LEAST ESSENTIAL ALBUM OF 2003

Prince
N.E.W.S. (Buy It!)
There was a time when Prince's every eccentric move was extensively documented, from his name changes to label battles that culminated in him scrawling the word "SLAVE" on his face to document the harrowing plight of internationally beloved multimillionaire pop superstars. Now, he's been reduced to a puzzling obscurity, as he self-releases a string of increasingly indulgent vanity projects to a tiny circle of loyalists. (Today, it's easier to find any of The String Cheese Incident's dozens of live albums than it is to track down a new studio album by Prince.) Remember when The Artist's "emancipation" from his record label meant fans would finally have the chance to crack open his mythical vault‹which many assumed would contain 15 or 20 long-suppressed equivalents of Sign O' The Times or The Black Album? Instead, in 2003, they have the chance to almost unanimously ignore N.E.W.S., which contains four dull, 14-minute jazz-funk instrumental odysseys: "North," "East," "West," and "South." N.E.W.S., get it? The result is uncompromising, to be sure, but rarely has a once-great musician sounded so uncompromising and so inessential at the same time.




I didn't think it was THAT bad, did you?

it isn't bad. but it is inessential


but, you know, it's like back in the 80's... when between albums he had completely inessential side projects going on. the down side of it, though, is back then, it was on a timetable of months, whereas now, it's on a timetable of years, meaning he hasn't actually done anything essential since TRC, over 2 years ago.

Been there, done that.

Supernova said:

You haven't done nothing until you've recieved an orgnote from garnis.

sinisterpentatonic said:

Done that too.

Supernova said:

i, for one, think that was played out a long time ago

AaronAlmighty said:

You used to get 'em from him too?

Supernova said:

yes



we must be doing something right...
[This message was edited Tue Dec 23 19:34:18 PST 2003 by AaronAlmighty]