It seems that alot of Prince fans truly dislike the "Emancipation" CD set.

I really cannot understand this at all. Some of the reasons I've heard include, it's "too commercial," or it has no depth, and it's a "waste of Prince's talent," etc.

I personally LOVE "Emancipation." I think it is one of Prince's happiest collections of music. Granted, I don't like every single song in the set, but most of the songs are inspired and are very enjoyable to listen to. I don't think it has a "too commercial" quality to it at all. I mean how much radio airplay did any of it really get? Or, maybe the radio stations where I live are just gimp. Who knows...

If I had to name a Prince album that I thought was "too commercial," I would say "Diamonds and Pearls." The singles from it got tons (way too much) airplay. It got to where I thought I would vomit if I heard "Cream" one more time at the mall. It seems like it could have been so much more than what it actually was.

live4lovesexy said:

I agree with you on that one L4L.

I love this album...each c.d. has some fluff on it tho', except maybe disc 2. I really like The Love We Make...I think that song alone is worth having disc 3. Disc 1 has several great songs.

I love this album because each song really has a different personality 2 it. The melodies always instantly come 2 mind whenever a song from Emancipation is mentioned.

But I think songs that should have been eliminated were: Da,Da,Da My Computer, Right Back Here In My Arms, Mr. Happy, We Gets Up, and Emale. Most of those r from disc 1.

"My Computer". To eliminate one of the most important songs of this period? And "Right Back Here In My Arms" one half of the double a-side single?

I like it, even it was kind of "all over the place" in terms of style and quality. Could've used some editing, but I usually do that myself anyway. I wish he'd make all of his releases 3 cd's long...or 4 for that matter.

Great album...It's funny I know people that enjoy Emancipation more than Sign O The Times. I do not share that sentiment, however I do feel that Emancipation is a great piece of art. He was coming from so many angles, styles and ideas at that time. Most people have a problem with the beat programming, however I feel that it doesn't take away from the tracks. To answer your question some people bitch and moan about the album because Prince doesn't sound like he did in the 1980's.

I listened to Disc II and III yesterday. I still love this album. I was reminded how great songs like The Holy River, Soul Sanctuary, One Kiss At A Time, Dreamin' About U, My Computer, The Love We Make, and Face Down are.

From Disc I I remember having In This Bed :I: Scream on repeat for about an hour when I first got the album. That track is probably my absolute favourite. An amalgam of different styles, Pop, Rock, Funk, Electro. Classic Prince.

KeithyT said:

I loved that last 30 seconds or so of that song, and wished it went on longer. I don't know what you'd label it style-wise, but the jam is THICK.

YO EMANCIPATION WAS A WONDERFUL LP WITH A LITTLE BIT OF SOMETHING 4 EVERYONE. HE UNLOADED THE GUN ON THIS ONE. THE ONLY THING MISSING WAS A LIVE DRUMMER SUCH AS MR BLACKMAN OR THE NPG DRUMMER THIS WOULD HAVE TAKEN THE LP OVER THE TOP. NOT MUCH AIR PLAY BUT SO MANY JAMS WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE 2 HEAR ON THE AIR. SEX IN THE SUMMER. JOINT 2JOINT.SOUL SANCTURARY. AND MANY MORE ONE OF HIS BEST COLLECTIONS OF WORK HERE.

joelmarable said:

Ermm I think you mean Mr. (John) Blackwell who in fact IS the NPG drummer.

My piece of advice for Emancipation :
Rip the 3 cds & then make your own selection & burn it on only ONE cd, then you'll get an Ok LP

It's got it's bland moments (the horrid cover of One of Us) but i'd pay the price of the album just for 'My Computer' alone! Awesome tune!

nuthinbuttamuffin said:

Wow, I feel the exact opposite. I love his cover of One Of Us, but I think My Computer is crap! Boring, meandering tune with no soul!

I think the problem with Emancipation as an album is that there is way too much filler. If Prince had made a double, or even single disc, then you could have had one hell of an album. As it was, Prince put out three discs that really didn't showcase all of his talents. The Kirky J drum programming is lifeless, and Prince never really cuts loose on the guitar the way he should on such a sprawling set.

Don't get me wrong, I think Emancipation sports some incredible cuts (Face Down and The Holy River count as some of my faves). I just think it has way too much fluff to merit three discs.

I have to agree 100% with Jedimaster. One of us is amazing. It's so much better than that lame Joan Osborne version. She sings it with no feeling or style. Prince sings it with such passion and the guitar licks are great.

I like Emancipation. I was jamming to "Emale" all the way up to and back from Ohio. I also like Joint 2 Joint, Mr. Happy, Courtin' Time, Jam Of The Year, My Computer, The Love We Make, The Human Body, New World, and some others. My Computer is one of my all time favorites of Prince's. Not the "best" he ever did, but certainly far from the worst.



Peace,

JD
[This message was edited Mon Aug 12 9:45:12 PDT 2002 by JDODSON]

I Emanicipation... it remains my main catalyst to why I was personally drawn in so heavily to his current music. I have always listen to Prince, as I have mentioned before... since the "Purple Rain" days ... but truly it was not until the release of "Emancipation" that I respect/followed (more so) his chosen musical path of today. The diversity of style that resides within the 3 discs suite/feeds much of my personal taste of music (words, tone, versatility of voice, character in which he presents each individual song, is up to par (my personal opinion ). Among my most listened...

Somebody's Somebody , White Mansion, Can't Make You Love Me, all of Disc II (nonstop), The Human Body, Face Down (I love this song, such attitude ), Style, My Computer, One Of Us, and Emancipation.

It's definitely a valuable asset in my musical library.

Beautiful Day!

Emancipation is OK.
But I have to say as a whole I found it a bit bland and samey. Nothing really "goes for it", almost everything has the same over-polished r&b production.

After the excellent Gold Experience I was hoping for a real kick-ass 3CD set. Something with a bit of everything, Rock, R&B, Dance, Soul, Funk, Blues, Jazz... something eclectic that would show off Prince's genre-fusing ability.

At the time there were a lot of excellent, yet unreleased tracks around like Days Of Wild, Acknowledge Me, 18 & Over, Slave 2 The System, The Ride, Extraordinary, Welcome 2 The Dawn, Interactive & Empty Room. Instead of using any of them, Prince opted for an album of (almost) entirely unheard new tracks, all with a positive uplifting vibe. Nothing wrong with that... if you were making a single album, but as a triple disc set it was too much of one flavour. Where's the screaming guitar rockers? Where's the Funkier than a sack o' grandaddies grooves? Where's the WTF? tracks that sound like nobody else on the planet? You may love Double Chocolate Chip...but you'll soon get bored with it if that's all you ate.

There are some really good tracks on Emancipation, but it seems like most of the individuality of the different songs has been ironed out, It's not until disc 3 that there seems to be any real experimentation and adventure. If it wasn't for Prince's distinctive vocals, you really wouldn't be able to tell most of the tracks apart from a lot of the typical r&b chart stuff you heard on the radio at that time.

It's all very well making an album a cohesive artistic statement, but clocking in at 3 hours, Emancipation would've benefitted from a more eclectic "Sign O The Times" approach. Surely he should've taken the opportunity to do things really off the wall that you just couldn't do on a normal single album (e.g. a long experimental jam like Crystal Ball).

That's why I was disappointed with Emancipation, it seemed like a missed opportunity to show some sides of Prince we very rarely see, and break new ground.

I think the album is good..

but if I had to say a couple things about it..

to many Keyboard tracks!! not enough live instruments.. ( the second disk is almost all keyboads except the guitars)

but hey the project made prince $12 Million bucks!! so why complain.

Wow, I'm actually surprised to read so many positive comments about Emancipation!

I agree that it should have been edited so some of the unnecessary songs (Da,Da,Da, Mr. Happy, etc.) were deleted.

I am hopelessly addicted to "Joint 2 Joint", "My Computer", "Emale" and several other songs.

R U Kidding?

Emancipation is Prince in his happy state,
and it reflexed in his music.
I am in love with these CD's.
My personal top 5, for sure.

AmoebaOfDoom said:

Well put...
I'm sure I've said something similar before
I play Crystal Ball more often than Emancipation
for exactly those reasons
(not that Crystal Ball is perfect or anything, just more interesting).

If Emancipation was more diverse it would have been a classic! Just think if all the best tracks from Emancipation / Crystal Ball / Old Friends 4 Sale / Chaos And Disorder had been used for Emancipation, it would have been a killer!