I noticed that there are widely divergent views on Emancipation and I would like to ask two questions:

1) to those of you that like it what do you like about it?

2) to those of you that hate it what do you hate about it?

Personally I love Emancipation. I think it is Prince's last really great album. Just a little beneath 1999, Purple Rain and Sign O The Times. Sure it's a lot to take in at once but that's one of the things I love about it. And yes, some songs could have been left off and better ones included but isn't that the case with almost all of Prince's albums?

hated it!!!!!

it's just over-produced, overtly self-indulgent material to me. that, and he totally messed up two perfectly good songs by coverin 'em ("betcha by golly wow" and "la-la means i love you")...i still think the stylistics and the chi-lites should beat 'im down for that.

i love it, somehow.
these kind of overpoduced over ambitious, poppy albums i hate but i really like emancipation

i like the fact that there is so much music. it makes me feel privelleged

there are some really great single songs. like joint to joint which is prince's best example of 90's funk.

maybe it's because it was my second prince album i ever listened to but i nearly like it all. except for sleep around, i can't make you love me, one of us

disc two is prince's best ballad r&b cd ever

there is no other album with this much music. which is a feat in itself. it's great. well done to him. it's pretty wierd he decided to make a 3 hr album a commercial album. i would really love to hear a 3 hr experimental album. that's the kind of task i want him to set now

Emancipation gives me a sore index finger from having to constantly press the skip track button.

There are some good moments on the CD though.

Joint To Jont
Friendloversistermotherwife
One Kiss at a Time
The Love we Make
In This Bed I Scream
Face Down


Overall I felt like Prince was trying too hard to fit in and give the public music that he hought they wanted to hear. A failed album in my opinion, not one of his best.

I neither love nor hate it.

There are tracks I really love. Those are:

Somebody's Somebody, I Can't Make You Love Me, One Kiss at a Time, Soul Sanctuary, Curious Child, Dreamin' About U, Style, The Love We Make, Sleep Around

Then there are tracks that are good. Those are:

Jam of the Year, Get Yo Groove On, Courtin' Time, White Mansion, In This Bed I Scream, Sex in the Summer, Joint 2 Joint, The Holy River, Let's Have a Baby, Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife

Then there are songs that are average. Those are:

Right Back Here in My Arms, Damned If I Do, Saviour, Slave, New World, Human Body, Face Down, My Computer, Emanicipation, Emale

And then there are songs he should have scapped. Those are: Betcha by Golly Wow, We Gets Up, Mr. Happy, La-La (Means I Love You), One of Us, Da Da Da

I enjoy a lot of it. I definitely appreciate that he did it. I understand when critics say that it's too polished or overproduced, but I think it's just a different sound. That's what he was into at the time. Some people really dig a clean, polished sound. One thing that can't be denied about Emancipation is that Prince delivered a sea of awesome lyrics. Even on some of the songs I may not care for, I'm still able to acknowledge the deep but lovely metaphors, wonderful imagery and thought provoking social commentary he uses. I agree that Disc 2 is a great R&B set. Disc 3 seems uneven to me, but I've probably listened to "The Love We Make" more than anything else on the whole album. All in all, it's a lot to take in, but I like to think of it simply as Prince feeling generous .

I thought it was pretty decent, for a 3 disk set. Yes, there are definetly a few songs it could have done without, but its still good. Unfortunatley I seem to have lost CD's 1 and 3 but from what I've heard, it sells pretty cheap now guess I have to rebuy it . Overall , I like it.

I LOVE it! I love it because it is one of his most personal albums to date and gives us a smidgen of what's behind that little heart of his

I love disc 2. I wouldn't change a thing on it. Discs 1 & 3 have their moments. Standout tracks for me are In this Bed I Scream, Soul Sanctuary, Curious Child, Dreamin' About U, Joint2Joint, Holy River, Sleep Around, One of Us, and of course The Love We Make. To a somewhat lesser extent I liked Right Back Here in My Arms, Somebody's Somebody, White Mansion, Damned If I Do, the rest of Disc 2, Human Body, New World, and My Computer. La, La, La... means I Love U, and especially Betcha By Golly Wow are travesties. He should publicly apologize to the writers of these songs and do community service or something for what he did to them.

I will admit the album's a little over-produced and "schmaltzy" as somebody put it.
[This message was edited Tue Mar 2 9:07:56 2004 by whodknee]

PsychedelicMama said:

co-sign

underneath it all, there is a disk full of amazing classic prince material
ambitious? yes
great? hell yes!

love it..... because it reminds me of a great time in my life

I liked most of disc one. disc 2 and 3 I could've done mostly without. But "Somebody's Somebody" is just so standout to me as a track! Man what a great song.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

IT WAS THE STYLISTICS AND THE DELFONICS ! but all 3 were great....

stylistics
chi-lites
delfonics

love this album.... ive said many times it shoulda been called the prince loves mayte album !

i cant believe we keep having this discussion a cd set by prince full of beautiful songs, funky songs..... superb album !!!

rialb said:

1)"Emancipation" sounds best during a long car drive. Settle into it's vibe."Emancipation" lives in it's own world.Over a 3 hour span, you can understand it's vibe.

Sometimes the elementary drum beats and keyboards get tiresome,though. You are dying to hear a guitar blast of horn blast. And don't look at the packaging-those images psychologically bring down the music. "Emancipation"
wa suppose to be one big valentine to Mayte- I hope to never see a Hallmark Card designed like that packaging.

danielboon said:

whatevs. both covers still rotted.

I don't hate it... but I certainly don't think it was the highpoint of his recording career.
For me, Emancipation just seemed like a missed opportunity. A triple album should have been
the perfect opportunity to showcase the full diversity of Prince's musical talent. Instead it was
a sprawling collection of largely 'samey' songs with fairly pedestrian production.

Like it.

I think disc 1 are songs as sung by P the musician, disc 2 are songs as sung by P the husband/lover, and disc 3 are songs as sung by P the human being. I like disc 3 best (although, it's really telling and disturbing that he has songs titled Slave and Emancipation which refer not to being chained, whipped, beat, or actually being owned/set free by another human, but rather, a record label dispute. Kind of sad). If I put in a P album and at least two tracks really, really grab me, I find it worth it, because, to me, his good stuff is better than anyone else's. My favorite tunes from Emanicpation could fill one disc as opposed to three, but nonetheless, I think it was an ambitious, creative project.

jillybean said:

hail hail

I LOVE Emancipation!

Dansa, I wholeheartedly disagree with your opinions of the covers...this is
some of Prince's best SINGING display EVER.

I love all of disc 1, every single song is standout in my opinion. Most of
disc's 2 and 3 are also very good, with Joint2Joint, The Holy River, One of Us,
Face Down, and The Human Body being my favorites.

Yep, Emancipation is CLEARLY in my top 5 of his CD's.