Wow...there are some real similarities here in the instrumentation. In particular, I find that I seriously like Blackwell's drumming, and while I'm not music expert, I find myself fascinated by how different it is from Michael Bland. Bland never really "did it" for me. Blackwell has a freshness to him.

I always liked TRC. Really heavily produced, Prince-style, but with a kind of free-flowing instrumentation that likes to wander around. The narrator...well, this album is SUPPOSED to be a kind of story. I don't really understand the story, but I take it as a kind of artful mythology put to music (as opposed to music that was "ruined" by a voice-over).

A friend asked me to listen to Last December recently, which is why I've been spinning TRC. What stands out most is how similar it is to N.E.W.S. minus the voices. You know, sometimes you can compare two Prince albums from a certain period and find the similarities...that's always fun. Music has so many possibilities...it is as much fun to discover the genus as it is to discover the differentia.

No coherent thoughts here. Just thoughts.

* Note: that was "genus," not genius. genus means the things in common, the umbrella.

Yes, the sound of both albums is really good.

interesting. i haven't spent too much time with NEWS yet, but this insight pushes me towards it. i'll be on the lookout for the TRC influence. thanks.

No one was more surprised than me when I walked into Virgin Records in Times Square today to find a new CD by Prince. I am about to track it for the first time right now, so I'm sure I'll be back with my review of sorts. One question though for those whom I'm sure know here: What are the titles of the 4 tracks?

PDogz said:

...are they, North, East, West, & South?

PDogz said:

ding, ding, ding! we've got a winner here!

PDogz said:

1. Never
2. Even
3. Want
4. Singing

It's kind of obvious that N.E.W.S. is more than 4 tracks...well, sort of. North seems to keep it's theme throughout, but the other tracks seem to have some very clear track changes inside, which are not marked on the packaging.

Actually, I have to wonder if N.E.W.S. is formatted the way it is, track-wise, to foil downloading somewhat. But then again, remember LoveSexy's single track?

teller said:

ahh... the Mysteries of Prince. We may never know, but we can always speculate!

cborgman said:

teller said:

oh, god that drove me crazy. i ended up paying 12 bucks to get someone to make me a tracked one, cause it drove me so crazy

Try as I might to respect Prince's wishes, I cannot stand LoveSexy's tracking. Sometimes I just want to hear a certain song, not the whole album...IS THAT OK?!

teller said:

i was afraid he was gonna do it with TRC with his pre-release statements about it needing to be heard in its entirety. i'll decide how to experience something, thank u very much!

teller said:

wanna org note me your addy? i would be happy to send you a little tracked present!

cborgman said:

What a guy.

There's nothing illegal here, folks! I've purchased LoveSexy like 5 times already--I'm allowed to exchange it in mp3 form now, thanks very much. So says Teller when he's got his philosophy of law hat on...