The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 17, 1997, Page 15, Image 15
Prince s
SOUND ADVICE
Marcus A maker staff writer
"EMANCIPATION" Ibe Artist Formerly
Known as Prince
(out of four stars)
These are trying times for the man
we used to call Prince.
Year after year he has asserted his
genius on great albums only to have
critics and fans reminisce on his reign
in the mid-1980s.
While it may be true that he may
never reach the level of commercial
success he had over 10 years ago, the
artist formerly known as Prince has
been making some of the best music
of his career.
1995's "The Gold Experience" was
one of his best albums ever, and last
year's Chaos and Disorder showcased
his unprecedented skills on the guitar.
Continuing in that trend of
exceptional CDs, the artist's most
recent release Emancipation maybe
the most ambitious move of his career.
This new collection contains 36 songs
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equally into 12 songs totalling exactly
one hour.
An album this ambitious is nothing
new to the artist.
1987's classic double record "Sign
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of The Times" (which was originally
a triple album called "Crystal Ball")
explored some of the same territory.
What makes Emancipation different
is that the artist formerly known as
Prince is no longer the introverted and
reclusive person who seemed obsessed
with sex.
Now when he sings about that topic,
the lyrics are directed towards one
person: his wife Mayte.
Their marriage, coupled with the
birth of their baby, and the shakeup
with his former record company Warner
Brothers, has given the artist a new
appreciation for life.
For the first time we can hear the
man behind the image he so carefully
created with albums like "Dirty Mind"
(1980), "Around the World in a Day"
(1985) and "Lovesexy" (1987).
Now that he no longer answers to
a major record label, the artist formerly
known as Prince has total control over
the amount of music he wants to release.
The concept behind Emancipation
deals with this new freedom and the
new direction his life has taken.
Musically, Emancipation is as
eclectic as the artist himself.
He effortlessly swings from rock (a
remake of Joan Osborne's "One of Us")
to techno ("The Human Body") to
ragtime ("Courtin' Time") to ambient
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("Hie Ran") to R&B ("Right Back Here
in My Arms").
In anyone else's hands, this would
make an uneven album, but the artist
formerly known as Prince meets the
challenge with some of the best songs
of his career.
As always, the artist produced,
wrote and performed all of the songs
on the album. The only songs he didn't
write are the five remakes.
This time around he opts for the
studio-perfection of albums like "1999"
and "Come" instead of the live band
he used for his recent material.
The end product is one of the most
satisfying albums he has created since
his debut in the late seventies.
The first CD contains some of the
best songs that "Emancipation" has
to offer.
The hat trick of "Jam of The Year,"
"Right Back Here in My Arms" and
"Somebody's Somebody" open up the
album in a way that recalls his pre1999
days when he was known as an
R&B artist.
"White Mansion," with it's catchy
chorus and bass heavy melody, is the
perfect in-your-face statement to his
former label.
"Damned if I Do" is a pounding
rock song that switches mid-tempo
into a Latin groove before song's end.
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He dedicates "In This Bed I Scream"
to former band mates Wendy, Lisa
and Susanah from The Revolution.
In that song he sounds like a man
who has realized the error of his ways
when he sings lines like" a thousand
times I feel whatever I put you
through."
The best material, however, is on
the nearly flawless second disc. This
CD acts as a perfect transition between
the more aggressive songs on the rest
of the album.
"One Kiss At a Time" recalls
everything that made "Do Me Baby"
such a huge hit in
"Curious Child" floats along an
instantly catchy hook and "Joint 2
Joint" is a ranchy funk excursion
complete with tap dancing (courtesy
of tap wonder Savion Glover) and a
segment where the artist eats cereal
(!).
"The Holy River" recalls some of
his best work on "Sign Of the Times."
The lyrics, such as "surrounded
youself with all the wrong faces /
spending your time in all the wrong
places / putting your faith in things
that only make you cry" speak of the
evolution he endured in becoming the
person he is today.
The third CD finds the artist
experimenting more with sounds and
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moods.
"New World" and "The Human
Body" are both electronic-inspired
numbers, while "Style" and "Sleep
Around" are driven bv horns.
Still, songs like "Face Down" and
"Da Da Da" would sound better as Bsides
because the;/ only inhibit the
overall flow of the album.
"My Computer," featuring Kate
Bush on background vocals, is a plea
for a time when life wasn't complicated.
He transforms Joan Osborne's
"One Of Us" into a larger than life
rock anthem and changes the line
"Just a slob like one of us" to "Just a
slave like one of us."
"Emancipation" ends on a high
note with the Purple Rain-esque "The
Love We Make."
This song is the title track in which
he states the new artistic freedom he
now has. .
One of the only real problem with
"Emancipation" lies in sappy remakes
of "Betcha By Golly Wow" and "La La
La Means I Love You."
These two songs sound like a poor
man's version of the artist's original
1994 hit "The Most Beautiful Girl in
the World."
One has to wonder why "Betcha
By Golly Wow" was released as the
first single when there are plenty of
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better songs to choose from.
Also, the artist formerly known as
Prince still insists on encorporating
rap into some of his songs.
A no name rapper, Scrap D.,
appears on "Mr. Happy" and "Da Da
Da." As a result, these are two of the
weakest songs on the album.
But these are only minor complaints
for a collection as brilliant as
"Emancipation."
The artist has always been years
ahead of everybody else, and this new
album proves that he is one of the few
visionaries left in music.
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