4/24/06 20:44pm]

jojofran said:

It was two years ago, and I'm using a Mac. Unless I'm hopeless, the exchange between their downloads and apple Macs has not been properly resolved.

one of prince's finer albums.

that and the slaughterhouse.

Sdldawn said:

Bold as well as true. Any producer or sound engineer... Heck they don't even have to be a producer. Just compare the fidelity in the vocals. Earlier stuff was more murky or muddy. It's just simple facts. I love those albums too but the fidelity isn't as well. However, I will also add that for "rock" the "live" feel or sound is actually preferred.

yeah, well this album and a pile of dump have simularities.

Sdldawn said:

U must b joking.

I think we should define what it is we are drawn to when we say "this" is better than "that".
I think, if you dig "production", then newer Prince like Chocolate Invasion, does have a great sound. No doubt.
But if you are comparing actual quality of songs as far writing goes, then most would prolly agree, the older material, production wise or not, is out and out better.

And then again, it comes down to what moves you.
It's all subjective.

Bfunkthe1 said:

Are you talking about my poo poo?



cause if u are.. coffee makes me go

Sdldawn said:

C'mon now. Be serious.

On topic...
I remember I liked the album as a sequence because I,like others,had most or all of these songs already. And after reading/responding to this thread, I decided to listen to TCI again after a long absence.
Verdict,
it's still cool but not great. Like how I feel about 3121.
It's in the same vein as 3121 but with more interesting ideas, musically and sonically. And there's more Prince guitar!
At this point I choose TCI over 3121.

Bfunkthe1 said:

Isn't it weird that doo doo was involved with the same topic of an album entitled "Chocolate Invasion"


I smell something

UncleGrandpa said:

It should work on mac, as far as I know, as long as you've got uptodate players. And your licenses shouldn't have run out - mine haven't. Have you tried going to the Musicology store, going to My Account and re-downloading the tracks (it keeps a record of what you've bought), then playing them while connected to the internet and re-acquiring the license? I wouldn't just give up like that.

As far as The Chocolate Invasion, I think it is pretty good as a collection of previously released npgmc songs, but I actually think The Slaughterhouse is a bit funkier, songs released at the same time with the same production and yet constantly gets slated on here!

I'm with you, jojofran. I absolutely LOVE this album.

Apparently, it was to be the soundtrack to Spike Lee's movie "Bamboozled" (but he opted not to use it) -- hence the song "Judas Kiss."

I stumbled across it too, last year. I have previously professed my love for it, but nobody who posted had anything particularly positive to say. All I can say is

In my opinion, this album is really tight, nice return to straight R&B. In fact, I think it kicks the ass of NPS, Musicology and definitely 3121. There are definitely some potential singles in the bunch.

I don't know what Prince was thinking. His choices make sense to no one -- but himself (was true in 1984 and tis true today).

altavista said:

It's in the same vein as 3121 but with more interesting ideas, musically and sonically. And there's more Prince guitar!
At this point I choose TCI over 3121.[b]

jojofran said:

The Chocolate Invasion is a FANTASTIC Prince album!!! Check out The Slaughterhouse too if you get a chance...it's basically Volume II of TCI. Both are HIGH quality. My only criticism is that if he was going to release The Dance on 3121, then why not substitute another npg music club track like Van Gogh, My Medallion, Mad or perhaps the U Make My Sunshine b-side "When Will We B Paid." There are probably a few other tracks from year one I'm forgetting as well.

gcu1

jojofran said:

Also, he was trapped in the 80s with inferior 80s recording technology. Whether or not the music is better is a matter of opinion, but the sound quality of the 90s and 2000s is infinitely superior. Nevertheless, there seems to be no shortage of fans who prefer that cold, synthetic, stale, flat, lifeless 80s sound production...to each his/her own.

gcu1

I like “When I Lay My Hands On U,” “Supercute,” and “Vavoom.” The rest, however, zzzzz… I will say this – “TCI”is about 7x’s better than NPS or Slaughterhouse.

altavista said:

I've never heard that TCI was going to be the soundtrack to Bamboozled, or that Prince was planning on producing an entire soundtrack rather than just gift a few songs, and I'm not sure that is true. TCI and Slaughterhouse are made up mainly of tracks from an abandoned album called 'High' for a start. Judas Kiss does contain the word 'Bamboozled' so maybe it is easy to make a connection to the Bamboozled soundtrack, but maybe it was just inspired by the concept - certainly 2045:Radical Man IS on the Bamboozled soundtrack.

I tried to download TCI from NPGMC. After adding it to the cart it says cart empty, same thing for several tries. Was there a CD?

You've been bamboozled, hoodwinked, took.....
[Edited 4/25/06 7:14am]

the poo poo... invasion... starts here..


grab yo toilets and tp.. its about to get funkay in this bathroom

One of the tragedies of 2004 is that TCI and the Slaughterhouse did not get a proper release. Some of his best material in the past 5 years is on those 2.

Sdldawn said:

Why so? He didn't say he liked it better. Just that he likes it. I feel the same way. There is material that's coming out that sounds very fresh and nicely produced. He's right in some ways the production is top notch. While the music from back when was good, the production sucked. Many of his earlier albums are marred by this (not terribly so).

Sdldawn said: