So I'm totally aware no one really likes "Kamasutra" but I wanna buy it. Is there any legit way for me to actually find this thing?

I don't see it on tidal - youtube hasn't pulled anything up in it's entirety.

Where is it? Am I gonna have to settle for eBay this time?

Also - are there any people here who like this album? I know a lot about it but haven't heard anything from it yet and essentially need it to complete the collection.

Hahaha I love how this thread is moving to page 2 so quick.

It is apparent that not a whole lot of people give a got-damn about this album hahaha

Why does this make me want it even more???

It can't be THAT bad.

Then again I listen to a huge amount of really varied music and what most people find total garbage I can find a number of redeeming factors with, so who knows?

Any takers on this? Proponents of this LP speak now or forever hold your peace!!!!!

It's ok if you like that kind of thing. It's not as melodic as many of his better known instrumental pieces.

There are a couple of repeated themes so it's all vaguely tied together. None of the individual pieces are particularly memorable in their own right... with the exception of "Cutz" which you'll understand when you hear it.

26ten said:

Hahaha I love how this thread is moving to page 2 so quick.

It is apparent that not a whole lot of people give a got-damn about this album hahaha

Why does this make me want it even more???

It can't be THAT bad.

Then again I listen to a huge amount of really varied music and what most people find total garbage I can find a number of redeeming factors with, so who knows?

Any takers on this? Proponents of this LP speak now or forever hold your peace!!!!!

Oh, but it is.

I think I paid for this at the NPGMC, but I'm not 100% sure. I would really like to be able to say definitely that I didn't pay a dime for it, though. I would feel less stupid.

It has three cool tracks in my opinion. That one that wounds like the Godfather soundtrack, the scissors snipping one, and then the one that was played before the Jam of the Year concerts.

I don't remember any titles

I wish I had been old enough to be a part of the NPGMC when it was around so bad.

So cool! Ugh why wasn't I born earlier?! Ugh

That music wouldn't even be used for a direct-to-download-for-free movie. Porn companies wouldn't even touch it.

26ten said:

So I'm totally aware no one really likes "Kamasutra" but I wanna buy it. Is there any legit way for me to actually find this thing?

I don't see it on tidal - youtube hasn't pulled anything up in it's entirety.

Where is it? Am I gonna have to settle for eBay this time?

Also - are there any people here who like this album? I know a lot about it but haven't heard anything from it yet and essentially need it to complete the collection.

Once again, always on the opposite end of the spectrum (probably because my musical knowledge is limited), but I love this CD. Always play it when I'm reading my cards.

Oh my god hahaha that sounds TERRIBLE haha

I'm super curious now. You know all this lowering of expectations is just gonna make it seem good to me now I bet.

I'm expecting some sort of abomination now haha

26ten said:

I wish I had been old enough to be a part of the NPGMC when it was around so bad.

So cool! Ugh why wasn't I born earlier?! Ugh

the only downside to that was all the songs in the store were in shitty drm'd wma which are useless now.

The less you read about this album, and the less you understand classical music, the more you will like this album.

I haven´t listened to it since at least 1999 or 2000 but I remember that I did listen to it occasionally and actually enjoyed it during long bustrips or trainrides.

Prince has written much better instrumental music before and after this album but I still found it ok back then but I´m not sure if I´d still be able to enjoy it in its entirety.

Let me put it this way....I have listened to it more often than I listened to NEWS. Now that album had only one track on it that I liked...but there are fans who think it is the bees´ knees, so what do I know?

LoneCrone said:

26ten said:

So I'm totally aware no one really likes "Kamasutra" but I wanna buy it. Is there any legit way for me to actually find this thing?

I don't see it on tidal - youtube hasn't pulled anything up in it's entirety.

Where is it? Am I gonna have to settle for eBay this time?

Also - are there any people here who like this album? I know a lot about it but haven't heard anything from it yet and essentially need it to complete the collection.

Once again, always on the opposite end of the spectrum (probably because my musical knowledge is limited), but I love this CD. Always play it when I'm reading my cards.

Sorry buddy - didn't mean that you made it sound terrible - I just took too long to type my response.

Also - will be visiting tidal again tonight then! Whew! So nice and easy to finish the collection haha hell yes!

26ten said:

So I'm totally aware no one really likes "Kamasutra" but I wanna buy it. Is there any legit way for me to actually find this thing?

I don't see it on tidal - youtube hasn't pulled anything up in it's entirety.

Where is it? Am I gonna have to settle for eBay this time?

Also - are there any people here who like this album? I know a lot about it but haven't heard anything from it yet and essentially need it to complete the collection.

I Like the Album...

Its something I can put on in the background and I find it soothing...and in some parts Spectacularly moving..

Its clearly experimental and hard to put into a genre

but Kudos to Prince for his daring....

I also LOVE N.E.W.S

I thiink the real problem is that it is a "background" kind of album. I can't judge it as an attempt at classical (much as I couldn't judge Madhouse or other projects as attempts at jazz), but I don't get the hate for it. Do I ever "just listen" to it? No. But I have played it while I'm doing other things but don't want to get too drawn into the music. It's moderately pleasant.

That said, I have used it as naptime music for a classful of preschoolers. Some of them actively wanted it (several of them really liked Cutz, but that wasn't the only track)--they'd asked what it was, and we told them it "had an Indian name." I'm sure they thought that meant Native American--but I was willing to let that go, as long as I didn't have to deal with them telling their parents we listened to "Kamasutra." I'm guessing I've heard it way more than almost any of you--not much sticks in my head (beyond the main theme), but it's okay while it's on.

TrivialPursuit said:

Cutz and The Ever Changing Light worth the listen. The rest of the album is not good...

[Edited 9/21/16 6:21am]

it was a nice creative exercise but no. i think he was writing music for mayte to work into a show with the npg dance troop but he debuted it at their wedding.

EddieC said:

I thiink the real problem is that it is a "background" kind of album. I can't judge it as an attempt at classical (much as I couldn't judge Madhouse or other projects as attempts at jazz), but I don't get the hate for it. Do I ever "just listen" to it? No. But I have played it while I'm doing other things but don't want to get too drawn into the music. It's moderately pleasant.

I agree with this assessment. There are Prince albums I like less.

wavesofbliss said:

it was a nice creative exercise but no. i think he was writing music for mayte to work into a show with the npg dance troop but he debuted it at their wedding.

Yeah I don't know if I would ever do that myself. I'd have to have been real proud of my work - so maybe that might indicate P found it to be pretty solid?

From an older thread about Kamasutra, back when P was still around:

To be honest I believe it to be one of P's weakest efforts ever, but contrarily to most others who think that way it's not because I lack musical education and understand only pop music, but because I do have acquired some musical education over the years. In fact when the album got released I wasn't familiar at all with contemporary neoclassical, ambient and experimental, and I was totally impressed by it. Then over the years I started to listen to a lot of stuff in the aforementioned genres and slowly realized how amateurish an effort Kamasutra was.

.

The problem is that Prince didn't do his homework. He just tried to emulate classical music on synth without realizing that all along the 20th Century there had been a whole scene of people with a classical music background who were/are composers and do that kind of stuff (to name a few among the most famous: Steve Reich, Jon Hassell, John Zorn, Philip Glass, Gavin Bryans, John Cage, Harold Budd, Chick Corea or Ryuichi Sakamoto, not to mention the dozens of musicians working on a more experimental/electronic level such as Zeena Parkins or Alva Noto, and the enormous ambient scene). By not doing his homework, Prince ended-up with a gross, naive, almost childish caricature of classical music that would have made any serious listener of contemporary music laugh out loud. It just sounded like someone who'd try to make jazz but would only know New Orleans jazz from the 1920's. To come-up with something relevant, Prince would have had to check out what was out there before going into the studio.

.

Now I do appreciate the effort: I like it when a musician goes out of his comfort zone and I certainly wish Prince would do it more often, so I'm not gonna say he should have not done it at all, I'm actually glad he did, only he could have done his homework. He certainly has the talent to come-up with something more substantial that that and maybe he should give it another try, with the help of MBN and String Genius for the parts that require musical theory. There are some things on Kamasutra that I still like, but there's a lot that makes me cringe.

^
To be fair, it isn't really "classical" music, because when you say "classical" music people's minds jump to "Moonlight Sonata" "Flight of the Bumble Bee" or "Toccata & Fugue"... NOTHING on Kamasutra has that kind of presence.

This was composed for Mayte & The NPG Dance Company. I think it was a Ballet? I'm not even sure it was envisioned as a classical ballet. I'm sure it was intended to be more contemporary.

I have zero knowledge of classical music and would like to know what parts make you cringe and why.

Just because I´m curious.

databank said:

From an older thread about Kamasutra, back when P was still around:

To be honest I believe it to be one of P's weakest efforts ever, but contrarily to most others who think that way it's not because I lack musical education and understand only pop music, but because I do have acquired some musical education over the years. In fact when the album got released I wasn't familiar at all with contemporary neoclassical, ambient and experimental, and I was totally impressed by it. Then over the years I started to listen to a lot of stuff in the aforementioned genres and slowly realized how amateurish an effort Kamasutra was.

.

The problem is that Prince didn't do his homework. He just tried to emulate classical music on synth without realizing that all along the 20th Century there had been a whole scene of people with a classical music background who were/are composers and do that kind of stuff (to name a few among the most famous: Steve Reich, Jon Hassell, John Zorn, Philip Glass, Gavin Bryans, John Cage, Harold Budd, Chick Corea or Ryuichi Sakamoto, not to mention the dozens of musicians working on a more experimental/electronic level such as Zeena Parkins or Alva Noto, and the enormous ambient scene). By not doing his homework, Prince ended-up with a gross, naive, almost childish caricature of classical music that would have made any serious listener of contemporary music laugh out loud. It just sounded like someone who'd try to make jazz but would only know New Orleans jazz from the 1920's. To come-up with something relevant, Prince would have had to check out what was out there before going into the studio.

.

Now I do appreciate the effort: I like it when a musician goes out of his comfort zone and I certainly wish Prince would do it more often, so I'm not gonna say he should have not done it at all, I'm actually glad he did, only he could have done his homework. He certainly has the talent to come-up with something more substantial that that and maybe he should give it another try, with the help of MBN and String Genius for the parts that require musical theory. There are some things on Kamasutra that I still like, but there's a lot that makes me cringe.

KoolEaze said:

I have zero knowledge of classical music and would like to know what parts make you cringe and why.

Just because I´m curious.

databank said:

From an older thread about Kamasutra, back when P was still around:

To be honest I believe it to be one of P's weakest efforts ever, but contrarily to most others who think that way it's not because I lack musical education and understand only pop music, but because I do have acquired some musical education over the years. In fact when the album got released I wasn't familiar at all with contemporary neoclassical, ambient and experimental, and I was totally impressed by it. Then over the years I started to listen to a lot of stuff in the aforementioned genres and slowly realized how amateurish an effort Kamasutra was.

.

The problem is that Prince didn't do his homework. He just tried to emulate classical music on synth without realizing that all along the 20th Century there had been a whole scene of people with a classical music background who were/are composers and do that kind of stuff (to name a few among the most famous: Steve Reich, Jon Hassell, John Zorn, Philip Glass, Gavin Bryans, John Cage, Harold Budd, Chick Corea or Ryuichi Sakamoto, not to mention the dozens of musicians working on a more experimental/electronic level such as Zeena Parkins or Alva Noto, and the enormous ambient scene). By not doing his homework, Prince ended-up with a gross, naive, almost childish caricature of classical music that would have made any serious listener of contemporary music laugh out loud. It just sounded like someone who'd try to make jazz but would only know New Orleans jazz from the 1920's. To come-up with something relevant, Prince would have had to check out what was out there before going into the studio.

.

Now I do appreciate the effort: I like it when a musician goes out of his comfort zone and I certainly wish Prince would do it more often, so I'm not gonna say he should have not done it at all, I'm actually glad he did, only he could have done his homework. He certainly has the talent to come-up with something more substantial that that and maybe he should give it another try, with the help of MBN and String Genius for the parts that require musical theory. There are some things on Kamasutra that I still like, but there's a lot that makes me cringe.

It's not a matter of classical music: comparing a contemporary piece, let alone one by a pop artist, to classical music is somewhat irrelevant: the cultural, artistic and social context is so radically incomparable, it'd be like comparing Brett Easton Ellis' novels to Honoré de Balzac's. People's obstination to compare Kamasutra to classical music is an absurdity in itself. Compare Kamasutra to the works of contemporary composers like any of those I mentioned above (u'll find pieces by each of them on YT), and you'll quickly understand why the lack of subtelty in Kamasutra makes me cringe.