You've seen how some see Musicology as being like Sign O' The Times...WTF?? I compare it more to NewPowerSoul-- the title track alone for both albums are similar-- but I feel NewPowerSoul is a tighter album than Musicology and more fun to listen!! The first 4 tracks alone of NewPowerSoul are comparable to the first 4 tracks of Musicology...but NewPowerSoul even gets better later on with tracks Come On and The One, while in Musicology I only love the first two tracks and it was downhill from there...Just my humble opinion, of course...

But which album do you prefer?? I admit I didn't like NewPowerSoul much the first few times I heard it and grew a lot on me and I like playing it straight-through now...hopefully, Musicology will be the same thing for me...as it stands, I cringe in some songs of Musicology (production-wise and lyrically) and just don't find much going for it...NewPowerSoul is a gem compared to Musicology!!

I'm definitely tracking you on this one. Before I really got into Prince I was deep in 70’s funk. Popping the tape on JB, Sly, and Curtis. And while I’m still feeling the funk, I’m now more of an old school soul man. I traded laded Curtis for the Impressions. Anyway, on both fronts, funk and soul, Musicology is leaps and bounds beyond NPS. NPS is blunted by overproduction and, as sometimes happens to P, a kind of impenetrable density resulting from an overflow and over-tinkering with the vocals and instrumentation. Musicology is sparser, lighter, and at once more accessible and funkier.

Honestly I think NPS is probably the worst P ever recorded (although there is strong competition for this one). If I put on “The Big Payback” or “There’s a Riot Going On” or “Superfly” and then put on NPS? From that one comparison I would not only not be a Prince fan but I would think that Prince was a poser, reaching for the funk without being funky. But damn we all know that’s far from the truth.

rainbowchild said:

That's the only way to listen to Newpower Soul. Some of the tracks sound weak on their own but work well when the full album is played.

I'm holding out until the release date for Musicology.

Please, please, PLEASE don't tell me it's anything like NPS.

OMG does musicology the album SUCK!!!

I feel like I went back to Emancipation or the Gold Experience

WTF its not better than either of thos albums


man I was waiting for some real tripped out stuff, guess I'll be putting that thought on the back burner for awhile

Cloudbuster said:

I'm waiting too...reviews seem pretty positive so far though, so I shouldn't have too much to worry about.

r1ghteousone said:

I think I shall remain in this position for the next two weeks.

BinaryJustin said:

Indeed...it's a great CD to let your hair down to..."Push it up...push it up...this is the jam of the year.." "U gotta get down...freaks on this side..."
[This message was edited Sun Apr 4 10:35:42 2004 by rainbowchild]

Cloudbuster said:

No, it's even BETTER! You won't believe it. If u like NPS u will LOVE it Cloudbuster truly!

I think it's hard to choose between these two albums, much like it's hard to choose between 2 of Marvin Gaye or maybe Chris Rea's best.

Personally I think Musicology is better but I'm biased because I think it's better so I would say that.

Hope u like the new album Cloudbuster.

Cloudbuster said:

No, it's not. It is more like SOTT in a way, but way more stripped down. It's kinda in between SOTT and The Truth.

New Power Soul is an NPG album, right? Yep, just checked my cd and it says New Power Generation. What's that say? It's supposed to be a FUN album. Yeah, some of the tracks are way cheesy, but he wanted to put them out for whatever reason. Think about Apollonia's or Vanity's album. Its giveaway music with some stand out tracks. It's like he does stuff like this and winks at us, saying "It's our little secret." Good grooves and goofy lyrics with a few good tracks to make it worth while. Thats what New Power Soul is to me. I like Push It Up.

Anywho. When I first listened to Musicology I was dissapointed, it was a let down as I was driving home from the simulcast. The next day I listened and it started to grow on me more. Does it hang together? Not in my humble opinion. Maybe once the other songs grow on me it will. My friend got her copy at the simulcast as well and she digs it, but she's not as into Prince as I am. She likes how it's all over the place, she said it was good to work out to. So there you go.

VinaBlue said:

nps does suck....

fauxnewbie said:

VinaBlue said:

My two favourite Prince albums!! I could seriously love Musicology, then. Cheers, V.

SillyCon said:

I wanted something more tripped out as well, which is why I was disapointed at first. Then I listened a little more and the lyrics would pop in my head at work. When I first heard Illusion I went "yuck", and after a few more times I'm at work going "Who's pimpin who?"

So maybe next time he'll get really weird for us. I say he's just trying to cash in on the Purple Rain Aniversary and I don't blame him. I would do the same. The success of Purple Rain enabled him to build Paisley Park and enjoy creative freedom for the years to come, even during the "Slave" era. He wouldn't be able to call the shots now if it wasn't for that time, even though the record deal was screwed, he STILL gets those royalty checks...

So my feeling is he's gonna try to do stuff to put him back in the spotlight and make money, get noticed and then get weird again for those of us who like this crazy creativity, including himself. Rainbow Children was pretty weird, yet its hard to listen to for me with all the religious talk. I like ONA live. Think of all the amazing music P has put out in the past 5 years. So many styles, the man is brilliant.

Cloudbuster said:

Glad I could get you off your knees for the next two weeks.

Cloudbuster said:

I think it's like the cool production of Emancipation with the funky music of New Power Soil plus with the fun of Lovesexy and the BIG sound of the Gold Experiment.

U will like it for sure it u think like me. Happy listening!

VinaBlue said:

yeah I was wantin somethin like Data Bank, Wonderful Azz, or Crystal Ball track something with that flava

but it may grow on me a little but I think it will be something I will listen to once in a while like NPS, maybe when I can get these othere downloads, Slaughter House and Chocolate invasion, maybe I'll find something in there that will trip my trigger

AAAAGH! I can't do it anymore.

Ok. Musicology is far better than NPS, but not great.

It has some very nice songs, and ones I'm very glad I have the album for, but also some very mediocre ones.

To be honest, I just have 3 words to describe it:

I'm a little tired of it already.

Wait, that's 7?

SillyCon said:

Indeed, those albums are the total opposite of Musicology.

Eh, Musicology has nothing to do with stuff like NPS. It's on a completely different level. Completely.

Well if I had to choose between the two I'd go w/ Musicology - @ least I can listen to more than 2 songs on it. The only ones I listen to on NPS are The One & Come On which are great but the album on the whole is another story...

i'm liking musicology much better than NPS. i've only listened to musicology twice, so i don't have more to say about it other than i like it.

Both are classic... CLASSIC! I say...

17ways69days said:

Prince probably recorded NPS that way on purpose 2 make the sound different. Listen 2 the Black Album that was supposed 2 be exclusively played at Sheila E's B-day party and ended up a release. So who knows when prince decided hey let me just put this out just the way it is, bcuz we all know that he can do funk in his sleep! So when it comes 2 tick,tick bang or a song like freaks on this side i just take it as that was the way the song flowed thru him at the time sound wise and especially the cartoonish vibe of the songs as illustrated by the artwork in the same vien as the Exodus album was.

Novabreaker said:

Wake up and smell the coffee...

Clean your ears and check the difference in the whole production. If you can't at the very least tell the difference between the instrumentation used on the two different albums don't start a new thread. "I only like the first two songs"... blah blah.

Hope I don't offend you, though.

Cloudbuster said:

It's nothing like NPS. Nothing at all.

Be strong in your patience.

Novabreaker said:

They're both among Prince's weaker efforts, I tell you that...

New Power Soul had some good songs on it. Mad Sex, Until U're In My Arms Again, Come On, The One, Wasted Kisses are all good-great, but as an album it sucks. I think that all the "party jams" on there sound contrived and to my ears are just plain boring.

Musicology on the other hand doesn't really have a bad track on it. There are no classics, and nothing much better than Come On (perhaps Cinnamon Girl), but as an album it works very well. I think it has the advantage also because there is more variation on there. NPS gets repetative pretty quickly whereas Musicology flows very well.

I dont know where people are getting these comparisons with SOTT. OK its an album of funk & rock, and the lyrics are socially conscious and personal, but SOTT is full of classic pop songs, Musicology is not. Musicology doesnt make it near my top 10 prince albums, and NPS certainly doesnt.