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Emancipation is just NOT that good... Listened to it for the first time in a long time today, and was really expecting to rediscover it, as with much of his work that I shelve for periods of time.
What I redicovered were bland arrangements, poor songwriting, plastic production, and shameless pandering to the R & B market. There is so much junk on this CD... To me it sounds like a Prince imposter. I kept pressing skip, waiting for something to make me stop and say, "Now that's a great song.", and it hardly happened. For me, Musicology has so much more of the spirit and excitement of a classic "Prince" record. It has an organic feel and life that Emmancipation just doesn't, and it has true variety and texture. Emancipation has numerous "genre" tracks, that seem designed to show versatility, but fed through the same computer and cheesy keyboard, they all sound fake. The canned percussion is so lifeless and disturbing throughout, (worse than the NPS stuff, 'cause at least that had a particular style to it, not just poorly mimicking live drums), and there's hardly any real guitar on it, other than the smooth jazz, QVC commercial-sounding stuff. Sure it has a HANDFUL of great tracks (that's being generous!) Holy River, Face Down, Sex In The Summer, The Love We Make being my standouts...but given it's scope, Musicology is much more consistent and strong, in my opinion. I guess I was surprised at how little it moved me, but that's what art is all about. Musicology sounds like "freedom" to me! | |
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jpav said: plastic production,
Imagine different production values with a lot of th e tunes. I think there was some great songwriting on there. Oh my, oh my. | |
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SENSHY said: jpav said: plastic production,
Imagine different production values with a lot of th e tunes. I think there was some great songwriting on there. I guess the production probably does mask some of the merits of the songs. I just wish he had met Blackwell instead of Kirky in those days!  | |
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What it was for its time was incredible... sorry i disagree.
Somebody's somebody...nuff said Music is the power.
Love is the message. Truth is the answer. | |
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I Loved Emancipation . | |
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MamaLisa said: What it was for its time was incredible... sorry i disagree.
Somebody's somebody...nuff said Holy River...Saviour, Friend Lover... Oh my, oh my. | |
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I think there's a heck of a lot that's good about Emancipation. The problem is that it's just so vast and the few stinkers here and there sort of weight it down. Cutting out about 12 tracks would make it a fabulous 2 disc set. |
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jpav said: Listened to it for the first time in a long time today, and was really expecting to rediscover it, as with much of his work that I shelve for periods of time.
What I redicovered were bland arrangements, poor songwriting, plastic production, and shameless pandering to the R & B market. There is so much junk on this CD... To me it sounds like a Prince imposter. I kept pressing skip, waiting for something to make me stop and say, "Now that's a great song.", and it hardly happened. For me, Musicology has so much more of the spirit and excitement of a classic "Prince" record. It has an organic feel and life that Emmancipation just doesn't, and it has true variety and texture. Emancipation has numerous "genre" tracks, that seem designed to show versatility, but fed through the same computer and cheesy keyboard, they all sound fake. The canned percussion is so lifeless and disturbing throughout, (worse than the NPS stuff, 'cause at least that had a particular style to it, not just poorly mimicking live drums), and there's hardly any real guitar on it, other than the smooth jazz, QVC commercial-sounding stuff. Sorry, I respect your opinion, but you are so wrong, Emancipation is a great album, his best in the 90's. Sure it has a HANDFUL of great tracks (that's being generous!) Holy River, Face Down, Sex In The Summer, The Love We Make being my standouts...but given it's scope, Musicology is much more consistent and strong, in my opinion. I guess I was surprised at how little it moved me, but that's what art is all about. Musicology sounds like "freedom" to me! | |
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jtfolden said: I think there's a heck of a lot that's good about Emancipation. The problem is that it's just so vast and the few stinkers here and there sort of weight it down. Cutting out about 12 tracks would make it a fabulous 2 disc set.
which songs though? whats your choices? Oh my, oh my. | |
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daydreamer said: jpav said: Listened to it for the first time in a long time today, and was really expecting to rediscover it, as with much of his work that I shelve for periods of time.
What I redicovered were bland arrangements, poor songwriting, plastic production, and shameless pandering to the R & B market. There is so much junk on this CD... To me it sounds like a Prince imposter. I kept pressing skip, waiting for something to make me stop and say, "Now that's a great song.", and it hardly happened. For me, Musicology has so much more of the spirit and excitement of a classic "Prince" record. It has an organic feel and life that Emmancipation just doesn't, and it has true variety and texture. Emancipation has numerous "genre" tracks, that seem designed to show versatility, but fed through the same computer and cheesy keyboard, they all sound fake. The canned percussion is so lifeless and disturbing throughout, (worse than the NPS stuff, 'cause at least that had a particular style to it, not just poorly mimicking live drums), and there's hardly any real guitar on it, other than the smooth jazz, QVC commercial-sounding stuff. Sure it has a HANDFUL of great tracks (that's being generous!) Holy River, Face Down, Sex In The Summer, The Love We Make being my standouts...but given it's scope, Musicology is much more consistent and strong, in my opinion. I guess I was surprised at how little it moved me, but that's what art is all about. Musicology sounds like "freedom" to me! Sorry, I respect your opinion, but you are so wrong, Emancipation is a great album, his best in the 90's. | |
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I've let a friend of mine borrow Musicology so I'm going to revisit Emancipation. I like quite a number of songs on there but I brought The Gold Experience around the same time and I played that more than Emancipation, but I won't dog it. It was a risky attempt that was hit and miss but I respect him for sticking to his guns for this project and seeing that his vision for the album came true. I'm not a fan of "old Prince". I'm not a fan of "new Prince". I'm just a fan of Prince. Simple as that | |
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This reminds me of a sad time for Prince. The whole project seemed to be an ode to his wife Mayte and parenthood, freedom. It seemed as if things did not work out as planned. That lyric book with Prince in the playroom is sad  | |
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SENSHY said: jtfolden said: I think there's a heck of a lot that's good about Emancipation. The problem is that it's just so vast and the few stinkers here and there sort of weight it down. Cutting out about 12 tracks would make it a fabulous 2 disc set.
which songs though? whats your choices? Off the top of my head, I would probably cut out: Courtin' Time We Gets Up Damned If I Do I Can't Make U Love Me The Plan La, La, La Means I Love U Da, Da, Da One Of Us Emancipation (yes, indeed, I would...) I'm undecided about the other 3 at the moment but I tend to skip Get Yo Groove On quite a bit I've noticed. |
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I remember when I read the titles for the songs, I thought they were going to be super funky, like Get Yo Groove On and Jam Of The Year but those 2 in particular and other songs were anything but IMO. When I found out what overproduction meant, I instantly thought of Emancipation. I'm not a fan of "old Prince". I'm not a fan of "new Prince". I'm just a fan of Prince. Simple as that | |
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My gf said it best to me. Emancipation is like an amazing sandwich with stale bread.
That is, Discs I and III are like the stale pieces of bread, and Disc II is that delicious meat in between that makes the whole thing worthwhile. Disc I is actually solid to me, but Disc III is pretty damn bad. Just a lot of stale sounding beats and overall filler. But I don't even care cause Disc II is simply incredible. When I rate Emancipation as a whole, I consider it a fantastic album cause of Disc II alone. It has some of the most gorgeous love songs I've ever heard, it's just so sweet and heartfelt. It'd be different if it was just one long disc of all the bad songs put together, but Disc II is totally separate and has truly great songs, so the other discs do it no harm at all. The world is a comedy for those who think and a tragedy for those who feel.
"You still wanna take me to prison...just because I won't trade humanity for patriotism." | |
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Zelaira said: I Loved Emancipation .
I still do. | |
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When I first heard Emancipation, it didn't do that much for it, it sounded a bit bland. But after a lot of listens it really grew on me. It took me ages to absorb all the tracks because of course it is so vast.
I think this is a classic example of Prince putting every idea out there and letting the fans pick their favourites - I don't think we were necessarily expected to like every song on the album - every fan will pick and choose their favourites and dismiss the rest. But the point is, they are there for us to dismiss! In a 3 CD album by Prince I'm sure every fan could compile a 1 CD of their individual favourites - whereas if Prince had put out only 1 CD to begin with, fans may have only liked 2 or 3 songs - unless it was compressed to a tracklist matching that particular fan's tastes. People say the same about the 3CD crystal ball release. People moan that Prince should release all his vault material - but the same fans would then moan about this track or that track being no good. You can't satisfy all the Prince fans all the time - you can only satisfy some of the Prince fans some of the time. Just pick your favourites and enjoy them for what they are. On another note, isn't it just impressive that Prince could put together 3 hours of new original music without even dipping into his vault material? I can't think of any other artist who could put together so many well crafted songs in such a short space of time, or would have the guts to actually release a 3 CD album. | |
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metalorange said: On another note, isn't it just impressive that Prince could put together 3 hours of new original music without even dipping into his vault material? I can't think of any other artist who could put together so many well crafted songs in such a short space of time, or would have the guts to actually release a 3 CD album.
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Well, u're wrong!
Emancipation is some of his best work...I dig all of disc 1, all of it. Most of discs 2 & 3. Some highlights: The Human Body ~ Prince's take on acid/house, this bumps ya'll 
One of Us ~ He made this his song. 
The Holy River ~ Great lyrics, Inspired story, only Prince Betcha Bye Golly Wow! ~ His BEST singing on record. Joint 2 Joint ~ I live 4 THAT break...up the stairs 2 my lonely room... Sleep Around ~ Dancefloor staple
Somebody's Somebody ~ instant induction into "RnB Classic" status Face Down ~ Raw, Raunchy, Dirty...OK? Style ~  I ain't got no money, but i got style...
My Computer ~ undeniable groove Let's Have A Baby ~ Gorgeous melody La, La, La Means  Love U ~ His BEST singing on record (2)
Right Back Here In My Arms ~ Turn this UP, this is a party STARTER!
Mr Happy ~ Silly Funk Sex In The Summer ~ Nice flow In This Bed Scream ~ Extended his hand 2 W&L, catchy melody
Great CD...one of his BEST! Thanks for the laughs, arguments and overall enjoyment for the last umpteen years. It's time for me to retire from Prince.org and engage in the real world...lol. Above all, I appreciated the talent Prince. You were one of a kind. | |
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