I feel confident in saying that Prince was likely disappointed with how Rave In2 and the whole 1999 thing. My gut tells me he thought it would be a "comeback" on the level of Musicology and that the song's relevance given the year itself would ignite something and create and opportunity.

I also seem to remember him expressing disappointment with how Parade turned out for whatever reason, which is odd becuase it's a pretty damned good record.

IF I had to guess, I think he had higher hopes for the Paisley Park recording label too and some of his proteges.

I've said this before: a black and white movie in 1986 was a hard sell.It was a very risky project.

jaawwnn said:

UTCM is a mess, a highly enjoyable mess but it's pretty much for fans only. I think Prince wanted an absolute classic but ended up with a strange 80s cult movie. I believe the story of him being inconsolable just before release. It does at least look beautiful.

SoulAlive said:

I've said this before: a black and white movie in 1986 was a hard sell.It was a very risky project.

jaawwnn said:

UTCM is a mess, a highly enjoyable mess but it's pretty much for fans only. I think Prince wanted an absolute classic but ended up with a strange 80s cult movie. I believe the story of him being inconsolable just before release. It does at least look beautiful.

A good script might have helped a bit

Raging Bull
The Elephant Man
Broadway Danny Rose
Rumble Fish
Stardust Memories
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Stranger Than Paradise
She's Gotta Have It
Boy Meets Girl

All B&W movies made in the 80's that have it all day over that horrible vanity project that he decided had to be in B&W just to make it "artistic".

As film makers and actors go, Prince was a hell of a musician.

jdcxc said:

jdcxc said:

Emancipation is a solid album.


It's too much in one sip, though.
You have to go through each disc,
focusing on just the one for like a week.


Yeah, a week is about what it takes
to appreciate the sound of it.
Headphones-wise, it kicks ass.

It's not THAT "plastic" sounding.
OK, maybe to some.
Maybe a bit.

Hey, if plastic was Skipper’s Couleur de l’Année that year, fine by me!
I'll keep it and U won't make me recycle it!
I know, shame on me.


It's a fun album, cuz everyone make their own single LP out of it.
It's like a construction set.
Pick your pieces.
Chicken?
There's some.


But do we really want to associate "Emancipation" with "disappointment",
considering the particular conditions under which it was tracklisted and released?



I find chilling how much Prince
went "career professional" in the
"Mach Schau! Mach Schau!" Koshmider sense.
That's Schumacher Scary-like.

There is nothing like losing your own kid.
Who am I to judge?
Holding your "career" by the teeth.
Keeping on selling. Focusing on coming even or it's Guaranteed Breakdown.
Why doesn't it sell?
It's a great album!



I still don't know if I should feel disappointment
or awarding Prince some kind of Purple Heart
for finding some way of not losing it, someway, somehow.
I only wish Mayte had been spared in the process.

I want to believe they went into mourning together
until he couldn't take it no more.
And it happened way too fast
for all the close ones,
that's how he went.




Can we please leave Emancipation
out of both the Career and
Disappointment drawers?

It's an album about Birth.

On headphones?
Kicks ass.
Never heard an echography so funky, I bet.





Peace & B Wild, New Year.

[Edited 1/2/20 13:55pm]

bonatoc said:

Emancipation is a solid album.


It's too much in one sip, though.
You have to go through each disc,
focusing on just the one for like a week.


Yeah, a week is about what it takes
to appreciate the sound of it.
Headphones-wise, it kicks ass.

It's not THAT "plastic" sounding.
OK, maybe to some.
Maybe a bit.

But hey, if that was Skipper Couleur de l'Année, fine by me!
I'll keep it and U won't make me recycle it!
Eye NO, shame on me.


It's a fun album, as everyone can make their own single LP out of it.
It's like a construction set.
Pick your pieces. Chicken? There's some.


But do we really want to associate "Emancipation" with "disappointment",
considering the particular conditions under which it was tracklisted and released?




I find a bit chilling how much Prince
went "career professional" in the
"Mach Schau! Mach Schau!" Koshmider sense.
That's Schumacher Scary-like.

There is nothing like losing your own kid.
Who am I to judge?
Holding your "career" by the teeth.
Keeping on selling. Focusing on coming even or it's The Breakdown.
Why doesn't it sell? It's a great album!



I still don't know if I should feel disappointment
or awarding him some kind of Purple Heart
for finding some way of not losing it, someway, somehow.
I only wish Mayte had been spared in the process.

I want to believe they mourned together
until he couldn't take it no more.

And it happened way too fast
for all the close ones,
that's how he went.




Can we please leave Emancipation
out of both the Career and Disappointment drawers?




It's an album about a Birth.
On headphones?
Kicks ass.





Peace & B Wild, New Year.

[Edited 1/2/20 13:40pm]

.

Emancipation = The Phantom Menace of pop albums....

.

Bitterly disappointing, yet many fans (myself included) convinced themselves it was the album he was born to make.

.

I've been wading through its antiseptic waters over the last couple weeks, having not revisited it in-depth for a number of years.

.

It hasn't gotten better with time. I'd say for me, personally, the opposite has occured. Though at times a sense of nostalgia for the mid-'90s kicks in, fond memories of the Jam of the Year Tour and so forth. But that's about all that works for me.

.

Simply put, Emancipation has *some* decently crafted songs. Not many. But some. Even the best of the bunch are more often than not undone by stunningly unimaginative arrangements. I mean... DULL as DISHWATER. And it's not the relatively sparseness that is the issue.

.

It's that there's a distinct lack of passion. This gaseous blob of an album represents a flexing of musical muscle that stands for NOTHING except as a display of prolificness.

.

Worse, as time eventually told, Emancipation was not the harbinger of artistic freedom and unbridled creativity we were lead to believe... but rather a harbinger of a period of artistic directionlessness that would last the remainder of his life. From here on out, almost all his albums *sounded* like Emancipation (exceptions exist: The Truth, One Nite Alone, Rainbow Children, parts of others). Even when without the 3-hour bloat, there was a persistent dearth of inspiration.

.

He notably declared albums still "matter," but sadly beginning with Emancipation and his parting from Warner, his ability to craft a coherent album all but dissolved.

jdcxc said:

Prince had one of the most remarkable and lengthy creative runs of any Pop Star ever. But of course there were low points... *The artistic and audience failure of Under the Cherry Moon? *The financial and box office struggles of the LoveSexy tour and album? *Emancipation, following his personal family tragedy? What do you think were his personal career low points...from his perspective?

Do you want to kill this forum with one single thread!?