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Early Emancipation: The Missing Link? I've always thought that there is a large gulf between Prince's 90's sound before Emancipation and his sound from Emancipation and afterward. His style, production, breadth, everything seems to have changed so much. Emancipation seems like a clear breaking point. But listening to one of the earlier configurations of Emancipation, I believe his initial plans for Emancipation are the missing link connecting these two general eras. The early Emancipation sounds like the perfect blend of pre-1996 and post-1996 Prince. On a related note, is there a prestine version of the alternate Right Back Here floating around? I only have the version on Work It 2.0. The quality blows and Brother Jules talks all over the end of it. I'm not asking how to find a clean version. I just want to know whether one exists. From Wikipedia: Mid-1995 configuration "Emancipation" (Different version than released) – 4:30 "Right Back Here in My Arms" (Different version than released) – 4:32 "Slave 2 the System" (Officially unreleased) – 3:05 "Slave" (Different version than released) – 5:09 "2020" (Officially unreleased) – 2:09 "New World" – 3:41 "Feel Good" (Officially unreleased) – 4:05 "Journey 2 the Center of Your Heart" (Different version than released) – 4:14 "I'm a DJ" (Officially unreleased) – 4:47 "(Excuse Me Is This) Goodbye" (Later released as "Goodbye" on Crystal Ball) – 4:30 "Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry | |
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I agree with the production on emancipation. It sounds very flat. Like he recorded 90% of it on one keyboard with the same presets. Having said that I still really like the Album. It's too much for one sitting, but I think each disc has 5 or 6 strong songs.
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I like Slave 2 the System more than anything on the released 3-disc Emancipation album. But I totally agree that the early configuration bogs down in the second half. "Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry | |
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KingSausage said: I like Slave 2 the System more than anything on the released 3-disc Emancipation album. But I totally agree that the early configuration bogs down in the second half. Is Slave 2 The System different to the Exodus outtake with Sonny T on vocals? That was only 1 min long but this list states it at 3.05. | |
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dodger said: KingSausage said: I like Slave 2 the System more than anything on the released 3-disc Emancipation album. But I totally agree that the early configuration bogs down in the second half. Is Slave 2 The System different to the Exodus outtake with Sonny T on vocals? That was only 1 min long but this list states it at 3.05. It is! It has Prince on vocals and is hardcore funk right in your face, versus the NPG song which is much more rock-oriented. "Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry | |
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still miffed that "journey 2 the center of ur heart" didn't make the album as it's one of his pretties ballads from the era. the version 'out there ' is ok quality, but i'd like to have it in absolutely pristine quality. / 2020 is also one of my favorites and whenever i make my own alternate emancipation playlist, this is the song to start it off with as an intro. / used to love I Am The DJ but listening to it now it's just silly and really, really old
and true love lives on lollipops and crisps | |
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KingSausage said: dodger said: Is Slave 2 The System different to the Exodus outtake with Sonny T on vocals? That was only 1 min long but this list states it at 3.05. It is! It has Prince on vocals and is hardcore funk right in your face, versus the NPG song which is much more rock-oriented. Thanks! I'll have to dig out my Work CDs from the loft now, I must have assumed it would be the same as the Sonny version and not imported it into my computer! | |
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IstenSzek said: still miffed that "journey 2 the center of ur heart" didn't make the album as it's one of his pretties ballads from the era. the version 'out there ' is ok quality, but i'd like to have it in absolutely pristine quality. / 2020 is also one of my favorites and whenever i make my own alternate emancipation playlist, this is the song to start it off with as an intro. / used to love I Am The DJ but listening to it now it's just silly and really, really old
Yes he had a lot of nice ballads round then but it was a shame Journey 2 The Centre Of Ur Heart never made the album, or even Crystal Ball. . I agree about I Am The DJ - proper cheesy. Same with Feel Good but that actually sounded quite good when he done a bit live at an aftershow, think it was on a Emporium boot | |
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I can see a slight link to lightweight stuff like We March - but the 1993-5 stuff has way more omph than almost anything from Emancipation. New World iirc is from 94, so that being one of the stronger sounding efforts on Emancipation kind of makes sense. Things like Feel Good and I Am The DJ are so lightweight you could knock them down with a feather and strike more of a resemblence to later things like NPS to High period. . . [Edited 10/20/14 3:06am] | |
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Well i think Emancipation depends on how you play it. Go put Jam of the Year on through your biggest best speakers, crank up the bass and then let me know what you think. It's a great album really, but under pc speakers or headphones it doesn't hold up very well. It's the same with all long albums, some classics (Holy River, Sleep Around, Saviour, Style, Sex in the Summer, Dreamin' About U, Somebody's Somebody) ruined by some filler. And as for the production, well it was the mid90's, what doesn't sound dated from then?! | |
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yup, indeed. in the build up to emancipation i kept reading about this triple album and all those songs (at one point he had 52 songs ready for the project, mayte said in an interview at the time, when promoting Child Of The Sun iirc). the main thing was, my mind just boggled under the weight of thinking what all those songs would sound like and how amazing that album would be, since Come/Gold had about 24 songs between them and they were absolutely fantastic. i think most people's expectations were sky high, thinking this album would be like a massive dose of tracks with that vibe. so that was the big let down for me, that it sounded so tame in comparison. there did not seem to be that much drive, which was not at all what i was expecting from this album, since they kept saying he'd stashed his best new material for when he was to be free from all contracts with warners. over the years i've started to appreciate the album for what it is, and it's grown on me a lot. there are a lot of great tracks there, but there's also still a lot of fluff. i think the cohesiveness in sound and production is weighing this album down. it's just too much material to be so uniform. if half the tracks were more organic with a more 'live in the studio' approach (like Somebody's Somebody live studio mix) or even if it had more guitar (like the outtake She Gave Her Angels), it would have lifted the whole project out of the monotony it suffers from now. [Edited 10/26/14 4:41am] and true love lives on lollipops and crisps | |
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KingSausage said: I like Slave 2 the System more than anything on the released 3-disc Emancipation album. But I totally agree that the early configuration bogs down in the second half. Better than Right Back Here In My Arms, Somebody's Somebody or The Love We Make? Your taste is really somewhat... different. | |
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Some Come/Gold tracks announced what was to come, though, the grooves on Come (album version), Letitgo, Love Sign, 18 & Over, P Control, We March, Return Of The Bump Squad, Big Fun and even more all the Kirky J's unreleased but circulating remixes and his medley from the Purple Medley maxi are quite prophetic in that sense, so for me the transition wasn't so brutal, I kinda saw it coming back then I guess. A COMPREHENSIVE PRINCE DISCOGRAPHY (work in progress ^^): https://sites.google.com/...scography/ |
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Sausage, I'm sure you are angry Good Dick and a Job were never released. All you others say Hell Yea!!  | |
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Philly76 said: KingSausage said: I like Slave 2 the System more than anything on the released 3-disc Emancipation album. But I totally agree that the early configuration bogs down in the second half. Better than Right Back Here In My Arms, Somebody's Somebody or The Love We Make? Your taste is really somewhat... different. I like Slave 2 the System more than Somebody's Somebody and Right Back. But you got me on The Love We Make. That song is a classic. "Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry | |
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2freaky4church1 said: Sausage, I'm sure you are angry Good Dick and a Job were never released. I've actually never heard that one. "Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry | |
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