...so, we were playing poker the other night. Had just bought the new Prince album and heard it a few times on my system and over a single day concluded how strange it was to hear a 'normal' Prince album again (which somewhat validates how experimental Prince was during The Rainbow Children - NEWS era). Anyhow, a friend of mine also had returned my copy of the album, 1999 and whilst we were decided what music to play during our casual game, everyone asked for some Prince (me being the trigger, otherwise it would have been the Buddha Bar I'm sure, or something non-descript). I think about spinning Musicology but decide against it, I just didn't feel like being in a room full of people who knew and loved the raw appeal of albums like Purple Rain, Parade and Lovesexy, to then be confronted with an album even I wasn't sure raised any levels. So, 1999 it was. And everyone was LOVING it from start to finish, long tracks and all. The funk was definitely being felt, heads bobbin' and a feeling of nostalgia of man, this guy was freakin' cool back in the day. After International Lover closed, a friend asked whether Prince had put out a new album. I hesitated for a second, mainly because I was, and still am, warming upto the album and didn't want anyone to adversely influence my enjoyment with it with the typical 'damn, the brotha's lost it' speak. BUT riding high off the 1999 album, and also secretly thinking that Illusion might possibly break the ice if I played it loud, I presented the new album and said nothing. So, no build up, just played as it was and observed the room, almost like one of my psychology experiments LOL! Lo and behold, right off the opening beat of Musicology, I could see heads moving gently. Okay, okay, might be onto something here. By the time, Illusion came on and the 'boy, I was fine back in the day' funk hit, the table was cracking up and feeling the beat. Shit, this was an impressive response. A Million Days left the room without much direct response but someone mentioned during it that this album was wicked, and everyone seemed to agree. I was dreading Life O The Party, not so much because I didn;t like it, but rather the reception afforded here made me feel it was the make-or-break moment in the record, and usually left people feeling numb. So, given the positive reception afforded so far, I took a drastic measure, announced it was my favourite track on the record just before Candy's accent came in and BLASTED it LOUD. By the time that bass resounded throughout the room, ppl were seriously feeling the beat and even I was vibing over their enthusiam. Also, by playing it so loud, ppl just got the party vibe from the record which is what I think it's all about, no? I knew the record was going to take off from here. Call My Name and On The Couch saw the vibe melt to 'the sexiness is back', Cinammon Girl was considered a definite pop hit, everyone was jumping on the beat and melody in If I Was The Man In Your Life, and similarly, the quirkiness of What Do You Want Me To Do. And shockingly, Dear Mr. Man and Reflection all 6 of them feeling like they had just come away from 'a true Prince album', in her words. She was hot, so I forgave her LOL! Anyways, just thought you'd like to know that like NEWS, Musicology has been given a resounding seal of approval as an album people want to buy. One guy even had the nerve to say he preferred it to 1999, so I took off Illusion and hipped the crowd to D.M.S.R. They all wanted Illusion back on, I think it's the recording volumes...

Well, it is the year 2004. Thanks for the info on your "listening party." Sounds like you "triggered" and directed it well.

Hah great story man!

I really like 'life of the party', just really hate the opening - sounds like '2unlimited' or something.

Okay, this original post is badly in need of some spacing & "paragraphing". It's quite hard to read. Interesting, I'm sure, but difficult to complete.

Time for some new friends.

Like I said before Musicology is great for the non-hardcore mature set that haven't already washed their hands of Prince. There's not enough meat there to resonate like 1999, TRC, etc. did. It's a cool album though. Then again, I liked Rave too, so what do I know?