Man O War is from Prince's 1999 album, Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic. It is a soulful bit of song with a lovely production. The album is one that took me the longest time to get to love. A couple of songs, this one included, aside it took me a long time to appreciate the songs, possibly due to the production being a bit too shiny and designed to appease the way Pop sounded in the latest of 90s. Wasn't a big fan of the features either, but the songs have since grown on me enough to counter the issues I had with the album.
@tin_robot, I assume you know about this. I didn't though, just recognised the voice on a playlist Tidal made for me and sat there scratching my head for a couple of minutes trying to place it.
The cut down version of this song is used as the opening song for Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken, but it turns out the full song is just brilliant anyway
Such a good album I’m off to see them for a third time this year (fourth time if you count Neil and Tim show in Oxford) and one of g top five ever bands
Still in Andrew Weatherall shock. Turns out I knew a bunch of his stuff, and we'd caught him.in fabric in 2004, which I'd forgotten..mainly it's been the last year for me, his 4-5 hour sets in Phonox in Brixton.
But his passing led to a bunch of mixes getting passed around in WhatsApps. This one is absolutely astonishing. Only love can break your heart indeed
That album is gorgeous, so yes, there was as second album but I rarely remember anything from it. But yeah put "the sun is often out" on, it's probably one of the best albums of the decade
"I spent years thinking Yorke was legit Downs-ish disabled and could only achieve lucidity through song" - Mr B
Strange Relationship has the honor of gracing four Prince albums, three of them unreleased: Dream Factory, Camille, Crystal Ball and finally Sign 'O' The Times. The version on Dream Factory is a different recording, with a non-pitch shifted vocal. This song is one I often think about, for its romantic but weird vibe. The Camille stuff is among my favourite of all 80s Prince, and this song shows why: great production with that alter-ego delivering an ambiguous sexuality and gender. The lyrics are among my favourite from Prince:
"I guess you know me well, I don't like winter
But I seem to get a kick out of doing you cold
Oh, what the hell, you always surrender
What's this strange relationship that we hold on to?"
Nothing Compares 2 U, one of Prince's most celebrated songs was originally written for the self-titled protege album, The Family, which featured Prince's girlfriend at that time, Susannah Melvoin, the twin sister of Wendy. The song was written about and for her. I never heard this original recording of the song by Prince, until it was released in the last couple of years. The song was obviously made famous by Sinead O'Connor but for my money, Prince blows her out of the water with this recording.
So Drake has said that he is finishing up an album. Excited to hear what he does next. Loved his song with Chris Brown. Perhaps another collab is in order?
"Given how long it's taken for me to reconcile my nature, I can't figure I'd forgo it on your account."
Love 2 The 9's is my favourite song from Prince and the New Power Generation, AKA The Love Symbol Album. An utterly gorgeous vocal from Prince - check out the falsetto on the ending - mixed with some of his best rapping. Ridiculously joyous, hard as fuck alternating with soft as fuck... a great song from an equally great album.
"Sometimes it snows in April
Sometimes I feel so bad, so bad
Sometimes I wish life was never ending
And all good things, they say, never last..."
Sometimes It Snows in April is a gentle, beautiful song about death, from the soundtrack of the movie, Under the Cherry Moon. The disparity between the grace and near perfection of the album with the way off target, ridiculous and childish movie, with some of the worst kissing ever seen in public, is notable. The movie was the first directing job of Prince - who would also go on to direct the sequel to Purple Rain, Graffiti Bridge - and it is not a flattering outing. One thing that allows the Prince obsessive to watch with less pain and discomfort is the cinematography of Michael Ballhaus, frequent collaborator of Martin Scorsese, which is superb. The movie's biggest mistake, in comparison to the silly but triumphant Purple Rain, is not having more than one musical performance scene. If the film had followed the style and approach of Purple Rain, it would likely have been much more successful. No-one wants to see Prince try his hand at dramatic acting. They want to see him perform.