Prince releases a new song from the album and it sounds..

I'll add The Love Symbol album to the underrated list. Call it just bubbling under genius as an album, without making me think that Prince himself had fallen out of that category. UK #1, US #5, 4 stars in Rolling Stone, A- from the ever-cranky Christgau and Entertainment Weekly, etc.

Also throw in The Gold Experience, which, thinking about it now, might have to go in the full-on genius category....although maybe the skit-type stuff drops it back down. Still, the songs are terrific, and very a worthy part of his legacy. An actual A from Christgau (....the songs funk and rock as outrageously and originally as anything he's ever recorded"), and some of his prettiest songs ever.

Around The World In A Day is the one I play most, and I'd put a handful of these others in front of those two. But even with a few dud albums along the way, he definitely earns the genius label for me, nearer the top of that pantheon than not.

I'm also thinking that he's among a small handful of artists who I feel kind of lost their way, but I still want to be amazed by. So many others, I've just given up on. This track definitely cranks the heat on my anticipation of these next releases.

 

Boy, now there's a nothing track if I ever heard one. Sheesh.

 

I could go on, but you get the idea...

 

emancipation is my favourite along with Purple Rain and Dirty Mind:



Prince is the definition of genius.

 

I'm a Prince super-fan, but I've got ears and...well...

I think someone mentioned in a recent Neil Young thread that for older artists like Neil and Prince, just don't expect too much and you'll probably be rewarded with one or two "classics" per album. There might be some truth to this, since I've been disappointed with nearly everything Prince has put out since 2001's Rainbow Children. He's had some jams since then, though. No doubt. 2004's Musicology & Chocolate Invasion, along with 2009's Lotusflow3r come damn close, plus a few sporadic one-offs since then. "Song of the Heart" in 2006 was one helluva joint, even outside of kid flick standards.

I've got a feeling that you take the tracks from both of these albums and you might get a decent offering.

I'm not going to dis the guy for "U Know," because he uses a little autotune to sound "with it." It's a nice groove, a little catchy, but it only sounds like a prelude to something else with a little more substance (we'll see how it flows into the next track).

I like the 3RDEYEGIRL "Whitecaps" better. http://www.vibe.com/article/premiere-prince’s-3rdeyegirl-weathers-storm-‘whitecaps’

I first taken aback that it's not Prince singing, until the chorus, but the song really works...even if it does sound a bit like "Wooden Ships" from CSN. Oh well. I'm excited for new Prince. I just keep my emotions tempered. BRING ON THE REISSUES!

I think you and I are the only ones on the planet who feels this way about Emancipation. I think it's pure genius that stands with the best of his.

 

It certainly is.
So many great songs on that album like Let's Have a Baby,Right Back Here In My Arms,Somebody's Somebody,Sex in the Summer,One Kiss at a Time,etc.

 

It's ok...sounds like a b-side than an a-side. But then again, I've been wanting to like something new from him for 20 years now

 

So many great tracks. It would have been a fantastic double. But then...

 

where is the hook?????

 

I like his Dockers album the best.

 

Okay, so let's make that 3 people! Ha!

Yeah, it has all the hooks, on all the songs, the charisma, the inventiveness, jam sections and so many different styles. Then again I see 1993-1997 as another purple period for him, where he was so prolific and creative. Not so much since then, except for the aforementioned Rainbow Children.

 

outside of a couple early singles his music never moved me

 

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. It only sounds like it's leading up to a jam, not the jam, itself. But isn't that what a lot of cats in the genre are doing these days? - just laying down a groove and doing a little something on top of it?

Prince is at his best when he's just being himself. That's why MPLSound worked in a more positive way, because he was using all vintage instruments, recording techniques, etc.

He's following a trend a bit here isn't he?

And it's not his trend.

 

His best album in recent years, 20Ten, was full of great hooks and tunes. So what does the little dude do? He gives it away for free with a Sunday newspaper in the UK!!!

 

Agreed, except I think he's been on a third purple streak since 2001. 3121 and Lotusflow3r are up there with his best and 20TEN isn't far behind. Planet Earth has some great moments - "The One U Wanna C" is a particular favourite, as is "Chelsea Rodgers", which will never fail to transport me back to the 21 Nights tour (those aftershows!).

 

Will listen when I get a chance. Is it better than NEW?

 

Okay, I'll do myself a favor and go back for a listen. I have the CDs right here with me. I know I really dug the hell out of MPLSound from Lotusflow3r. Maybe I'm shortchanging myself. Yeah, come to think of it, looking at the track listing for 3121 I recall some serious joints on that one.

 

I'm a huge fan, but calling some of his later works up with his best is beyond my militant fanatism.

 

Didn't see the other thread, but part of the reason why musicians like these are considered "genius" is because of the way they push and envelope forward and set new standards in their time. Nobody is going to do that decades past their prime. At best, you get flashes of the old genius and some enjoyable tunes but it's still never groundbreaking work.

I don't expect to be wowed by Prince in 2014 like I was in 1984. No one should. Think about it. Even if he could come up with another "Purple Rain", it'd be something that sounds like its 30 years old, so it could never wow us the way that stuff did when it was new.

This new track reminds me of "When Doves Cry" in a lot of ways. It's sparse, full of modern technology, and slightly off-putting at first listen. Will it grow on me the way WDC did? Probably not, but even if it did it could never go on to become the groundbreaking classic WDC was because...well...it's ain't 1984. So much has moved on and changed including Prince himself.

 

Even if I only knew the last 15 years of his output I'd say he was a genius - the voice, the musicianship, the creativity, the solo creations but also the group tracks featuring so many mind-blowing players (C.C. Dunham has to be seen to be believed!) not to mention some great people working with him behind the desk. Only a genius can pull that s**t together time and time again.

I didn't take to it all in the 90's / early 00's but at this point I'm beginning to wonder if I dismissed Kamasutra too easily...

 

Haha I own this

 

I totally agree, but even as much as I like his later output I can't compare a great album like 20ten to game changers like he did during the 80's.
And by the way, take me to the vineyards of Levaux was a great post.

 

Thank goodness we worked a Beatle into this.

 

Ahead of everything for me ~ IMO Lovesexy is his finest album.

I´m a huge Prince fan but that song ... nope!

 

My underrated gem ......