I was just listening to this full album, & I must admit, I really feel some of the ballads on this album were some of his most emotional. It sounds to me like Prince was actually in love while singing these. But I also felt that he was trying too hard to prove that he could have success without WB. This album has some really good songs, but It also has some weird tracks that baffle the shit outta me as to why he would make them & release them....

Your thoughts??????

Most of the album sounds too conventional for me, but there are good tracks on it. He was definitely for the most part calming his weird self down and trying to be more accessible to the mainstream. He was trying to get that Oprah crowd.

But I like the weirder Prince, that's why I like "Slave" or "Joint 2 Joint"

Maybe he was trying too hard, maybe not, I don't really care about that.

The songs that i don't want to listen to, I leave out of my playlist.

I like the fact that he had the balls to release a 3 disc set of new material, wrong move or not, it was a bold one, and I like that about him, even if the end product does not often suit my taste.

I think he was just growing up and learning one side of himself, but in the end he had to claim both sides of himself, while emancipation only reflected one. I still like that album though lol

Yes. He was trying too hard. But he also didn't try hard enough.

No I dont think he was trying to hard at all. The ideas was good with the 3 disc set.

But I personally feel there were a lot of other reasons like, he just wasn't in the music industries good books at the time with the name change and fighting with warner etc, i found a lot of the media was taking the piss out of him around that time coz of exact reasons, and the album was quite self indulging, imo. but the flipside a lot of musicans/artists was admiring for all those exact same things.

trying too hard in a lot of ways. the number of songs, the contrived running length (12 X 60:00 X 3), the overly contemporary beats, overexposure and evaporation of his remaining mystique during the promotion.

not trying hard enough it all in a number of other ways: lazily turning over much of the production work to Kirk J. (he should have at least handed them over to Ricky P. if he needed someone to come in to "finish" them), the really uninspired and offensive take on "I Can't Make U Love Me," the horrible songrwriting on things like "We Gets Up," the once-again cheap looking PP soundstage videos, haphazard song selection of what actually made it to the album vs. what didn't, etc.

it's music. not a math equation lol. over-analising can take the enjoyment out of it. not much point guessing where he was at unless you ask him.

I think this album is quite unique in a way that everyone likes different songs for different reasons. I still do think that he could've narrowed down to 2 CDs and made it better, but I was surprised to find out that some tracks I considered as filler turned out to be many others' favorite...at least on this website.

I love the main theme and vibe from this album. Like you said he sounds like he was truly in love with Mayte. I just think his choice for single release was horrible. I mean how come "The Love We Make" probably one of his best songs ever, was never released as a single!?

[Edited 6/18/11 19:14pm]

Emancipation89 said:

I think this album is quite unique in a way that everyone likes different songs for different reasons. I still do think that he could've narrowed down to 2 CDs and made it better, but I was surprised to find out that some tracks I considered as filler turned out to be many others' favorite...at least on this website.

I love the main theme and vibe from this album. Like you said he sounds like he was truly in love with Mayte. I just think his choice for single release was horrible. I mean how come "The Love We Make" probably one of his best songs ever, was never released as a single!?

[Edited 6/18/11 19:14pm]

It had the potential of being a bigger hit. If EMI didn't get bought out. Prince had plans 4 at least a 2 -3year promotion 4 it. think it could have lasted a longer time, but it just started 2 go down after the death of Gregory Nelson & no label 2 promote it.. It was a well planned out promotion. More than any of his projects......Disk 2 is my favorite. The tour was awesome. But things never go as planned in life. So Prince was off 2 another project & the death of Emancipation was a done deal..

He was either trying too hard, or not trying at all.

I really wish that he would play more of these songs live.

I also wonder how many of the songs were rehearsed and if those rehearsals were recorded. The biggest complaint about the album is the production. Hearing the rehearsal version could make some folks appreciate these songs a bit more.

Prince wasnt trying hard enuf!!!!! Prolific???? Only 3 cds???? Eye wanted at least 6 cds!!!

errant said:

trying too hard in a lot of ways. the number of songs, the contrived running length (12 X 60:00 X 3), theI

I'm shocked that everyone thinks he was "trying too hard" What? That album was amazing and seemed to just flow- didn't seem to me that he tried too hard. Not at all!

I honestly thought Emancipation was going to end up being 3 hours of The Gold Experience (which was kind of my hope), so I was shocked at how conventional it sounded.

That being said, It's a good album.

36 songs, and only 6 I don't like. That leaves 30 songs from one album that I actually like--this is an impressive feat for anyone to pull off.

Some of the songs were questionable, but almost all of his albums have a few ? tracks.

emancipation probably holds a lot of painful memories for prince...large parts of it were, of course, about mayte and their soon to arrive baby...then the tragedy that later unfolded changed everything..

.

the album itself did ok...700, 000 copies sold in the us...for a triple album aint bad..couple of hit singles with betcha by golly wow and the holy river...

.

.

[Edited 6/19/11 9:22am]

I'm not sure it was really coming from a good place in it's intent. I mean the only reason he wanted to 3 discs was an FU to WB over the Crystal Ball - that's a long time to hold a grudge - and the thing is most of the material doesn't really use that energy does it - when you think of Prince in an FU mood, you think of the Black Album, Exodus or something like that - Imagine more of that over 3 discs, now you're talking.

Emancipation was much more polished and conventional R&B-pop. So where was all this anger and spite going when recording these songs? You can come from the other angle and say it was celebratory, but there wasn't much of that either - the title track is incredibly flat. Even if it's got a decent bassline etc - it's hardly an explosion of freedom and energy, more like letting a balloon go.

NouveauDance said:

I also think 'Emancipation' lacked in every other genre besides R&B pop music. I think I was more used to Prince giving a bit more variety then he did on with 'Emancipation'. 95% of that album is R&B....

I think that very often P's songs "come alive" live ( as has been suggested on this thread).

Look at SOTT or Lovesexy...even the Gold Experience or why not some songs off RC.

If he had played ( or even played now) some songs off Emancipation I think we'd discover them in a new way.

After all, this was supposedly the album that Prince "was born to make".

Well, Emancipation is my favorite album actually, the one I listen to most often, I have this thing with those songs since they always remind me of that midnight show he did live on TV where he presented this album on Mayte's b-day, I remember being a teenager staying up late and being so excited to watch it, learning that dance routine for Get Yo Groove On.

I don't care if he was trying to hard or not, I understand he was in that Mayte's having his baby time, and it shows in the mood of the album, but I do like most of the song (The only one I actually always skip is The Human Body).

carinemjj said:

Well, Emancipation is my favorite album actually, the one I listen to most often, I have this thing with those songs since they always remind me of that midnight show he did live on TV where he presented this album on Mayte's b-day, I remember being a teenager staying up late and being so excited to watch it, learning that dance routine for Get Yo Groove On.

I don't care if he was trying to hard or not, I understand he was in that Mayte's having his baby time, and it shows in the mood of the album, but I do like most of the song (The only one I actually always skip is The Human Body).

I also love Emancipation. The first thing I did when I got it was to dub it and Chaos and Disorder onto two cassette tapes and I played them endlessly in the spring/summer of 1997.

NouveauDance said:

I'm not sure it was really coming from a good place in it's intent. I mean the only reason he wanted to 3 discs was an FU to WB over the Crystal Ball - that's a long time to hold a grudge - and the thing is most of the material doesn't really use that energy does it - when you think of Prince in an FU mood, you think of the Black Album, Exodus or something like that - Imagine more of that over 3 discs, now you're talking.

Emancipation was much more polished and conventional R&B-pop. So where was all this anger and spite going when recording these songs? You can come from the other angle and say it was celebratory, but there wasn't much of that either - the title track is incredibly flat. Even if it's got a decent bassline etc - it's hardly an explosion of freedom and energy, more like letting a balloon go.

I actually really like the album to be honest, but I have to say, I totally agree with everything you say here. A long time to hold a grudge indeed.

I think the album has a lot of heart and guts, I just wish some of the songs were left off of the album and the unreleased ones were kept instead - like "Slave To The System" & "Heart of Stone"(Which to this day I have no idea why it ended in the vault?).

Harlepolis said:

I think the album has a lot of heart and guts, I just wish some of the songs were left off of the album and the unreleased ones were kept instead - like "Slave To The System" & "Heart of Stone"(Which to this day I have no idea why it ended in the vault?).

Ditto!

Although I think his covers were ok, I'd rather have heard some of his vault originals on the album instead.

But, I just don't think it's as light and fluffy as some people claim it is. It actually oozes passion in places.

Tittypants said:

I was just listening to this full album, & I must admit, I really feel some of the ballads on this album were some of his most emotional. It sounds to me like Prince was actually in love while singing these. But I also felt that he was trying too hard to prove that he could have success without WB. This album has some really good songs, but It also has some weird tracks that baffle the shit outta me as to why he would make them & release them....

Your thoughts??????

This was the album that had me start calling myself a Hardcore Fan of P's work. This album had me sit back and think about how lonely I was at the time and how hard it was to find someone who would love me for me (pun intended). I didn't know too much about the earlier music. I didn't like 'slow jams' ballads before I was listenin' to Pricne music either. I didn't think he was tryin' to hard, I just thought Mayte was his everything and I wanted that too ...

If he was "trying too hard", he wouldn't have put four lame cover versions on it. He would have bothered to write all orginal songs. I know it's not that simple but you get my point.

Anyway that album has a lot of great songs on it....a lot that aren't so great but just skip over them if you don't like them. An album with a lot of great songs is a great album to me.

[Edited 6/20/11 14:07pm]

You have to try pretty damn hard to create an album like that and do it mostly by yourself!

I listen to it sometimes and just wonder how many hours go into things like vocal, keyboard, & guitar overdubs. To choose the sounds (I get why he gave the programming duties to Kirk) and blend them effectively. He works on a scale that us fairly unmatched outside of Mahler & Wagner

I get why people don't like it, and it is not as exciting as, say, Gold. But for what it is, it's incredibly even and cohesive. It's a little bland, but it does not grind on my nerves the way 3 hours of Chaos & Disorder might. I can actually listen to the whole thing.

It might not have been what I hoped it would be, but it's still quite remarkable.

A terrible & sad album to hear. A perfect document of a veteran artist losing the "it" factor, that magical spark that separates old masterpieces from just average/ok/decent late-career albums

also, this was the beginning of his self-indulgent years, the crazy jerk years

pass...

I'm glad he didn't release a new album until Musicology...

[Edited 6/20/11 14:32pm]