Wow, I don't think I've ventured into this forum since approximately One Million B.C. (give or take a few years).

A lyric from "The Holy River" just ran through my head ("Lookin' back, y'all, don't miss nothin' except the time").

When I went a-goolin', it reminded how much I enjoyed this album.

...Okay, not all of this album (there are some real pieces of doody scattered over its three discs), but I feel it's highly underrated. Fer instance (in addition to 'Holy River'), I like:

• My Computer (sentimental favorite)
• Somebody’s Somebody (great vibe on this - liked the vid, too!)
• White Mansion (see "vibe")
• Sex in the Summer (ditto)
• Joint 2 Joint (the B-3 hook and the groove are to-die-for)
• The Human Body
• Face Down
• His cover of La, La, La (Means I Love You)
• Jam of the Year (If only for the couplet, "All the ladies in the house say, "Ho!" if your man's givin' up the gold / Fellas, say, "Woof!" if you're only givin' up the bone" )

Buncha others, too. I also dig how Disc 2 is all...how you say? "Slow jams"?

Anyone feel me, out there?

I scan my computer looking 4 a site

Somebody 2 talk 2, funny and bright...

Somebody's Somebody, Dreamin About U, Soul Santuary are all really good ballads. The title track is really good and so is the Holy River. I just don't like the production.

Ace said:

Wow, I don't think I've ventured into this forum since approximately One Million B.C. (give or take a few years).

A lyric from "The Holy River" just ran through my head ("Lookin' back, y'all, don't miss nothin' except the time").

When I went a-goolin', it reminded how much I enjoyed this album.

...Okay, not all of this album (there are some real pieces of doody scattered over its three discs), but I feel it's highly underrated. Fer instance (in addition to 'Holy River'), I like:

• My Computer (sentimental favorite)
• Somebody’s Somebody (great vibe on this - liked the vid, too!)
• White Mansion (see "vibe")
• Sex in the Summer (ditto)
• Joint 2 Joint (the B-3 hook and the groove are to-die-for)
• The Human Body
• Face Down
• His cover of La, La, La (Means I Love You)
• Jam of the Year (If only for the couplet, "All the ladies in the house say, "Ho!" if your man's givin' up the gold / Fellas, say, "Woof!" if you're only givin' up the bone" )

Buncha others, too. I also dig how Disc 2 is all...how you say? "Slow jams"?

Anyone feel me, out there?

I scan my computer looking 4 a site

Somebody 2 talk 2, funny and bright...

I like all the songs you mention except Human Body. One of my favourite songs at the moment is The Love we Make (after seeing the recent live versions) so I've kind of got back into some of these songs

One thing that stands out to me is how good Saviour is with the 95 NPG band/sound and it makes you wonder how great the album could have been if he had them playing on more tracks instead of the plastic production he went for...

hhhhdmt said:

Somebody's Somebody, Dreamin About U, Soul Santuary are all really good ballads. The title track is really good and so is the Holy River. I just don't like the production.

Yep, some of the prodo is just annoyingly metallic-sounding (that's the first word that came to my head) and gimmicky.

Friend,Lover....

Love We Make Best Ballads

If I paid to see Prince perform songs exclusively from only 1 album live that are post Lovesexy/Batman, Emancipation, without question, would be that album. Highly underrated indeed. SO many cuts, jams & gems on Emancipation. NewPowerSoul is another 1 of my favorites form the 90's, really don't understand how people can't hear the greatness of some of those songs. Freaks On This Side, Shoo-Bed-Ooh, Come On, The One & Wasted Kisses. 'Nuff said.

There's always the fantasy thread about creating the perfect single-disc Emancipation. I think a lot of the material here (plus several of the outtakes) is strong enough to make a really good double-disc set.

But the bad stuff on here is REALLY bad, which weighs the entire thing down, especially spread across 3 hours.

My music got left behind when I moved, but I don't remember hating any part of Emancipation.

Such a beautiful album. My personal favorite album of all time. Main theme of this album;Love, Sex, Freedom; basically the best things to appreciate in life. I mean how many albums out there can make u laugh AND cry? The Love We Make gets me every time. I need to be emotionally ready to listen to this song before I play it. One of the best songs Prince has ever written...

I still think Journey 2 the Center of ur Heart could've easily replaced Mr.Happy or Da Da Da. It just fits perfectly. But still, I think all three discs are great.

Mr.Happy always reminds me of Hungarian Dance No.5 by Brahms

Have listen to it a lot lately.

really like the album.

dJJ said:

Have listen to it a lot lately.

really like the album.

I remembered listening to those CDs a lot

when it first came out. It had some great songs.

I kept thinking that

someone helped him write a lot of the lyrics.

because It was the first time when

I felt a lot of the songs made lots of sense-to me.

I even had Friend, Lover,Sister,Mother ,Wife

played at my wedding..

so you really had to be in 'love' to understand

what he was talking about because I was in love and

at that time

I could tell Prince was in love too.

--That was then ,but now I am singing: "I can do bad all by myself."

[Edited 11/26/11 16:33pm]

The production is bland, but in fact it helps me to listen to the entire thing. I could not really sit and listen to 3 hours of or Gold or Parade or Lovesexy

3 hours of emancipation does make me euphoric, but I can enjoy it and my ears do not become fatigued from harsh guitar or unsustainable energy.

Like the pyramids it is based on, it's big, it's perfect, and it's impressive. But it is not exactly exciting in its form.

RosesRred said:

dJJ said:

Have listen to it a lot lately.

really like the album.

I remembered listening to those CDs a lot

when it first came out. It had some great songs.

I kept thinking that

someone helped him write a lot of the lyrics.

because It was the first time when

I felt a lot of the songs made lots of sense-to me.

I even had Friend, Lover,Sister,Mother ,Wife

played at my wedding..

so you really had to be in 'love' to understand

what he was talking about because I was in love and

at that time

I could tell Prince was in love too.

--That was then ,but now I am singing: "I can do bad all by myself."

[Edited 11/26/11 16:33pm]

I am very much in love at the moment. It's a long distance relationship. And that album really reflects where I'm at right now.

Quite a lot of it is plastic/bloated/shite/whatever, but listened to in small doses it has it's charms.

I like most of the songs on disc 2.

I also like that Prince had the sheer audacity to release a 3 disc, 3hr record of new material. I can't think of many other artists who would have the balls (or means) to do such a thing? Some may say that no one else has released such a record with good reason, but it's a classic bonkers Prince move. It's just a pity that the content did not live up to the claim of "The album I was born 2 make."

NDRU said:

The production is bland, but in fact it helps me to listen to the entire thing. I could not really sit and listen to 3 hours of or Gold or Parade or Lovesexy

3 hours of emancipation does make me euphoric, but I can enjoy it and my ears do not become fatigued from harsh guitar or unsustainable energy.

Like the pyramids it is based on, it's big, it's perfect, and it's impressive. But it is not exactly exciting in its form.

Pretty good points.

TheDigitalGardener said:

Quite a lot of it is plastic/bloated/shite/whatever, but listened to in small doses it has it's charms.

I like most of the songs on disc 2.

I also like that Prince had the sheer audacity to release a 3 disc, 3hr record of new material. I can't think of many other artists who would have the balls (or means) to do such a thing? Some may say that no one else has released such a record with good reason, but it's a classic bonkers Prince move. It's just a pity that the content did not live up to the claim of "The album I was born 2 make."

I always love your comments.

^^ Aww shucks.

My own Emancipation 1cd version (I can't hear the entire triple disc anymore, it's such a mess sonically and lyrically, and with no flow)

ACT 1

1.Jam of the Year

2.We Gets Up

3.Get You Groove On

4.Face Down

5.Somebody's Somebody

ACT2

6.Dreamin' About You

7.Sex in the Summer

8.One Kiss at a Time

9.Let's Have a Baby

10.My Computer

11.Curious Child

12.I Can't Make U Love Me

ACT3

13.Slave

14.The Holy River

15.The Love We Make

16.In This Bed I Scream

17.Emancipation

JoeTyler said:

My own Emancipation 1cd version (I can't hear the entire triple disc anymore, it's such a mess sonically and lyrically, and with no flow)

ACT 1

1.Jam of the Year

2.We Gets Up

3.Get You Groove On

4.Face Down

5.Somebody's Somebody

ACT2

6.Dreamin' About You

7.Sex in the Summer

8.One Kiss at a Time

9.Let's Have a Baby

10.My Computer

11.Curious Child

12.I Can't Make U Love Me

ACT3

13.Slave

14.The Holy River

15.The Love We Make

16.In This Bed I Scream

17.Emancipation

Agreed.

Am going to listen to the three discs right now again.

It's just such a great flow when in love and abroad.

TheDigitalGardener said:

it's a classic bonkers Prince move

JoeTyler said:

My own Emancipation 1cd version (I can't hear the entire triple disc anymore, it's such a mess sonically and lyrically, and with no flow)

ACT 1

1.Jam of the Year

2.We Gets Up

3.Get You Groove On

4.Face Down

5.Somebody's Somebody

ACT2

6.Dreamin' About You

7.Sex in the Summer

8.One Kiss at a Time

9.Let's Have a Baby

10.My Computer

11.Curious Child

12.I Can't Make U Love Me

ACT3

13.Slave

14.The Holy River

15.The Love We Make

16.In This Bed I Scream

17.Emancipation

That's the thing about this album. Everyone has their own ideal 1-CD version of it in their head or on a CD-R or in a playlist on their iPod.

For me personally, half of the songs you've picked are the ones that I hate and need to be removed the most

errant said:

JoeTyler said:

My own Emancipation 1cd version (I can't hear the entire triple disc anymore, it's such a mess sonically and lyrically, and with no flow)

ACT 1

1.Jam of the Year

2.We Gets Up

3.Get You Groove On

4.Face Down

5.Somebody's Somebody

ACT2

6.Dreamin' About You

7.Sex in the Summer

8.One Kiss at a Time

9.Let's Have a Baby

10.My Computer

11.Curious Child

12.I Can't Make U Love Me

ACT3

13.Slave

14.The Holy River

15.The Love We Make

16.In This Bed I Scream

17.Emancipation

That's the thing about this album. Everyone has their own ideal 1-CD version of it in their head or on a CD-R or in a playlist on their iPod.

For me personally, half of the songs you've picked are the ones that I hate and need to be removed the most

lol, I hate the songs that I left out, specially Courtin' Time, New World, The Human Body and One of Us...

JoeTyler said:

errant said:

That's the thing about this album. Everyone has their own ideal 1-CD version of it in their head or on a CD-R or in a playlist on their iPod.

For me personally, half of the songs you've picked are the ones that I hate and need to be removed the most

lol, I hate the songs that I left out, specially Courtin' Time, New World, The Human Body and One of Us...

I'm not a big fan of the first 3 of those that you mentioned either.

but you've got We Gets Up and I Can't Make U Love Me (truly an abomination) on there and no Joint 2 Joint or Right Back Here In My Arms

errant said:

JoeTyler said:

lol, I hate the songs that I left out, specially Courtin' Time, New World, The Human Body and One of Us...

I'm not a big fan of the first 3 of those that you mentioned either.

but you've got We Gets Up and I Can't Make U Love Me (truly an abomination) on there and no Joint 2 Joint or Right Back Here In My Arms

I included Can't Make U Love Me only cuz it's a fitting end for the Act 2, lol

right back here is lame

we gets up is actually a nice jam, don't know why people hates it, I mean, those horns, wow, killer...

Emancipation was my first huge Prince-album disappointment,

After the funk masterpiece The Gold Experience, Emancipation with that plastic sound was almost a disaster to me, back when I took my first listening in nov. 1996.

I have got used to the album over the years and after many listenings.

Today I can appreciate most of the songs on Emancipation, despite that sweet "saccharine" production.

I really like the tune and lyrics of right back here in my arms. However, there's also something disturbing about it.

I think a different version could work better?