Honestly, it really is a remarkable recording.

Lovin' it!

Just to move things away from "Musicology" for a bit!

One of my favourite Prince records is 16, but 8 is cool too

I like 16 better than 8 - 16 is more danceable

I want an original CD copy of 16 so bad, Ihave 8, but not 16 - BUT WHERE CAN I GET ONE!!!!

TRY Ebay - sometimes you can find them there.

TRY

http://www.prince.org/msg/9/87718

BEAUTIFUL

Madhouse 8 is VERY good actually. The closing track is very nice. Made me wish Prince put out an album of instrumentals. Not like the NEWS cd however. More like....Alexa de Paris and Venus de Milo.

"8" to me is somewhat better than "16" as it is more mellow and jazzy. "16" is more jazz fusion-y.

I put them both on one mini disch with the b-sides, remixes and Times Squared; great listening!

I like 8 way better than 16 - but to be fair, I bought 8 when it was released, and didn't hear 16 until last year. 16 is too generic for me; 8 has Prince taking some risks. Love it.

otan said:

I heard 8 years ago and heard 16 in the last six months. I thought 8 was way better. 16 just seemed rushed as if they were obligated to put out a record, but they really didn't have the time and/or motivation to do it.

I have 8 & 16 on vinyl. TEN is my most favorite track of all.

Once on a road trip some muzac was playing and I said "WHAT THE HELL is this??" My husband said "It is your Prince tape" I felt so embarrassed to call myself a fan. Til this day I NEVER LISTEN TO 8.

The closing track and Circle of Amour are the same song

otan said:

Well said otan. I bought 8 when it was released as well and 16 i think I heard almost a year after it came out. 8 is a really good album. Folks slept on this album so much.

Drkman said:

Closing track to 8 or 16? See..now I have to go find Circle of Amour.

Chasing said:

Allrighty, i know nothing about the Madhouse collection..can someone enlighten me? When did Prince do these??? What do they sound like? Y are there no song titles??

Madhouse is a jazz fusion project that Prince helped perform and record, but he didn't appear in the two videos that I saw from the band (BET played 'em). He probably wrote/oversee'd most of the songs. All of the songs are instrumental and the song names are just the order of the songs (1-8 are on the 8 album and 9-16 are on the 16 album). 8 is well worth the $$$, but I am not so sure about 16.

[Edit]

I just listened to some of the tracks from 16. It isn't as bad as I remembered if you can dig that. Both albums are worth checking out.
[This message was edited Thu Apr 8 12:18:49 2004 by phlix]

i would have 2 say that u've obviously been asleep 4 2 decades if u are just now getting 2 here MADHOUSE 8 or 16.

Madhouse 8 (the song) is very similar to Circle Of Amour . . .

VERY similar. Possibly the same . . hmmm . . .

SteamForest said:

Have you heard Xpectation? Very Madhouse-sounding . . .

Se7en said:

Se7en, what albums are Circle of Amour on and Xpectation? Hell...I may have it at home and didn't know it.

Chasing said:

I lucked up and got a copy of "Madhouse 8" on vinyl and in perfect condition for ONE DOLLAR!!! My lover and I were at a recent record show here in Texas and the seller had no idea what or who it was. I will never, ever play this record!

SteamForest said:

Circle Of Amour is on "The Truth". The Truth was released as Disc 04 of Crystal Ball. Some copies of Crystal Ball had a Disc 05, which was Kamasutra (a semi-classical ballet CD).

Circle Of Amour is a great song, along the lines of "I Miss You" or "Reflection". Very melodic, with a nice story of 4 female schoolgirls who are best friends . . .

Xpectation is a download album - 9 songs, all instrumental - sorta jazzy but in the Madhouse-vibe. The songs all begin with the letter "X"

Xhalation
Xcogitate
Xemplify
Xpectation
Xotica
Xogenous
Xpand
Xosphere
Xpedition

I think these were a take on the Xenophobia name, but Xenophobia is not here . . .

The songs are VERY tight - almost scary how good they are. I must've played this CD about a hundred times all the way through.

Some folks don't like it, but IMO it's better than NEWS. I love it . . .

starrbooty said:

Color me green i.e. JEALOUS!

Se7en said:

Thanks for the info. I do have Circle of Amour. Forgot all about that....tells ya how much I listen to that cd. Mad about the download thing since I"m not a member of the NPG club.

SteamForest said:

You don't have to be a member to downoad music! You can access the Musicology room from the start page - only difference is that you're paying 99 cents per song, or $9.99 per album (members get them for 77 cents or $7.77). So go and download!

otan said:

Forgive me if this has been discussed already (I didn't have time to read through ALL the posts), but why are some people talking about Madhouse like it was Prince? I can hear the Prince 'influence' on 8 (more than on 16), but from listening to the players, I can tell the group basically consisted of the guys listed on the 16 album...namely Eric Leeds, Levi Seacer, Jr. and Matt Fink.

I know Prince tended to hog the production of his protégés' albums--especially debut albums, like The Time's first album--but I don't hear it on Madhouse 8. Are we talking about Prince "taking risks" by releasing Madhouse on the Paisley Park label?

As for my favorite of the two albums, I think I like 16 better, if for no reason other than the "GODFATHER" QUOTES!! 16 was definitely more 'contemporary', but 8 was a great "straight-ahead" album...so perhaps I like them equally for different reasons.

Zoot
"And a man in my position cannot afford to be made to look RIDICULOUS!!"

I can hear Prince ALL over Madhouse 8 - the piano, the drums, the bass . . . he might not be playing everything, but it's still his arrangements . . .

Prince played the drums, piano, guitar and bass on 8. It was solely him and Eric Leeds making that record.

unremarkable said:

I'm sorry: no disrespect, but I refuse to believe that. Can you show me some documentation? When the album was originally released, I heard it was only Prince and Eric, and believed that. But since then I've become familiar enough with Levi Seacer's playing to know his style and technique...and that's what I hear on 8.

As for the arrangements, I'm willing to believe they're all Prince's, but I can't be completely sure. You hear similar arrangements on Eric's solo material as well, most of which I've thought were by Eric, and only some of which are credited to Prince. It could be that Eric only did the horn arrangements on his solo albums, for all we know. His horn arrangements were DEFINITELY a part of his signature.

There's a chance the overall arrangements would sound the same no matter who did them, and that it's all blurred into what can be known as the "Minneapolis Jazz Sound," to go alongside the "Mpls. Rock Sound," the "Mpls. New Wave Sound," the "Mpls. Funk Sound," and the "Mpls. Ballad Sound."

Out...

Zoot
"And then...they tried to take advantage of her."