I know Dirty Mind was a radical departure and Diamonds & Pearls saw him trying to regain a large portion of his black fanbase through the use of a brand new musical approach, but Prince himself has said that Emancipation was the album he was "born to make"...but I don't think he would have done had he still been bound by WB's contract, and even though at the time he felt it to be his most important piece of work, it stands out to me as a strange part of Prince's musical legacy.

I'm just wondering how things might have turned out had he not been 'emancipated' at all.

Maybe.

Musically, it's not a turning point at all, it sounded like he'd got the Gold Experience, wrung it completely of colour and life, and then stretched it as far as it would go. But also that 'plastic' sound as it became known at the time kinda followed Prince right through the rest of the 90s, and IMO, right upto 3121, so in that sense it was a turning point.

The comment about it being the album he was born to make, besides me a purely marketing phrase to drum up a sense of anticipation (for emancipation ), I also took it as 'the album was born to make'... in as much this was the culmination of the entire reason why Prince changed his stagename to - The album was Prince in a state of 'freedom' after being a 'slave' to Warners, and the 3CD / 3LP analogy of Emancipation and Crystal Ball('87) is in play too.... So that's what I got from the ' born to make' marketing manifesto.

It's a turning point, but probably wasn't a good one for fans (generally speaking).

If he hadn't made such a whoo-haww about being a 'slave' (I think this stuff did him more harm commercially than the name-change.... People made fun of the name-change, but the slave stuff just sounded like a patronising spoilt rich brat throwing his dummy out of the pram).... If he'd kept his disagreement with Warners out of the public arena, I think they probably could've come to some sort of agreement sooner or later with regards to masters and such. But who knows.

re: "the album I was born to make" comment

A musician friend of mine says that about each new album he releases. In fact, almost every time he writes a new song he says it's the best thing he's ever written. I don't know -- I think it's hard to view one's own work objectively. As a songwriter, I think we get so high on our own personal achievements that we think the rest of the world can surely see this progression as well. At least we'd love others to share in our joy and excitement, even if they have no idea what the hell we be so thrilled about.

Snap said:

I think Prince himself had this problem...I still don't know whether he actually thought that now he was 'free', so to speak, that he had created what he truly believed to be his greatest piece of work.

I mean from the sheer ammount of promotional shit alone you can tell he believed Emancipation was something important to him, if not to his fans.

r1ghteousone said:

I'll say it was big turning point due to the fact that he was releasing a CD without Warners, a 3 CD set which Warners would have never gone (lets remember what happened to the original Crystal Ball). Maybe "born to make" means he could make such a big project without 'suits' being involved (you know telling him whats a hit & what ain't) and he owns the rights to it. Emancipation was so versatile, he stretched out on this release. It's so big people might not get it, it's really a mind thing. Yeah, for those reasons I'll say, it was as important as 'Dirty Mind', '1999', Purple Rain' &/or 'Sign 'O The Times'.

r1ghteousone said:

It's Prince's most naked album and not in a good way. Seems to me, the whole Mayte-love-of-his-life midlife career crisis unearthed a part of him he had kept hidden for a very long time: The mundane, unthreatening, boring Prince. Emancipation is shocking for its lack of personality. I think Mayte reduced him to his very boring soul, stripped him of the flamboyance and theatricality he had cultivated over the years. He even resorts to cover songs. Cover songs! He had regressed to his cover band days.

The string of failures that followed this album, along with his marital and career collapse, indicates just how exposed and weak he was. He had no armor. No sense of identity. His records from this period sound confused and unsure of who he is or what he wants.

It's not until he reclaimed his name and released The Rainbow Children that he gets back his feel for the concept album. It's taken him nearly a decade to reconstruct his persona and become interesting again.

padawan said:

Yeah, I agree...if he hadn't changed his name back we may still be getting commercial crap like Rave on a yearly basis.

I think Prince was not focused during this period for many reasons, which shows on Emancipation:

• Newly married
• Child on the way
• Breakup of the original NPG
• Love4OneAnother charity
• Plans for a children's hospital (as said on the Chris Rock show)
• First post-WB album
• First 3-disc album (of original material)

So he was kinda scattered during the recording of Emancipation. The 2 biggest contributors (IMO) for Emancipation's lack of interest are the breakup of the NPG and Prince trying to reconstruct his image as a "family" guy.


[Edited 12/22/06 9:02am]

I usually agree with Padawan's comments but this one I gotta go at on my own. I don't necessarily think because of his marriage to Mayte and all that went with it brought out the boring and crap Prince. I have been married for years and my single friends always point to the "boring" nature of my life. I think people change and mature and go through different phases in one's life. I never found Prince's music lame and uninviting, I found it different because of the newer inspirations that came out of the Emancipation era. Instead of talking about seducing young woman he was found talking about being liberated and at peace. Things change for sure but I enjoyed an artist changing his style and eventually his product. I think back to Forever in My Life on SOTT, I never found the message lame or boring. On lovesexy one could definitely see a person turning his back on indulging every whim and shooting for something higher. Sex in the Summer is slammin as well as Style. I was glad to see him mix it up, party over here, baby-sitter over there themes. Yeah things went bad for him personally around that time and the music went all over the place but I feel that's the way life is. You gotta learn from the different eras that happen normally to become the seasoned veteran and legend that he is as he nears fifty. In summary I think Emancipation had more to do with his new found freedom from the coporate world and newly found domestic life with a new wife. The biggest turning point? No I don't think so just another turning point in the road of life. All the turns are important in the end. But what always perplexes me is the way people on this site post their view points. It' almost as if P doesn't perform a certain way and produces a sound at a certain time they are deeply dissapointed and somewhat pissed. I've watched and appreciated this man's music from a very respectful place, let him make and sound the way he wants, I am just glad to get a chance to hear it and sometimes see it performed live. Happy holiday orgers.

Snap said:

This sums it all up NICELY.

padawan said:

He's interesting again? Not really.

Though I like it okay in retrospect Emancipation was the biggest disappointment in his career, contested only possibly by Rave.

two times I had high expectations that were dashed

Turning Point? If you mean going down hill, then yes.

Prince was not doing well during that period, he was stuggling with his career.

vinaysfunk said: