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The Chocolate Invasion

For me The chocolate invasion had existed in various forms on my own mixes of tracks from the NPGMC downloads. The fact that these songs were collected in one unit both made me re-evaluate the tracks individually, but also explore why they were selected over others.

When Eye Lay My Hands On U is just pure purple seduction. The slow creep of the verses just draw you into the raucous chorus that just drip with desire and passion. And the Santana inspired guitar solo shows Prince can meet the masters and still teach them a thing of two. I remember hearing WELMHOU and just being floored by it. Why wasn’t it on an official release.

Same can be said about Judas Kiss one of Prince’s funkiest trips to the land of electro. I remember hearing this and just smiling broadly for the whole time – here was in a nice little 6:35 package everything Prince was about. The hook me straight away beat, the cutting guitars, and the layered vocals, the rock break down, then the parliament funk fused “chocolate invasion starts here” chant section. This is one of the guaranteed get up and dance tracks in my house.

There was something ever so cool about getting a new unreleased track every month in the early days of the NPGMC. Especially when you got a track like Supercute. I always saw this as twin to E-male off emancipation, in the way it delves into some of the darker sides in its musical structure and topic. This was one of the tracks I thought would end up on Madrid to Chicago – maybe it was the airplane sfx at the start of the track.

Speaking of twins – here is the Gemini twin to Pink Cashmere – the beautifully arranged Underneath the Cream. Dripping in the juices of sex (no pun deliberately intended) this is such a sensual song, that there is nothing like putting it on in the background and going to work. Oh.

There was always a degree of guesswork associated with several of the tracks in those early days. Sexme? Sexme not? Is a case in point. I would always listen to the sounds and instruments used to create the tracks to try to place them in the musical journey of P. This felt like an emancipation track, like Style. Funky, but funky filler for me.

Similarly VaVoom sounded a little too close to Peach to sound fresh to me. It also reminded of a sped up version of Poor Goo. It just feels a little too easy for Prince to toss out these songs (and I’m sure it’s not) but it feels that way. Just not one of my favourites.

Prince gonna get you High again. First time I heard this song I was begging for a new album to hit the stores. If this was track one, you bet it would be a smash. I just love this song. The bass synth just bubbles along and works as a nice bed for when the true funk synth hits. I can’t say enough about this song, it’s the one that I always made the $100 US (so at the time it was $200 aussie) worthwhile for me.

The Dance was a song that missed me in the download days. I remember still being on dialup so I ended up being a little bit more cautious about what I would download. For some reason I always expected it to be Dance with the Devil, lol. It wasn’t until it was available in this package that I heard it. A pretty enough song, but again something about it just didn’t grab me. My feelings towards it would change with the re-record on 3121.

Gamillah always felt like a TRC outcast. Of course I didn’t know it at the time I downloaded it cause TRC wasn’t even out then. But hearing it again now, this is where I feel it placed, and maybe better suited.

U make my sun shine was a tad disappointing for me. I always expected more from this collaboration. It just seemed a little Boys II Men for me. Maybe it was a Graffiti Bridge track given new breath, but it just never really grabbed me.

Listening to these tracks as an album now leaves me feeling a little dissatisfied. Not for what they offer, but how as a set they feel a bit disjointed. Maybe it was because I got use to hearing the tracks on my compilations that made them seem less cohesive anywhere else. Having said that though, I wouldn’t give up having them as part of the npgmc experience for anything.

It is one of many albums that I like listening to from beginning to end

When Eye Lay My Hands On U for me is easily one of his best tracks in the last decade.

MajesticOne89 said:

When Eye Lay My Hands On U for me is easily one of his best tracks in the last decade.

Totally agree. It was begging for an official album release and encapsulates everything that is Prince.

Makes you wonder how "High" the album for which many of these songs were intended would have fared if it was released at the time.

high is my least fave prince song ever

one of the few i didnt like...that song is like a plastic tinny replica of what a bad prince impersonater would think prince would sound like.......

I HATE IT

i worried for the first time that my man had lost it

U Make My Sun Shine is a beautiful and interesting song. It is a perfect deconstruction of the Gospel music form. Perfect vocal arrangement.

MajesticOne89 said:

When Eye Lay My Hands On U for me is easily one of his best tracks in the last decade.

My feelings exactly. What a fantastic song.

Underneath the cream is the only track on this album that I've heard... but I love(d) it.

MajesticOne89 said:

When Eye Lay My Hands On U for me is easily one of his best tracks in the last decade.

Co-sign.

Swa said:

When Eye Lay My Hands On U Why wasn’t it on an official release.

It was: u're discussing it right now 4 chrissakes "Why wasn't Purple Rain released on record: it sounded so good in the movie!"

The Dance was a song that missed me in the download days. It wasn’t until it was available in this package that I heard it.

There was no way it wouldn't have missed u or that u'd heard it b4, because it was released here 4 the 1st time ever. Contrarly 2 the other songs, The Dance wasn't a 2001 NPGMC track.

I'll never figure out why "My Medallion" wasn't included on this album - it fits in perfectly and is a great song, to boot! (Note: I don't mean it's a great song to boot, I mean... ah, nevermind).

EDIT: Whoops, I see this was already bruoght up in the Slaughterhouse thread.

[Edited 10/21/10 10:26am]

Love this album and Slaughterhouse. I think they're underrated and generally underheard. But since I was a long-time paying member at the NPGMC, I don't really care of other people missed out on these. ....OK, maybe a little. There's some great material on these albums that Prince (as usual) has largely ignored since it's release. Supercute and Underneath The Cream (a favorite) back to back are great.

great album

Judas Smile is my fave

I really think he should have promoted the hell out of this.

There are a few tracks with obvious mainstream appeal

databank said:

Swa said:

When Eye Lay My Hands On U Why wasn’t it on an official release.

It was: u're discussing it right now 4 chrissakes "Why wasn't Purple Rain released on record: it sounded so good in the movie!"

The Dance was a song that missed me in the download days. It wasn’t until it was available in this package that I heard it.

There was no way it wouldn't have missed u or that u'd heard it b4, because it was released here 4 the 1st time ever. Contrarly 2 the other songs, The Dance wasn't a 2001 NPGMC track.

Touche - Databank - what I meant by official was why WELMHOY wasn't released on one of his mainstream (WB/NPG Records/retail).

And thanks for clearing up the issue around The Dance - during the start of the NPGMC i was on crappy dialup and thought I may have missed the opportunity to download The Dance prior to this album.

Peace

Judas Kiss or Smile I've seen it as, is my joint ...

It's a real shame I don't have it. I'm curious how it sounds after reading your comments

PurpleLove7 said:

Judas Kiss or Smile I've seen it as, is my joint ...

When Judas Smile was initially released back in the NPGMC is was initially released as Judas Kiss and then in this collection it was renamed to Judas Smile.

Okay looking back, there WERE quite a few tracks on both Chocolate Invasion and Slaughterhouse that I really love. Along with some nice ballads, there is a sense of playfullness thats missing from other releases of the last decade. Anyone know why Prince never played most of these songs in concert? Or did I miss those shows somewhere?

I love 8 out of 10 songs here.... I don't like Gamillah and The Dance,

My fave songs are :

When Eye Lay My Hands On U

Supercute,

Underneith The Cream

High

I when Prince is "bragging" in songs... like in High and My Name Is Prince.

i wish i had this, i've never heard it, i am really curious

Underneath The Cream...

Is the best song he's written in years...

EmbattledWarrior said:

Underneath The Cream...

Is the best song he's written in years...

Without a doubt. This song deserved greater play than it got.

I have to say this album is much better then i expected it to be. When Eye lay my hands on you is easily one of his best tracks over the past 10 years, fantastic lyrics, chorus. Underneath the cream is his best ballad in years and it does remind me of pink cashmere, they are both different songs but have similarities at the same time.

A track like "High" would have fit perfectly on musicology IMO. As much as i like musicology, i feel that at certain times during the album, it wasnt intense enough and got a little dull. High would have been a great track on this album,

The rest of the album is pretty good too, U make my sun shine, judah's smile, supercute are all pretty good songs. The only track that i sorta dislike it sexmesexnot, and even then i dont dislike it, its ok.

Anyway High, When Eye Lay my hands on u and underneath the cream have all gotten 5 stars on my itunes and i am glad to have it in my collection. I do wonder though, why does Prince leave some of his best work on b-sides or on internet only releases? Some of the songs here are better then alot of what ended up on major releases like musicolgy and 3121. Still it amazes me how many great songs he has written.

Listening 2 it for the first time as i'm writing!

If the orger( U know who U are) who gave me the opportunity 2 own this album

reads this.......... THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Love it from beginning to end and Gamillah is beautiful.

I think The Chocolate Invasion is a good album.

I"m loving this album! It will def become another"frequently played" album in my collection!!!

God, you people will celebrate anything....

MattyJam said:

God, you people will celebrate anything....