Prince - Emancipation (36 tracks) +Album Reviews

A flawlessly performed masterpiece

MilesAndTrane | Chicago, Il USA | 10/27/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Those of you expecting the old Prince will be disappointed. While I agree this album marks the end of innovation we came to expect from him in the 80's and the beginning of a familiar mixture of funk, rock and R & B, this is nonetheless a masterpiece. Prince would not elect to put out a 3 record set unless he was dropping a bomb on us, and it is. This album is produced, performed and mixed flawlessly, a nasty stew here. The first disc consists mainly of funk and rock with a few surprises jabbed in. Disc 2 is mostly ballads and disc III is a mixture of dance, techno, rap, hip-hop and more funk! Perfection must have been on his mind when he made this. Beautiful ballads and freaky funk; the Beauty and the Beast. Best tracks are "Jam Of The Year," "White Mansion," "Emale," "Dreamin' About U," "Style," and "Sleep Around." Get this if you like traveling in the constellations he creates...."

The Purple Genius

Robert Bezimienny | Sydney, NSW Australia | 02/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Three hours of perfect Prince is hard to believe. Here it is. All the grooves are present. All the funk. The indulgent boudoir ballads. The ambiguous spirituality. Cameos of soul & gospel & rap. If you've ever liked any Prince song, then you're bound to find another favourite on this explosion of creativity.

*

Of course there's a reason this album is so overwhelming, both in terms of quantity and quality: it represents the best of five years of songwriting. Allegedly in 1991 or so Prince walked into the Warner Bros. offices and dumped five albums' worth of music into their laps, thus fulfilling his 'contractual obligations' for the next five years. He then went home and continued to write songs. Once 'emancipated' from WB, free to form NPG music, he released this treasure trove. Without normal distribution, however, it "only" reached No.11 on the Billboard Album Chart, and spawned only one single. Crazy stuff. There's enough musical genius here for three or four chart-topping albums and a host of singles.

*

There are DVDs available of Prince's more recent lives shows, featuring consumate musicians, such as Maceo Parker and members of The Family Stone, but none more distinguished than Prince himself - his performances are terrific and showcase his enormous talent. Music is his life. He can play virtually any instrument, sing, write, arrange...dance. What's more, he enjoys himself on stage - and it's hard not to share in it all. The DVDs are ideal complements to this CD set.

*

I think this is one of his best ever albums, and one of the best pop albums of all time. Having heard almost all his work, this would be my desert island recording. I've wondered why the praise for it has been less than universal and concluded that in a strange sense it is "too good" - there are at least twenty songs that could have been Top 10 hits, and which beg to be treated as 'favourites' - normally, I'd listen to an album and come back to 2 or 3 songs repeatedly - here, that makes for a difficult choice - what's more, since these songs have been starved of airplay they don't bring that welcome nostalgia of a popular hit, no memory of dancing to this or that at a party - it's almost like listening to a great new song for the first time. Also, there's no filler, nor is there a "theme" which allows for half-attentive listening - every four minutes another great tune shouts out and demands to be heard! It's so good that it's almost hard work!"

A "must" for loyal Prince fans!

WadeL5P | Atlanta, GA | 12/15/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Emancipation" has to be one of the best under-rated Prince CD's - ever! I think that is actually better than "Musicology" and they're definitely some major gems on this album. I think that it was overshadowed by his temporary name-change status and his contract battle with Warner Brothers. One day, this album is going to be considered a classic and a major collectable item. This production is solid, several "would be" hits, and good music - using live instruments. This album found Prince in a space to create and release whatever his purple heart desired! There are three hours of pure Prince. He's got something for everybody - gospel, old school, hip-hop, rock, house, and even electronica. You may want to visit "Jam of the Year", "Right Back Her in My Arms", "Betcha by Golly, Wow", La- La Means I Love You", "Sleep Around", "In this Bed I Scream", "I cant' make you love me", "Joint 2 Joint", and "Holy River." I think that both old and new school Prince fans will appreciate this "must" for their collection. A major treat - three solid hours of non-stop Prince!

"

Everybody keeps tryin'a break my heart, everybody except for

Nathan | Charlotte, N.C. United States | 09/07/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This was without a doubt the most anticipated album of its year for me. I was in high school and was really the only hardcore Prince fan in my clique of homeboys, and, boy, I couldn't wait to hear what he was gon' sound like after bein' granted full artistic freedom. An' three full-length albums of it. Thas' jus' too much to swallow. There's no true concept behind any one'a these discs, but you can certainly feel the cohesiveness of the songs as they flow one behind the other and it's far from slapped together in spite'a what you may have heard. There is soooo much great material here like 'White Mansion', 'Soul Sanctuary', 'Curious Child' and 'Let's Have a Baby' that you forgive the occasional throwaway like 'Courtin' Time'. I mean some'a these songs are unsung and unheralded CLASSICS like the cool, slick n' dirty multi-layered funk of 'Joint 2 Joint' (listen to the way he incorporated that Savion Glover tap in there! End of innovation? Ha!), the moving spiritual imagery of 'The Holy River', the bad-ayyyess drummer march of 'Slave', and the pure heartbreak of his perfect, an' I mean PERFECT version of 'I Can't Make U Love Me'. This album can do so much for the right listener; the listener lookin' for substance an' soul; the listener lookin' for some music by an' artist as devoted to makin' it as they are to livin' by it.

The following summer after this came out I saw Prince in concert on his 'Jam of the Year tour' and was floored. It didn't have the bombastic stageshow or the over-the-top vulgarity of his previous tours. In hindsight now, my wisdom has shown me that it was a symbol (no pun intended) of a man who was now so immersed in his art and his music he had completely let go of "style" as a part of his creative process. Dayyyuumn! He is tha MAN, y'all! An' ya KNOW this! Listen to him sangin' on the title cut which closes the third disc of this epic. He comes full circle tellin' us he'll see us "in the purple rain". This was far from a dyin' breath. This was a new beginning for a creative and restless genius.

I don't understand why the press was all over the idea that last year was the "year of Prince's comeback". It made me think back to 1996 when this 3-CD epic was released and was being championed as, well, pretty much the same thing. Hell, even way before that the Batman soundtrack was touted as "Prince's comeback". Why don't we just accept the fact that he never really goes anywhere and that our shallow selves just take his genius and creative complexity for granted a lot. Well, hopefully it will never happen again."

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