DEEP DIVES – Album Reviews: Xpectation and N·E·W·S by Prince

I am doing a deep dive into the work of the musical artist Prince.  Each week until December I will post my thoughts on albums released by Prince (and his bands and side projects) focusing on one year of his career. 

This week I’ll be exploring Prince’s releases from 2003: Xpectation and N·E·W·S.

Album: Xpectation
Artist: Prince
Release Date: January 1, 2013
Label: NPG
Favorite Tracks: They all kind of run together into one long tune.
Thoughts:

Prince revisits jazz fusion and smooth jazz on this collection of 9 tunes.  Each track title is a single word starting with the letter X (standardized spelling was never important to Prince). On the one hand, I can understand how Prince would want to take a break from popular music and explore other styles.  And to my ears this is a really good take on funky jazz. But on the other hand, this music isn’t really my cup of tea and I can’t imagine revisiting this album.

Rating: ***1/2

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Album: N·E·W·S
Artist: Prince
Release Date: February 6, 2003
Label: NPG
Favorite Tracks:
Thoughts:

The second, and weaker, of Prince’s two albums from 2003 is also a jazz fusion collection, this time with more of a New Age feel and a focus on Eric Leeds’ saxophone.  The gimmick for this album is that each of the lengthy tracks is named for one of the cardinal directions.  Sadly, it’s just kind of boring.

Rating: **1/2

 

For You	1978		***
Prince	1979		***1/2
Dirty Mind	1980		****
Controversy	1981		****
1999	1982	Prince and the Revolution	*****
Purple Rain	1984	Prince and the Revolution	*****
Around the World in a Day	1985	Prince and the Revolution	****
Parade	1986	Prince and the Revolution	****
Sign “☮︎” the Times	1987		****1/2
8	1987	Madhouse	***
16	1987	Madhouse	***1/2
Lovesexy	1988		***1/2
Batman	1989		***
Graffiti  Bridge	1990		***1/2
Diamonds and Pearls	1991	Prince and the New Power Generation	***1/2
[Love Symbol]	1992	Prince and the New Power Generation	***1/2
Goldnigga	1993	The New Power Generation	**1/2
Come	1994		**1/2
The Black Album	1994		***1/2
The Gold Experience	1995		**1/2
Exodus	1995	The New Power Generation	***
Chaos and Disorder	1996		**1/2
Emancipation	1996		***
Kamasutra	1997	The NPG Orchestra	***
Crystal Ball	1998		***1/2
The Truth	1998		***
Newpower Soul	1998	The New Power Generation	**
The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale	1999		**
Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic	1999		***
The Rainbow Children	2001		**1/2
One Nite Alone…	2002		**
One Nite Alone… Live!	2002	Prince and the New Power Generation	***1/2
Xpectation	2003		***1/2
N-E-W-S	2003		**1/2
Musicology	2004
The Chocolate Invasion	2004
The Slaughterhouse	2004
C-Note	2004
3121	2006
Planet Earth	2007
Indigo Nights	2008
Lotusflow3r/MPLSound	2009
20Ten	2010
Plectrumelectrum	2014	with 3rdeyegirl
Art Official Age	2014	with 3rdeyegirl
HITnRun Phase One	2015
HITnRun Phase Two	2015