Our votes for “Shhh" by Tevin Campbell (14 votes): 1 - 0x 2 - 3x 3 - 8x 4 - 2x 5 - 1x Average: 2,8393
17 The week ends with some cool jazz-funk! Signature Madhouse sound and one of "their" best tracks. Eric Leeds takes us places and the maestros guitar is indeed slicker than before. Great track! 4.5/5
17 This is the re-invented Madhouse with the NPG. I like the groove, Eric's sax and the great New Power Trio (Prince, Sonny, Michael) with Levi on guitar. That should be enough to rate it accordingly. The only 'problem' is that the track is not that amazing. It's good, but not as good as the tracks on Madhouse's 8 or 16. It just doodles a bit for 5 minutes... It's the opening track from the unreleased 'New Power Madhouse' album 24. Some of it was released on The Versace Experience, but most of it is still unreleased, like the great cover version of Marvin Gaye's (Got 2) Give It Up with his daughter Nona Gaye on vocals. 17 (Carnac) was based on the Carmen Electra song Step To The Mic (or the other way around), so the Madhouse track is a huge upgrade. Like has been said previously by @Purple Jim, it also sounds a bit like Papa. This is a 3 out of 5.
17...enjoyable enough, but kinda reminds me of the theme song for a 90's sitcom, or some killer, sweet dentist office muzak. 3/5
17: Pleasant lite funky jazz. Makes for a nice break on the 1-800-New-Funk album. Wished ther the 24 Madhouse álbum had been released intact back then. 3.75/5
I was going to a "A Woman's Gotta Have It" by Nona Gaye this morning, but it is not a Prince-written tune, but rather a cover of a Bobby Womack song. It was not produced by Prince officiallly. The New Power Generation is credited and Prince Vault says that this contribution is likely just Prince. But I don't think we need to rate it so I'll move on....Here's the song though, if you want to see it!
Today, I'm going to hold up songs from The Voice. The Voice was an album by Mavis Staples, her second for the Paisley Park label and her second that was largely written by Prince, though associate Ricky Petersen is credited as the producer on many of the tracks. While some of the songs on The Voice date back as far as 1988, the majority of it was recorded in 1992. The album was released in 1993, a year in which Prince did not release any albums under his own name, other than The Hits/B-sides compilations. The Voice was released, on CD and cassette on August 24th, 1993. It did not chart. The tracklist was: (purple songs to be discussed) The Voice (Prince, Rosie Gaines, Francis Jules) House In Order (Prince) Blood Is Thicker than Time (Prince) You Will Be Moved (Prince) All Because of You (Billy Beck, Rick Brown) The Undertaker (Prince, Tommy Barbarella, Sonny T, Levi SEacer, Jr, Michael B) Melody Cool (Prince) Kain't Turn Back (Bernard Belle, Raymond Watkins) I'll Be Right There (Emmanuel Rahiem LeBlanc, Gordon Williams A ManCalled Jesus (Prince) Why(Mike Ferguson, Ivan Hampden, Danny Madden, Paulette McWilliams) Positivity (Prince) Notes: WE've already discussed "Melody Cool" when we were discussing Graffiti Bridge; and for better or for worse, I held both the 1990 and the 1993 versions of the song up at the same time, as the version here is a mere remix of the other. Thus I probably won't hold it up as a separate song but will only link to it and move on on Thursday. This album was re-released in 1995 with a shuffled track sequence and with one song added: "Come Home", which was taken from Mavis Staples first Paisley Park album in 1988, Time Waits For No One. If all of the 8 songs I plan to talk about stream, then I'll hold up the album proper along with the remake of "Positivity" on Sunday. Then on Monday the 13th, I'm going to begin on The Undertaker by Prince before going on Gold Nigga. Note: The Undertaker was a live-in-the-studio jam originally meant to be released a CD included in a magazine; its release was blocked by Warner Brothers and all (or nearly all) copies of the CD were coated with plastic to keep them from ever being played; however a VHS of the performance (which was live in the studio) was later released in the UK on VHS. I want to hold it up as an album proper because a) it's a lot of fun. and b) it's basically canon, even if the album is only released on VHS and c) we need some bona fide Prince in the midst of this ocean of side-projects from this time when Prince was struggling with his record label. However, I don't know if the songs from it stream: if they don't, it will be a one day discussion for those who have heard it. If the songs do stream, though, we'll do all 7 songs, including the remakes of "Bambi" and "The Undertaker."
Today's song is "The Voice", written by Prince, Rosie Gaines and Francis Jules; produced by Paisley Park (aka Prince.) Mavis Staples – The Voice Lyrics | Genius Lyrics "The Voice" was originally recorded on April 25th, 1991 at Paisley Park; Mavis Staples's vocal was recorded in late 1992 or early 1993. Mavis Staples: vocals Prince: backing vocals and all instruments except: Levi Seacer, Jr: guitar, backing vocals Rosie Gaines: keyboards, backing vocals Kirky J: backing vocals Tony M: rap and backing vocals
An excellent track, suiting Mavis' vocals and a very good lyric - 4/5. I also like the demo with Prince vocals on the Yellow boot.
The Voice I love Mavis and this is a great song for her. I much prefer Prince's demo though, which is slightly slower (unless that Mavis YT video runs too fast) and it suits the mood of the song. Mavis Staples - 3.5/5 Prince - 4.5/5
The Voice Like with most Mavis songs there's too much in the pot and it sounds forced. Songwise again Prince third choice stuff. 2.5/5
The Voice - I like this one, and although I agree that Mavis' work with Prince isn't a highlight of her catalogue I do enjoy both of her Paisley albums. This is a good opener for the album, and I like both her vocal and the Prince backing vocals. I could do without some of the early 90's synth clutter but otherwise this is very refreshing compared to some of what we have sat through the last few weeks. For the collectors out there, there is a rare French only promo 12" of this with a 'Prince Remix' on it - which doesn't seem to be on YouTube. Warning if you are considering hunting one down - it has a Tony M rap on it, and is not as good as the original versions. 3.5/5
The synth blasts on The Voice are the most 1991 thing ever, as if Teddy Riley snuck into the studio and put his fingerprints all over the track. So by the time this finally came out, it sounded a little anachronistic. Still, it’s a fine groove and from the time where Prince had moved into social and spiritual ills in his lyrics. It’s a fitting track for Mavis to add her magic to, but the Prince version is my preferred version. Mavis:3/5 Prince:3.5/5
The Voice...The marvelous Mavis Staples does her thing on this track, but this is just an ordinary song. It is done well and towers over most of the tunes we've checked out this past month, but I can't give it more than a 3. 3/5
The Voice I’m not a big fan of this song (or album for that matter). It sounds forced and sounds too poppy for Mavis. It’s not a bad song, though. It’s just a bit disappointing and ordinary for a Prince song. I kinda expect more for this collaboration. This is a minor 3 out of 5.
Prince was going through the motions in this year because he was not writing strong material at all. The Voice - 2.5/5 I like Mavis version. He already wrote a better song like this called Yo Mister for Patti Labelle. One album I dont own is The Voice, as I have never seen it anywhere honestly. However A Man Called Jesus is the jam. A Womans Gotta Have It - 3/5. One of the best songs on 1800 New Funk...and thats saying a lot. Nonas voice is not anything special, but I like the breezy production
"The Voice": More vignettes from the street, like "Paris 1798430," in the vein of "Sign o' the Times," all of which ultimately trace back to "Living for the City." This is not the best of the bunch. And while Mavis is Mavis, this soup had too many cooks. 3/5
