Back in the days when Prince was a household name, making hits, selling out stadiums and signed to Warner Bros he was producing jazz music but under the pseudonym MADHOUSE

I bought the first two Madhouse albums. Thought they were okay but probably did not play them more than a dozen or so times before shelving them pretty much for good. I'm sure the same will be the case for me with NEWS and was the case after downloading Xenophobia.

This is just about my personal taste as although I can appreciate the superb musicianship in these releases I simply prefer my rock, funk and soul.

The exciting thing about Prince has always been his ability to easily slip between these diverse musical styles and fuse them together into a unique style of his own.

I wonder if people would be less down on Prince if both Xenophobia and NEWS had been released by Madhouse (especially if we knew he was working on his next "Prince" album)
[This message was edited Thu Aug 21 4:54:18 PDT 2003 by jaypotton]

I kinda like the fact that Prince released an album yearly, and the Madhouse stuff was a side project that was a nice bonus.

Now, NEWS seems to be the only release for the year. I think alot of fans would like a full vocal studio CD, with NEWS (or a similar release) as a side project.


I think the reason P is releasing these CD's under his name and not Madhouse is for his legacy.

Whenever he dies, people are just going to look back on his releases and go "Wow", and I think he wants to get this side of his music across so people will do that

dnaplaya said:

I agree with you there. Madhouse (and now News and Xpectation) are so worthy of Prince's name on them, and now that he's legally able to do so I think he should take advantage of it. It's good to see him put his name to it, be willing to be criticised for the music and be proud of it.

i think part of the reason why Prince has had jazz leanings the past couple of years is that he wants to produce a wide range of music that will be his legacy. he wants to be known for that. i say more power to him. i think his decisions should be respected and not poo-pooed no matter how unpopular they might be.
he is Prince. the guy that dominated the 80s. the guy that produced a million artists. the guy that plays loads of instruments really really well. the guy that commands sell-out shows no matter how big or small.
it is Prince. he ain't no damn Michael Jackson who keeps chasing those hits, he ain't no damn Pop Idol contestant that cracks under the pressure of looking at Simon Cowell.
it's Prince. the one and the only.
i know this post sounds like hero-worship and all that, but i have to admit that i was not warmed about the idea of some damn instrumentals as i have said in the past. i even posted on the club forum a few choice words for the fella (they deleted it) so i know how Prince can be a piss taker.
but i realized that he needs to do what he gotta do. he' 45 and he don't need that shit no more.

I think Xpectation would work as a Madhouse album, NEWS wouldn't.

Romance1600 said:

I think Xpectation deserves a cd release. How hard can it
be to press up some damn cd's and throw them down in the
retail section?

And while he's at it, release an EP single with all the
C-Note tracks on it. :drule:

Oh and what about the Tokyo concerts? Well, at least one
of them.

Live up to what you told Forbes in 1996 Prince

jaypotton said:

to be honest, I really like Xpectation, more than most of the Madhouse stuff.

I don't mind Prince doing instrumental Jazz albums, he's a great musician and its a wonderful change of pace. NEWS just wasnt a poigniant moment.

I love how different everyone's tastes are...I've gone back and forth on Xpectation...it's the violin that grates on me, but sometimes I get over it. The last half or so of the album really takes off with his guitar playing...I was very disappointed with the guitar solos in NEWS after Xpectation got my, uh...xpectations up. I don't remember the name of the one song in particular...Xcogitate maybe? The one with the kick-ass guitar in it.

OK, I think I might bust that disc out tonight for my bedtime music selection...I think I'll just start it at like track 4 or something. Vanessa - you Mae, but I wish you wouldn't, sweetie. Oh lawd, I'm stupid.

theblueangel said:

if it had the Madhouse tagon it everyone would praise it.



just my
[This message was edited Thu Aug 21 20:19:33 PDT 2003 by Joshy]

Joshy said:

I gotta say I agree. We all have our own personal tastes and xpectations (sic) when it comes to Prince (that's what makes us such a diverse and interesting bunch of fans when you attend a gig - and one of the reasons I love being a Prince fan). So there were bound to be people who were down on Prince for NEWS (as I said it's not really my thing even though I respect it). Had it been Madhouse more people would accept it - afterall Prince always used side projects to explore his musical tastes = The Time, The Family, Madhouse etc

Joshy said:

One of my best buddies confronted me with the idea that I give his music so much of a listen and so much attention because it's Prince. Meaning, if somebody locked me in a room and played News to me I would have a different attitude depending on whether I thought it was Prince playing or not. That comment really hurt me and made me angry, but when I thought a lot about it I realised it was probably true.