Today i was watching, on a site i better not name, the alternate version of willing and able, a (prerecorded) performance with Prince, the NPG, the steeles and the NPG hornz.
Really a delight to see and listen to.

Judging this clip, several songs on Diamonds and Pearls and The symbol album, and the live-material on the DVD 'sacrifice of victor', his music around that time spoke of a desire to reconnect with true musicians from the past, real performers with soul, to me it seems like he was trying to recapture the live-feel of traditional R&B, soul, gospel and a bit of rock and roll with the original NPG.

Somehow he didnt really seemed able to always maintain that vibe on record (Diamonds and Pearls is sometimes too slicky produced for its own good, and the use of mediocre rappers like Tony M. doesnt help either), but as fresh and exciting it all started out, i still cant see what brought Prince to go to plastic sounding, very boring and polished production on efforts like Emancipation and New Power Soul.

Could it be that Prince has given up too soon for the original NPG, and the idea's about how his music should sound in the mid-nineties? I mean, in retrospect, Prince was obviously trying new things in the nineties about how his music should sound, but to me it seems his lack of patience, brought us his worst musical period... emancipation- new power soul - rave.... very uninspiring sound and productionwise (not necesseraliy composition-wise).

He might have been right to disband the revolution in 1986, most of those musicians werent really capable of dealing with the blossoming jazz and art-rock elements in his music, but in retrospect it seems he did let go of the original NPG to easy, loosing himselve in plastic sounding production and mediocre input by Kirky J.

maybe he felt the live sound traditional arrangement got boring for him.