Sorry. A day late to say that Come On is a late career highlight and probably a top 10 Prince track for me in general. Smoky, mysterious, off-the-wall, boozy. That slide guitar is sexy as hell too. A lot of the vocal arrangement here reminds me of late 86-ish type stuff, even aside from the obvious pitch thing going on with the lead vocal. Come on, indeed, "I'm better off sleeping with my guitar/Strapped to the body, making love to the strings" what a line. This is like a precursor to all that 98/99 Rave/Slaughterhouse/Chocolate electro-plastic-pop (which I love!) but it was done better on this track. The rest of NPS I don't think leans into that direction hard enough compared to what would be coming shortly after all this was recorded and kind of stumbles as it can't really make up its mind. The live video from the Beautiful Strange release is great even in the parts that aren't great. "Gimme da loop, gimme da loop gimme da loop!". I especially like when he's spinning in circles as he sings the line "round and round," must have taken ages to come up with that one. Anyway. Come On 5/5 perfect Oh. The One? Yeah it's nice, real nice. Emancipation outtake. I'm a sucker, I can't get enough of this slop. Corny and sappy, I don't care. Love the "his money" after the dinero line, how dumb is that. One of those kind of circular melody type tracks. Not an all time classic but it's nice. The One 4/5
Today's song is "( Like) Funky Music", written by Prince and Doug E. Fresh; produced by Prince -- both credits attributed to The New Power Generation. The New Power Generation – (I Like) Funky Music Lyrics | Genius Lyrics "( Like) Funky Music" was recorded at Paisley Park in May 1997. : all vocals and instruments except: Doug E. Fresh: rap vocals Kirk Johnson: drum programming Hornheadz: horns with uncertain contribution by: Rhonda Smith - bass guitar (credited, but uncertain contribution) Rev. Scott - rhythm guitar (credited, but uncertain contribution) Mr. Hayes - keyboards, background vocals (credited, but uncertain contribution) Marva King - background vocals (credited, but uncertain contribution) It seems that in live settings only the "I Like Funky Music" audience chants were utilised, occasionally, during other songs up until 2012.
Annoying chant no....rap vocal...doesn't bother me to be honest, though I tune out while it's going...the rest of the track is actually good fun with some pep and even the beat doesn't bother me for once: 3.5/5
I LIKE FUNKY MUSIC: While the title feels like it couldn't be very good, and the beat SOUNDS chintzy at at first the rhythm itself felt amateur hour it kinda grew on me tho remains the least-working part of this. Again the Camille voice hits that great "SOTT era outtake" feeling, the lyric does not, but still....this is nice and weird and Prince-ly tho minorly so on all counts (and Doug E does it no favors). Still RATING: 3.5/5
The One 5/5 Fond memories of some of the jocks singing this in the hallways in High School to the ladies! Also, the video is beautifully done. Love the ending too. Very well done. Almost a waste to be put on such a lame album as a whole. (Eye Like) Funky Music 3.5/5 Funky!
I Like Funky Music - the first three minutes is really good. I like the beat, the camille vocal, the p-funky keyboard bass, the rhythm guitar, the horns. I even like Doug E's rap, but my problem is that most of the other funky elements drop out for that part and the backing just becomes pretty generic with the annoying crowd chant. Still, a good party track to 'end' the album. 3/5
I Like Funky Music Very hard to rate. Basically it's all there ... Camille voice, signature keyboard sounds and guitar licks so it should be a great song. In the end it's kinda anemic and generic though. A generous 3/5
(I Like) Funky Music I should like this: Camille-ish vocals, the Feel U Up horn line and the 1986 guitar sound. Unfortunately, this is far from the actual Camille sound and it sounds like a forced gimmick. The chants are really messy with that odd echo. The first minutes are kinda nice, but after 2 minutes (when Dough E. Fresh shows up) the song becomes really dull. It sounds like Prince liked the chant and created a song around it looking for inspiration (that didn't come). And that's a shame, because this could have been a return of Camille (like he did with PFUnk/F.U.N.K)... When is Jack White releasing that brilliant Camille album? It kinda feels like this t-shirt... not funky at all: This is a minor 2 out of 5
(To be fair, I don't consider Newpower Soul to be such a horrible listen. I mean, it's not Emancipation)
"(I Like) Funky Music" seems like a return to the middle part of the album ("Shoo-Bed-Ooh"/"Push It Up"/"Freaks on This Side") that I find too monotonous. It's an okay song but a bit disappointing. Uninspired. 2/5
( Like) Funky Music... This song is ok. The chant again hinders an ok song from becoming a good song. That bass wakes me up for a second and I'm bobbing my head for a bit...then the chant again. Ouch! 2/5
With all things in life going on at the moment it is a bit more difficult to make time for this thread. But hey, I once more set aside some time to have a close listen to some songs from Newpower Soul. So on to Freaks On This Side it is! I quite like the 'choir chant' of "Freaks on this side". Also the groove in general and the horns are quite nice. But apart from that there isn't much to this jam. The rap/singing isn't engaging me at all. And in the end the groove turns a bit into a sludge. So yeah, promising start but in the end it doesn't deliver. 2.5/5 The groove of Come On also isn't that spectacular. It all starts to sound a bit same-y, despite the vocals that remind a bit of Camille. But with that same-y sound the ghost of Emancipation is rearing its ugly head. The synth flourishes (and guitar around the 4-minute mark) are a nice touch that might not save the song but do make me a bit more sympathetic towards it. 2.5/5 And then there's suddenly a glimpse of brilliance again from Prince! You're not expecting it, on this album, during this era, for this kind of song. But The One turns out to be an excellent soul ballad. What is it that is making this song tick, compared to dozens of other bland R&B ballads? Prince's vocal delivery certainly is full of passion, alternating between his regular singing voice and his falsetto. The tempo is also just right, with the combination of percussion, bass and strings creating a very interesting musical bed that enables Prince to shine with his vocal delivery and his pleas to his lover (wife) that he is the one who belongs with her. Despite a running time of 7 minutes this song doesn't overstay its welcome at all. Just amazing. 5/5 The spell is quickly broken though by Funky Music. Whereas the 'choir chant' was quite OK on Freaks On This Side (though that song itself wasn't) here the chant of "I like funky music" is too unclear to really have an impact. Thankfully, the song itself is slightly better. The guitar is funky, a bit Kiss-like, the rap is passable and the horns are as well. At the end I'm in the mood again for some more funky music, making this a weird choice as closing song on the album. (Yes, I know there's a hidden track coming, but I think the album proper ends here) 3/5
"I Like Funky Music": I could grit my teeth through the world's second-worst sample while Prince was throwing in some interesting sounds, but once Doug E. Fresh arrives on the scene, I start not being able to stand it. The first half is a 3.5/5, and the second a 1.5/5, so let's say: 2.5/5
Today's song is "Wasted Kisses", written and produced by Prince (both credits attributed, as always on this album, to The New Power Generation.) The New Power Generation – Wasted Kisses Lyrics | Genius Lyrics "Wasted Kisses" was recorded at Paisley Park sometime between May and December 1997. It was a hidden track on the album. : all vocals and instruments except: Kirk Johnson: drum programming with uncertain involvement from: Rhonda Smith - bass guitar (credited, but uncertain involvement) Rev. Scott - rhythm guitar (credited, but uncertain involvement) Mr. Hayes - keyboards (credited, but uncertain involvement) "Wasted Kisses" was performed once, at an aftershow in Las Vegas in 2007.
