Going back in time a bit.

When he released the Emancipation-set he was saying things like: this was the album 'I was born to make'.
As we know the 3 CD-set didn't was the new masterpiece the fans expected, it also did get a rather lukewarm reception from the music critics, and it didn't sell very well (the set was expensive of course).
I can also see why Prince stopped promoting Emancipation after some time. I mean, after the dead of his just born son i can imagine he wanted some piece of time for himself and his wife.

But, what i don't really get that he did decide too release New Power Soul so quickly afterwards it, and why most of the music on that album (at least IMO) did sound so uninspired. Like it was made on 'autopilot'.

I mean: he could have come back with some strong, inspired album on which he transformed his grief and sense of less in some exceptional, expressive music. But with New Power Soul he not even played it safe, most of the time i hear some senseless 'robot' trying to convince me he is the Prince i know and love.

Maybe it is right what some people close to him have said in the past: that Prince is affraid to release material that is ultimately 'too personal' and too confrontional for himself.
Maybe thats why he destroyed the tapes of 'Wally' (about him breaking up with Susannah Melvoin)? Maybe thats why,as fans, we can only hear nightmarish songs like Theres others here with us, or personal laments like the original version of Old Friends 4 Sale, when we listen to his bootlegs?

What is striking to me, that Prince at least shows some (lyrical) vulnerability and sense of real emotions about his state of mind on some songs from 'The Truth': hence, the bonus-disk from an expensive CD-set, that was originally only obtainable from the internet.

Is it me, or has Prince problems with expressing himself emotionally and personally in his music?
I mean, i think we can agree that he is often very brave when expressing himself 'musically', but when it comes to his lyrics and maybe more important, the spirit, behind his music, i often get the idea Prince is 'holding back' himself.
I cannot pinpoint the exact point it happened, but to me it seems Prince started to 'censor' himself during the early and mid-nineties, presenting himself more and more in terms of a (self created) imago, then as an individual, who was expressing himself on a personal level.

I am curious about your thoughts on this subject.

I believe that when you have a famous musician like Prince is, We as fans have to realize that the man will live his life with happy and sad moments like the rest of us, however, Prince has probably felt that He had responsibility, to make music for his followers, although Prince may not have been happy during that time...So we have to see that the sad Prince will still release songs...when they are released, and what album they are on, will be Prince's decision.

And of course as we get older, we all try to polish up our acts a little bit. How we behave as teens, or in our 20's, should change. We can remember that time, as growing up, and experiencing life in a younger mind-set.

Responsibility, is a bigger job than it is a big word.

new power soul has always felt like a halfway album to me. there are
some very strong songs on it that i consider amongst his best work,
especially amongst his other post 80's output. songs like "come on",
"the one", "wasted kisses".

the other songs feel a bit rushed, as if he had 3 or 4 really good
tracks that he wanted to release quickly so he just threw some more
songs at the project and voila, new power soul.

the lyrics to those good songs are quite good actually and give you
about as much "personal" prince as much of his 80's material. it's
not like he's ever really worn his heart on his sleeve when it came
to lyrics. except for a few prized occasions.

and just because we don't know the story or background to a song
like "wasted kisses" doesn't mean the lyrics are any less personal.
the attention of the few emotional or personal lyrics on that album
is just unfocussed because they are surrounded by quite a few party
jams meandering on and on without saying anything or going anywhere.

the fact that he labeled it a new power generation release instead
of a prince release is imo not that the material is sub par (like
a lot of people said) but because it's a side project much like the
albums he did for The Time. they were more urban and less diverse
than his own proper releases.

it's a funk/party album. not all the songs are very good, no, but
neither are the ones on Rave or The Chocolate Invasion or even on
Slaughterhouse. he was just stuck in a musical rut i guess. or he
just favoured that particular sound.

we all know he had the good stuff flowing still, prove being songs
like "beautiful strange" etc. but the overall feel of all those
albums is a bit watered down, plastic and lifeless party vibe-ish.

musically, i do like new power soul, even if it contains at least
two absolutely horrible songs. it's just a party album. and had
it been an internet only release it would have been received very
different imo.

the fact that he went out and promoted it with all the bombast of
another genuine prince album and toured it quite extensively is
rather weird, but what else is new in prince's universe?

Interesting perspective. I dig the cd.

and another thing, when push comes to shove, i consider the songs
that i like on new power soul:

mad sex
come on
the one
wasted kisses

to be head and shoulders above anything on either musicology or
planet earth.

I'm not following the timeline, but I could be confused, because I can barely remember what I was getting up to in the mid-90s. But Crystal Ball and The Truth came after Emancipation, right, then followed by NPS? So if you think The Truth shows the vulnerability you were looking for after Emancipation, then he did what you're saying you wanted him to do.

As for NPS, I like it a lot, even though I wouldn't hold it up as one of his best. But I think Mad Sex is brilliant and, in Prince's own way, a rare glimpse of vulnerability from him. I always think of that song as a middle-aged man reminiscing on his former life rather than bragging about his conquests.

I have no problem listening to that album all the way through, which is not something I can say for every 90s album of his.

Why should an artist be responsible for others, when he gets older, Tame?

Personally i think an artist first of all has to be responsible for himself. What the people think of him or her, might be positive, neutral or negative, but when it comes to his or her artistry, i think the essence is that its about someone who inspires you, tickles you, changes your mindset (weither its in a - initially - positive or negative way).

Can you explain to me how Prince is acting 'responsible' with the release of albums like New Power Soul and The Rainbow Children?

Because IMO he was only making a fool of himself.

I think Emancipation was an exhaustive project for prince. He'd built it up to be the project of his life. his big breakaway from WB, his ultimate statement. A 3 disc album that would cement his reputation and standing as a musician and performer. It was a big letdown for his fans - and i would imagine the lacklustre response hit him hard, compounded further by the personal loss of his newborn son - as can be seen on The Truth.

I think its ultimately true that Prince was hesitant to put out The Truth as a major commercial release because it was, at times, as nakedly honest as he'd ever been - and something obviously held him back from releaseing an album that would have gone a long way to regaining some critical aclaim for him.

Crystal Ball was something of an appeasement to fans for taking that short hiatus, and i think new Power Soul is the sound of a man who felt totally lost in the music climate of the late 90's. I remember reading his Q interview conducted at the same time - and he was pressing the interviewer to see if he felt there were any hit songs on there. He clearly still wanted hit songs / albums. I enjoyed NPS - its a fun party record - a long way of his best work - but there's some good stuff on there.

Riverpoet31 said:

He stopped promoting it because EMI folded. Face Down was all set to go.

Riverpoet31 said:

Mmmm, was it so fast? The Truth was being lined-up to follow Emancipation, and there was the L4OA tour before NPS came out.

I think Prince threw himself into his work, which was touring at the time, out of this came a 'party album', NPS. Partly because it was born from touring and he wanted a more light-hearted release, he put it under the NPG moniker.

I quite like NPS. It is like an auto-pilot album, but it's fun and there's some solid pop songs on there like Come On and Mad Sex. I don't think it's any more auto-pilot than Musicology or 3121, and I much prefer it to both of those records.

I don't know what he was thinking. but I was thinking someone should've taken the crack pipe out of his hands.

NewPowerSoul isn't all that bad of an album. Wasted Kisses, The One, Come On, and Until U're In My Arms Again I think are good songs. I dig the album. I like it more than his two recent albums.

My thoughts are that Prince was in grief and threw himself into his work as his coping mechanism - writing producing and touring three lps - Chaka, GCS and NPG. I remember some quote at the time about him running from studio to studio working on all three at the same time. If the music isn't so great - give the man a break - he was working through some seriously hard personal issues. Throughout his career the main constant has been his work rate, and I guess he just pushed himself harder to get through it.

Besides, there is some dark on that album - Push It Up and Freaks On This Side are not happy songs in their arrangements and production, for example - quite twisted for P. Not muscial enough to explain myself but some discordant moments?

On the flip side, I always think of Mayte at this time - Prince nowhere to be seen, locked in the studio, and her alone dealing with the grief and pain. Must have been hard. (speculation of course - only two people know what went down in that relationship).

IMO he knew, deep down, that it was a substandard release - which is why it is technically an "NPG" album and not a "Prince" album.

And it wasn't really that soon after Emancipation. In fact, it was over a year and half after Emancipation. In Prince terms, that is a LONG time between releases.

There was no new album in 1997, but then we got Crystal Ball, The Truth, Kamasutra, and New Power Soul (along with his work on Come To My House and GCS2000) in 1998. If I'm not mistaken, that is the most output in the same calendar year that he's ever released.

I know it was put together during a very spiritual high point for Prince (check the writing around the outside frame of "The One" video), but for some odd reason, there's little to nothing that is spiritually-suggestive on it. I think he had a lot of personal stuff going on -- Mayte, Mani, guilt, anger, depression, and his tight friendships with Larry Graham and Chaka Khan at the time who he was working with quite a bit. Prince had a spiritual mind-shift at the time with the first evidence of his being influenced by JW dogma being revealed through his website, e-mails, and around "The One" video. Maybe music was his release through all of this? He made a party album. Also, Larry and Chaka weren't the only ones he surrounded himself with -- look at who else was in his band at the time. Some of them had as much influence on Prince's music as did Tony M. in the early 90s. Prince shut down his more openminded "spiritual" website, and shifted his focus elsewhere. Also, he started making more racially-focused music/lyrics, if you will... eventually culminating altogether with The Rainbow Children. Whereas Emancipation was very personal (basically a Prince album), NPS was almost entirely the opposite. It's my belief that this whole 5-year period of Prince's life (1996-2001) climaxed with The Rainbow Children.

My thoughts anyway. Peace.

Snap said:

Very nicely written. Some people call this period "the lost years" - and for good reason.

i would have to agree with the person who started this thread. Prince hasn't really delved into his personal thoughts and feelings for at least 8years now. he comes up with half baked ideas that should have been left on the cutting board.i think the gold experience, emancipation, and TRC were at least strong efforts anyway. newpowersoul had maybe four good songs on the album. they were: mad sex, wasted kisses, the one, come on. prince hasn't put out three solid albums in a row, since his mid 80's period. sorry