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Prince - Emancipation Audio CD

A fair review of the Prince "Emancipation" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Prince reviews here, or go back to the Prince tabs.

Prince Band: Prince
Title: Emancipation
Rating:
Release Date: 1996-11-19
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Jam of the Year 2: Right Back Here in My Arms 3: Somebody's Somebody 4: Get Yo Groove On 5: Courtin' Time 6: Betcha by Golly, Wow 7: We Gets Up 8: White Mansion 9: Damned If I Do 10: I Can't Make U Love Me 11: Mr. Happy 12: In This Bed I Scream 13: Sex in the Summer 14: One Kiss at a Time 15: Soul Sanctuary 16: Emale 17: Curious Child 18: Dreamin' About U 19: Joint 2 Joint 20: Holy River 21: Let's Have a Baby 22: Saviour 23: Plan 24: Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife 25: Slave 26: New World 27: Human Body 28: Face Down 29: La-La (Means I Love You) 30: Style 31: Sleep Around 32: Da, Da, Da 33: My Computer 34: One of Us 35: Love We Make 36: Emancipation

Smoooth, Happy R & B!
Filled with the joy of music and life. This is a great CD. Some old school music covers sung flawlessly in falsetto by Prince. . . Also, original songs that are just as smooooooooth as you could want for excellent R%B/Rock influenced Prince sound. Really luv his cover of Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me" as well as "By Golly Wow" from the Stylistics. Really luv it U will 2!.


Party with the Artist
- at least round one - was over and Prince had that professional and a special personal (his marriage to Mayte Garcia) joy that made for this ambitious 1996 project of 36 tracks that had a total clocking of 180 minutes. The drama with Warner Bros.

With a fine mix of house, blues, R&B and rock, Prince was definitely in full artistic flight and arguably the only pop performer who could issue a 3-album set and keep the material at an extraordinary interesting quality. The first track - Jam of the Year - was also the name of the tour to promote the release, which includes cover versions of hits by The Stylistics, The Delfonics, Bonnie Raitt and Joan Osborne.

To promote the album to radio stations, one song each was targeted to urban (the R&B ballad, Somebody's Somebody) and pop/rock (The Holy River) formats. A neat music video was also produced for one of the covers, Betcha by Golly Wow!, a hit for The Stylistics.

Peaking at #11 on the Billboard album chart, it is a solid look into the genius of Prince when not hindered by executives in suits, who are armed with flow charts concerning the number of units that need to be sold in Sheboygan on December 2.


awesome
I am extremely pleased with my order and the timely fashion in which it arrived.


Top-heavy & bloated, but contains some ESSENTIAL material.....


I completely understand The Purple One's enthusiasm & relief at being set loose from Warner Brothers; in typical Prince fashion, his response to a profound personal event is prolific musical output (and, as a fellow multi-instrument-playing musician, my response is the same). As a SERIOUS Prince fan since 1981, I'm compelled to write this review today because I've recently been listening (once again!) to this sprawling collection of songs. . . . . however, his inspiration on "Emancipation" doesn't measure up (as a whole) to his greatest works; to be blunt, two out of three songs here are not memorable AT ALL. To be fair, his faultless musicianship, gift for engaging arrangement & ultra-slick production are ABSOLUTELY intact on this album. . . . . but had Prince chisled it down to a single disc, it could have been a classic and perhaps hailed as a masterpiece.

I MYSELF chisled it down to the classic album I suggest; the sequencing is my own:


1 Emancipation
2 In This Bed Eye Scream
3 Face Down
4 Saviour
5 New World
6 Joint 2 Joint
7 La La La Means I Love U
8 Slave
9 One Of Us
10 Friend Lover Sister Mother Wife


I challenge y'all that already have the album to burn a CD with the sequence of tracks I've listed. . . . . and see if I'm wrong!! PRINCE: If you're reading this, CALL ME; I'd be more than happy to lend a hand on any project you're working on!! :-)

The songs I've listed above are the DEFINITE highlights of this (disappointingly) bloated set of music. . . . . but I must make special note of the INCREDIBLE "Friend Lover Sister Mother Wife"; it is EASILY one of the greatest tracks His Royal Badness ever created.

If you're just getting into Prince, start with the "Dirty Mind" & "1999" albums, progressing to "Sign O' The Times" and the SUPERB & underrated "Lovesexy". . . . . . . bearing in mind that "Purple Rain" ain't too shabby, either!! :-)

.


a HUGE and very excellent collection of songs
I'm not going to describe every song/disc, because simply that would take too long. I'm personally glad that Prince has the courage to release such a gargantuan album.

But as I had been reading the reviews of some people about this album I can't help but to throw my own two cents in.

First of all, Prince doesn't/never needed a comeback, as a few level-headed reviewers have said.

You Purple Rain obsessers were upset from 'Around The World. . . ' and every sequential release by Prince, and you call yourselves fans?

When I first heard of this album, I was said to myself 'Oh my god! 36 tracks!' and I couldn't have been happier. Prince's work lies both in the regions of quality and quantity. He could sneeze a b-side good enough to be a single.

I can't stand people calling this album 'overwhelming'. . . geez, just take the music in song by song, and you'll be able to appreciate all there is. This isn't the era of records, people can make big albums now, and finally someone is embracing the fact.

Some of the tracks are a bit lacking, sure, but there's enough material on here to satisfy everyone's tastes. I personally enjoy his electronic-oriented pieces, so I give this album a good plenty spins. In comparison, I'd say the music sounds/feels like a lot like Gold Experience, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of these tracks were rejected from that project, not to say of course that they were bad, but GE is basically a concept album, so you can't expect everything to fit into it.


You can see a complete list of all Prince discography, or go back to the Prince tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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