Currently I'm listen to the classic joint from Madhouse "8". Wondering what input P had on 8 & 16? I love these disc so much.
[Edited 1/22/10 19:33pm]

Madhouse IS Prince.

The first album was recorded in the order you hear it, except 7, and 8 which were in reverse order. The first album is all him, and Eric Leeds.

He wrote all the songs on both records.

I was thinking, "Ernest in 5, 4, 3,..."

But I thought it would have included: http://prince.org/msg/7/265761

Me love some Madhouse.

johnart said:

Oh yes!

"huh, huh huh" . best fucking song ever . both albums are pretty tight too, especially the first one

24 is my favorite.

Vendetta1 said:

Which one?

ernestsewell said:

I only know one. There's another?

I am talking about the one with 21-24 being The Dopamine Rush.

Vendetta1 said:

AH. Okay. I think I was thinking that there are two different 24 album configurations, are there not?

ernestsewell said:

I have no idea.

ernestsewell said:

Yeah Ernest, you're right there are two different Madhouse 24's. The one with The Dopamine Rush is definitely the better one.

I call the other 24 NewPowerMadhouse (cuz it's got Michael B and Sonny T on it),

It's very different to the first 24, as it's a live band sound rather than the computer sound. so it's weird to say one is better than the other, they're both pretty good in there own right.

Space is pretty good? and i like that Marvin Gaye cover?

ernestsewell said:

That's a pretty impressive fact about Prince. The man simply amazes me. What would have been absurd, if Prince had released them under Prince instead of Madhouse. Due to contractual obligations with Warner that was probably a no-no. I remember back in 1987, no one knew or believe that was actually Prince. I was never sure because he took no credit for the work. Unbelievable. If people knew back in 1987, it was basically a Prince album it would have sold much better & blew a lot of minds about how talented he is.


I thought 24 was basically "Times Squared"
[Edited 1/23/10 4:48am]

NONSENSE said:

I knew... As soon as I heard "6" playing in a record store, I knew it was Prince. And of course the Paisley Park association. And you are correct, it did blow my mind.

the dialogue on "8" between tracks, is from the movie "The Godfather",

just in case you don't know.

Great album,

"16" is not so great imo.
[Edited 1/23/10 6:44am]

thedance said:

16 has the very awesome "10" which I have had the pleasure of seeing Eric Leeds performed twice live.

13 (Paisley Park Mix) is my favorite. Just listened to it on vinyl not too long ago.

NONSENSE said:

Not true.

thedance said:

Interesting if you think about both albums as:

8 is all Prince, and Eric, and still sounds like a band. It has a more compact sound to it in some regards, and album sounds like it could have been in Under The Cherry Moon somewhere.

The 16 album is as unique and different as 8 is, to me. 16 has a more "band" and organic feel to it. "10" and "12" are fantastic tracks. It sounds more like it could have been a bonus disk for Sign O The Times.

The are brothers, but very unique.

what's really impressive is when people talk about all the material he had around "Crystal Ball/Dream Factory" era no one considers that 8 was released in 87... the same year Sign O' The Times album & movie dropped.

IMHO Eight gets a slight nod over 16.

Eighteen (R U Legal Yet?) Loving the covers of the Madhouse albums as well! They are all easy on the eye...(not the little dog)

veeizm said:

I cannot stand 18.

I give 16 the nod over 8 because it has that funk fusion sound of SOTT! Like Ernest pointed out 8 is a carry over from the Parade sound and 16 ushered in the SOTT sound.

ernestsewell said:

I agree, a lot of Madhouse 8 sounds like instrumentals from the Family album:Yes & Susannah's Pajamas as well as the Parade aftershow cut:Susannah's Blues

the drummer on 8 is fantastic. It's why I give 8 a slight edge.
[Edited 1/25/10 8:26am]

NONSENSE said:

It was Prince's idea to not include his input in the credits, much like the other Paisley Park releases at the time, to allow the release to stand on it's own merits without being judged as a "Prince" record (and to not have Prince's side projects and 'experiments' to be judged in line with those releases under his own name(s). Nothing to do with Warners and contractual obligations (this sort of talk didn't creep into Prince discussion until after 1992).

'Times Squared' Began life as '26', a proposed third Madhouse release, after the first 24 had already been shelved. Eric Leeds used tracks from the vault to assemble a 10 track album, but when Prince heard what Eric had done with the tracks, he felt it represented more of Eric's style than a Madhouse record, so proposed he release it as a solo album.

In answer to your original question, as Ernest said '8' is Prince and Eric, but to expound a little on 16; that more of the band at the time.

10,11,15 are Prince/Sheila/Eric/Levi compositions and performed by. 16 is composed by Eric and Prince and features Fink on keyboards, the rest are Prince solo compositions, featuring Eric performing.

I'm dying to hear these records as everyone talks about them being so awesome. I can find them on ebay and amazon.com but so expensive. Wish all of Prince's back catalogue was on iTunes