Also thought this album was a weak album in his catalouge, could've been a great one if he condensed it to one album and filter the filler tracks...

However listening to the recent output, AOA, Pelectrum, HitnRun Phase 1 and Phase 2... Just revisiting Emancipation...

Emancipation sounds like a masterpiece compared to those 4 albums.

feeluupp said:

Also thought this album was a weak album in his catalouge, could've been a great one if he condensed it to one album and filter the filler tracks...

However listening to the recent output, AOA, Pelectrum, HitnRun Phase 1 and Phase 2... Just revisiting Emancipation...

Emancipation sounds like a masterpiece compared to those 4 albums.

you are right, that Emancipaton has some fillers, but it has lot of strong tracks cut, lot of great melodies and great strong vocals. Just listening to it...Great stuff.

Hated Emancipation. I don't hate AOA or HitnRun 1 & 2. A lot of Critics and Fans laud Emancipation as one of Prince's greatest works but I don't. There are songs that I love like Emale or My Computer and others but overall it's not an album I go put on and leave on as background music for my day. I do leave on AOA and right now HitnRun 2 gets played in my house even when I'm not home because my wife loves it. Just my opinion though, different strokes...as they say.

misiu said:

feeluupp said:

Also thought this album was a weak album in his catalouge, could've been a great one if he condensed it to one album and filter the filler tracks...

However listening to the recent output, AOA, Pelectrum, HitnRun Phase 1 and Phase 2... Just revisiting Emancipation...

Emancipation sounds like a masterpiece compared to those 4 albums.

you are right, that Emancipaton has some fillers, but it has lot of strong tracks cut, lot of great melodies and great strong vocals. Just listening to it...Great stuff.

Emancipation as an album as a whole isn't good, musically to Prince's standards ofcourse. However there are some great cuts on that album if it was filtered down to one album.

Still all the medicority of songs on Emancipation outshine almost everything on AOA, PLECTRUM, HitnRun... The best two songs that came from those projects IMO was one song that was recorded in 1992, and another song was a cover... Just saying.

There are failed attempts, but nothing on Emancipation is as exhuberantly fun, hip, youthful, brilliant or memorable as "2Y. 2D." "U KNOW" "MARZ" or "ANOTHERLOVE." He was an angry old man during the Emancipation era (i.e.: "Face Down," "Slave" etc.); anger channeled properly can be powerful, but nothing is as powerful as love.

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the thread topic is: I do not like AOA and HITNRUN, gne gne gne

dodger said:

Off the top of my head below is 12 strong tracks from AOA, Plectrum, Phase 1 and 2. Would there be 12 from Emancipation if you condensed it better? Its all down to opinion of course but I doubt it. . 1) Clouds 2) Time 3) Way Back Home 4) Anotherlove 5) Hardrocklover 6) 1000 Hugs & Kisses 7) June 8) Groovy Potential 9) When She Comes 10) Black Muse 11) Look At Me, Look At U 12) Revelation

Wel, many of the songs you listed wouldn't make my best of HitNRun list (Clouds, Time and When She Comes are fairly unremarkable tracks to my ears).

The best of Emancipation is every bit as strong as the best of HitNRun. To be honest, HitNRun Phase 2 is the most enjoyable Prince album beginning to end since TRC. But I don't know if I would pick it over songs like New World, Face Down, The Love We Make, Somebody's Somebody, Soul Sanctuary, Joint 2 Joint, The Holy River, Courtin Time etc.

Although it's still early days in terms of getting to know Phase 2, I feel pretty confident that I would rate it alongside Emancipation, Rave Un2, Love Symbol and The Rainbow Children as his five best post-80s albums.

[Edited 12/20/15 4:40am]

MattyJam said:

I have always loved Emancipation.. That old worn out bullshit about a great multiple disc album being greater if it was cut down to one disc was the same line out there on Sign O The Times and 1999. I think it just sounds good to people who like to try to sound like they know what the hell they are talking about - a knee jerk reaction of sorts. I still place Emancipation amoung the top 10 Prince albums. Thank God for real Prince albums like this when stuff like HitnRun Phase 1 comes out.

FUNKYNESS said:

I have always loved Emancipation.. That old worn out bullshit about a great multiple disc album being greater if it was cut down to one disc was the same line out there on Sign O The Times and 1999. I think it just sounds good to people who like to try to sound like they know what the hell they are talking about - a knee jerk reaction of sorts. I still place Emancipation amoung the top 10 Prince albums. Thank God for real Prince albums like this when stuff like HitnRun Phase 1 comes out.

Agree with every word (although I didn't half mind Phase 1, but it's not a patch on Emancipation).

KingSausage said:

In one critical way, Emancipation fails even more than HNR Phase One. 36 songs across 3 discs and THAT was the best he could do?! It's so underwhelming considering what it could and should have been. HNR Phase One doesn't aim high, which is good because it sucks.

In This Bed Eye Scream, New World, Joint 2 Joint, Face Down, The Love We Make, Soul Sanctuary, Courtin Time, The Human Body, The Holy River.... some of his best songs from the 90s were on Emancipation.

KingSausage said:

In one critical way, Emancipation fails even more than HNR Phase One. 36 songs across 3 discs and THAT was the best he could do?! It's so underwhelming considering what it could and should have been. HNR Phase One doesn't aim high, which is good because it sucks.

Exactly, it could/should have been so much better. I think a lot of the songs suffer with the plasticy production he went for. If he'd have used the 95 NPG (mainly Michael/Sonny) on more than just Betcha By Golly Wow, Saviour and One Of Us it would have improved it a lot IMO. They'd have beefed up songs like Jam Of The Year and Emancipation for a start.

.

There's a few great tracks, like - The Love We Make, Holy River, Somebody's Somebody, Joint 2 Joint but it's a pretty low ratio out the 36 for me.

I listen to Emancipation a lot more now than I did when it came out. I can do without the more recent albums.

Just different imo.

of course I agree with the Plectrum comparison. If you take all of the worst songs from Emanicpation I'd still think it's better than Plectrum. Everytime I hear Hannah sing I just stop listening to it. What is that, 3 trax in?