Standout track: Underneath the Cream, U Make My Sun Shine
What amounts to an homage to 1970s soul, this online-only release deserves an only slightly-better review than what the boys in Spinal Tap received for their album, Shark Sandwich. This is just a hair above a complete waste of time.
The songs go nowhere, and lyrics are uninspired and the music just doesn't emit any vibe that is even close to the glory of soul from the 1970s. Not that the album is aimed to be that, exactly, but it's the closest I can come to pointing you in any sort of direction where you might hear this style of music, but done far better than our man does here.
The two ballads listed above as standout tracks are the only songs that keep this review from a total pan. There is some merit in there; the singing is good and you can tap your toes to both, but even they are not up to what we know Prince is capable of. It may be that his online-only albums don't hold up as well as the ones you have to go out to buy, maybe because it's too easy and cheap (relatively) to just dump things via the internet on the unsuspecting, underserving fan base who will buy anything he breathes on. What can I say? I'm one of them and will continue to be. He is a genius, after all. But even Einstein screwed up once in awhile, right?
Give this one a miss and you won't regret it.
Rating: 1 1/2 600 baud modems (out of 5)
Monday, September 30, 2013
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Prince Album of the Day (Day 5): Chaos and Disorder (1996)
Standout tracks: I Like It There, Zannalee, I Rock, Therefore I Am
Who else but Prince could put out an album of previously thrown away tunes and have it be as good as Chaos and Disorder? If anyone could, it would likely be the other weirdo from Minnesota. There must be something in the water up there.
Chaos and Disorder was the last collection of previously unreleased material Prince would do for Warner Brothers, thus wrapping up his contract which had been so unhappy with for so very long. (Frank Zappa also had a tenuous relationship with Warner Brothers, so they must be a bunch of idiots over there for pissing off two of the greatest composer/musicians of the 20th century.) One would think these leftover tracks (from previous recording sessions) would be garbage, but as mentioned in the opening paragraph, this is really solid stuff.
The album opens with the title track, and it's a rocker, guitar-driven, feedback and organ squealing in the background as the song kicks in. The rocking continues into I Like It There, a radio-friendly tune with a great hook. This would have been a better choice for a single than the one that was chosen, a pleasant Dinner with Delores, a more-than-adequate tune but one that doesn't have quite the appeal as the former.
For the other standouts, the blues-laden Zannalee is a must-hear, and I Rock, Therefore I Am is a funky little number with some great scratching and mid-section rap that sets this one above anything I've heard on contemporary releases from the hip hop crowd, a personal opinion to be sure, but one my inarguably snobbish ear stands by.
I Will is the one true ballad on the album and it is, as usual, killer. Some lovely piano here, and really nice instrumentation in the background. Nice vocal harmonies here too from Prince and some mysterious females. All around a really great album, not at all deserving the mediocre reviews it received upon its release.
Rating: 4 seductive whispers (out of 5)
Who else but Prince could put out an album of previously thrown away tunes and have it be as good as Chaos and Disorder? If anyone could, it would likely be the other weirdo from Minnesota. There must be something in the water up there.
Chaos and Disorder was the last collection of previously unreleased material Prince would do for Warner Brothers, thus wrapping up his contract which had been so unhappy with for so very long. (Frank Zappa also had a tenuous relationship with Warner Brothers, so they must be a bunch of idiots over there for pissing off two of the greatest composer/musicians of the 20th century.) One would think these leftover tracks (from previous recording sessions) would be garbage, but as mentioned in the opening paragraph, this is really solid stuff.
The album opens with the title track, and it's a rocker, guitar-driven, feedback and organ squealing in the background as the song kicks in. The rocking continues into I Like It There, a radio-friendly tune with a great hook. This would have been a better choice for a single than the one that was chosen, a pleasant Dinner with Delores, a more-than-adequate tune but one that doesn't have quite the appeal as the former.
For the other standouts, the blues-laden Zannalee is a must-hear, and I Rock, Therefore I Am is a funky little number with some great scratching and mid-section rap that sets this one above anything I've heard on contemporary releases from the hip hop crowd, a personal opinion to be sure, but one my inarguably snobbish ear stands by.
I Will is the one true ballad on the album and it is, as usual, killer. Some lovely piano here, and really nice instrumentation in the background. Nice vocal harmonies here too from Prince and some mysterious females. All around a really great album, not at all deserving the mediocre reviews it received upon its release.
Rating: 4 seductive whispers (out of 5)
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Prince Album of the Day (Day 4): C-Note (2003)
Prince Album of the Day (Day 4): C-Note (2003)
Standout track: Empty Room
You're probably asking, "C-Note? What the hell is C-Note?" C-Note, my friends, was a fan club-only release (and you thought I only liked him for his body) that Prince released after promising members four albums just for them and then not following through, which led to lawsuits from the fans. A pretty ugly situation, no?
The album itself is a live New Power Generation recording, taken from soundchecks and live performances during the 2002 tour. The title is named after the order of the song titles, most being the cities where they were recorded: Copenhagen, Nagoya, Osaka, Tokya, Empty Room. (There is a sixth song that I have as a bonus, Copenhagen (Slight Return), which is, as you'd expect, a slightly different version that the opening track.)
It is a mostly instrumental album, Empty Room being the only cut with any actual lyrics. (Tokyo features Prince occasionally chanting "Tokyo," but that's as far as it goes.) It's very jammy and jazzy, which is pretty great because the NPG who perform on this stuff are all super at what they do. The most notable member is long-time NPG player Maceo Parker, probably best known for playing with James Brown back in the day. So musically, there are a lot of good things happening here.
I'm a little unimpressed with the recording quality, however. Osaka has way too much distortion, so the very prominent bass sounds really bad and everything else on the track thus sounds a little fuzzy, where it shouldn't. (I listened to the album through three different sets of speakers, and this track sounded horrible on all of them, so it wasn't just a bad speaker here.) Copenhagen and Empty Room have the best quality for sound, but Copenhagen, while a fine jam, just wasn't powerful enough to sit strong in my mind. Empty Room is killer though, as close to rock and roll and you're going to find here. I would put the song into regular rotation on a playlist, which I may create when all this is said and done.
Nagoya just misses the mark of being a standout track, only because of the sound quality. It has some nice horn solos and the usual inspired guitar work, but it just sounds so muddy to me.
The bottom line is, musically, this has a lot going for it, but if you care about sound at all like I do, you'll walk away a little unimpressed. This would be perfect music to study by though, at the right volume, and would maybe even be something you could sleep to.
Rating: $350 (out of $500).
Standout track: Empty Room
You're probably asking, "C-Note? What the hell is C-Note?" C-Note, my friends, was a fan club-only release (and you thought I only liked him for his body) that Prince released after promising members four albums just for them and then not following through, which led to lawsuits from the fans. A pretty ugly situation, no?
The album itself is a live New Power Generation recording, taken from soundchecks and live performances during the 2002 tour. The title is named after the order of the song titles, most being the cities where they were recorded: Copenhagen, Nagoya, Osaka, Tokya, Empty Room. (There is a sixth song that I have as a bonus, Copenhagen (Slight Return), which is, as you'd expect, a slightly different version that the opening track.)
It is a mostly instrumental album, Empty Room being the only cut with any actual lyrics. (Tokyo features Prince occasionally chanting "Tokyo," but that's as far as it goes.) It's very jammy and jazzy, which is pretty great because the NPG who perform on this stuff are all super at what they do. The most notable member is long-time NPG player Maceo Parker, probably best known for playing with James Brown back in the day. So musically, there are a lot of good things happening here.
I'm a little unimpressed with the recording quality, however. Osaka has way too much distortion, so the very prominent bass sounds really bad and everything else on the track thus sounds a little fuzzy, where it shouldn't. (I listened to the album through three different sets of speakers, and this track sounded horrible on all of them, so it wasn't just a bad speaker here.) Copenhagen and Empty Room have the best quality for sound, but Copenhagen, while a fine jam, just wasn't powerful enough to sit strong in my mind. Empty Room is killer though, as close to rock and roll and you're going to find here. I would put the song into regular rotation on a playlist, which I may create when all this is said and done.
Nagoya just misses the mark of being a standout track, only because of the sound quality. It has some nice horn solos and the usual inspired guitar work, but it just sounds so muddy to me.
The bottom line is, musically, this has a lot going for it, but if you care about sound at all like I do, you'll walk away a little unimpressed. This would be perfect music to study by though, at the right volume, and would maybe even be something you could sleep to.
Rating: $350 (out of $500).
Friday, September 27, 2013
Prince Album of the Day (Day 3): The Black Album
Prince Album of the Day (Day 3): The Black Album (1994)
Standout tracks: When 2 R in Love, 2 Nigs United 4 West Compton, Rockhard in a Funky Place
This album is probably more infamous than any of His Royal Badness's catalogue. Originally intended for release in 1987, Prince withdrew the album only days before it was to hit the shelves. Rumors at the time revolved around all kinds of crazy ideas, one I remember was that the album was too dirty for the label to release it. (It's dirty, but not too dirty.) A few promo copies got out and the album was bootlegged to high heaven (my first copy was a bootleg I bought at Off the Record in Royal Oak), but The Black Album did not receive an official release until 1994. Shortly after, Prince stopped being Prince for awhile and was spotted around town with the word "slave" written on his face. Warner Brothers' decision to release this album may have played a part in all that, along with many other things. That said, the album is a funk paradise, with great grooves everywhere. The only clunkers are the profane, bizarre, unnecessary Bob George, and a rap (of sorts) called Dead on It. Everything else is gorgeous, from the funky Le Grind that opens the record all the way to the bumpin' Rockhard in a Funky Place. 2 Nigs... is a super mostly instrumental jam with some wicked instrumentation, including a bass solo that would make Les Claypool blush. The sole ballad, When 2 R in Love, is stunningly beautiful. (That track was released on Lovesexy in 1988, which came out as a replacement for The Black Album.) A very good album, definitely one to brighten the mood, but skip the two clunkers. They bring the overall score down.
Rating: 3 1/2 copies of Smell the Glove (out of 5)
Standout tracks: When 2 R in Love, 2 Nigs United 4 West Compton, Rockhard in a Funky Place
This album is probably more infamous than any of His Royal Badness's catalogue. Originally intended for release in 1987, Prince withdrew the album only days before it was to hit the shelves. Rumors at the time revolved around all kinds of crazy ideas, one I remember was that the album was too dirty for the label to release it. (It's dirty, but not too dirty.) A few promo copies got out and the album was bootlegged to high heaven (my first copy was a bootleg I bought at Off the Record in Royal Oak), but The Black Album did not receive an official release until 1994. Shortly after, Prince stopped being Prince for awhile and was spotted around town with the word "slave" written on his face. Warner Brothers' decision to release this album may have played a part in all that, along with many other things. That said, the album is a funk paradise, with great grooves everywhere. The only clunkers are the profane, bizarre, unnecessary Bob George, and a rap (of sorts) called Dead on It. Everything else is gorgeous, from the funky Le Grind that opens the record all the way to the bumpin' Rockhard in a Funky Place. 2 Nigs... is a super mostly instrumental jam with some wicked instrumentation, including a bass solo that would make Les Claypool blush. The sole ballad, When 2 R in Love, is stunningly beautiful. (That track was released on Lovesexy in 1988, which came out as a replacement for The Black Album.) A very good album, definitely one to brighten the mood, but skip the two clunkers. They bring the overall score down.
Rating: 3 1/2 copies of Smell the Glove (out of 5)
Prince Album of the Day (Day 2): Batman Soundtrack
Prince Album of the Day (Day 2): Batman Soundtrack (1989).
Standout tracks: Lemon Crush, Trust.
The soundtrack for Tim Burton's first Batman movie, this album is mostly a big mess. There is no real cohesion here at all between songs, and on the tracks that don't include Jack Nicholson dialogue, you really have to stretch to connect them to the film. There are random references (lyrically) to Gotham City and there's a song named (ostensibly) after Vicki Vale, which had been actually recorded a year earlier and was named Anna Waiting, after Prince's then-girlfriend, but that's really about as far as it gets. And that's fine, because every song on a Batman soundtrack doesn't need to mention Batman. Musically, there's not a lot to talk about. Trust and Lemon Crush are both pretty great, and Electric Chair (also from an earlier recording session) and the upbeat Partyman are not too shabby either. The duet with Sheena Easton (The Arms of Orion) is not very good. The ballad Scandalous isn't terrible, but not very inspiring either. And the Batdance finale (I had the cassingle!) is fine if you like that sort of thing, but I'm not fond of film dialogue being inserted into songs. All in all, Lemon Crush is worth hearing though. There are snippets of smokin' guitar leads, like Eddie Hazel with Tourette's, and a really solid groove. I would definitely shake it up on the dance floor if it came on in the club. But the album itself? Meh.
Rating: 2 Bat Signals (out of 5)
Standout tracks: Lemon Crush, Trust.
The soundtrack for Tim Burton's first Batman movie, this album is mostly a big mess. There is no real cohesion here at all between songs, and on the tracks that don't include Jack Nicholson dialogue, you really have to stretch to connect them to the film. There are random references (lyrically) to Gotham City and there's a song named (ostensibly) after Vicki Vale, which had been actually recorded a year earlier and was named Anna Waiting, after Prince's then-girlfriend, but that's really about as far as it gets. And that's fine, because every song on a Batman soundtrack doesn't need to mention Batman. Musically, there's not a lot to talk about. Trust and Lemon Crush are both pretty great, and Electric Chair (also from an earlier recording session) and the upbeat Partyman are not too shabby either. The duet with Sheena Easton (The Arms of Orion) is not very good. The ballad Scandalous isn't terrible, but not very inspiring either. And the Batdance finale (I had the cassingle!) is fine if you like that sort of thing, but I'm not fond of film dialogue being inserted into songs. All in all, Lemon Crush is worth hearing though. There are snippets of smokin' guitar leads, like Eddie Hazel with Tourette's, and a really solid groove. I would definitely shake it up on the dance floor if it came on in the club. But the album itself? Meh.
Rating: 2 Bat Signals (out of 5)
Prince Album of the Day (Day 1): Around the World in a Day
Here begins a new daily (as time allows) series of posts. For the next several weeks, I am going to work my way through what amounts to be a majority of Prince's catalogue, in alphabetical order, one album a day, and report back each day to the few of you who haven't blocked me already with a small review. That said, let's begin:
Prince Album of the Day (Day 1): Around the World in a Day (1985). Standout tracks: Condition of the Heart, Raspberry Beret, Pop Life, The Ladder.
The follow-up album to 1984's Purple Rain, Prince let loose with some experimentation and came up with a merely mediocre album. The title track has potential but never quite goes anywhere. Paisley Park does even less. Tamborine may be one of the most painfully bad songs I've heard. But the rest of the album is not bad. It's hard not to like the singles, Raspberry Beret and Pop Life (I still have those both on 45). Condition of the Heart is a really solid ballad that I'd put up there with the best of them, not quite as good as 1999's Free, but really damn good. The Ladder is one of Prince's "come to Jesus" tunes, and it's very catchy and has been stuck in my head most of the day. That track is followed with Temptation, a sex and God-fueled romp that features some killer guitar and saxophone work. It gets a little weird near the end, where he has a little dialogue with the Almighty about sex vs. love, which was a common theme of the tour that led up to this album, but it's still a worthwhile listen.
Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Prince Album of the Day (Day 1): Around the World in a Day (1985). Standout tracks: Condition of the Heart, Raspberry Beret, Pop Life, The Ladder.
The follow-up album to 1984's Purple Rain, Prince let loose with some experimentation and came up with a merely mediocre album. The title track has potential but never quite goes anywhere. Paisley Park does even less. Tamborine may be one of the most painfully bad songs I've heard. But the rest of the album is not bad. It's hard not to like the singles, Raspberry Beret and Pop Life (I still have those both on 45). Condition of the Heart is a really solid ballad that I'd put up there with the best of them, not quite as good as 1999's Free, but really damn good. The Ladder is one of Prince's "come to Jesus" tunes, and it's very catchy and has been stuck in my head most of the day. That track is followed with Temptation, a sex and God-fueled romp that features some killer guitar and saxophone work. It gets a little weird near the end, where he has a little dialogue with the Almighty about sex vs. love, which was a common theme of the tour that led up to this album, but it's still a worthwhile listen.
Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
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