Prince Album: “News”

These days, it's easy to dismiss Prince as a fading pop star who's all but alienated his fans since he left Warner Brothers in the 1990s. As far as chart singles go, he's been hitless for about a decade, and his last few albums haven't fared too well saleswise. But you can't help but respect an artist who follows his own musical vision instead of chasing after what's "hot" or "in." As if Prince couldn't surprise us any more, he releases "News," an odd album of 4 tracks clocking at 14 minutes each. No lyrics. No vocals. They're instrumentals featuring a laid-back fusion of funk and jazz that's a far cry from "Let's Go Crazy." Some will call this a project of self-absorption, while others will listen with an open mind and accept "News" for what it is. These aren't jams you can listen to with a casual ear, nor are they composed for those with short attention spans. The CD requires you to listen with some degree of patience, something many people these days don't really have. Still, "News" is not for everyone, and even some Prince fans (the ones whose collection begins and ends with the "Purple Rain" soundtrack) will turn their nose at it. But for those who desire a challenge, "News" is an interesting choice.

Anyone out there who still doubts Prince's musical genius should check out this CD. Any musician able to effortlessly shift from writing one-chord songs like 'The Everlasting now' (a stunning funk number built around a two-note bass line, on his previous album 'The rainbow children') to writing an instrumental album like N.E.W.S. -wich blends jazz, funk, even ethnic and new age textures- in the wink of an eye like Prince does, deserves all your attention. This disc starts with 'North', a cool mix of classy jazz solos on a funky bass line. However, nothing can prepare you to 'East'! It starts with digital keyboards providing a violin-like tone playing an eerie line that sets the ethnic mood for the tune, wich evolves into a violin-drums duet playing a bizarre groove. When the rhythm cools down, a synth phrase with a sitar-like tone makes its way in a crescendo boosted by guitar power chords to a tremendous effect: this will give you goose bumps. 'West' starts with a beautiful melodic line played by Prince's guitar over a cool keyboards and bass accompaniment, but the piece eventually evolves into a darker mood stressed by Renato Neto's final solo on piano: clouds over the Western world? 'South' is an hot jazz-funk tune with an outstanding bass-driven groove that will put many of Hancock's funk records to shame -no disrespect to Herbie, of course. Even 'South' benefits from various rhythm and key changes.

This disc shows a superb musicianship and demonstrates that Prince can easily master any music style he wants to. Also, don't miss the rest of the personnel: Rhonda Smith on bass, John Blackwell on drums, and the great sax phrases by Eric Leeds. Prince plays guitar, fender rhodes piano and digital keyboards. Listening to Prince's passionate solos on this disc you'll understand why Carlos Santana, asked once to pick the most underrated guitarist he'd ever played with, picked Prince. People who remember the Purple One only for 'Purple Rain' will have difficulty in recognizing him while listening to this disc. But this is the best compliment that one could pay to Prince's musical variety. Recommended to any Prince fan and to any music lover as well.

being a fan of music throughout the years,i have always kind of dug prince for his originality, but havent been a huge fan due to the cartoonishness of most of his songs.i heard musicology and didnt really care for the song when i heard it.but logging on to cdnow one day i saw this album had been released just a short time after musicology came out.so i got it because there was no vocals on it.me and my friends have a weekly poker game that usually turns into near fisticuffs due to everyone trying to put their music on the whole time.well,we got "right" and started playing and i stuck this cd in and we listened to it all night.prince's guitar work is phenomenal on this cd.the horns and drums are great.this is one of the most experimental and cool cds ive ever heard.perfect party music or if you just like sitting back and catching a buzz.a bullseye on this one.

Just ordered it a couple of weeks ago and it hasn't left my CD player at all. I'm a big fan of progressive jazz and if Prince wasn't who he was he could definitely hold his own against anybody in that field with this CD. I kind of felt Prince was heading towards Jazz years ago with the Sign of The Times album w/cuts such as Slow Love, Adore, It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night, and others and his work with Madhouse. Then I was more convinced he was going more into the Jazz side of things with Sexy MF, Strollin, and Damn U on the Diamonds and Pearls LP. The Rainbow Children convinced me totally that he was going to eventually put out some sort of Jazz inspired LP, but I never envisioned him putting this classic out, especially in instrumental form. West is my particular favorite of the 4 tracks on there. He mixes all sorts of Jazz, Funk, Rock, Blues, you name it on here and to me, no album shows Prince's musical genius with instruments better than this one. As a collector of every Prince Album (except two), this is definitely one of his top five albums released ever (Purple Rain, 1999, Sign of The Times, Emancipation & N.E.W.S. Sorry, N.E.W.S. had to replace the For You album in my book). For real music enthusiasts, who prefer musicianship over this packaged popcorn garbage we get fed regularly on the radio, this one is for you.

Prince leads his highly talented musicians through an hour long jam session that goes through every style of music Prince has ever touched and then some. A very neat one time experiment that might warrant another album: maybe not. Either way, buy this.