I recently got the High album and have been listening to it for a couple of days now and I quite like it - kinda like on a par with the equally unreleased '95 Emancipation album.
In fact, I like High better than The Rainbow Children. I think Vavoom is quite catchy, U Make My Sun Shine is quite loverly, and The Daisy Chain is quite funky.
Tracks like My Medallion, Supercute, Gamillah and When Eye Lay My Hands On U are also okay.
So all in all I found it a positive surprise. Sure, there are some hints to his Jehova faith in the lyrics, but they are far from as obvious as on TRC and the songwriting on this album is much better too, I think.
It is my impression that had this seen release it would have fared much better with critics and mainstream audiences than TRC. Certainly Vavoom sounds like it might have been a minor hit had it been the first single release.

Anyways, the album is probably old news to most of you, I just felt like sharing my positive reaction to this unreleased gem, is all.

What is the song list?

first of all, what is the sequence of the tracks on your album? or did you put it together yourself?

secondly, there is no way it's better than TRC. no way. it's not even better than Rave, IMO. Better than NPS maybe, but TRC is an amazing album of great depth, imagination and musicianship.

thirdly...WHAT unreleased emancipation album are you talking about?

finally, do you smoke crack?

Myself, and virtually everyone I knows agrees, Vavoom is one of the catchiest damn songs I've ever heard. For the most part these people don't even know who's singing.

I love that song, it is just so damn catchy.

scififilmnerd said:

TRC faired quite well with critics. And nothing does that well with consumers unless it is spoon fed to them through the corporate machine - we all know that. TRC would have hit if it got on the radio or TV.

All those cuts on High are NPGMC cuts or from the Hit n Run tour singles so they have been out for a while
[This message was edited Wed Oct 22 20:41:24 PDT 2003 by undulatingacrobat]

mrdespues said:

Good question - something is being smoked

Despite the protestations of absolutely EVERYone, the moderators at NPGMC have claimed that there's no such thing as a proper "High" album...that it's just a fabrication of the fans.

I think they're full of the stinky stuff myself, but whatchallthink?

nikkhendrix said:

01. Vavoom
02. U make my sun shine
03. My Medallion
04. When will we b paid
05. Supercute
06. Underneath the cream
07. Golden Parachute
08. The Daisy chain
09. Gamillah
10. High
11. When I lay my hands on u

(Acording to fans, this album track list was a promo CD, I think it was sent to Tony Fly)

Prince has made a good choice by releasing TRC iso "High" (let's assume it exists).

If he had the choice between Rave or High, I would have chosen High, but that's another question.

The thing is, like others have said on this thread, that High COULD have done well in the commercial circuit, BUT, it would be JUST ANOTHER commercial P album. If he had released it after Rave, I think fans in particular would have been disappointed.

But instead Prince chose to really challenge himself again by instead creating a NEW CONCEPT (like he did almost every year back in the day...) and a concept album.

Though, given the proper promotion, it may have charted (i.e. singles like Everlasting Now, Family Name perhaps?...), he chose not to. I for one am glad TRC was released. It gave me the feeling that Prince after all hadn't "lost" it and that he wanted to create MUSIC again, iso hits.

This new Prince era, starting from TRC, is shaping up to become one of my favorite (although I will always like the Gold era and everything pre-Batman very much).

I hope the next album will be in the same vein as TRC and ONA...Live!, though I do think that it will be less "relgious". (He has gotten that out of his system I hope.) There is no preaching in the new tour, and the new songs sound like fun so far:

Musicology
Reflection
U Want me
Life O' the Party (?)
...

Peace y'all!

scififilmnerd said:

Somebody help me out here, but I've never heard of a '95 version of Emancipation. Details please? A tracklist?

Is it just me or doesn't Emancipation exist? I mean I do have two copies of the three cd album. By the way, wasn't Slaughterhouse, Jukebox wit a Heartbeat, Judas Kiss (?) part of the High cd? By the Vavoom is groove but Supercute makes you want to dance!

As a 'commercial' album, I actually thought High (i.e. the track listing above) was head-and-shoulders above Rave.

- Great 'catchy' song = VaVoom.
- Great 'slow' song = u make my sunshine
- And (for me at least) the most obvious stand out Prince single in a long time - when I lay my hands on you (blew my mind when I first heard it - first Prince song in a long time to do that).

When put together with some other good tunes like the funky daisy chain, supercute, underneath the cream and the damn cool My Medallion, I thought this could have been a solid commercial album.

BUT... it would have needed radio play, slick videos, and general promotional support (i.e. the backing of a big label) to have made it a success. And my impression is that Prince simply wasn't ready for this at the time...

Personally - I'm glad he went the less commercial route of putting out TRC, ONA, Xpectation and NEWS. I think they've all been hugely entertaining + very interesting. Respect to the main man.

papabeat said:

I don't have it handy, but it included Goodbye (from CB), Eye Am the DJ, Slave 2 the System, Slave (diff. version), Emancipation (diff. version), Journey 2 the Center of Your Heart (same as Chaka's, but Prince vocals), 2020, Feel Good, New World and maybe one or two others.

Overall, it would have been a nice album... sort of a techno vibe but funky.

I must admit and be true to yourselves, High is a better album than TRC and equally, if not better than Rave, period.

NO

TRC is lightyears ahead of "High". TRC's lyrical content
might be a bitt daft in places, but the album is stellar
compared to what's displayed on "High"

mrdespues said:

The one he made in early '95, of course.

savoirfaire said:

YES, IT IS !

undulatingacrobat said:

Dream on. There are no proper songs on TRC, certainly nothing catchy.

antoon said:

I disagree.

JamesS said:

I agree, except that it is my impression that Prince wanted High released, only no record companies was interested. And why would they be? He had burned the record companies that had taken a chance on him prior to that.

I think the only reason TRC got released instead of High is that Prince found financial backers (in Jehova circles) willing to support the release of a JW album.

Just like Prince saw Batman as an opportunity to get something released at a time where Warners had nixed Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic (because they felt it was too soon following Lovesy), Prince saw TRC as an opportunity to get something released at a time when no record companies wanted to deal with him.

No more, no less.

IstenSzek said:

Not if we talk proper songwriting, it ain't

By the way, nice to see you IstenSzek.
It's been awhile. Where have you been?
[This message was edited Thu Oct 23 17:00:59 PDT 2003 by scififilmnerd]

joyinrepetition said:

YAY! Finally someone sensible!

BanishedBrian said:

Emancipation
Right Back Here In My Arms
Slave 2 The System
Slave
2020
New World
Feel Good
Journey 2 The Center Of Your Heart
Eye Am The DJ
(Excuse Me Is This) Goodbye

scififilmnerd said:

what about "She Loves Me For Me"?

"Everlasting Now"?

"Mellow"?

get off the crack, man!

From a musical standpoint, do you realise how much skill has gone into making TRC?

A hell of a lot more than the plastic shit on High!

mrdespues said:

But there is no good, catchy songs on it. The closest would be 1+1+1 Is Three, but after just one verse and a chorus it wanders off into aimless jamming like on many of the the other tracks. And TRC explores no new musical territory for Prince at all. The title track sounds like an after show jam with the Lovesexy band, Mellow, She Loves Me For Me, The Work and The Last December would have fit smoothly on Emancipation ('96), 1+1+1 Is Three sounds like Erotic City, Family Name sounds like a Newpower Soul leftover and Wedding Feast is as silly as Graffiti Bridge (the track, not the album).

mrdespues said:

I don't think those would have caught on to the mainstream music buyer, no. Betcha By Golly Wow! and The Greatest Romance Ever Sold didn't, so why would they?

Vavoom might have. It is a very catchy song.

P.S. I think When Eye Lay My Hands On You explores more new musical territory for Prince than anything on TRC.

shhh... there is no High album

wish4 said:

Not with Shhh on it, no.