out of all the songs that get their appreciation threads, i have never
seen one for these songs. niether appreciation or hate. and that's quite
strange since they are "new power soul" tracks n people are always very
outspoken about the tracks on that album. they're either hot or sh*t.

so what do you guys think of these tracks?

firstly, my fav of the two, "when u love somebody"

it left me pretty luke-warm for a few years but recently i've listened
to it a lot. and i'm starting to like it more and more. out of all the
songs on New Power Soul this one still sounds most like Emancipation,
at least it does to me. it has that kirk j sounding production, which,
in this case is not that bad a thing. plus it has the multi layered vox
on the chorus that are just a little too 'in your face'.

particularly i like the guitar toward the end of the song but i also
like the rap n the lyric "duality is now a groupy with a backstage pass"


and while we're at it. what about the other NPS song that no one ever
seems to talk about: "Shoo-bed-Ooh".

i have to admit i don't like this one as much as When U Love Somebody,
but it's got a nice beat and whenever it does pop up on my player i'll
sit it out and nod my head. i guess the main problem i have with it is
the 'shoobedoh' part. it just sounds silly. i mean the actual vocal.

but the rest of it is nice enough. i like those slightly dirty/gritty
vocals he uses on the verses.

the structure, the multilayered vocals on the chorus and the fuzztone,
they once again make me think this is an emancipation era tune.

so even if you won't give 'm love, at least give 'm another listen, i
think they're good enough and thought they deserved a thread just to
remind people that, hey, it's not all horrible stuff on NPS beyond ur
favorit songs (come on, the one, mad sex)

I

LOVE

THESE

SONGS



So you thought you just might lose your mind today....

Love the darkness of this song That's actually what I love about this whole album, clinical cold darkness

And When You Love Somebody, I think, is just fantastic Lovely little light in the middle of dark dark dark.

we've got some love goin' on let's keep it going.

I agree, I like both these two tracks.

These songs are great....

When u love sombody
gutars at the end is great...the rap iz tight...and his screams are amazing.

A fantastic album it's ashame most people dislike it.
i believe the snare drum programmin could've had a different sound
otherwise a funky album infact i'll listen 2 it 2night.
the songs when u love somebody & shoo-be-doo r excellent.
i love singin shoo-be-doo

i actually like this album minus push it up and freaks on this side.ughh@those bitches

Christopher said:

I think Freaks is awesome. Clintonesque to the max. Push it up can suck my ass though

When U Love Somebody - Great!

Shoo-Bed-Ooh - Awful! Some of the most uninspired stuff Prince has ever recorded!

What about the wasted kisses song? One of his darkest ever methinks.

Shoo-Bed-Ooh is great live extended with P on the keys. One of my favorites at the Park for awhile. I think he really dug this song, Mad Sex, and The One cause he used to play em.

I love Shoo-Bed-Ooh (classic Prince falsetto in the begining) & When U Love Somebody. The One and the Freaks On This Side are no slouches either.

augustwinters said:

he did shoo-bed-ooh live? i didn't know that. i'll have to check it out

Christopher said:

i agree tho that most of the album is just fine, except "push it up"

The only track I never really listen to on NPS is 'Wasted Kisses', I just find it all pretty hum-drum. I know 'Push It Up' is lame, but I like singing along to Doug E. Fresh/Prince rap, it's so quaint

The thing I always found interesting about NPS is whilst he was promoting, and it was getting tons of flack from fans for it being the lowest ebb ever, the final straw, he puts out The War, online, the most interesting thing he'd done in years, and totally pre-empting The Rainbow Children vibe, and on top of that for FREE, and asking fans to copy it and send it along. I look back on that period with fond memories - of course the concerts helped with those rose-tinteds.

NouveauDance said:

ah yes, "the war"

i went to some of those concerts in 1998 and i have to say that they were
amongst the 'worst' prince shows i've seen/heard.

now "worst" is relatively speaking since it's a prince show so it's bound
to be entertaining and tight and all but it was just a big snooze for me,
that time.

but just like his studio output, there were extreme lows in the shows as
well as extreme highs.

for instance, indeed, "the war" and then the "septimo" performance etc etc.

IstenSzek said:

omg push it up is horrid.but i treasure this album cause it was one of my first prince purchases <3 then i bought all the other albums soon after.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

push it up sucks alot of ass.its so cheesy!

pretty sure there were hate threads at one point for both

I really like these two songs, but COME ON is the best track on the album for me!

I like both of these songs...NPS is a good album, but I rarely listen to it.

'NPS' is actually a good album. The production (IMO) is superior to much of 'Emancipation'.

Love both!

Not his best album, but by far not as bad as some people say it is. When TGE gets 10/10 (which it does from me), this album gets at least a 7.5/10 (depending on my mood and everything)!

I love em and the horns on When U Love Somebody have always been some of my fav music-that song is great and deserves more mention than it gets.

Totally never owned a copy of this album.

I've always liked those 2 tracks. Looks like no one digs push it up though. I like the track, but then again I just found out recently Prince/ Doug E. Fresh weren't saying the word hoe so I have to give that one another listen. Me thinking Prince said the word hoe kinda made the song for me, lmao.