This is not meant to be confrontational to anyone, but what EXACTLY is the problem people have with this album?? SURE, it has a few weak songs, but it's also got mostly great songs:

1. New Power Soul 10/10
2. Mad Sex 10/10
3. Until U're in My Arms Again 9/10
4. When You Love Somebody 8.5/10
5. Shoo-Bed-Ooh 5/10
6. Push It Up! 7/10
7. Freaks on This Side 10/10
8. Come On 10/10
9. The One 5/10
10. I Like Funky Music 4/10

In my estimation, this album is EASILY better than anything that's came after it, and even albums that came before it. It trounces "parade".

What exactly is there NOT to like about this album? This is what I've never understood. These are great songs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mydrawers said:

This is not meant to be confrontational to anyone, but what EXACTLY is the problem people have with this album?? SURE, it has a few weak songs, but it's also got mostly great songs:

1. New Power Soul 10/10
2. Mad Sex 10/10
3. Until U're in My Arms Again 9/10
4. When You Love Somebody 8.5/10
5. Shoo-Bed-Ooh 5/10
6. Push It Up! 7/10
7. Freaks on This Side 10/10
8. Come On 10/10
9. The One 5/10
10. I Like Funky Music 4/10

In my estimation, this album is EASILY better than anything that's came after it, and even albums that came before it. It trounces "parade".

What exactly is there NOT to like about this album? This is what I've never understood. These are great songs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PLEASE check yourself in to the nearest mental facility. I'm really worried for your sanity these days!!!!

I guess it's the same problem with every album, good songs vs weaker songs.. depending on people's taste.

As far as I'm concerned, I often forget I have this cd, but I do love some songs on it

Until U're in My Arms Again, Come On, The One (I'm crazy about this one actually!)

I can enjoy the rest, but it's not my favorite. It's not a problem, unless if you consider we 'have' to love this album, it's just a opinion You are entitled to yours though

[Edited 7/2/11 21:31pm]

alexnvrmnd777 said:

mydrawers said:

This is not meant to be confrontational to anyone, but what EXACTLY is the problem people have with this album?? SURE, it has a few weak songs, but it's also got mostly great songs:

1. New Power Soul 10/10
2. Mad Sex 10/10
3. Until U're in My Arms Again 9/10
4. When You Love Somebody 8.5/10
5. Shoo-Bed-Ooh 5/10
6. Push It Up! 7/10
7. Freaks on This Side 10/10
8. Come On 10/10
9. The One 5/10
10. I Like Funky Music 4/10

In my estimation, this album is EASILY better than anything that's came after it, and even albums that came before it. It trounces "parade".

What exactly is there NOT to like about this album? This is what I've never understood. These are great songs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PLEASE check yourself in to the nearest mental facility. I'm really worried for your sanity these days!!!!

Yeah, both that comment and rating "The One" that low, gave me pause about their credibility.

After reading this thread, I should never be called a "Troll" ever again! "NPS" trounces "Parade" & is easily better than anything that came "after" it [& even some before it]? GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!

I edited this, but your still KooKoo...

[Edited 7/3/11 1:07am]

Tittypants said:

After reading this thread, I should never be called a "Troll" ever again! "NPS" trounces "Parade" & is easily better than anything that came before it? GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!

LOL!!! Not anything that came before it: anything that came AFTER it! LOL!!

It sounds like he spent about 20 minutes writing it and a weekend recording it. The best song by a mile is the song you haven't listed, Wasted Kisses.

It's actually miles better than most of his 2000s work, in my opinion.

But on its own terms, it just sound like a lot of cast-off material, nothing that really rises above being kinda good. And it frequently is kinda good.

I was on a high for this album a lot!

Album version of 'The One' may be 5/10...but live version of this song gets 12/10 from me

my problem with NPS:

it's a really bad, uninspired album, 3 good songs though......

The One

Come On

Wasted Kisses

This is my experience with that thing. I went to the record store, listened to it, did not like anything on it, so I did not buy it. A few months later, I was in the record store, said "Prince has a new one out", and bought it. I had forgotten I listened to it before. That is how forgettable it was.

I appreciate it for being experimental. Still the material doesn't really succeed.

1. New Power Soul: Recycled Chant. Notthing special.
2. Mad Sex: Cool Bebop line, but not enough to create a good song.
3. Until U're in My Arms Again: Way too cheesy.
4. When You Love Somebody: Needs a lot of groove changes to make it worth it.
5. Shoo-Bed-Ooh: Throwaway music written in 3 minutes.
6. Push It Up: Party track. Another recycled chant.
7. Freaks on This Side: Experimental. Still something's missing.
8. Come On: A groove doesn't make a good song.
9. The One: Nice ballad.
10. I Like Funky Music: I like funky music too, but this is not funky at all.

...and there's the flat plastic production that doesn't really help at all.

[Edited 7/2/11 23:05pm]

My problem with NPS is that its almost all filler - with the exception of Come On, The One and wasted Kisses, you'd find the majority of these tracks squeezed in between much stronger tracks on other albums and, dare I say, even some of the filler on other albums is stronger than this.

So many people single this album out as a turning point that there must be something in it - for me the change was from hand-crafted songs before to lumpy bolt-together tracks on this album...sample, loops, recycled beats, weak lyrics, not many layers to tracks galore, different singing style ('out of tune/cracking' falsetto that seems to have remained.

On top of that it seemed to just sneak out...so much so that I though it was bootleg when I saw it on the shelves.

If it had been a slow decline to this then maybe it wouldn't have been so jarring but I think that, even the weakest album prior to this, has features that make it far more redeemable. I dare say that negativity towards this album, Larry Graham coming on the scenes and JW influence on Prince all go hand in hand.....this album represents so much that still remains wrong with Princes music today

[Edited 7/3/11 0:30am]

mydrawers said:

Tittypants said:

After reading this thread, I should never be called a "Troll" ever again! "NPS" trounces "Parade" & is easily better than anything that came before it? GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!

LOL!!! Not anything that came before it: anything that came AFTER it! LOL!!

Oops! My Bad! let me edit that real quick....

mydrawers said:

This is not meant to be confrontational to anyone, but what EXACTLY is the problem people have with this album?? SURE, it has a few weak songs, but it's also got mostly great songs:

1. New Power Soul 10/10
2. Mad Sex 10/10
3. Until U're in My Arms Again 9/10
4. When You Love Somebody 8.5/10
5. Shoo-Bed-Ooh 5/10
6. Push It Up! 7/10
7. Freaks on This Side 10/10
8. Come On 10/10
9. The One 5/10
10. I Like Funky Music 4/10

In my estimation, this album is EASILY better than anything that's came after it, and even albums that came before it. It trounces "parade".

What exactly is there NOT to like about this album? This is what I've never understood. These are great songs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WTF!!!!!!....and you rated the album's best song 5/10? Wow!!!!!

[Edited 7/3/11 1:16am]

thedance said:

my problem with NPS:

it's a really bad, uninspired album, 3 good songs though......

The One

Come On

Wasted Kisses

There you have it, my friend. Those are the ONLY songs worth listening to from this album. It should've just been a maxi-single and not an entire album. Lol!!

it was a terrible album, and the second of a three punch knockout of bad albums that soured the taste of being a Prince fan back in the late 90's (the first was "Emancipation," the third being "Rave".. three shitty albums in a row)

i'm sure those of us who bought it the day it was released, took it home with a smile, threw it on the cd player & dug through the booklet, smiling.. and as the album played, that smile sort of faded "maybe the next track will be better".. the smile became more forced, until it became a frown.. then, "Come On" started playing, we heard the Camille voice, the smile came back, but, quickly vanished when the lame chorus started.. as the album continued, and that smile turned into disgust.. maybe we were just tired? not in a good mood to listen to a new Prince album? so we gave it another shot the 2nd listen was even worse.. a quick trip to alt.music.prince confirmed that most others were feeling the same way. "maybe it'll grow on me"... then the hideous "Come On" video was released, the awful "Newpowersoul" tour & countless Larry/Chaka tv apperances.. and it was downhill from there

"Newpowersoul" = garbage

[Edited 7/3/11 2:32am]

I dislike the production. I dislike the melodies.

And the cover is really not that great either.

Rzeplica said:

it was a terrible album, and the second of a three punch knockout of bad albums that soured the taste of being a Prince fan back in the late 90's (the first was "Emancipation," the third being "Rave".. three shitty albums in a row)

"Newpowersoul" = garbage

[Edited 7/3/11 2:32am]

I've listened to NPS maybe twice, can't remember it being memorable. Emancipation has too much to wade through.. I usually stop paying attention twenty minutes in, but there is gold there. ONE of the Rave albums is great, I can never remember if it's un2 or in2 unless I'm looking at the tracklist, nd I'm too lazy to go digging for it right now. It's the one that wasn't available in stores that's good.

Freaks On This Side is a marvellous noise. It makes me think of George Clinton fainting... partly because this can't be worthy, partly because it's everything that MuthaFucka thought off.

Shoo-Bed-Ooh is another of Prince's undiscovered classics, in my opinion. A lovely chune and a lyric that isn't simply 'mmmeh', for once.

Mad Sex is nice... makes you smile...

When U Love Somebody has some lovely flourishes, and is a song that Kool and the Gang would have loved to have written.

New Power Soul is an album that suffers by comparison on two fronts. It is not a Prince album and it is not an NPG album. It is a mess of tunes and throwaway nonsense that caused Prince more discord and more headache than most other material of the time. If Prince could go back in time, I'm sure he would have released something different.

What exactly entitles you to ask people to reason their TASTES?

Speaking of tastes, your lack thereof is evident: if you don't like Parade you're the LAST person on Earth to ask anybody about their tastes.

BTW, I happen to like this album infinitely better than anything post-2004. But your comment about Parade really shows you have no fucking clue.

(And that's precisely why you must feel entitled for this thread).

The Parade comment is obviously to get some kind of reaction, just like the last time there was a thread like this.

Eh, generally the songs are not great. That's the reason I don't rate the album highly.

Too many mediocre, underdeveloped funk songs in the middle of the album.

On a first listen on Parade I liked "I Wonder U", "Under the Cherry Moon", "Girls and Boys","Kiss", "Mountains". I bolded the perfect gems that I put on a "best of" cassette tape circa 1987.

On first listen to New Power Soul, I liked Mad Sex, The One, Come On, Wasted Kisses. Those bolded are the perfect gems I would have put on a best of CD.

[Edited 7/3/11 12:13pm]

NouveauDance said:

The Parade comment is obviously to get some kind of reaction, just like the last time there was a thread like this.

Agreed. But I wonder why do some think that lambasting a masterpiece makes them appear as 'smart'...

I love The One 5/10

O.o

mydrawers said:

This is not meant to be confrontational to anyone, but what EXACTLY is the problem people have with this album?? SURE, it has a few weak songs, but it's also got mostly great songs:

1. New Power Soul 10/10
2. Mad Sex 10/10
3. Until U're in My Arms Again 9/10
4. When You Love Somebody 8.5/10
5. Shoo-Bed-Ooh 5/10
6. Push It Up! 7/10
7. Freaks on This Side 10/10
8. Come On 10/10
9. The One 5/10
10. I Like Funky Music 4/10

In my estimation, this album is EASILY better than anything that's came after it, and even albums that came before it. It trounces "parade".

What exactly is there NOT to like about this album? This is what I've never understood. These are great songs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The album is called 'Newpower Soul', as (obviously) is its title track.

The track, 'New Power Soul' is on an earlier album.