I hated it for many years. Then a friend wanted me to give him some examples of experimental jazzy-type Prince so I thought I would sit through a listen of NEWS and see if it was good enough to impress my friend, or if it was still the junk I thought it was. I was pleasantly surprised. it has now grown on me and I listen to it quite a lot these days. I included East on my friends compilation.

Rebeljuice said:

I hated it for many years. Then a friend wanted me to give him some examples of experimental jazzy-type Prince

Rainbow Children?

Xpectation?

ONA Euro Tour Bootlegs?

Madhouse?

The Flesh?

Eric Leeds?

bluegangsta said:

Rebeljuice said:

I hated it for many years. Then a friend wanted me to give him some examples of experimental jazzy-type Prince

Rainbow Children?

Xpectation?

ONA Euro Tour Bootlegs?

Madhouse?

The Flesh?

Eric Leeds?

Of course I included some of that. It was a compilation of lots of stuff. But it was whilst coming up with ideas for it that I gave NEWS another spin and ended up including East on the comp. Geddit?

It's quite enjoyable. But I will never understand why he didn't release the far superior Xpectation on CD.

I just can't get with it. I love all of the Madhouse and instrumental music, but this 1 gets past me. Maybe it's cuz I bought it blindly expecting something else . Maybe it's all the extraneous noodling at the end of each track. Why every song gotta be exactly 14 mins? The guitar solo on North is awesome though .

KingSausage said:

C.R.A.P.

I wouldn't say all that, but .

I would say it was for completists only, and even then I doubt you're going to listen to it more than a few times.

.

I'm not saying it's good or bad, but it's very . . . generic. Something you might hear in a coffee shop and see at their "Now Playing" rack by the cash register.

I love this album, I listened to it all the time when it was released!

ludwig said:

Next to the "Lotus Flow3r" album my favorite of the 2000 releases. Great music without the dogma. Eric is just incredible on this album. There's nothing generic on this at all. At the mid point mark of East, is one of the most diversive and somewhat cinematic pieces of music I've ever heard from Prince. IMO, albums like "Musicology" and "Plec" are generic. But I respect others opinions and I can understand why some people don't like it. This album should've been called "Musicology" because A.) It's all about the music and B.) It really showcases the dynamics of what he can do musically. If Prince did instrumental music for the rest of his career, I would be totally cool with that.

I love NEWS.

For me it's by far the best of all his instrumental releases.

Sure, if you listen to it 'as' a jazz album, it doesn't compete and sounds like jazz-lite... but listen to it as you would a movie soundtrack and it comes alive... it's supposed to be about twists and turns and exploring space and sound and mood... I've never understood people's dislike for it, to be honest.

The musicianship is first rate, it's melodic, at times experimental, it sounds great and has a sense of adventure and mystique about it. I'm a big fan. This period, with The Rainbow Children, Xpectation and the One Nite Alone piano and live albums was the last time Prince was at the top of his game, for me.. a period which just about held together with Musicology but fell off a cliff with the awful and generic 3121.... anyway, that's another discussion.

The recent period of Art Official Age isn't far behind the 2003 period for me... but NEWS sure beats the hell out of Musicology, 3121, Planet Earth, MPLSound, 20Ten and Plectrum Electrum.

Lotusflower and Art Official Age are probably as good...

Get NEWS and give it a chance.... I think it's brilliant.

RJOrion said:

i sometimes wonder if P shouldnt just release Jazz albums almost exclusively...he's done everything he can do with funk/pop/rock/soul...his daddy was a jazz artist, so im sure there's some material inherent in him...Xpectation and N.E.W.S. are the 2 Prince albums ive been listening to more and more..."East", and "Xogenous" the best on each album...at his age, seems like a natural career progression...amazing drum work by john blackwell on both albums, and great sax work by eric leeds on N.E.W.S.

Yes, this may be a more interesting direction for an artist on his stage in his career, and having done what he has done. More of this could be great.