AhPook said:

IstenSzek said:

y'all a bunch of lightweights. imo emancipation just needs an extra disc


disc 4:


01. 20/20

02. Slave 2 The System
03. Feel Good
04. Love (Never Has 2 Say Goodbye)
05. Stone
06. Playtime
07. She Gave Her Angels
08. Van Gogh
09. Journey 2 The Center Of Ur Heart
10. Eye Am The DJ
11. (Excuse Me Is This) Goodbye


bitch, i could even do with a 5th and a 6th disc.

Disc 4 is Newpower Soul. Those outtakes are disc 5.

Newpower Soul and Emancipation have very different sounds.

IMO - Da, Da, Da would be o.k. without Scrappy D. rap. Prince's part is a bit camp & saccharine -- 'loving one another is the only way', that guitar had potentional...

And i didn't mentioned sond Da, Da, Da has one of my favorite lines, like ever: "Ask yourself your destination, What the source of your inspiration be" , man, that whole bridge is great.

42Kristen said:

I did not get the whole Emancipation. I know what it stood. Free yourself from someone's bondage. I always thiught it might that not only Prince was trying to free himself under Warner Brothers graps. But also away from Mayte Garcia. I faintly recall that this album was released on Nov. 12, 1996. This is Mayte birthday. It rose my suspicions on what hidden messages that Prince had in his music.

Yeah...no.

I'm the last person anyone would characterize as a Mayte fan, but even I will admit that Emancipation was a love letter to her and their unborn child. You do know that Sex in the Summer incorporates the child's heartbeat...right?

It was about his emancipation from WB and the obligations of a recording contract. Period. End of.

stpaisios said:

IMO - Da, Da, Da would be o.k. without Scrappy D. rap. Prince's part is a bit camp & saccharine -- 'loving one another is the only way', that guitar had potentional...

I have a version without Scrap D that I did. It's solid.

stpaisios said:

And i didn't mentioned sond Da, Da, Da has one of my favorite lines, like ever: "Ask yourself your destination, What the source of your inspiration be" , man, that whole bridge is great.

Agreed. I mean, there are truly terrible (and embarrassing, even if I'm in no way connected to them) moments earlier in the song, but then that section kicks in, and I'm a very happy guy.

Genesia said:

42Kristen said:

I did not get the whole Emancipation. I know what it stood. Free yourself from someone's bondage. I always thiught it might that not only Prince was trying to free himself under Warner Brothers graps. But also away from Mayte Garcia. I faintly recall that this album was released on Nov. 12, 1996. This is Mayte birthday. It rose my suspicions on what hidden messages that Prince had in his music.

Yeah...no.

I'm the last person anyone would characterize as a Mayte fan, but even I will admit that Emancipation was a love letter to her and their unborn child. You do know that Sex in the Summer incorporates the child's heartbeat...right?

It was about his emancipation from WB and the obligations of a recording contract. Period. End of.

Yeah, I don't know what you can do with Disc 2 if you want this to be a Mayte dis album. It seems pretty clear this album is pretty much the opposite of that.

stpaisios said:

And i didn't mentioned sond Da, Da, Da has one of my favorite lines, like ever: "Ask yourself your destination, What the source of your inspiration be" , man, that whole bridge is great.

Yep. There's another thread about single songs redeeming albums considered somewhat meh.
With Prince, we even get short parts that can redeem an entire song.

We can't be too harsh on Emancipation. It was the first attempt to self-production with a record company handling just the distribution, it was a pretty risky move.
You could say it's disappointing coming from an artist who rewrote the definition of being a maverick, of being the ultimate pop outsider for so many years.
I think it was 50/50 when it comes to the flavours of Rap and New Jack dispersed on the record,
it was part staying relevant with the times, and part assuring a minimum of exposure.

He managed that while adding more entries to his own realm.
"Style", "Big White Mansion", "Slave", "Joint 2 Joint" and some others, they belong to Prince and no one else.
I mean he could have given away "Human Body" to another artist and have a dance hit.
I think the redeeming quality of the album is that he's not trying the "me against the world" attitude he went with during the Warner Wars.

While it was great, he felt it was time to move on, else he would have been trapped in there forever.
Think about it: our knowledge of the Vault has been pretty gradual (at least for the majority of us).
The masterpieces we got to know through the years, they were already in the past for him, musical excesses and all ("Love and Sex", "Purple Music", all the radical stuff). When he mentions "fifth soul" in the Love Symbol album segue, you have to think about all that was already behind him.
We didn't have a clue, I mean yes we did, but we were pretty far from the vastness of it.

I think he earned the right to settle down and just enjoy being a musician without wearing the Genius baseball cap.
He had already given lots of strong, provocative, pushing-the-envelope moments.
Maybe Emancipation was a way to let go of the anger as a source of creation, and an attempt not to be seen as the Lone Ranger anymore.
I mean, he must have felt pretty lonely from time to time, I mean musically. Like he was his own musical genre.
Not to mention his battle with the industry, foreseeing years in advance what would happen to it,
and be the only one to have the courage to pinpoint the majors dark sides, while being the mockery of the whole business (and sometimes us included).

Maybe he was trying to be part of the world again, he got tired of the mountain top.
The pregnancy of Mayte surely played a role in all of this.

But his down-to-earth days would have to wait. The tragedy pushed him right back in isolation, and Larry sure didn't help.
At the same time, becoming a JW was a mixed bag. It's kind of a sect, but he had to do the door-to-door thing,
which I'm sure did him good and paved the way for the beginning of his openess. But that's another story.

[Edited 1/23/18 16:16pm]

Sometimes i think - if that rap part in Da, Da, Da was delivered by some more known rapper, lets say Prince somehow got Andre from Outkast to lay that part - would this song be more popular? Its not that rapper ever tried to be a singer, so i'm pretty sure that rapping itself is not the biggest problem here, huh? Scrap D. goes pretty straight and hard here. So, production, delivery, groove? Music is intresting - it has funky layers, you can dig out some momemnts focusing just on instrumental part, intentions are very clear - so it benefits from having straight positive message... like 'LoveSign' with Nona.

Usually, the case is that devoted fans like their Prince alone, so having some other voices in his space kinda ruins the flow, its almost on the edge to be blasphemous. Tony M. is still problem for a lot of ppl, Scrap D. is just another name...

Keep in mind they were folks from Minnie, for the most part.
You gotta give Prince credit for that, he was faithful to his hometown.

bonatoc said:

We can't be too harsh on Emancipation. It was the first attempt to self-production with a record company handling just the distribution, it was a pretty risky move.

We are too harsh on Prince. Expecting somone to deliver 3 hours of impeccable music in one year, its similar to idea that someone can deliver lets say - 3 paintings a la Leonardo Da Vinci in one year, or write 3 books a la Thomas Mann in one year... Hello people, we are talking about 3 standard disks of music in one year... that is unseen in recent history of music. Next time with Emancipation set in my hands, i'll get on my knees and kiss it... cuz its sacred.

[Edited 1/23/18 18:15pm]

leecaldon said:

stpaisios said:

great album despite the loud mixing. In This Bed I Scream could have been even greater but the vocals aren't mixed well with the instruments. You can tell he had to edit songs like Right Back Here In My Arms to get everything to fit on 3 CD's. I think he should have released Emancipation I then release Emancipation II in '97 to put everything out unedited

TrivialPursuit said:

stpaisios said:

IMO - Da, Da, Da would be o.k. without Scrappy D. rap. Prince's part is a bit camp & saccharine -- 'loving one another is the only way', that guitar had potentional...

I have a version without Scrap D that I did. It's solid.

THis I would like.

But for fucks sake let's not tell databank

billymeade said:

leecaldon said:

Newpower Soul and Emancipation have very different sounds.

I disagree. Emancipation "sounds" are all over NPS, from the obvious Push It Up connection, the "Slave/Ain't No Place Like U" connection to When U Love Somebody, the White Mansion synths on Shoo-Bed-Ooh, Newpower Soul's connections to Big Fun/Good Life and Right Back Here in My Arms... The albums are definitely from the same mindset.

The obvious link is Kirk Johnson.

[Edited 1/24/18 1:31am]

dodger said:

billymeade said:

leecaldon said: I disagree. Emancipation "sounds" are all over NPS, from the obvious Push It Up connection, the "Slave/Ain't No Place Like U" connection to When U Love Somebody, the White Mansion synths on Shoo-Bed-Ooh, Newpower Soul's connections to Big Fun/Good Life and Right Back Here in My Arms... The albums are definitely from the same mindset.

The obvious link is Kirk Johnson.

[Edited 1/24/18 1:31am]

I think most songs on NPS would feel out of place on Emancipation. The One would work sonically. The rest, really not so much. They are clearly from the same period, but have a different feel. Just like you can draw a line on the production from Graffiti Bridge to D&P to Symbol, but they each feel unique to the others.

As an example, Push It Up may sample the chorus line of Jam of the Year - but as songs they sound completely different.

bonatoc said:

214 said:

WTF did you say? Burn this witch, heresy.

Here, take my matchbox.

No, you go first light a match.

bonatoc said:

MattyJam said:

^^ Oh, come on! You know that's the best single disc Emancipation configuration you've ever seen.

Without "Big White Mansion", "Style" and "My Computer", it clearly ain't.

Without My and White is not the same.

"Emale" is my favorite song on this album it has a dark,hypnotic sound/vibe.....I imagine that it would have made an excellent video.

214 said:

databank said:

214 said:

Do you always take everything to heart?

Er... I was with you here, so I'm not sure what to say?

Ohhh!! my bad, I misunderstood your comment.

[Edited 2/28/18 13:17pm]

TheFman said:

Still puzzled how P thought this album could sprout singles a whole year.
There isn't even 1 single on it. The Holy River is the worst song he ever did.

Odd - that's the only song on the entire set that I like.

leecaldon said:

AhPook said:

Disc 4 is Newpower Soul. Those outtakes are disc 5.

Newpower Soul and Emancipation have very different sounds.

No they don't.

Always thought this set contained some of his most mature lyrics as he dealt with a grown up sort of love and impending fatherhood.

We can only imagine what sorts of songs he would have written if Amir and lived and his marriage to Mayte had lasted.

[Edited 2/28/18 9:08am]

bobgeorge77 said:

billymeade said:

stpaisios said:

We are too harsh on Prince. Expecting somone to deliver 3 hours of impeccable music in one year, its similar to idea that someone can deliver lets say - 3 paintings a la Leonardo Da Vinci in one year, or write 3 books a la Thomas Mann in one year... Hello people, we are talking about 3 standard disks of music in one year... that is unseen in recent history of music. Next time with Emancipation set in my hands, i'll get on my knees and kiss it... cuz its sacred.

[Edited 1/23/18 18:15pm]

Purple Rain, Glamorous Life, Ice Cream Castle would like a word.

I just got 1986 on the phone.
Man she's pissed.

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

Prince's Emancipation does not need defending.

EXACTLY!!!!! It stands ALONE as a total expression of a special moment in time when he was in love,at peace and filled with joy and the anticipation of the birth of his first child. To me, it's the most sacred part of all of his work.

databank said:

There's about 100 threads about this, with every possible tracklist and even some impossible ones. My Emancipation has 36 songs on it.

So does mine