new power soul

totally insipid, uninspired crap.

a shame that "The One" - - a truly classic single - - is surrounded by an album of filler (apart from "Come On", which is decent).

Xibalba said:

rialb said:

I love Chaos and Disorder. Side A is the best rock music he ever recorded.

Good for you, I'm so happy for you.

I however, think it's interminable shite.

'Chaos and Disorder' is contractual filler that Prince quickly whipped up in order to get out of his contract.The songwriting throughout isn't very imaginative (except for "Dinner With Delores") and there aren't alot of interesting musical ideas on this album,which is what you always expect from a Prince album.This is a lazy,by-the-numbers effort.

Everyone's a critic. Some of you people spit your vitriol like bullets. Everybody is entitled to their OPINION. It's just that some of you speak as if your opinions are FACTS, and it's infuriating. Different strokes, people. If you don't like a certain album/song/era, nobody is forcing you to listen to it. I just don't see who you think YOU are to put down somebody else's work without providing examples of what YOU have done that is so much better, and displays so much more talent. Such negativity.

Dogsinthetrees said:

It's just that some of you speak as if your opinions are FACTS, and it's infuriating.

Well, in my case, it just happens to be true.

ufoclub said:

njin said:

The "God" voice on 1999 and TRC can't e compared. The God voice on TRC is interupting the music all the way. Extremely frustrating. But Prince knows how to test his listeners. Sometimes I would wonder if he just puts out crap for the fun of it. With his amazing talent, he should have been alot more recognized than he is. But he is working against it on purpose I guess.

I guess it depends on if you're into the storytelling concept or not. I like the god voice on the title track, because it's like the lead drama. The rest (music and chorus) kind of supports it. The concept of the song is that you are being told a story. It worked for me live too.

It's similar to "The Exodus has Begun" as well.

and "god" from 'Temptation'

Chaos & Disorder - easily the worst.

TRC is one of his best in my opinion.

Thee only cd that I would rank as "bad" is Planet Earth.

Probably either New Power Soul or 3121... both are equally uninspired to my ears.

That said, "Until U're In My Arms Again" and " Te Amo Corazon" are pretty class tunes.

ufoclub said:

jasontate said:

Wow, I love both of those and listen to them on heavy rotation.

I also love the Rainbow children, P.E and 2010.

I think Musicology is bilge tho.

I respect some tracks of these albums (I really like Had U and Dig U Better Dead for example), but I just don't think they are strongly conceptual (thematic), and with Prince, I always appreciate and expect some kind of concept to his albums.

You're probably right about that and in someways I think it was the theme or life situation I was in at the time that gives me the 'feeling' when i listen to the Vault in particular. It makes my stomach flip a bit when I think about it. I just love the don't care attitude that much of C&D has and it's always great workout music : ) The production at that time (inc Gold) is right up my alley too. I love it when he lets rip. All this said, like many on here I am old skool really. Private joy is my favourite tune on my Itunes library at the moment!

Straight 3 way tie between Planet Earth, TRC and NPS. I've hardly listened to any of those albums since I bought them.

Rave never did it for me.. I can't think of a single track off the album that I enjoyed

V10LETBLUES said:

The Rainbow Children.

The mere mention of this album makes me cringe at how god awful it is.

Of course U meant "awful"ly good album!!!

The Truth

In my opinion; Graffiti Bridge or Musicology.

Not any Prince album is horrible, but except for a few tracks, these two albums are boring and not quite special.

I have to mention several albums, because its not easy to name his single worst album, just as it isnt easy to name his single best album. So here I go, in chronological order:

For You:

Apart from the idea that some 20 yo played all the instruments on the album and produced it itself, there isnt much redeeming to be found on the album. The songwriting is mostly very mediocre (were are the strong melodies? the impressive riffs and hooks?) and his use of styles is very generic: boring seventies disco-soul, oversappy ballads and contrived AOR-rock.

Come:

I know its often praised on the org, but I can't see why at all. I agree the record is held together by a rather dark, depressive sound, but songs like Space and Pheremone are, compositionwise, among the poorest songs ever released on a official Prince-record. It are the kind of songs that weren't even good enough to be B-sides in the eighties. Productionwise, lyricwise and musicwise he offers nothing new, and most of the time he sounds like he is on auto-pilot.

New Power Soul:

Speaking about 'auto-pilot' this album is nothing but. Uninspired plastic disco-funk mostly that seems to make think people think the song 'The One' is some kind of masterpiece, while its a subpar balad in terms of songwriting / composing. I dont even have this album in my possesion anymore.

Rave unto the Joy Fantastic:

Prince going for a broader stylistic scope compared to New Power Soul, but just as generic, contrived and formulaic.

The Rainbow Children:

Stupid, stupid lyrics of course, but musicwise this also isnt the return to form some make it out to be: mostly lame seventies jazz-rock and fusion, music from the mind, instead of from the heart / guts. I won't start about the Darth Vader-like voice... lol

The entire Lotusflower-set:

Despite the praise the Lotusflower-album gets in here, i think its one of his poorest albums. Why? The music might sound more organic, and it might sound more carefully arranged, but without strong compositions you never get a solid album.

MPLSound is a fucking disgrace of course. Just because he was using the Linn-drum again doesnt making it comparable to his eighties material. Those linn-drums in the eighties were very creatively arranged, the ones on MLPSound are not. Next to that MPLSound is full of mostly below-mediocre compositions, and the music itself is lacking the urgency and spirit his best material possesses.

I have skipped along the tracks among the Bria CD one time but: who needs another Sade? That woman is offering enough boring 'coffeetable' music herself.. and who needs another thin voice? We have Janet for that.

20ten

The Newpowersoul of the 00's. A totally generic, auto-pilot take on Prince music WITHOUT the urgency, the spirit and creativity of his best music. Probably recorded within a few weeks with the goal to make as much money possible from it by selling it to some newspapers.

And, no, Future Soul Song, is no new Adore, no new Beautifull Ones, not even a new 'The One', its showing in the first place how some people here are falling for Princes tendency in the 00's to not even taking the effort to write a chorus for a song.

Cornelius1973 said:

I have to mention several albums, because its not easy to name his single worst album, just as it isnt easy to name his single best album. So here I go, in chronological order:

For You:

Apart from the idea that some 20 yo played all the instruments on the album and produced it itself, there isnt much redeeming to be found on the album. The songwriting is mostly very mediocre (were are the strong melodies? the impressive riffs and hooks?) and his use of styles is very generic: boring seventies disco-soul, oversappy ballads and contrived AOR-rock.

Come:

I know its often praised on the org, but I can't see why at all. I agree the record is held together by a rather dark, depressive sound, but songs like Space and Pheremone are, compositionwise, among the poorest songs ever released on a official Prince-record. It are the kind of songs that weren't even good enough to be B-sides in the eighties. Productionwise, lyricwise and musicwise he offers nothing new, and most of the time he sounds like he is on auto-pilot.

New Power Soul:

Speaking about 'auto-pilot' this album is nothing but. Uninspired plastic disco-funk mostly that seems to make think people think the song 'The One' is some kind of masterpiece, while its a subpar balad in terms of songwriting / composing. I dont even have this album in my possesion anymore.

Rave unto the Joy Fantastic:

Prince going for a broader stylistic scope compared to New Power Soul, but just as generic, contrived and formulaic.

The Rainbow Children:

Stupid, stupid lyrics of course, but musicwise this also isnt the return to form some make it out to be: mostly lame seventies jazz-rock and fusion, music from the mind, instead of from the heart / guts. I won't start about the Darth Vader-like voice... lol

The entire Lotusflower-set:

Despite the praise the Lotusflower-album gets in here, i think its one of his poorest albums. Why? The music might sound more organic, and it might sound more carefully arranged, but without strong compositions you never get a solid album.

MPLSound is a fucking disgrace of course. Just because he was using the Linn-drum again doesnt making it comparable to his eighties material. Those linn-drums in the eighties were very creatively arranged, the ones on MLPSound are not. Next to that MPLSound is full of mostly below-mediocre compositions, and the music itself is lacking the urgency and spirit his best material possesses.

I have skipped along the tracks among the Bria CD one time but: who needs another Sade? That woman is offering enough boring 'coffeetable' music herself.. and who needs another thin voice? We have Janet for that.

20ten

The Newpowersoul of the 00's. A totally generic, auto-pilot take on Prince music WITHOUT the urgency, the spirit and creativity of his best music. Probably recorded within a few weeks with the goal to make as much money possible from it by selling it to some newspapers.

And, no, Future Soul Song, is no new Adore, no new Beautifull Ones, not even a new 'The One', its showing in the first place how some people here are falling for Princes tendency in the 00's to not even taking the effort to write a chorus for a song.

i actually agree with alot of what you said except the rainbow children, and even then i dont love the rainbow children

20ten does have one standout track for me- sticky like glue, but other then that it doesnt do that much for me

Lotus is a solid album in my opinion, MLP is pretty weak though

@Cornelius1973

Funny, I don't agree with a word you say. No offense though

That's democracy

Worst album for me is Planet Earth. NPS, if you count it as a Prince album, at least has Mad Sex. I haven't heard 2010 yet so I can't speak about that.

For those naming TRC-- really? Really? Just admit you can't get past the lyrics-- and that's okay if you can't. However the jazz elements aren't pervasive throughout the entire album and there is plenty of rock, funk, and soul to balance it. Wedding Feast is a short, INTENTIONALLY SILLY interlude not a song. The narrator's voice is no different than the one on All My Dreams and is similar to Bob George-- both of which are cult classics and rightfully so. So anybody listing these things are really inventing reasons to not like it. In reality this album wipes the floor with everything he had done since the symbol album and it ushered in one of his best periods ever. (One Nite Alone, Musicology, 3121, and Lotus are strong).

History won't look kindly on TRC because it isn't pop Prince. That's what most people want. Also, he sprinkles in some of his odd personal beliefs which are bound to alienate some people. Nevertheless, that doesn't make it his worst album.

BigDaddyHQ said:

Everyone has different opinions on what they consider best or worst. For me, I find The Rainbow Children and Planet Earth as albums are my least favorite. Although I do like a few isolated tracks on each.

That I can respect (not that anybody's asking ). To say it's your least favorite makes sense. I should've said that about Planet Earth. His worst album would have forgettable songs with no energy and poor production but it's hard to quantify that.

Cornelius1973 said:

I have to mention several albums, because its not easy to name his single worst album, just as it isnt easy to name his single best album. So here I go, in chronological order:

For You:

Apart from the idea that some 20 yo played all the instruments on the album and produced it itself, there isnt much redeeming to be found on the album. The songwriting is mostly very mediocre (were are the strong melodies? the impressive riffs and hooks?) and his use of styles is very generic: boring seventies disco-soul, oversappy ballads and contrived AOR-rock.

Agree with a lot! The strongest part of the album is the musicianship of a one-man-band.

Come:

I know its often praised on the org, but I can't see why at all. I agree the record is held together by a rather dark, depressive sound, but songs like Space and Pheremone are, compositionwise, among the poorest songs ever released on a official Prince-record. It are the kind of songs that weren't even good enough to be B-sides in the eighties. Productionwise, lyricwise and musicwise he offers nothing new, and most of the time he sounds like he is on auto-pilot.

At least someone who shares my thoughts about "Space" and "Pheromone". Thank you! I wouldn't put "Come" on a worst album list though. You can really hear that Prince at least tried. Songs like "Come", "Papa", "Dark" are ok songs within Prince's auto-pilot canon. "Letitgo" showcases some potential and he even gets a little bit experimental in songs like "Solo" (successful), "Loose" and "Race" (both more or less unsuccessful).

New Power Soul:

Speaking about 'auto-pilot' this album is nothing but. Uninspired plastic disco-funk mostly that seems to make think people think the song 'The One' is some kind of masterpiece, while its a subpar balad in terms of songwriting / composing. I dont even have this album in my possesion anymore.

Yeah, another very problematic album. The only good thing to say about it would be that he tried to reach out for a new sound again. Unfortunately it ended up in what you have called "uninspired plastic disco-funk". I still think that "The one" is a nice idea of a ballad. It's just not very well executed.

Rave unto the Joy Fantastic:

Prince going for a broader stylistic scope compared to New Power Soul, but just as generic, contrived and formulaic.

Totally agree, though I can appreciate songs like "Undisputed", "ILUBITUA" and "Prettyman" somewhat.

The Rainbow Children:

Stupid, stupid lyrics of course, but musicwise this also isnt the return to form some make it out to be: mostly lame seventies jazz-rock and fusion, music from the mind, instead of from the heart / guts. I won't start about the Darth Vader-like voice... lol

On the other hand I still think that you can't really deny the positive aspects I've pointed out earlier in this thread about "TRC".

The entire Lotusflower-set:

Despite the praise the Lotusflower-album gets in here, i think its one of his poorest albums. Why? The music might sound more organic, and it might sound more carefully arranged, but without strong compositions you never get a solid album.

MPLSound is a fucking disgrace of course. Just because he was using the Linn-drum again doesnt making it comparable to his eighties material. Those linn-drums in the eighties were very creatively arranged, the ones on MLPSound are not. Next to that MPLSound is full of mostly below-mediocre compositions, and the music itself is lacking the urgency and spirit his best material possesses.

I have skipped along the tracks among the Bria CD one time but: who needs another Sade? That woman is offering enough boring 'coffeetable' music herself.. and who needs another thin voice? We have Janet for that.

Co-sign!

20ten

The Newpowersoul of the 00's. A totally generic, auto-pilot take on Prince music WITHOUT the urgency, the spirit and creativity of his best music. Probably recorded within a few weeks with the goal to make as much money possible from it by selling it to some newspapers.

And, no, Future Soul Song, is no new Adore, no new Beautifull Ones, not even a new 'The One', its showing in the first place how some people here are falling for Princes tendency in the 00's to not even taking the effort to write a chorus for a song.

Agreed! I don't mind Prince writing songs without a formulaic chorus. The problem is: he needs to make up for it on another level.

[Edited 12/25/10 2:15am]

I did not listen enough (or not at all to some) to his last albums, but from the ones I know:

New Power Soul

TRC because of the lyrics

Efan said:

lust said:

Wow, I am genuinely shocked by how many here hate TRC.

Is it beacuse of the narration and Wedding feast? If so, please get beyond that.

I can't speak for everyone, but I imagine for many it's the antisemitism, sexism, and religious dogma that bring it down.

I am surprised so many have listed 20Ten, where's the love 4 Laydown? The man opened his W2A tour with it, I doubt he would have done that if he hadn't gotten a ton of great feedback on it. Lots of people I know have called it his best song in a decade.

Hard to classify an album as his worst that includes the Purple Yoda single.

20Ten

Pokeno4Money said:

I am surprised so many have listed 20Ten, where's the love 4 Laydown?.....

It's his latest album. They 'always' hate on his latest album.

^I dreamt of reading words like "his best album since SOTT" quite often after a new release...

there is nothing that hate that much to call it worst, but to name some lesser favorites they would be.

Rave un2

MPLsound

New Power Soul

and to be honest though it was a shelved album or whatever

HIGH was pretty throwaway, alot made up SlaughterHouse.

as far as an era 1999-2000 was pretty uneventful, same them records etc....the outtakes were run of the mill, very throwaway, similar production.

PurpleJedi said:

I would like to add one more little tidbit for all you N.E.W.S. haters...

...about three years ago we had a summer party. Bunch of friends, BBQ, etc.

As the night wore on and people began to mellow out, I popped N.E.W.S. into the CD player.

I would say it was a HIT.

#1 - it was a group of people fairly indifferencial to Prince as a whole...kind'a like the way one of us may feel about Bruce Springsteen...and yet they mostly thought it was "cool".

#2 - one couple actually was "moved" by the music...so much so that they promptly left. The result is a beautiful little girl, named Emma.

So I can personally attest to the fact that N.E.W.S. is NOT his worst album ever.

Were those people mentally ill?