This is how I would have released Emancipation if it had been a single disc. What do you think?

1. Jam Of The Year
2. Somebody's Somebody
3. Sex In The Summer
4. Courtin' Time
5. Soul Sanctuary
6. In This Bed I Scream
7. Dreamin' About U
8. Saviour
9. Sleep Around
10. Face Down
11. Get Yo Groove On
12. The Love We Make

I think there's 6 songs on there that I wouldn't have on my 12 song single disc. And that's why he did exactly the right thing in releasing a 3 disc set. Every time it's discussed, everyone has a different single disc list.

Just be happy with the 36 tracks, nobody agrees on the best twelve which kind of invalidates the argument that it should have beeen edited down.

Dsoul said:

Yep, I'd rather have the quantity than one persons idea of the quality.

TheEnglishGent said:

I wholeheartedly agree.

i don't think about it

cause i'm just about 2 put in 3 hours of love, sex and freedom on my computer

I have noticed a number of threads like this lately. One of the best things about being a Prince fan is that we get soooo much music, and some of us apparently want to decrease that.

I say that we should be happy with the way things are. Imagine being a fan of some group that releases an album every 3 or 4 years. Furthermore, imagine that album has about 15 songs, 7 of which are so-so. This is something we do not have to deal with and I am glad about that.

Darwintheorgangrinder said:

I'm all for him getting all of his material out there, even the stuff I'd consider to be absolute crap.

However, the contents of what makes up his albums is another matter. The album is the historical record. The album is the thing you're supposed to sit down and listen to from beginning to end.

I'm not calling for him to release less music. But being a little more careful with what makes it to each album wouldn't hurt.

Dsoul said:

I don't think it invalidates the argument. Some combinations are more popular than others, and statistically there is the most popular combination of songs. Would the same argument have been used about Purple Rain? That he should've released it as a 36 song album just to please everyone's taste, even the minorities? I don't think so. People want Emancipation the way it is because they're used to it that way. If it had been released as a 12 song album nobody would've complained.

peter430044 said:

Pretty good selection but I'd change Courtin' Time for The Holy River.

Darwintheorgangrinder said:

It's nice that Prince releases a lot of music but given the quality of his output the last 15 years it would've been better if he had decreased his output slightly. It's not a major issue that he released Emancipation with 36 songs, but if he had released it with fewer songs it would probably have been more succesful and would anybody have complained about that?

If he had been able to maintain a higher quality throughout the 36 songs that would've been great, but that was not the case. Fortunately he releases music more often than every 3 or 4 years, but it's not either every 3-4 years or every year (including tripple album Emancipation and double album Lotusflow3r). If he had skipped a year here and there and slimmed down certain albums his legacy would have been strengthened.

Well, I don't agree with all your choices, but I think making a single disc is a fun task. I'm glad there are three, but they lend themselves to a mixtape, I think.

I might try this one...

Jam of the Year
Somebody's Somebody
Get Yo Groove On
Joint 2 Joint
Soul Sanctuary
Emale
White Mansion
My Computer
Holy River
In this Bed
The Love We Make
Emancipation

I couldn't get it down to a single disc. I'd need two because I don't really think there's much wrong with disc two.

peter430044 said:

oh u think so? i'm still complaining that it was only 36 songs instead of the 50 that he talked about during the esquire gentleman interview

This is what's cool about having him release a 3 CD set like Emancipation and the Lotusflow3r set. A lot of people get mad that for them, there may be only 1 CD worth of quality music in their eyes but yet, you found a CD's worth of music you enjoy in the set! The fact that you can play around with making the type of CD YOU want is cool if that's what you wanna do. You can play "producer" with this kind of thing. I guess it's all in how you look at it.

L4OATheOriginal said:

But if he hadn't talked about a 50 song album would you have complained about there not being 50 songs?

If he says that there is going to be 50 songs then some will be disappointed if he then breaks that suggestion/promise. But if he hadn't talked about making a 50 song album people would not complain if he had released it as say a 12 song album. I don't here people complain that 3121 should've been 40 songs.
[Edited 4/21/09 14:48pm]

purplecam said:

And since nobody ever agrees on what the best songs are it makes sense to just give us three discs

Slave
Face Down
Sleep Around
One Kiss At A Time
Soul Sanctuary
Emale
The Human Body
White Mansion
Right Back Here In My Arms
Somebody's Somebody
Joint 2 Joint
My Computer
Dreamin' About U
The Holy River
Saviour
The Love We Make
In This Bed I Scream

It's interesting to hear everybody's take on this, obviously many like the three disc format a lot.
[Edited 4/21/09 14:50pm]

peter430044 said:

Did he say that 3121 was going to be 40 songs?

Rogue588 said:

No he didn't, and that was my point. People won't be disappointed that he didn't release it as a 40 song album if he didn't say he would to start with.

tc012009 said:

Thanks! Holy River is a very good song, there's tough competition between several of the songs that are candidates for the single disc.

peter430044 said:

Precisely.

People will be disappointed when he doesn't deliver on what he says. They don't arbitrarily come up with numbers to "hate" on Prince. He puts his OWN foot in his mouth. Did L4OATheOriginal dream up this 50 song factoid? No. He read Prince yakking it up in Esquire Gentleman.

peter430044 said:

Of course they would, every album since I've been here, has been complained about and hated on. They would have complained about the songs they hated and the so called filer.

TheEnglishGent said:

How long has that been?

TheEnglishGent said:

I didn't mean that nobody would've complained about a 12 song Emancipation album. Of course some would not have liked some of the songs. I meant that they would not have complained that it wasn't 36 songs (if he hadn't mentioned plans for a 50 song album in that magazine).
[Edited 4/21/09 15:33pm]

peter430044 said:

What about Style? And you'd have to call it something else without Emancipation on it. That bassline kicks ass!

peter430044 said:

I knew what you meant. I was just highlighting that it's still the org, complaining is in its very fabric.

Needs more 'New World', 'We Gets Up', and 'Big White Mansion'.

Rogue588 said:

Had this screen name since 2002 but been around for a bit longer than that.