As synthy as this stuff gets, there is still guitar somewhere in the mix, which is something missing completely from modern funk.

I'd like to have a physical release of this project,with liner notes and interviews by the group members.

phunkdaddy said:

SoulAlive said:

'The Flag' was the first Rick James album that I was disappointed with.Nearly all of the songs sound alike.By that point,his sound had become too formulaic and robotic...filled with synths,synths and more synths....lol....

I loved the Flag. It wasn't part of his classic period but I felt he had some good songs on it.

Now Wonderful is a different conversation. That album is when he really fell off.

I remember a radio station in my hometown was giving a way Freak Flags as part of promoting

Rick's the Flag album. LOL

Free flags, huh? lol. I agree, 'The Flag' is a good album, I love it. But 'Wonderful' should've been called Terrible, I hate that album, there are a few songs on it, but overall, it is horrible. by far Rick's worst album. Damn you cocaine.

Finally had a chance to listen to "Sweet Conversations" on the way in to work this morning. I LOVE IT!!!! Much more than I expected. I think this is probably the strongest of their three albums. And certainly way better than Rick's late Motown albums.

Too bad Universal decided not to officially release this on sites like itunes and amazon. So I'm assuming since these tracks appear to only be available on youtube, the ladies won't receive any royalties since there are no sales involved? I don't expect any physical CD release. I thought they would have released Rick's "Glow" on CD by now but it's stiil only a digital download and his only album not on CD. Anyway, I'm grateful to whomever uploaded the Mary Jane Girls tracks on youtube. Really a terrific album. Hell, I'm wondering if Universal knows that the track are on youtube since there was no official announcement upon the tracks being uploaded. It's a shame Rick blocked this from being released in 1986.

kitbradley said:

I think this is probably the strongest of their three albums.

really? I think their debut album is their best.

On Sweet Conversations,what do you think the big hit single would have been? What do you think the lead-off single should be?

OFF the HOOK! It needs 2 come out on CD!

player said:

It appears the long-delayed third album which was announced way back in 2014 may have been released after all. Or rather, it's about to be released? I'm not sure, but it seems the album is now called Sweet Conversations: https://open.spotify.com/...uqk6DzU0OG

Unfortunately I'm unable to play this on Spotify (I'm in the UK). Can anyone shed some light on this? I'm still holding out for a physical release!

I'm in the same boat. Can't stream it anywhere. Even the youtube vids are gone. Love me some MJG.

"On The Street Where You Live"

"Shake Me"

"Keep Givin' It Up"

"Walk Like A Man"

"Where's The Party"

"Night Lover"

"Hollywood"

"Can You Make It Feel Good"

"Bad Reputation"

MotorBootyAffair said:

Hmm.

The photo looks like a leftover from the first album photo shoot.

it's actually taken from the "In My House" single cover

Square1entertainment said:

Even the youtube vids are gone.

Are you in the U.S.? The Youtube videos work fine here.

after listening to the album again,I think that "Shake Me" most likely would have been the first single...or second single,if "Walk Like A Man" could be considered the first single.

SoulAlive said:

so what do you guys think of the album?! It's one of those albums where all the songs sound alike (a problem that Rick was having with his own albums from this period).There are some cool tracks on the album,but I don't hear a "hit single" anywhere.There's no "Candy Man" or "In My House"-type song here....a song that could have been an instant radio hit back then.

The songs sound OK but they all sound just alike. You can tell it was definitely done during the "Glow" and "The Flag" era when Rick's stuff started sounding alike. And their version of "Hollywood" is absolutely horrible. It just sounds generic and ordinary where Rick's earlier version sounds sexy and cosmic.

SoulAlive said:

kitbradley said:

I think this is probably the strongest of their three albums.

really? I think their debut album is their best.

On Sweet Conversations,what do you think the big hit single would have been? What do you think the lead-off single should be?

Hmmmm. I don't know what the lead single could have been. There are several strong songs on the album so I would need to go back and think about it.

kitbradley said:

SoulAlive said:

really? I think their debut album is their best.

On Sweet Conversations,what do you think the big hit single would have been? What do you think the lead-off single should be?

Hmmmm. I don't know what the lead single could have been. There are several strong songs on the album so I would need to go back and think about it.

I think "Shake Me" would have worked well as the first single.

SoulAlive said:

so what do you guys think of the album?! It's one of those albums where all the songs sound alike (a problem that Rick was having with his own albums from this period).There are some cool tracks on the album,but I don't hear a "hit single" anywhere.There's no "Candy Man" or "In My House"-type song here....a song that could have been an instant radio hit back then.

It's ok, it's like a better version of The Flag IMO.

I can't imagine what the singles would be off this album, like you said there's no break out track here, it all sounds similar.

vainandy said:

SoulAlive said:

so what do you guys think of the album?! It's one of those albums where all the songs sound alike (a problem that Rick was having with his own albums from this period).There are some cool tracks on the album,but I don't hear a "hit single" anywhere.There's no "Candy Man" or "In My House"-type song here....a song that could have been an instant radio hit back then.

The songs sound OK but they all sound just alike. You can tell it was definitely done during the "Glow" and "The Flag" era when Rick's stuff started sounding alike. And their version of "Hollywood" is absolutely horrible. It just sounds generic and ordinary where Rick's earlier version sounds sexy and cosmic.

Agreed 100%, it just doesn't fit the MJG thing IMO. Make Love To Me would've been a better choice for a remake IMO, I could see JoJo doin' that one some justice.

Abdul said:

SoulAlive said:

so what do you guys think of the album?! It's one of those albums where all the songs sound alike (a problem that Rick was having with his own albums from this period).There are some cool tracks on the album,but I don't hear a "hit single" anywhere.There's no "Candy Man" or "In My House"-type song here....a song that could have been an instant radio hit back then.

It's ok, it's like a better version of The Flag IMO.

I can't imagine what the singles would be off this album, like you said there's no break out track here, it all sounds similar.

I like it. This made my morning.

SoulAlive said:

I remember that crappy movie in the 80s,Motown was always getting involved with these cheesy movies and having their artists do the soundtrack (they somehow got Stevie Wonder to do the soundtrack for 'The Woman In Red',another dumb 80s flick,lol).

"On The Streets Where You Live" sounds like a potential single.I can imagine a very colorful video that involves a choreographed dance scene in the streets,lol.

kitbradley said:

It's a shame Rick blocked this from being released in 1986.

What I wonder is....why didn't he simply take the Mary Jane Girls with him to Warner Bros.? That group was his creation and when Warners gave him a new record deal in 1987,he should have insisted that The Mary Jane Girls be a part of the deal,too.Or maybe Motown had a way to prevent that from happening? In any case,it's sad that The Mary Jane Girls weren't able to continue their recording career.They were "hot" at that time and surely could have had many more hit singles.

SoulAlive said:

kitbradley said:

It's a shame Rick blocked this from being released in 1986.

What I wonder is....why didn't he simply take the Mary Jane Girls with him to Warner Bros.? That group was his creation and when Warners gave him a new record deal in 1987,he should have insisted that The Mary Jane Girls be a part of the deal,too.Or maybe Motown had a way to prevent that from happening? In any case,it's sad that The Mary Jane Girls weren't able to continue their recording career.They were "hot" at that time and surely could have had many more hit singles.

Didn't Rick say, in the first edition of his book, the reason it never came out was because him and JoJo had a falling out ? She wanted to get paid to appear in the "Walk Like A Man" video, and he wasn't having it.