Customer Reviews

16

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Great collaboration from Eric Leeds and Prince. Instead of releasing the Black Album back in Dec. 1987, Prince released this album instead. On Madhouse 8 it sounds like Prince did all the instruments (except sax) but on this album it is definitely Sheila E on the drums which takes the intensity to another level. If you find this on CD its probably a bootleg, its better to find it on vinyl

'Madhouse 16' (1987, Paisley Park/WEA) is a SUPER RARE collectable for Prince fans, released the same year as the more subtle 'Madhouse 8'! Back in 1986-1987, Prince was behind so much music (including Madhouse, Jill Jones, Mazarati, Sheila E, as well as his own CDs!), and with 'Madhouse 16', he decided to add FUNK to his jazz mix. Madhouse 16 featured the same players from the previous project (Prince, Eric Leeds, Dr.Fink, Levi Seacer Jr, John Lewis, and Sheila E), and they created a more accessible project this time around. Also of note are a variety of brief snippets of dialogue from 'The Godfather' movie, which are used between tracks. When listening to 'Madhouse 16', it becomes obvious that Prince wanted to tap into his regular fanbase as well as the jazz heads. As for 'Madhouse 16', a measly 8 tracks still doesn't justify the cost of the CD (sometimes more than $25.00!), so I expanded it with a few RARE bonus tracks! Collectors should try adding the following tracks for a better experience:

9. Ten (The Perfect Mix)
10. Thirteen (The Paisley Park Mix)
11. Ten 1/2 (B-Side)
12. Ten (The Perfect 10/7 Mix)
13. Thirteen 1/4 (B-Side)

I also created a special 2 on 1 CD featuring BOTH 'Madhouse 8' & 'Madhouse 16', plus a BONUS TRACK from 1988, 'Madhouse 17'(Penetration). It's a shame Warner Brothers won't reissue this great music, but if you're going to invest in 'Madhouse 16' (or any of these rare CDs!), you should get more out of it! 'Madhouse 16' showed us another interesting chapter from the glorious past of Paisley Park! NJOY!

It was unusual back then for an instrumental album to be released by one of the biggest names in music but I'm glad it was. Eric Leeds is one of the best musicians ever. Check it out if you get a chance.

I don't understand how this could have been missed by so many jazz fans. this level of cool was so far ahead of it's time I doubt anyone really got back then.

With it's sycopated drum beats, stacatto piano riffs, and sexy bass rhythm's, 16 is a giant leap from it's fomer album, 9.

Upon the release of the second Madhouse album he decided to mix it up a little bit. This album has many similarities to the first in that it presents a jazz based sound in general but in this case the funk is turned up much heavier and the musical concept is more coherant as sound samples from The Godfather. Throughout another set of eight cuts this album is a jazz-funk extravaganza if I ever heard one and more in keeping with Prince's own music at the time. There's also even more of a full band flavor as Sheila E is present on drums and her somewhat insistant sound gives all of these songs an instant sense of musical direction. Especially impressive is th heavily reverbed rhythm of the monster "Eleven",with it's insistant chants of "BABY DOLL HOUSE" throughout the song. "Thirteen" was actually released released as a single and reveals itself as a very Prince oriented variety of funk for sure and it's obvious in that respeect why it was released as a single. "Twelve" is a swinging number led by Eric Leeds and is among the jazzier of the tunes here along with the very Joe Zawinul/Weather Report sounding world fusion closer of "Sixteen". The two Madhouse projects represented some of the most ambitious and musicianally albums Prince ever had a hand in and even though they weren't enormous commercial smashes and were somewhat out of the mainstream musically at the very least Prince had the good sense to at least have these albums released to see what happened.

By Eric Leeds & his band / with Prince in the 80's, who seems
history today -but this album is timeless.
A must for the curious, goofy and hard to label for others.

Prince gets jazzy. What else do you need to know? Buy this now.

Length:: 0:27 Mins