What's UP Fam!

Prince has released a large variation of music since he came on the scene. One of the most amazing facts about his work is that there is so much diversity. Coming from a place where words have a little meaning in my life right now (In Song That is...) I appreciate that I can listen to an instrumental of fantastic melody, power, and Structure.
Over the course of the time Prince has been on the scene we have albums that were FULLY Instrumental. These Albums include but not limited to: Madhouse, Kamasutra, Xpectation, N.E.W.S., C-Note, etc. These are amazing albums with a voice of lyricism of its own.

I am very curious to know what other instrumentals you all may have in mind. What do you like about these, and do you feel they are of value and are mature in sounding?

Some people have expressed N.E.W.S. and snooze, and Xpectation as failing at what they expected. LOL. But, Have these instrumentals grown over time and do they at all speak to you on another level?

I would love to know what you think!

And do you spend as much time 'Air Guitaring' as me?

I liked the C-Note album that I purchased from his former NPGMC site.

The songs:

Osaka, Tokyo, Nagoya are awesome on it. 'Empty Room' which isn't instrumental, was also on that album.

[Edited 5/5/12 19:16pm]

N.E.W.S. is simply a "Masterpiece"............

N.E.W.S. was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album.

The ever-unpredictable Prince seemingly grew even more mercurial after he started releasing albums on his own label. Free from record company restraints since the mid-1990s, he put out such outre items as the three-disc tour de force EMANCIPATION; the jazzy, Jehovah's Witnesses-themed concept album THE RAINBOW CHILDREN; and then the most unexpected of them all, N.E.W.S. The name stands for North, East, South, and West--the four track titles--and each is an instrumental exactly 14 minutes long. Without a hook or chorus in sight, Prince leads his loyal accompanists through a mostly mellow program that melds low-key fusion, smooth jazz, and slow-jam R&B for 56 minutes of mood music. If you're expecting another 1999 or PURPLE RAIN, you'd best look elsewhere, but if you're willing to give up your preconceptions, you can lose yourself in N.E.W.S.

The master releases a full length instrumental jam known as N.E.W.S. North, East, West, South - music that rips in every direction! Previously available only through the NPG record club. NPG.

Eric Leeds (tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone); Renato Neto (piano, synthesizer); Rhonda Smith (acoustic & electric basses); John Blackwell (drums).

Recorded at Paisley Park Studios, Minneapolis, Minnesota on February 6, 2003.

Personnel: Prince (guitar, Fender Rhodes piano, keyboards, percussion);

JazzTimes - "Exploratory and evocative, N.E.W.S. is an intriguing departure for this enigmatic and unpredictable artist."

[Edited 5/5/12 20:17pm]

I liked the N.E.W.S. album quite a bit. Unfortunately its one of the 6-7 I left in a rental car; of course never to be seen again.

I don't recall if it was E. or W. that got allot of airplay but the entire album is nice.

I'm not familiar with the others but I appreciate the list.

2elijah said:

I liked the C-Note album that I purchased from his former NPGMC site.

The songs:

Osaka, Tokyo, Nagoya are awesome on it. 'Empty Room' which isn't instrumental, was also on that album.

[Edited 5/5/12 19:16pm]

I fully agree. I love all these as well as NEWS. There is something to be said to hear the instrumentals which are as much as an importance to his music oddessy. Just a point of clarity...I was a hippie when it was the 60s & 70, but in the 80s became a Purple Head. Respect the title, youngblood.

how the fuck that never won a grammy is beyond me

jonylawson said:

how the fuck that never won a grammy is beyond me

jonylawson said:

how the fuck that never won a grammy is beyond me

Agreed

Nice work Eye I think NEWS is Prince's best instrumental work, but of course I'm biased cuz I love West I also enjoy Xcogitate, Gamillah, 77 Beverly Park, Alexa De Paris and Arboretum. I think that Prince's instrumentals are genius-he really deserves more recognition for them. Nice vid

nursev said:

I think that Prince's instrumentals are genius-he really deserves more recognition for them.

jonylawson said:

how the fuck that never won a grammy is beyond me

Especially odd being that there aren't many instrumental pop albums released each year...

N.E.W.S. & Xpectation are both in my top 5 Prince albums.

Favorites are: North, West, Xogenous, Xpedition

CrabalockerFishwife said:

jonylawson said:

how the fuck that never won a grammy is beyond me

Especially odd being that there aren't many instrumental pop albums released each year...

N.E.W.S. & Xpectation are both in my top 5 Prince albums.

Favorites are: North, West, Xogenous, Xpedition

YES! It should have won the Best Instrumental Albums! I mean it's such a deserving topic!

I love ALL of your favorites! Something about Xogenous! One of his best songs ever! It just makes me have a renewed love and appreciation for Prince! lol

2elijah said:

I liked the C-Note album that I purchased from his former NPGMC site.

The songs:

Osaka, Tokyo, Nagoya are awesome on it. 'Empty Room' which isn't instrumental, was also on that album.

[Edited 5/5/12 19:16pm]

Thanks for the reply! I love C-Note! I love Nagoya! It's one of the funkiest guitar things he has come up with!

mzsadii said:

2elijah said:

I liked the C-Note album that I purchased from his former NPGMC site.

The songs:

Osaka, Tokyo, Nagoya are awesome on it. 'Empty Room' which isn't instrumental, was also on that album.

[Edited 5/5/12 19:16pm]

I fully agree. I love all these as well as NEWS. There is something to be said to hear the instrumentals which are as much as an importance to his music oddessy. Just a point of clarity...I was a hippie when it was the 60s & 70, but in the 80s became a Purple Head. Respect the title, youngblood.

Hahaha,

MUCH respect! I'll change it to Purple Heads!!

ScissorsRockPaper said:

I liked the N.E.W.S. album quite a bit. Unfortunately its one of the 6-7 I left in a rental car; of course never to be seen again.

I don't recall if it was E. or W. that got allot of airplay but the entire album is nice.

I'm not familiar with the others but I appreciate the list.

Thanks for the reply! That's very unfortunate that it was left in the rental! I would have been pissed off!

I am listening more to 'East' and 'South' because they are just as good!

You are welcome! You got to check out the other material that exist!

nursev said:

Nice work Eye I think NEWS is Prince's best instrumental work, but of course I'm biased cuz I love West I also enjoy Xcogitate, Gamillah, 77 Beverly Park, Alexa De Paris and Arboretum. I think that Prince's instrumentals are genius-he really deserves more recognition for them. Nice vid

Thank you! I remember the 'West' reference on your thread a couple a months ago! I love all the songs you mentioned! I appreciate your perspective! It's a shame not much has been said! I think this is apart of his music that will stand tall soon!

jonylawson said:

how the fuck that never won a grammy is beyond me

Cause the Grammy's are on some other stuff! It's beyond me too!

EyeJester7 said:

nursev said:

Nice work Eye I think NEWS is Prince's best instrumental work, but of course I'm biased cuz I love West I also enjoy Xcogitate, Gamillah, 77 Beverly Park, Alexa De Paris and Arboretum. I think that Prince's instrumentals are genius-he really deserves more recognition for them. Nice vid

Thank you! I remember the 'West' reference on your thread a couple a months ago! I love all the songs you mentioned! I appreciate your perspective! It's a shame not much has been said! I think this is apart of his music that will stand tall soon!

Aww thanks and Im hopeful that some of these works from Prince will soon be appreciated more by fans.

EyeJester7 said:

nursev said:

Nice work Eye I think NEWS is Prince's best instrumental work, but of course I'm biased cuz I love West I also enjoy Xcogitate, Gamillah, 77 Beverly Park, Alexa De Paris and Arboretum. I think that Prince's instrumentals are genius-he really deserves more recognition for them. Nice vid

Thank you! I remember the 'West' reference on your thread a couple a months ago! I love all the songs you mentioned! I appreciate your perspective! It's a shame not much has been said! I think this is apart of his music that will stand tall soon!

A lot of people are unable to appreciate music that doesn't have words and singing.. I find instrumental music to be very relaxing.. I put it on a lot whenever I'm tired or in a bad mood.. Prince is my favorite instrumental artist, too.. for whatever reason, I can't get into jazz legends such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane (Etc), but I love Prince's instrumentals.

My 13 y.o. nephew was over the weekend and I was playing this, so he was asking questions. Since you had done a great job reviewing this; I let him listen to your review. You helped to win him over and I ended up giving him my extra copy. He was rather happy. He called to tell me that his dad wanted to know when he got interested in jazz and wanted to know who it was. When he told him Prince, he didn't want to believe it. But it made a believer out of him. Great Job

mzsadii said:

My 13 y.o. nephew was over the weekend and I was playing this, so he was asking questions. Since you had done a great job reviewing this; I let him listen to your review. You helped to win him over and I ended up giving him my extra copy. He was rather happy. He called to tell me that his dad wanted to know when he got interested in jazz and wanted to know who it was. When he told him Prince, he didn't want to believe it. But it made a believer out of him. Great Job

Really!!!

WOW!

I really appreciate this! Seriously! That's so nice of you to share this with him. I would be rather happy to of a copy of N.E.W.S. I would have become so happy. Either way, you sharing with him this information is so cool! I mean, this a story for the history books! What a way to demonstrate the material from Prince! Prince is that diverse where people don't even believe its him. Hahaha..Thank you again and this means a lot to me!

Well, it is easier for me to let another young person talk than for me to try to tell my middle aged point of view. So you are now my reference person on .

I watched/listened to your vid today. Good job! You have a very nice voice - I can imagine it on radio or something. Also, you speak well - no "umm's" "likes" "you know" and other fillers and hesitation. You could be an announcer, broadcaster, newscaster, or something like that!

You also got me interested in instrumentals that I will definitely try to check out. I was familiar with the Madhouse projects, and Arboretum. But I hadn't heard great things about Kamasutra. Might be interesting since it was meant to be danced to. Don't know why I never sought out N.E.W.S. but I will now. I see that classical violinist Vanessa Mae is on that album, including Xogenous! I have a couple of her CDs, she's good, contemporary.

A couple of things (not criticisms, just help) -- Arboretum is pronounced ar-bor-EE-tum and is like a botanical garden featuring trees. Xogenous (pronounced ex-AH-jin-us) means coming from outside yourself or outside the system. haha lol

Thanks for the overview on his instrumentals.

By the way, you know Trombone Shorty? He was apparently at PP recording w/ either Allo or Prince - he tweeted about it. Anyway, he does instrumental music, and his profile (if you go to his page) is a similar mix of styles as Prince. And he's got genius! Check it out.

artist76 said:

I watched/listened to your vid today. Good job! You have a very nice voice - I can imagine it on radio or something. Also, you speak well - no "umm's" "likes" "you know" and other fillers and hesitation. You could be an announcer, broadcaster, newscaster, or something like that!

You also got me interested in instrumentals that I will definitely try to check out. I was familiar with the Madhouse projects, and Arboretum. But I hadn't heard great things about Kamasutra. Might be interesting since it was meant to be danced to. Don't know why I never sought out N.E.W.S. but I will now. I see that classical violinist Vanessa Mae is on that album, including Xogenous! I have a couple of her CDs, she's good, contemporary.

A couple of things (not criticisms, just help) -- Arboretum is pronounced ar-bor-EE-tum and is like a botanical garden featuring trees. Xogenous (pronounced ex-AH-jin-us) means coming from outside yourself or outside the system. haha lol

Thanks for the overview on his instrumentals.

Thanks A lot!!! I really appreciate your words! I am actually in the process of going to school for being an 'Announcer'. I love words, and I want to study the communicative nature of them. It's my dream to become a talk show/game host! Your words really inspire me to step further in my field of studies! I try to avoid filler speech, although it happens..I want to minimize that as much as possible! Haha. Thanks for also the help in the pronunciation of the word 'Arboretum'. I have studied the process of photosynthesis in greater detail as well as botanical gardens, and it's very uplifting. I now how to pronounce it! Thanks a lot!

I always knew what the word 'Xogenous' meant but the way Prince spells it with an 'X' made me forget how to pronounce it. Haha. Thanks again for the detail. I love the definition, and it gives the song a greater meaning!

I'm happy to know you'll be checking out some of his more lesser known stuff. His instrumentals are worth the wait! Vanessa Mae is pretty awesome! Her stuff is really good!

P.S. I LOVE Trombone Shorty! So glad you know who he is! I am from New Orleans; and right around this time last year, me and my girlfriend saw him in concert at a local festival. He is pretty WICKED! So glad Prince acknowledged him, because at the time seeing him, I remember saying to myself how awesome it would be for Prince to notice someone with skill like he posses. Prince has a good eye for young talent, and to know they recorded something together is amazing! Maybe he could 'Help' Maceo out and tour with Prince? But maybe that's asking for too much? Haha

jonylawson said:

how the fuck that never won a grammy is beyond me

'cause a more coherant album by Ry Cooder and Manuel Galbán won. I like Princes playing on this album but the compositions are meh.