it f**king ruins that album, the flow of the album would be amazing without than annoying narrative which you dont really need anyway...f**king ruins a great prince album that.

It's the most distracting thing about it but I don't like the album much anyway.

I still think it's an excellent album, even with darth babbling on in the background. The voice only generally acts as a segue inbetween the songs anyway, the same way the operator does on TGE...and not too many people have a problem with that.

To be honest, it has never really bothered me that much.

I was annoyed at first. So much so i didn't listen to it properly for a long time. The music and in particular the guitars are awesome. All this with almost entirely REAL music [drums and bass] and REAL musicians, unlike Musicology which is a slight step back.

As with other annoying Prince decisions on other records, I've come to tolerate it though. Perhaps I've mellowed [pun].

One thing I would say is that I think it would have sounded better without a distorted voice i.e. someone else narrating other than Prince.

Agreed... The voice is a little annoying but the album is great... just would be even better without the banter!

I have to disagree with everyone, I think the deep voice makes TRC what it is, a fantastic masterpiece.

I have thought about why Prince chose to narrate the CD with that vocal effect. The only thing I could think of is the narration is of JW ideals and teachings. I think Prince sat down and maybe even contiplated wheather if this would be his chosen religion for life (and thought about if it did change sometime down the track, how would he look back on his work on TRC). So, I think, for Prince not to use his true voice, detaches himself in some ways between himself as Prince, so the listener gets the idea that it is a narrated story, and not ramblings inbetween tracks by Prince.

I think if Prince used his voice, it would come off bad by fans, fams and critics even worse (because people were already giving him flack for being a JW).

My 2 cents

I believe it was the BBC Radio feature that actually removed the distortion of the voice for the TRC segues and it was Prince just talking. It took me a few seconds to place the words with the album but he sounds really relaxed, I guess they run it through some kinda processor.

As i say i've come to alomost like i guess.

I take your point but my suggestion of a third party narrator would also insure against a change of heart re JW.

KAB said:

Yes, that was the point I was trying to make, thankyou.

I don't know much about the JW religion, and the story to me on TRC is a fuzzy at times also, but I see the album as a mix of Prince's reglious beliefs and other stuff. I think at the time of recording it he was obsessed with 'The Matrix', trying to find out what happens in Part 2 etc, and with songs like 'Digital Garden' I think there is more influences on there then just the JW religion.

blackboab said:

I like the voice. I feel that it adds a new dimension to the story telling.

g3ajg said:

It may have various influences, i don't know, and thats fine.

And I like the story, i think it adds to the album's character. It's certainly one of my favourites, if not the favourite simply because of the REAL music.

Remember the "Beatles - Let it Be (Naked)". This is the Let it Be album without the orchestra overdubs. I can imagine releases like "Rainbow Children - Stripped" that have no vocals at all 20 years from now. Who knows what the future could bring?

Any decent sound mixer could remove the Darth Vader, but no one's done it - I'd be willing to pay good money for a copy of one without it, except there's one track it should be left on, 1+1+1=3, cause without that it would just be an instrumental for a minute and not have the same buildup effect...

Darth Vader? I always thought it was Fat Albert.

dnaplaya said:

I totally agree, i think is album is fonky, a great album, the only thing tht ruins it is wedding feast ,anit that a bitch!

I hated Wedding feast at first, but accept it as a typcial Prince toungue in cheek thing (you can hear him laugh at the end)

It's one of those albums that I can enjoy all the way through (kinda like a Pink Floyd one) and it flows so well.

The only thing I find annoying about the album is the quality of the recording. For some reason on my hi-fi songs sound rather 'compressed' a bit MP3 like, thid is most apparant on the Last December and when the tracks get rather busy with instruments.

I have not heard my vinyl copy so I can't compare.
[This message was edited Thu Apr 22 8:41:45 2004 by g3ajg]

andykeen said:

I agree totally - as always, he has 2 do a little TOO much, be a little TOO clever, and it either goes over some peoples heads, it ruins the flow of something etc etc...

I ADORE TRC - I didnt 'get it' at 1st, but that's cool, Ive been with the man since 83, so know how 2 play the game. After working with it a little while, It just all clicked, but Wedding Feast?

Nope. I can even dig the processed voice, but without that track it would have been just the best thing ever, ever, EVER.

Ok, Im exageratting - but u get my point.

the use of the voice made a hell of a lot of sense to me...

it felt to me like it was Prince re-using the voice from the opening of 1999
and repurposing it for his "higher" aim on this album....

he also repeated some verbage from Sexuality on the opening track
which i felt was brilliant.

i feel TRC was the culmination of where he was heading with LoveSexy
but could not do with the pressures of a major label release.

because of this, i feel this is indeed a masterwork by him and one of his
most realised albums....

take out Mellow and She Loves Me For Me and you do, indeed, get a true concept album..

And i have no problem with Prince speaking gobbly-gook as long as he speaks from the heart.

i never read people being negative about his Purple Rain mystique, did anyone really know what Purple Rain was? or do they now? or slipping on the Purple banana?

let's face it---Prince is at his best when there is an air of mystery to his material and lyrics and the stuff is open to interpretation!!!

I sorta agree about the Darth Vader voice . . .

I don't mind it when I'm listening to it by myself, but I'd like to play it for others too . . . it's THEN when I'm embarrassed about the voice.

I think the album would be good without the Darth Vader and the songs.

EvilWhiteMale said:

this is the only album of prince's i don't like, due to the lyrical content. he sounds preachy, racist and just plain nuts in places and i always thought he could have edited the content a bit more.

but, the music rox

good thing the
[This message was edited Thu Apr 22 10:36:45 2004 by XxAxX]

server froze edit
[This message was edited Thu Apr 22 10:36:35 2004 by XxAxX]

whatsurname said:

Those songs are essential to the concept.



The narration voice never bothered me...I guess because I was so astounded that after YEARS of mailing it in Prince finally displayed some passion and conviction and laid it all out there, he didn't give a fuck what anybody thought. Lyrical misinterpretations be damned. Without that type of narration the whole thing would be less idiosyncratic. What would a Prince album be without his individual quirks? (I ask rhetorically.) But at the same time I can understand how it would annoy some people. The only part where I think it's a bit overdone is toward the end of "Digital Garden" (a song that could go on longer and I wouldn't mind at all).

TRC isn't the only album that ever utilized this type of distorted narration. Funkadelic and Jimi Hendrix used this effect, although not through entire albums.

Like it or not, the risk that TRC was and is is what Prince is all about: doing whatever the hell he wants, provoking listeners (pro and con) in the process, and not giving a damn about what uptight folks think about it.

Anxiety said:

It's more like Darth Vader after a few joints. Wayyyyy too mellow for the evil man-in-black.

Supernova said:

well, i guess the argument could be made that the lyrics were so vague that the interpretation was 'open'

but, i know some jewish people who were hurt by those references to entirely jewish names in the song, feminists who were enraged the 'theocratic' order subjecting them to men, and buddhists who felt a bit. .. left outby the whole thing. yes, i do realize he was making an album to please himself and he has that right. . . i've often wondered if anyone close to him ever mentioned any of this to him at the time? just in passing like 'hey man, that might hurt some of your fans' or something

but, whatever. do you think the lyrics to TRC would work for columbia/sony at this point in time? would they approve the words the way they are or ask for a rework? just curious.

r1ghteousone said:

same here..it tells the story..i imagine that swallowed face drawing of Prince talking on those parts..