Double-album double-artist review

I set out last Monday in search of... well, my excuse, I guess, to jump halfway onto the Michael Jackson bandwagon. This mainly revolved around the hype and frantic sales of his music, especially on Amazon.com where a big dent was made over the past 5 days.

"Thriller" was on my mind, of course. For years, I'd fought the urge to pick it up because it could mean I'd be going back on a lot of things I'd said. By this point, I think I'd thrown a lot of my skepticism out the window and a lot of prejudices, whatever you want to call them, about the late singer. But you won't catch me standing by the title "King of Pop," not when we have an artist whose name is actually a type of royalty. Then again, that name didn't even come about in that manner. It was the name of his dad's old band, Prince Rogers Trio.

I also won't completely roll over on Prince by saying Michael Jackson ruled the world with his music. He doesn't rule MY world when it comes to music, but he'll definitely get a nice piece of it. After the hype goes down a bit, I'll try to get my hands on "Bad," if only to have the most reputable albums of his. Of course, there's also the whole story about the one time Prince & Michael might have collaborated on something. With the creative differences and such, it never happened. I'd like to see the end result of Prince's walking away, though, just to muse about what could have been and how things might have been different.

So I arrived at FYE, my favorite music spot, which was also the last in line of the several places I looked for Thriller. Wal-mart had nothing at all, K-mart can scarcely be called a department store with such a tiny music section...
The only downside was the only available version of the album was, ahem, $19.99, and had extra stuff on it. Namely the same songs with guest vocals from people I really don't care about. Will.i.am, Akon, Fergie, and Kanye :cough: :cough: . But the end results of all the mixed up versions are better than I expected. Even "Billie Jean" with Kanye wasn't too bad, it was a different take on the classic. None of this is to say that these versions overtake the originals because its impossible to come close to them.
I also have yet to reek the benefits from the included DVD with the videos for Thriller, Beat it, and Billie Jean attached (as well as the infamous performance of Billie Jean at Motown 25 when the moon-walk was first done).

For now, I'll just go with a review of the main 9 tracks of the album and leave the alt.-versions/remakes for another day.

1. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
2. Baby Be Mine
3. The Girl is Mine
4. Thriller
5. Beat it
6. Billie Jean
7. Human Nature
8. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thang)
9. The Lady in my Life

Note: I gave the tracklisting for my own purposes only. I wouldn't make to get any names of the songs wrong.

The album is a fine mix between the late "funk" of disco in its final stages and the upcoming sound of 80's pop (which, as I'd noted, I have a soft spot for, always have).

It starts with one of the "disco"-esque tracks and it ends with a rant that repeats. I don't know the lyrics so I won't repeat them, but the way it sounds brings me back to a lot of disco tracks. The song itself starts the album off great. Catchy as hell and so fun that it speads out in all directions.

"Baby Be Mine" is one of the more relaxed tracks on the album, the same goes for "The Girl is Mine." The first is a love anthem that involves trying to win over a girl. Then the next song is a duet between Michael and Paul McCartney of all people, who both claim the love interest to be theirs. Now that took me by surprise since I never knew the two had collaborated on anything. The back and forth is pretty cool. I took the time to think about the age difference between the two to see how relevant the struggle for the girl was. Given that Paul McCartney had recently turned 67, there's a 16-year age difference, so I suppose if the girl is right in the middle when it comes to age, there is a viable struggle.
Then of course, it ends with a little dialogue and where Michael actually says "I'm a lover, not a fighter." I remember hearing that somewhere before and it was a generally accepted tibdit of knowledge. Then it also hit me that Prince had said the same of him. Just now, I recalled his press conference in May of 2000, when he became "Prince" again after the record label dispute. One of the reporters asked him if who would win in a fight, h im or Michael. Not only did Prince say "Michael's a lover, not a fighter." He also said that people haven't been taking too kindly to him (I'm paraphasing) and not giving him much credit, but he thinks Michael "knows something we don't know" and he might end up surprising us.

I have my doubts he knew that that Michael would have such an untimely death and that would be the surprise. Just maybe, something might come out of his death, something comes to the surface whether it be the public or private side of him. I'm betting whatever comes into the light, it'll be a good thing.

Now we get into "the hits" section of the album where we have the three most infamous singles back-to-back. The title track, Thriller, doesn't come until track #4, which is an intersting place. Usually an album will begin or end with the title track, but this was right in the middle. As if it was the puzzle piece holding the whole album together. And that it is.
The video was unlike anything seen before and it took MTV by storm. Probably holds the record for the longest music video EVER at maybe 14 minutes. Only 4-5 of those minutes are the actual song, the rest was a well-played out movie scenario that involves zombies. What else can I say about the song, though? It's pure excitement that slowly creeps out on you and just explodes with the chorus. On a drive, provided you have a nice open road in front of you with little traffic, it can make for an incredibly ride. And trust me, I've been on this ride at least 3 times now.
Even cooler was the fact they got Vincent Price to do a voice-over for it... enough said.

I never gave much to "Beat it" before I actually hear it within its own family (as I'll call the album). All I had to go by was that it had been covered several times and you really shouldn't do it on American Idol unless you outdo the original (Anoop learned that the hard way). The excitement continues here, but the guitar work is definitely to be appreciated. Even if not played by the artist himself, it rocks the house and it definitely earns its place.
According to Wikipedia (not sure how reputable it is), Eddie Van Halen played the killer guitar for this song. To that, I must say, WOW.

"Billie Jean" always has and always will be my favorite Michael Jackson song. The beat is known by millions and it echoes around the world when played. On VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 80's, it overtook "When Doves Cry" at the #4 in the countdown. The spot is definitely earned well. Listening to the lyrics, though, you have to wonder what the whole message is about. It sounds a lot deeper than you think. A lot of the songs here are pretty simplistic in their lyrics and you don't have to think too much to know what he's talking about. Here, the issue actually sounds serious. From what I can get, its about a girl named Billie Jean that he once had relations with who claims that Michael's the father of her child. Months ago, I googled the lyrics and it hit me that I'd been getting them wrong for so many years.
I'd heard this several times mostly at functions, either one of my cousins' weddings or in high school (concert choir banquet or senior prom) and you can't help but dance to it. One of my cousins almost always dances to it, but he actually has his own style. No moon-walking or anything remotely similar to the music video, but its definitely a sight to see. Good dancing (compared to mine at least ), but at the same time, can be completely hilarious.
It definitely has that 80's vibe that I love.

"Human Nature" is a pretty cool, relaxed track. I listened to it the first time and remember hearing it before. I knew someone had performed it on American Idol during the Michael Jackson week (I found out last Monday that it was Matt Giraud, who didn't do too bad). The drums here are very soft, drawing more attention to the sensitive subject. The lyrics, I still need to decipher. For some reason, though, I want to say the Linn-drum is used here, but I'm not 100% positive. Maybe I just dig the way it sounds.

Oddly enough, I'm considered investing in one as well as an Oberheim synthesizer so I can see about actually playing some of Prince's songs. I'm sure I could spend hours, maybe days playing around the Linn-drum to see what effects sound the most familiar.

"P.Y.T." is also a great track and it shows the beginning of voice manipulation in music (the back-up vocals are sped-up, so this song could very well be a trailblazer). The remake with, maybe Akon, not completely sure, wasn't too bad either. Danny Gokey did this on American Idol and did a pretty good job. I'm not sure if he captures its fun nature the way Shawn Johnson did dancing to it on "Dancing with the Stars."

"The Lady in my Life" is a beautiful ballad and there's not much else I can say about it. His falsetto is good here as with a lot of the other songs, but I'm still leaning towards Prince's just because I've heard it so many times.
I never figured Michael to be the sentimental type, but he did a song called "We are not alone" in the 90's that gives me shivers. The dude's full of surprises, I gotta say.

So yeah, Thriller is a great album. It was well worth the high price and soon, I'll take advantage of the extra features.

Of course, while I was at FYE, I had to check out the Prince rack to see if there was anything I didn't already have. Then voila, the Batman soundtrack was available for a really good price ($9.99). The same day, I had to play both that and Thriller just to get a feel for them. It also helps to get the first listen out of the way with Prince because I planned on taking the album on my trip to work. Its easier to pay attention to the road when you're not trying to make sense of a completely new album.

My inital reaction, with the exception of a couple songs in the middle, was nothing but praise. And I was definitely surprised. I also found myself agreeing with the reviewers that said the album brought nothing new to the table and were just examples of what Prince had already done on his previous albums.

I've seen the future and it will be...
The album starts on an eerie and mysterious note, much the way that movie starts. For the majority of this review, though, I'm going to focus on it as a Prince album rather than it being the soundtrack of probably the best Batman movie ever released.
The Linn-drum and strings are an interesting combination. Towards the end, I was getting the same vibe as I had from a couple of Parade's tracks, mostly because of the strings. I was probably recalling "I wonder U" or maybe the strings in "Screams of Passion" from The Family's album. Again, the mystery of this track is cool because he never does say what the future will be, but just throws in possible continuations of the present.

...give me the electric chair 4 all my future crimes
I was not expecting this song to sound anything like this based on the title. Maybe I thought it'd be something a bit "scary" in more of the vein of "Darling Nikki." We are talking about an electric chair, after all. The bass and guitar in this tear off the roof because they're funky as hell. The sound of the bass, actually, made me recall "Alphabet Street" on the previous album, Lovesexy. In a lot of ways, the album follows a lot of the same musical patterns as this album, but takes them to the next step. The way it ends always makes it stand out for me. It slowly fades, but then the awesome guitar-bass line returns and slowly fades to silence from there.  

The arms of Orion, that's where I wanna b...
Based on the word on .org, the majority doesn't want to be there. I've heard a lot of bad things about this song, but I don't remember anything specific. For some odd reason, until read the title correctly, I thought it said "Arms of Onion" or something about onion. I dunno... it was a while ago, but because of the fact I can't read well  I didn't think it was going to be ballad.
Maybe it had been dismissed because the lyrics are really cheesy and terrible. The duet between Prince and Sheena Easton is really pretty. And I thought their collobroration on "U Got the Look" was good. The tenderness of the song is to be dearly noted. It also brings me back to Lovesexy when it comes to the vibe of it. I can't remember exactly which song, though, but as a whole, it makes me think about the album.

Young and old gather 'round! Everybody hail the new king in town! Partyman, Partyman...
I've heard this song a couple of times before and seen the video a couple of times too. Maybe I should check it out again for the hell of it. When I think this song now, I can only think about the scene in the movie where The Joker wrecks havoc in the museum. The vocals here are very Camile-esque, but I believe Prince called him Gemini when he used the sped-up vocals. Maybe because of the later track, Batdance, where he brings together his personal take on Batman & The Joker. Gemini is meant to be the two sides of a coin together in one person. And we all know how Prince likes to embrace the whole Gemini concept with his music.
It goes without saying that this song is fun in the way that being bad feels good. The music definitely fits in well with the 80's scheme of things.

I've never known a love so sweet, but still I keep Viki waiting...
Thinking about it now, I'm getting a "Girls & Boys" type of vibe where everything's in the sense of fun. The concept of the song, I find interesting. Why keep Viki waiting if everything's great between the two of you? Then again, the album cover credit the lead vocals to Bruce Wayne, so maybe that's why. I'm sure there'd been another song that this reminds me of, but I can't think any right now. Maybe "Eye No," from Lovesexy.

...Trust - I put this question 2 ya cuz I want U 2 be with me
The music here is a bit frantic at times, but seeing as the lead vocals are created to The Joker, it makes a lot of sense. A lot of his tracks are more fun and upbeat. I'm a little on the fence about this song for a number of reasons, but can't really specify any of them at the moment.

Ah, ah, every time U kiss me - lemon crush...
As if the previous song weren't questionable enough as to whether or not I like it... having these two back to back is a pretty bad move because it takes the overall "value" of the album done a couple of notches. I've played this song each of the times I'd played the album through, but it probably won't do anything for me unless it follows the pattern of some other tracks I'd skipped for a couple years and find myself liking when I pick it up after its been in the dark for a long while.
The vocals, especially the line that's repeated through the song, just grate on my nerves. They're just annoying... if not for them and the sound of the vocals in general, this song might have a little more merit.

Scandalous- I'm talkin' 'bout U and me...
I've seen the video for this a couple times (very simplistic, but Prince's presence makes it very beautiful). The vocals get a little harsh at times (once or twice), but the song itself is still very beautiful. The drums brings me back to "When 2 r in Love," but the way the song is put together, how there really aren't any definitive verses when the performance has very little structrue to it, reminds me a little of "Do me baby" where there is little structure in the spoken section. Most certainly, its a dearly noted ballad that closes out the 80's well.

Batdance!
This song has a lot of good stuff in it, but also pushes the envelope in a lot of places. The music video is pretty killer with the many different scenes that are put into it. There's a whole gang of Jokers led by Prince dressed as Gemini (as he was in "Partyman"), there's gang of Batmans (Batmen?) and there's Prince dressed in his Batman-era attire at an array of keyboard/organs as if he were a rock legend (Mozart/Beethoven almost come to mind here with the whole "rock opera" appearance of that set).
The music is great, but the samplings from the main characters of the movie take away from the overall effect. It just as well should have been just about the music, mixing all of the songs from the album together as he had done with a couple of later albums where he simply composes a rap that gives the title of all of the tracks on the album ("Push" was one of them, but I can't remember the others right now).

Now that I have the lyrics in front of me, I finally found out what one particular line was. I swear to God that when I watched the video for the first time on that website with all those Prince music videos (last time I checked, 2 years later, all of the videos have been untouched by "The Web Sheriff"), that I misheard this line and it scared the hell out of me.
I don't know the relevence of "Hey Ducky, let me stick this 7-inch in the computer "... was there someone by that name in the movie? And what the hell is a 7-inch?! Is that supposed to be one of those old-school floppy disks? But I will swear that when I saw that part of the video, that he had actually said my name and was transcending the video to give me a message...
It had been at least day 3 of my watching Prince videos non-stop and I thought he was asking why I was still at the computer. I was probably in a daze at that moment, but when I hear the line, it scared me straight and I was officially awake and out of that daze. It was a definite WTF moment for me.
I'm sure I know what he meant by a 7-inch in the innuendo sense, but what's the computer got to do with anything?

So I'm going to keep Batdance in the line because there are so many good things about it and I'll just have to cope with the bat and the bizarre. Hopefully after hearing it a few more times, the real lyrics will sink in and I'll stop halluincating about it.

I must say, though, when I heard the album for the first time, I was surprised by how good it was. Maybe it won't stand up too well compared to a lot of Prince's other albums, but it holds it own very well. It was interesting hearing it alongside Thriller because they both go into some dark territory. But what I really should do is play Thriller alongside Purple Rain as well as 1999 (because it also came out in 1982). A lot will be up in the air in the whole "battle" between Prince & Michael. My mind has definitely changed about a lot of things involving Michael based on Thriller alone.

One of these days, I ought to...

There are maybe 100, maybe 1,000 ways I could finish that sentence. And when it comes to Prince, there are many more. My to-do list when it comes to his music is always so long. Even more than just his music. I've been throwing around ideas of what I can do for a book on his music and my interpretations based on my "observations" and what I know about his life at the time of the music's creation. That alone is a tall order.

I'd recently started a job at a microbiology lab as of last Tuesday. As of yet, I'm not doing what I was hired to do, but after a month or so of sterilizing equipment and creating buffers and broths for agar plates and such, I'll become a lab tech. For how long, I'm not sure. I doubt I'll be doing this forever, but it'll prove to be a great learning experience. Some skills I gain can help later on. The only downside is that it eliminates a lot of my free time and I'll definitely need that as a writer.

My time for listening to the music has been cut down to close to nothing. The last time I had heard anything Prince related was playing Playstation a couple weeks ago. I played an RPG from start to finish while playing all three discs of Emancipation.

Clearly, I had played that game way too many times if I can beat it in three hours.

On our trip to an outdoor shopping center, I brought my iPOD and for the fun of it, played three songs from each disc of Emancipation. The first three of Disc I, 4-6 on Disc II and 7-9 on Disc III. I planned to finish this attempt at incorporating an even amount of songs from each disc into one 12-song set, but hadn't played my last three picks.

1. Jam of the Year
2. Right back here in my arms
3. Somebody's Somebody
4. Emale
5. Curious Child
6. Dreamin' about ya
7. Sleep around
8. Da Da Da
9. My Computer
10. In this Bed I scream
11. ??
12. Emancipation

It's bad enough I hadn't listened through Disc III enough times to really know where I stand with it. Do I prefer it to Disc I or II or both? I'd only made my decision between the first two, but not so much on the third.

A lot of people have discussed making their own "Emancipation" album by putting their favorites from all three into one 12-song tracklist. Based on the pattern I used, I got some of the best out of all three in here. I love the "Curious Child-Dreamin' about ya" arc, combines some of the most romantic, senusual, breath-taking odes in the whole set. In my opinion, at least.

To be fair, it was strange coming back to this music. There'd been so much focus on Michael Jackson the past few days and just a few hours ago, I watched some of VH1 Classic's marathon, doing a retrospect on some of his videos. It's a three-hour special that'd been playing back to back and so on all weekend.
I'd seen a few example already of why he's such a success and also why he'd been more universally accepted than Prince. He's more mainstream, down-to-earth, and his material is more fun, easier to digest.

The two have been compared so much, but they each have one area where they will dominate the other no matter what.
Prince has been noted for his dancing back in the 80's, but nowhere near a trendsetter. After seeing the video for Michael's "Smooth Criminial," my exact words were, "he really is a bon-diggidy dancer."
Michael Jackson, as far as I can tell, hasn't mastered an instrument, let alone picked one up.
Whether or not one's music is better than the other is debatable, but I'm not about to get into that when I don't know enough about the other side for a compelling enough argument. Or rather internal dialogue.

It took a while to get used to the music again, but I started coming into it as soon as "Right back here in my arms" began. The synth-line is unbelievably good. The song doesn't really have much of a chorus, but that segment repeats enough to be called an instrumental chorus. It brings forth a complex set of emotions that even Prince can't put to words.

One interesting thing that started happening when I started getting his music, because I listen so closely, I've been picking out a lot of the instruments in the songs. Somebody's Somebody has a nice guitar line that begins it. I'd tried to find it on keyboard, but nothing matched. Then when I listened closer, I found that it sounded more like sitar than any guitar. Then in Curious Child, you get some what of a medieval "Romeo & Juliet" type vibe like in the days of Shakespeare of knights serenading damsels on balconies. I get the harpischord from that.

"Sleep around" is easily one of my favorites on disc III, which made me think of some similar tracks. Chelsea Rogers came to mind as well as Damned if I do and Get your Groove on. Somehow of a fun 70's vibe with some influences of Earth, Wind & Fire. But "Sleep Around" is a lot more uniform than the lot of them.
I need to double-check, though, how much involvement Prince had in it. According to my iPOD, it was written by Chester Thompson, but for all I know, it could be a cover or it was co-written by him.

It's things like that as well as some of the guest vocalists or samplings on a bunch of songs on this album that I'm NOT a fan of that has me thinking that I need to check out the album insert again to clear a few things up. Also out of sheer curiousity. Hadn't read through it since I first started listening to the album.
"Da Da Da" already has a few strikes against it as it is.
First of all, it's a song that's nothing but rap. This coming from someone very much opposed to the hip-hop movement, but I won't use the word "sell-out" until he does an entire album of it and puts his name on the cover.
Second of all, the title is not compose of what I would call "legit lyrics." La-la's, na-na's, doot-do's, and da-da's, all shouldn't be song titles (with the exception of them being with other regularly used words and them being in partheneses).

I get more out of "Jughead" than that song. The only highlight was maybe one section where Prince raps and his lyrics seem legit to a cause. Giving it reasoning for belonging among the other tracks, many brilliant on this album.

Every song had a purpose on the album from Prince's point of view or it wouldn't have made it to the final pressing. Part of my plan with this album when I ulimately write the review that will go in "The Word" is to find the reasoning behind the placing of each track on this album set. What purpose does each have and how does it accomplish it.
All I can get from this lyrics of the rap track is some emphasis on the whole "slave" storyline, how life is hard and you can't let it get you down. The guest rapper says a lot of things that make no sense, but those that do talk about the sign o' the times, how its hard to find employment, especially if you live in a poor neighborhood.

So far, I've written a couple reviews of Disc I and maybe two of Disc II. I have yet to do my typical best for Disc III. I might have done a very brief review and posted it, but what I need to is to start condensing the whole into one HUGE part of "The Word."

If only I had the time...

In Memorium

As far as I can remember, I haven't been too kind to Michael Jackson on this blog. If I had even mentioned him at all. If I ever did, it was because people always put him and Prince up against each other, saying one's better than the other. I'm biased for his Greatness, of course, but I could give a bunch of reasons why the one is better than the other.

You come to terms with a lot of things when someone dies, especially one you were close with or who just lived in the limelight their whole lives. You see nothing but image and take the rest for granted. Even though I'm the way I am about Michael Jackson, a part of me still felt that sadness when I heard this news. I didn't believe it at first. The guy's only 50. Same age as Prince. And from what I can tell, he suffered a fatal heart attack. It's one of those things you just never expect.

Just for the hell of it, and maybe out of respect, whatever you want to call it, I might grab a copy of "Thriller" next chance I get. There has to be a reason why it was noted the best selling album of all time.
Then I can seriously do a comparison between it and Purple Rain, but people know nothing else about these artists aside from those albums and the unusual things they'd done in the limelight.

I doubt I'll get over a lot of the negative things about Michael Jackson or rather, I doubt I'll forgive them. The whole trial for child molestation in 2003, I still believe he was guilty, but whatever. Then the whole transformation, from black to white. And people called Prince a freak. Then there's the whole title "King of Pop." Was it just coincidence or was the person who came up with it completely nuts?

If anything, the name "Prince" is modest in comparsion to boasting about being the "king of pop." And that rep. was earned. As least Prince was actually the guy's real name ;)

While we're comparing nicknames, Prince being his Royal Badness and Michael Jackson being the King of Pop... I still lean towards the first having the better nickname.

Come to think of it, though, I don't think Thriller is gonna sound quite as good as it would on vinyl. Like when it was first released. Months ago, I said I'd never own a Michael Jackson album. A lot things change.

As far as I can tell, though, Prince is in excellent health and doing very well for himself. He was on Leno maybe a month ago... wow, has it been that long since my last blog?... and looking sharp as ever. So I really shouldn't have to worry about anything happening to him anytime soon... much like I was 2 years ago when I was under the impression he was a slave to his own work the way Mozart had been. But after this, I can't take too much for granted anymore. I can only hope he lives a long, happy life that, preferrably, includes one concert that I'll see of his.
As always, my prayers are with him. Maybe soon I'll have the chance to pick up an album again because I'm really starting to go through withdrawals

In the meantime...

R.I.P. Michael Jackson
1958-2009

SHOE on Leno

Just to catch a Prince performance, I had seen a total of five episodes of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Now that he's about to pass the reins over to Conan O'Brien, I feel bad that I hadn't watched the show just for the sake of watching. I watch The Colbert Report because I think Stephen Colbert is hilarious. That is, 80% of the time, he's hilarious. The other 20% he's either being ridiculous about something or I find myself on the other side of the argument he's fighting for.

Prince has been on Leno a bunch of times and I had seen all but one of them ("Dinner with Delores" was the performance, unless of course there was an appearance before 1997 that I don't know about). Every performance is different, which is even more important when I'd been on a show more than once.

The show itself was fun and funny. Not just becuase Leno made a joke about Prince, and I quote "The economy's so bad that Prince is buying his clothes off the rack." That was one of 10-15 punchlines of a joke that begins with "The economy's so bad..."

Billy Crystal was a nice guest and the song he did later on was actually funny. But of course, I was a little ticked off that he took up almost the entire show. Leaving no room whatsoever for Prince to even talk... it was all on the performance.

The performance itself, I'm sure someone will say something about it to give him/me grief, but I'm not going to go there because I love the performance.

When Leno made the annoucement, he said he'd be performing "Somewhere here on Earth"... needless to say, I was excited. Beyond excited! That got me thinking how much I love the Planet Earth album because all of the songs were his mental letter, where he mind was at the time. He seemed to be in the mood for love, wanting to find another girl, wanting to try again to make a relationship work.

The curtain opened to reveal a very cozy contemporary setting. It was a clash between a bar and a jazz club. The band and a few people that are either very lucky or friends of his took all of the seats at tables with long, thin legs, round tops. Some people, I'm sure he knew personally (I caught a glimpse or two of Bria Valente sitting at the bar).
He came out in a sparkling, black and silver shirt and had nothing but a microphone stand to serenade the audience. The song itself was slightly up-tempo, which turned me off just a little in the beginning, but he held on to the performance for its duration. He sung in falsetto the majority of the time, but occasionally, he'd speak or sing in his regular register.

Halfway through when the band took over, he went to an easel and made strokes on a canvas. I thought for sure, really thought, that he was painting a portrait or some sort. It would fit right in with a movie, but it was actually a message for/about Jay Leno. The only thing that annoyed me that night aside from the lack of interview was my not having enough time to read what it said. I'm sure somebody figured it out, so I'll wait and see what happens there.

The way this was set up, aside from the set design, made this one of my favorite of his Leno appearances. In fact, I think it puts Ol' School Company and Feel Good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful to shame.
Mainly because it seperated him from the band. He was practically the only one on the set worthy of mention. But the music itself provided by the band was well-done and well-played. Not bad at all for a live version of this song, but of course, I'm partial to the album version.

Then Prince's whole presence on stage, the attitude he had and the way he carried himself, I hadn't seen him like that in a while. His attitude brought me back to his earlier days, somewhat and the occasional ad-libs/sound effects (I don't know what to call them, honestly) made him sound 10 years younger.
I have to address his hairstyle for a brief moment because it caught me slightly off guard. Initially, it appeared like he shaved the left side of his head and combed his hair over it, which made me think of his Parade-era hairstyle. Then I took another look and realized that there was nothing shaved off, haha. It was just combed weirdly to that side.

The best part, I think, would have to be the fact that Prince didn't wear sunglasses. I was half-expecting him to, but he didn't. Being able to connect with your audience is one of the most important things any performer needs to keep in mind. Of course, I'm especially partial to Prince maintaining somewhat of an internal dialogue with his audience by letting us see his eyes.
Early on, I've talked about how he just had this effect on me when he performed. I'd look in his eyes and get completely lost, phase out of reality and focus on the message he was trying to send. The first two of the three appearance on Leno that week in late March were like major adrenaline rushes, which I rarely come by as it is.
Last night, I found myself completely mesmerized and it had been forever since he'd made me feel that way. He had a certain spark in his eyes that was positively magical.

It got me thinking: Prince is in a wonderful place right now. He really seemed very happy to be there and enjoyed himself. In the end, that's all that matters.

Emancipated [Emancipation] Update

A couple of quick side-notes here. I'll try to make this quick.

"Viva la Vida" by Coldplay was nominated for Album of the Year and the single won a couple of awards at the Grammy's. I bought the album because I liked the single and also because Coldplay is up and coming. What the hell, I figured.
I listened to the album in the car yesterday with my mom. The first time I listened to it ever.
I haven't heard much of U2's music, but I can understand the comparisons. I also heard that this album is supposed to be the BIG one, the one all of the others supposedly led up to. I guess you could probably call this Coldplay's "Purple Rain" or "Sign o' the Times" because it has the epic sound to it.
When I came into it, I wasn't expecting an epic sounding record that made you think rather than providing enjoyment. By the end, I felt like I needed something cheerier to listen to because it left me cold.
Now as an album, all of the songs fit together well, having a cohesivenss about their sound. I just wasn't in the mood for an album that made me think. I suppose people could throw "Sgt. Pepper" around this album as well because I'm getting that vibe. At least one song from that album reminds me of some of the sounds in Viva la Vida.
More on this as it develops.

No idea yet on my summer job or job in general. I'm trying to put it off as long as I can. Right now I'm in the middle of so many things. Aside from my usual listening to Prince, I'm going through the books on my shelves. I have so many that were given to me that I'd never read, so I might as well go through them and see what I want to keep so I can make room for Twilight and all of the other new books I'd been getting lately.
My adrenaline rush that I get from buying new music has been replaced with buying new books. There's nothing quite like picking up a shiny new book fresh off a shelf. (I almost picked up a copy of "Catcher in the Rye" yesterday at Target, but my bill was already running with my mom picking up a hardcover copy of Twilight and my wanting to get the director's journal of making the book into the movie).

Now for Prince.
Rumor has it that he's going to appear on Jay Leno on his second to last show. Believe it or not, I heard this from my dad! I'm usually the one to find out these things. I checked the date (Thursday, May 28th, mark your calendars!!) on TVguide and the other guest star is Billy Crystal... meaning that this has to be a brand new one. No reairing of the performance of "Dreamer" or the other two because they were already reaired. The guest stars on those shows included Halle Berry, Frank Caliendo, Billy Mays (aka OxyClean guy), Dana Carvey, and Emma Roberts. Given that, it has to be brand new. There's only one other guest star here, so that leaves more of a possibility for an interview.
I hope, I hope, I hope... but this time, Prince, don't wear a suit, lol. I like the intellectual look, but not too much of it.
More on this also as I get closer to the date. I actually had a dream of seeing a commerical with bits of the performance. I dont know what the heck he was wearing, but it looked like an outfit that fit with the 80's. Think of it as what he wore to the video for "America" and combine it with a trenchcoat like he wore on LoveSexy tour for the song "Bob George"... combine that with long hair and weird glasses.
I know for a fact that that isn't the adverstiment because its LIVE and also because he doesn't wear anything like that anymore.

On the car ride to my grandma's yesterday, I put in Maroon 5's "Songs about Jane" in the car. For some odd reason, the car wouldn't take the CD. Then when it did, it skipped to the third song that starts with a crazy guitar solo and a little bass. My mom asked if this was Prince. I nearly fell over laughing... when I took a moment to think about it, I saw the connection with the hint of funk and such. I could swear, though, that Prince was an influence for their SECOND album, not this one.
In the past year (as of May 20th or whatever the date was), I've gotten a handful of albums. Two of them were by The Time and a couple by Prince. I'd listened to all but Indigo Nights and Elixir.

With everyone else, I got Jesse McCartney's latest (which I've heard a dozen times, of course, because he's my favorite artist in the realm of non-musicians), Taylor Swift, Clay Aiken's newest, Maroon 5's two albums, Sweeny Todd the soundtrack (the movie with Johnny Depp), Nickelback and Viva La Vida. I have a really bad, I mean, really really bad repor"t" when it comes to buying new music, especially when they're not by my "favorite" artists. (Prince and Jesse get special treatment because we're extra close). I have three Beatles albums that I got a couple years ago that I really haven't given much listening to either... the list goes on.
I'd heard Taylor Swift 2.5 times, Clay Aiken once, Maroon 5's 1st album a dozen times, Sweeny Todd once, and Viva La Vida once...
I'm behind in reading books as well, but I can blame that completely on Twilight (love those books).

The funniest thing yesterday (funny as in ironic, not haha funny)... after listening to Viva la Vida, I wanted to put in a cheery album to offset the montony it created. Everything I had on me was problematic. I picked that day of all days to not bring any Prince albums with me. Hell, I could have put in The Time's "What time is it?"... even more hilarious, I could have put in any Prince album I wanted. But I didn't bring anything purple with me, not even my iPOD (what's the point when I don't have a connector for a car yet). We went to a diner that day and they turned on the music a little after we finished my chicken quesadilla appetizer. I didn't want music at the time, but I changed my mind a minute later. Something on the airwaves sounded familiar, and I was thinking that it couldn't be a Prince song... murmers sounded like the group chanting "Purple Rain"... then I heard a guitar and listened closely.
:-O They were actually playing "Purple Rain" at the diner and I couldn't believe it. They never played that on the radio as far as I heard. Then when the sing-along chorus came, I swear that I was this close to getting choked up. Then the song started fading out the third time around and I'm like "shoot, there was only a minute left in the song"... I guess because the song came out of nowhere that it just got to me. Oh how I wish I could blubber like an idiot when I watched the scene in the movie... or getting completely mesmerized by the last two songs like the first time. Oh well.
It would have been perfect if I had Emancipation with me because I could have played that in a snap to really bring up the mood.

A couple of times this past week, I've listened to Disc I of Emancipation. I'm pretty sure I have a more cohesive summary of this disc somewhere, but I'm starting to see a few things now that I've been listening to it in its entirity. "Mr. Happy," which I'm not really cool with, I kept in for the hell of it.

This disc by itself could stand alone as an album because it has just about everything a good album should. It has fast songs, slow songs, falsetto and regular vocals... love songs, dance songs. It has a solid beginning AND finish too.
Disc II is supposed to be the "love disc" for Mayte and his dream of a big family. (By the way, Prince, what happened to that, exactly? You said you wanted a lot of kids starting with this one... and you just gave everything up? Well, I guess I understand. I apologize for bringing this up).
Then Disc III is supposedly a mix of all elements with a little more emphasis on the journey from being a "slave" to an emancipated man free of a record label.

In Disc I, you have the rise and fall of the relationship between Prince and Mayte, somewhat telling the story of how they got to be where they are. Each song could be based on emotions or actual events that either tore them apart or kept them together.

"Jam of the Year" is meant to begin the album in terms of the first disc and the entire package. You can easily feel the joyous vibe with the horns (from now on, I think Prince relies on them more than the whole "Minneapolis sound" relying on the layering of Synthesizers... for which he gets a bit of criticism... not from me, mind you). Jam of the Year is probably talking about a jam session, but the fact he's been waiting for it says that he's been waiting to celebrate for a long time. He's wanted this feeling for a long time and had recently achieved it.
Music tells a lot of the story in this album because it gives you the vibe that symbolizes Prince's emotional mindset at the time.
The fact Rosie Gaines appears here adds another subtle theme to this disc. Making up for wrongs committed in the past. They might have had a little friction because she left the NPG a little into O(+>'s inception... creative differences and such. I don't think she was too bitter about the falling out or whatever happened because she agreed to appear here. He also gave her a boost to her career, so there can't be too many hard feelings. Then again, in comparison to the trio written about in the last song, the relationship between Prince and Rosie couldn't have been that rocky.

"Right back in here my arms" has the whole mainstream R&B vibe going for it with the back-up vocals and bassline in the verses. The synths are what make this track work and also give Prince some artistic merit (as he doesn't get too much of it in this album for whatever reason... for not being too original, I guess).
The synths bring forth a feeling of loss and fleeting despair. A soul crying out because of loneliness. I don't know what Prince does to his vocals in this one, but they feel a little "heavier" than what his voice sounds like when its naturally. Maybe its to give the sensation of walking through mud that comes from the sorrow.

"Somebody's Somebody" has a guitar-line that follows throughout the piece. To me, it says loneliness. I've always had a soft spot for this one with the lyrics and the overall sound of it. It's so pretty and so full of emotion. Also one of Prince's best vocal performances NOT in falsetto. Just an opinion. In the previous song, he and Mayte are supposedly on hiatus and here, it might be in the middle of the hiatus where he feels this way or chronologically, it actually fits between the first two songs. Musically, though, the second song fits well right where it is. Horns followed by the synthesizers connected to the "Minneapolis sound"

"Getcha Groove on" brings back "Jam of the Year," but improves on it. It changes over to Prince's routine "song to bring everyone on their feet and throw away their cares for one moment of their time." The first three songs sounded more modern, of the time period of the mid 90's. Here, we jump back to the 70's in the time of Earth Wind and Fire.

"Courtin' Time," the lyrics I'm still getting into, so I don't quite know where they're going. Musically, we jump even further back in time to the 40's or whenever the Quickstep and Big Band was huge. If I had any choreographing talent at all and knew anything about the Quickstep, I could put a dance to this song. The lyrics probably talk about his current situation with friends and such. Then there's somewhat of a hurry to "court" a girl in hopes of settling down with her in the realm of marriage.

The backtracking through time these two songs do is probably all the better to set up for his cover of "Betcha by Golly Wow." A song he grew up listening it and really felt like it framed in this moment in time better than any song he could have written. The spoken section says it all, his reasoning behind putting this song on this special album. Then the way he says "I love you" in the end sounds more genuine than any other time he'd said/sung those words in a song... a beautiful moment captured in this album.

"We gets up" is about independant artists being able to get up on their own without the help of a record label and the executives. This and "White Mansion" reference the WB executives and talking down to them as a way of proving them wrong. There's no need for the middle man when you're capable of taking care of so much on your own. When your own studio like Paisley Park, of course, its a whole lot easier to do things on your own. More tempting at least.
The music in this song is more NPG-oriented, the sound they promote at this time. I'm not huge on this song for a number of reasons, but I like the way its put together.

"White Mansion" could be about a number of things. The record execs appear in the last verse, but I don't understand the deal with the girl that leaves in the beginning. Could be about his latest break up and then he meets a girl at a club. Who the people are, I can't say, which brings some confusion. My only compliant in the song in the samplings heard in the beginning and end of the song. There is no need for them at all, seriously. They don't even have a point that I can see.

"Damned if I do" is a song, for some reason, I tend to forget about. It's between White Mansion and I can't make you love me... but I'm always under the impression that "I can't make you love me" comes right after "White Mansion."... Why this is, I still haven't figured it out. Maybe in 20 more listens, it'll finally sink in.
The song is catchy as hell lyrically... the NPG-vibe comes about here, but its a little more "tasteful" to me in particular. I can get into it more. The piano is a good instrument in this track. I also like the last minute or so with the instrumental solo and the ending is just right. The lyrics talk about a crazy relationship where there never seems to be a right way of doing things. The feeling that you can't do anything right and you're scewed/damned if you do or don't do whatever.

"I can't make you love me" is another cover on this album. I'm not too crazy about the original, but he makes it work. Whether or not it fits in the overall scheme, I can't say. I guess we needed another song about the crumbling of a relationship. The falsetto is very emotional and heartfelt, genuine, but not quite as much as "Betcha by Golly Wow"... maybe because I don't buy this song being directed at Mayte during one of their "break-ups"

"Mr. Happy" has a lot of rapping in it, which is why I cut it a lot of the time. Then when I look at the raps, I hear some old song titles and lyrics being thrown around. Including something about an elevator falling, I can't love you because I hate you among other things. I don't know the lyrics quite that well yet, so I don't know who its about or for that matter, what its about in general. The "theme park" sound effects that end this song help lead into the last.

"In this bed I scream," the album insert says, is directed to Wendy, Lisa and Susannah. Wendy & Lisa in particular, are well known for working with him because of their place in Purple Rain. Only the people who've listened to his 80's albums know how much input he had in his music. Here, he's trying to make an amends for how they fell out of touch. They used to be so close in the way that they knew each other to the point that they were on the same page, musically, about a lot of things. The synthesizers help start this song well and the funky bass helps finish it. What really makes the song work are the lyrics and the notes they're sung in. Not only are they catchy, but they even sound pretty and precise.

It also gives you the sensation that you want more afterwards. The whole affair this album's about isn't ended. In fact, it leaves the listener with more questions than answers. Does he get the girl in the end? What happens to them if they do end up together?
Maybe that's why this disc was put first, to give you a taste of what's to come and a desire for more music.

I'll see about doing Disc I and II back to back either tonight or tomorrow night to see where this goes.