i mean dang!

i cant find one single solitary review

I don’t think anyone was taking Prince seriously in 2003. The media really hated Rave Un2 the Joy, the tour was pretty low-key. He followed that with the Rainbow Children, and between the album and the celebration stuff I think the media just didn’t know what to do with Prince when he followed it with a live jazz concept album that he barely promoted. It did get some reviews, I don’t recall them being positive.

I always felt Prince was blackballed for going against the system.

erik319 said:

The problem is, 'WTF?' whilst perfectly describing NEWS, isn't really gonna earn reviewers money when selling their articles.

Haha, hear hear!

Also read this great review on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/rev...p;linkCode=

"If you have nothing nice to say...."

There was a review for NEWS in Australia, it got one star.

jpnyc said:

I don’t think anyone was taking Prince seriously in 2003. The media really hated Rave Un2 the Joy, the tour was pretty low-key. He followed that with the Rainbow Children, and between the album and the celebration stuff I think the media just didn’t know what to do with Prince when he followed it with a live jazz concept album that he barely promoted. It did get some reviews, I don’t recall them being positive.

see that right there?

perceived wisdom

the rave reviews were pretty good ironicly

jonylawson said:

i mean dang!

i cant find one single solitary review

independent, unpromoted instrumental side project that his own fans barely took notice of. why would the media?

jpnyc said:

I don’t think anyone was taking Prince seriously in 2003. The media really hated Rave Un2 the Joy, the tour was pretty low-key. He followed that with the Rainbow Children, and between the album and the celebration stuff I think the media just didn’t know what to do with Prince when he followed it with a live jazz concept album that he barely promoted. It did get some reviews, I don’t recall them being positive.

I found it VERY strange that the media didn´t even mention one of the celebrations. I mean, not even mention them in some little news snippet. And it´s not like they were that kind of of an underground/word of mouth thing...Erykah Badu was there, Norah Jones was there in 2002....especially the 2002 Celebration was really huge....it will always be my little "Woodstock" to me and I what I find even stranger than the media ignoring them is that the artists who were there didn´t even mention them either. When you look up a tour history list of someone like Norah Jones, you will see that the Paisley Park gig doesn´t really exist.

She wasn´t even that well known before her show at Paisley Park, and I found it cool that Prince kind of supported her and believed in her even back then, but her gig never gets a mention anywhere, especially not by Norah herself in interviews.

But, back to the topic....I pretty much agree with what Errant said.....why should the media review NEWS when not even a casual Prince fan took notice of it. Just like you said above, those days were not exactly his high profile days. It´s also strange that the ONA tour was kind of under the radar and barely got mentioned in magazines or websites back then.

KoolEaze said:

jpnyc said:

I don’t think anyone was taking Prince seriously in 2003. The media really hated Rave Un2 the Joy, the tour was pretty low-key. He followed that with the Rainbow Children, and between the album and the celebration stuff I think the media just didn’t know what to do with Prince when he followed it with a live jazz concept album that he barely promoted. It did get some reviews, I don’t recall them being positive.

I found it VERY strange that the media didn´t even mention one of the celebrations. I mean, not even mention them in some little news snippet. And it´s not like they were that kind of of an underground/word of mouth thing...Erykah Badu was there, Norah Jones was there in 2002....especially the 2002 Celebration was really huge....it will always be my little "Woodstock" to me and I what I find even stranger than the media ignoring them is that the artists who were there didn´t even mention them either. When you look up a tour history list of someone like Norah Jones, you will see that the Paisley Park gig doesn´t really exist.

She wasn´t even that well known before her show at Paisley Park, and I found it cool that Prince kind of supported her and believed in her even back then, but her gig never gets a mention anywhere, especially not by Norah herself in interviews.

But, back to the topic....I pretty much agree with what Errant said.....why should the media review NEWS when not even a casual Prince fan took notice of it. Just like you said above, those days were not exactly his high profile days. It´s also strange that the ONA tour was kind of under the radar and barely got mentioned in magazines or websites back then.

Wasn't a celebration or one of those shows aired on TV back then on cable or something?

OldFriends4Sale said:

KoolEaze said:

I found it VERY strange that the media didn´t even mention one of the celebrations. I mean, not even mention them in some little news snippet. And it´s not like they were that kind of of an underground/word of mouth thing...Erykah Badu was there, Norah Jones was there in 2002....especially the 2002 Celebration was really huge....it will always be my little "Woodstock" to me and I what I find even stranger than the media ignoring them is that the artists who were there didn´t even mention them either. When you look up a tour history list of someone like Norah Jones, you will see that the Paisley Park gig doesn´t really exist.

She wasn´t even that well known before her show at Paisley Park, and I found it cool that Prince kind of supported her and believed in her even back then, but her gig never gets a mention anywhere, especially not by Norah herself in interviews.

But, back to the topic....I pretty much agree with what Errant said.....why should the media review NEWS when not even a casual Prince fan took notice of it. Just like you said above, those days were not exactly his high profile days. It´s also strange that the ONA tour was kind of under the radar and barely got mentioned in magazines or websites back then.

Wasn't a celebration or one of those shows aired on TV back then on cable or something?

No.

I think you´re talking about the Rave Un2 the Year 2000 show. That show was very lame and not even a real live performance and shot over the course of two days, with people pretending that it was New Year´s Eve. Many fans had to stand in line for hours in the freezing cold back then and it is right up there with the Crystal Ball fiasco and other things that caused many fans a lot of frustration. I think Kevin Smith was also there as a fan.

The celebrations I´m talking about came much later and were, IMO, a huge success , at least in terms of giving something back to the fans. The 2002 celebration in particular was very good. The ticket prices were ok, the guests were cool, and the Prince shows were among the best, most powerful , most intimate and most memorable I´ve ever witnessed.

He worked hard for that. Now he's getting what he sought for.

errant said:

jonylawson said:

i mean dang!

i cant find one single solitary review

independent, unpromoted instrumental side project that his own fans barely took notice of. why would the media?

But it was nominated for a Grammy

KoolEaze said:

jpnyc said:

I don’t think anyone was taking Prince seriously in 2003. The media really hated Rave Un2 the Joy, the tour was pretty low-key. He followed that with the Rainbow Children, and between the album and the celebration stuff I think the media just didn’t know what to do with Prince when he followed it with a live jazz concept album that he barely promoted. It did get some reviews, I don’t recall them being positive.

I found it VERY strange that the media didn´t even mention one of the celebrations. I mean, not even mention them in some little news snippet. And it´s not like they were that kind of of an underground/word of mouth thing...Erykah Badu was there, Norah Jones was there in 2002....especially the 2002 Celebration was really huge....it will always be my little "Woodstock" to me and I what I find even stranger than the media ignoring them is that the artists who were there didn´t even mention them either. When you look up a tour history list of someone like Norah Jones, you will see that the Paisley Park gig doesn´t really exist.

She wasn´t even that well known before her show at Paisley Park, and I found it cool that Prince kind of supported her and believed in her even back then, but her gig never gets a mention anywhere, especially not by Norah herself in interviews.

The Minneapolis/St. Paul media was all over the celebrations. They had many news articles/tv interviews with Prince, etc. Not sure about national coverage though.

skywalker said:

KoolEaze said:

I found it VERY strange that the media didn´t even mention one of the celebrations. I mean, not even mention them in some little news snippet. And it´s not like they were that kind of of an underground/word of mouth thing...Erykah Badu was there, Norah Jones was there in 2002....especially the 2002 Celebration was really huge....it will always be my little "Woodstock" to me and I what I find even stranger than the media ignoring them is that the artists who were there didn´t even mention them either. When you look up a tour history list of someone like Norah Jones, you will see that the Paisley Park gig doesn´t really exist.

She wasn´t even that well known before her show at Paisley Park, and I found it cool that Prince kind of supported her and believed in her even back then, but her gig never gets a mention anywhere, especially not by Norah herself in interviews.

The Minneapolis/St. Paul media was all over the celebrations. They had many news articles/tv interviews with Prince, etc. Not sure about national coverage though.

I know, I was there and read the papers daily. But I would have expected at least a little news snippet in Rolling Stone or Vibe.

PSYMUN said:

errant said:

independent, unpromoted instrumental side project that his own fans barely took notice of. why would the media?

But it was nominated for a Grammy

which means someone in his camp sent a copy to the Grammy nominating committee.

My point wasn’t that the media didn’t cover the celebrations, but that they just didn’t understand why he wasn’t out touring. Prince releasing a religious concept album and inviting his fans to come out and party at Paisley Park seemed to fly over a lot of heads at the time.

This has been covered before. If you simply use google for "Prince", "NEWS" and "review" you're going to get directed to tons of sites simply because those words are so common. I doubt search engines prioritize music sites when you search for the word "news" with them.

In any case, it's from an era when "serious" reviews appeared mostly in printed form and not too many magazines put them on the net. It had short reviews in several publications, including some jazz magazines (I think Downbeat did a review that was favourable).

For that matter, reviewers usually write about records that they get handed out for free.

I feel odd just saying I bought a copy of NEWS, and I could give a review of my own, but I would have to listen to it again....... only problem with that is I would not have a coaster to put my coffee mug on.

You should indeed feel "odd just staying" that, because that's a completely nonsensical comment.

Because NEWS stinx.

novabrkr said:

You should indeed feel "odd just staying" that, because that's a completely nonsensical comment.

Ummmmm..... no.

I recall a review or two about NEWS back in the day. I believe it was nominated for some award as well.

The coolest thing about NEWS I remember, was hearing it live.

He had a release viewing of One Night Alone Live DVD at the Universal Citywalk Cineplex in Universal City, CA. the day the DVD came out. It was exclusive for NPGMC Members.

On the way in we were told to head over to BB Kings Blues Clug at Universal Citywalk after the movie. I believe J7 of the Bumpsquad was handing out the passes.

Upon exiting the movie, everyone was shuffled over to BB Kings Blues Club at Universal Citywalk for a very intimate private show.

Prince and the NPG w/Eric Leeds played N.E.W.S live. Exactly who was playing save Prince and Eric escapes me now. Believe Renato and Rhonda. Can't remember if John Blackwell or Sheila was on the drums.

He didn't sing or speak a word. All instrumental. Once in a lifetime kinda night. All free.

Truth444 said:

novabrkr said:

You should indeed feel "odd just staying" that, because that's a completely nonsensical comment.

Ummmmm..... no.

Pardon me, that should have read "just saying".

But, yes, it's nonsense. Do you want me to analyze your statement?

I'll do it anyway.

You state that you "could" write a review of the record, but in that case you would have to listen to the CD and that you wouldn't have a coaster for your coffee mug. I highly doubt that you were really using that CD as a coaster for your coffee mug, but that's more of an exaggeration based on a trite figure of speech than something that would qualify as nonsense on its own right. However, two factors qualify your statement as nonsense: 1) The supposition that you are unable to write a review because your coffee mug needs a coaster all the time - most likely you aren't drinking coffee non-stop, so you could simply listen to it and write a review after you've finished drinking your cup of coffee. 2) You seem to be thinking that the figure of speech that you used and that is generally used to devalue an object has some sort relevance when expressing necessary conditions between states of affairs. This is a fallacy. However, since exaggerations and figures of speech cannot be really called "fallacies" or "false", the expression "nonsense" is usually applied to them instead.

Most reviews are done as a result of press kits, i.e., the music being sent to the reviewer. Prince's PR firm at the time (and still is) less-than-stellar. So the simple answer is, he didn't send copies to anyone to review.

well in the politest way

*cough* fuck y'all!

i LOVE N.E.W.S i think its a brave ass piece of work

it should have won the grammy

i think its totally honest and i think it s the highest musicianship

i would have killed to see that gig he performed in the melbourne jazz club where he performed the album LIVE to about 20 people who just happened to be there

just like the old..old days!

Although I dont agree with the reviewer try... http://blogcritics.org/mu...or-prince/

NEWZzZzZzzZZzZz.......... how BORING....

could be Prince's worst album.

http://www.warr.org/prince.html#NEWS

1½ out of 5:

Another instrumental fan club release, and this one really sounds like a Madhouse record, with Leeds on sax, Prince mostly on lead guitar, and the tunes verging between midtempo funk and soft mood music (the interminable second half of "South"). The disc is organized into four fourteen-minute tracks, but except for "North," each track is made up of several unconnected sections: "East" starts as a drum solo, shifts to a funk dirge with Prince repeating a three-note riff, then breaks into fast James Brown-style R&B for a few minutes before an impressionistic, gossamer denouement. Which would be great if the individual sections were up to Prince's standard, but they're just undistinguished vamps: the middle section of "West" is probably the high point, and even that's no more than a solid groove. The featured soloists - Leeds and Prince - don't play anything we haven't heard from them before, so though Renato Neto plays some exceptionally delicate keyboards ("West"), the disc is less interesting and no more entertaining than Xpectation. (DBW)