Customer Reviews

Emancipation

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

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....

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.
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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.
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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.
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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!

"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!

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.

I have had this cd since it came out in 1996 and it is well traveled, I've listened to the first disc because it contained the title track and that was about it. Maybe my age at the time was a factor. I doubt it but maybe. I dug this trilogy out over the weekend, dusted it off and gave it a much deserved spin on the CD Changer.
What was I thinking!? There are some awesome tracks on this set, as many of the reviewers have listed. This cd is well worth a listen as is Musicology.

Like most Prince fans (...), while I had heard a few of his singles in the late 70's & early 80's, it was seeing "Purple Rain" that turned me into a permanent fan. While I love the next few albums to different degrees, his next real masterpiece was "Sign O' The Times." After a few more releases, he blew me away again with "The Gold Experience," and although the narration between the tunes sometimes interrupted the flow of the album, the tunes were absolutely killer.

Then, on a hot summer night in a hot tub in 1997, my wife I and listened to this set for the first time. How the hell he came up with 3 hours of music this good is truly beyond me. I feel the word is used FAR too loosely these days, but the guy really is a freakin' genius. No matter which of his styles you enjoy (pure funk, jazz-funk, ballads, hip-hop, tunes to have sex to, dance tunes, etc.), you will be MORE than satisfied.

Not-so-hardcore fans were alienated by the switch to "The Symbol" when this one came out, plus the fact that not as many folks are willing to slap down the extra $ for a 3-disc set. It's too bad, because by rights, this one should have been HUGE. I'm glad to see all the renewed interest after the Grammy and R&R Hall of Fame performance...I just hope that as old fans play catch-up with his post-80's stuff, that they'll put this one in their shopping cart. You won't be disappointed.

Over the approx. 3 years since this album's release, I have grown to like it less and less. Initially, I was simply overwhelmed by the quantity of music (three hours worth). Some of the songs rank among his best work ("Holy River", "Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother, Wife"), but the biggest problem for me lies with the album's overall "sound." The production sounds very sterile, cold, and antiseptic. Only on the two tracks performed by the NPG do I get the feel that a group of warm-blooded human beings played on this album. Much of the rest sounds like a bunch of cheesy, dated drum machines and synths (I think this album sounds far more dated already than early '80s albums like "1999").

When I saw him in concert three times in '97, "Face Down" was a highlight-- funky like doo-doo. On the album, it sounds so thin and tinny you'd hardly know it was the same song. Ditto "Get your Groove on" and "Jam of the Year", which sounded great live with the band members soloing-- but on the album they are just soooo lifeless.

On top of these complaints, I must also say the album is woefully OVER-produced in parts (case in point, the cover version of "One of Us" which just sounds cluttered). Even on the sparse "Let's have a Baby" (GREAT vocal), he didn't even play a real bass. For as brilliant an instrumentalist Prince is, the musicianship on this album is almost non-existant.

I'll get the negatives out of the way first: It's too long, at times too sappy, and at times too contrived. However, Emancipation contains some of the best O(+> music this decade and again displays a range unseen in any artist or band of this generation.

Disc 1 is on the whole very good. The standouts on this disc are "Back in My Arms," "White Mansion," "Damned If I Do," the exquisite cover of "I Can't Make U Love Me," and "Jam of the Year."

Disc 2 is the "Mayte disc," was obviously cut while during their honeymoon period, and is a hit-and-miss affair. I enjoyed "Sex In the Summer," "Soul Sanctuary," "Joint 2 Joint," "Saviour" and "Holy River."

Disc 3 is a cornucopia of interesting songs that offer some promise but are basically a slew of unfinished ideas. I liked "Slave," "Face Down," the quirky "My Computer" (which has a slammin' "A Love Supreme"-like flourish at the end), and the remake of "One of Us" (stellar guitar) and "Emancipation" (one of THE best bass lines in ANY Prince song).

Non-fans should purchase this if they are in an adventurous mood. Fans should have this collection and mine out the diamonds among the coal. But in any event, it features great snapshots of the new era in the Artist's career.

I've had this album for over two years, and i am now revewing it because...it's classic. From the opening track "Jam of the Year" until the Finale..."Emancipation". I'm a college music major and find it astounding how much great music is on this album. I play the album when i'm doing my math homework, cleaning the kitchen, or writing. One of these days this album s going to be considered his greatest hits album...because he has something on here for everyone:"Human Body" for the techno raver's, "Jam of the Year" for the family Bar-b-que's, "Courtin' Time" for the swing dancers, "Sex in the Summer" for the ladies to listen to when riding with they girls or just feeling sexy, "Holy River" for those into gospel music, "Slave" for the militant...It can go on and on, so just do yourself a favor, get this album. Because when it becomes a must have in the future and you don't have it, your going to wish you took my advice. So in the words of Don Cornelius, "Love, Peace and Soul".

Making a 3 disc was probably a mistake. It's not like Prince isn't used to releasing "lost" songs(see Crystal Ball, Black Album and Vault). Why not make this a two disc and release the leftovers as time went on.
In all honesty, the second disc is probably the best overall. The first one has some gems on it, his cover of I Can't Make You Love Me is nothing short of fantastic. He made it his own and it was exactly what we expect, greatness.
I'll say it again, take the best songs and make a two disc album...then it'll be a sold album. Take the absolute best tracks and make one disc and it's a 4 star album easily.
Don't sell this one too short, it's got some real gems and even when it's not one of his best songs he throws something in there that makes the song so much better.