Maps of Music
Emancipation (1996)
Where the lyrics of Emancipation take you, and where it was really made.
Prince released Emancipation as a triple album whose three discs each hold 12 songs and run exactly 60 minutes, and he tied that structure to the Egyptians and the pyramids.
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Recording place: Paisley Park Studios (1996)
Recording site Paisley Park Studios — The recording place listed for this album is Paisley Park Studios. The record gives the place only, with no date or track information. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there: See the map for directions.
Album story
Overview
- Emancipation: the nineteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince
- Released 19 November 1996 by NPG Records and EMI Records as a triple album
- The title refers to Prince's freedom from his contract with Warner Bros. Records after 18 years
- His relationship with Warner Bros. was described as contentious
- Third album Prince released in 1996, after Chaos and Disorder and the soundtrack to the Spike Lee film Girl 6
- 1996 was one of the most prolific years for material released by Prince
- Three discs, each with 12 songs and exactly 60 minutes
- First album in Prince's career to include cover versions of songs written by other songwriters
Background
- Prince said he had wanted to cover songs in the past, but Warner Bros. advised against it
- Four covers: 'Betcha by Golly Wow!' (earlier a hit for the Stylistics), 'Can't Make You Love Me' (earlier a hit for Bonnie Raitt), 'La-La (Means I Love You)' (earlier a hit for the Delfonics, retitled 'La, La, La Means Love U'), and 'One of Us' (written by Eric Bazilian, earlier a hit for Joan Osborne)
- Prince changed the chorus of 'One of Us' from its original wording to a different phrase
- Prince told the press at the time that the song count, disc count and length of the album connected to the Egyptians and Egyptian pyramids
Recording
- Prince is credited as producer and as arranger on all tracks
- Recording engineers include Steve Durkee, Shane T Keller, Ray Hahnfedt and Tom Tucker
- Kirk Johnson is credited for arrangements on all tracks
- The recording place on record is Paisley Park Studios
- Several tracks use samples: 'Mr. Happy' (Ice Cube, 1994), 'Sex in the Summer' (Funkadelic, 1970), 'Style' (George Clinton, 1982) and 'Sleep Around' (Tower of Power, 1974)
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Tracklist
Disc 1
| 1 | Jam of the Year | 6:10 |
| 2 | Right Back Here in My Arms | 4:44 |
| 3 | Somebody’s Somebody | 4:44 |
| 4 | Get Yo Groove On | 6:32 |
| 5 | Courtin’ Time | 2:47 |
| 6 | Betcha by Golly Wow! | 3:31 |
| 7 | We Gets Up | 4:19 |
| 8 | White Mansion | 4:48 |
| 9 | Damned If I Do | 5:21 |
| 10 | I Can’t Make U Love Me | 6:38 |
| 11 | Mr. Happy | 4:47 |
| 12 | In This Bed I Scream | 5:41 |
Disc 2
| 1 | Sex in the Summer | 5:58 |
| 2 | One Kiss at a Time | 4:41 |
| 3 | Soul Sanctuary | 4:42 |
| 4 | Emale | 3:39 |
| 5 | Curious Child | 2:57 |
| 6 | Dreamin’ About U | 3:53 |
| 7 | Joint 2 Joint | 7:53 |
| 8 | The Holy River | 6:56 |
| 9 | Let’s Have a Baby | 4:08 |
| 10 | Saviour | 5:49 |
| 11 | The Plan | 1:48 |
| 12 | Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife | 7:38 |
Disc 3
| 1 | Slave | 4:51 |
| 2 | New World | 3:43 |
| 3 | The Human Body | 5:42 |
| 4 | Face Down | 3:17 |
| 5 | La, La, La Means I Love U | 3:59 |
| 6 | Style | 6:41 |
| 7 | Sleep Around | 7:43 |
| 8 | Da, Da, Da | 5:16 |
| 9 | My Computer | 4:37 |
| 10 | One of Us | 5:20 |
| 11 | The Love We Make | 4:39 |
| 12 | Emancipation | 4:13 |
Sources: musicbrainz.org
Artist
Formation
- Prince Rogers Nelson, born June 7, 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota; died April 21, 2016 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
- Signed with Warner Bros. Records in 1977 at age 18; first album For You released April 7, 1978.
- Career spanned funk, rock, R&B and pop, with estimated sales over 100 million records.
Career
- Breakthrough with Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981) and 1999 (1982).
- Purple Rain (1984) made him the first singer to hold the number-one film, album and single in the US at the same time.
- Sign o' the Times (1987) is widely considered his greatest work.
- Changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol in 1993, becoming known as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince; reverted to Prince in 2000.
- Won seven Grammy Awards and an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score.
- Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Reception
Records
- United States: debuted at number 11
- Sales in the United States: over 500,000 copies
- Certified double platinum in the United States; the RIAA counts the 3-disc set by discs sold
- Not a major seller, but the sales figure still exceeded 500,000 copies
- 'Betcha by Golly Wow!': No. 31 US Airplay, No. 10 US R&B Airplay, No. 11 UK, No. 20 Australia
- 'The Holy River': No. 58 US Airplay, No. 19 UK
- 'Somebody's Somebody' (promo CD): No. 15 US R&B Airplay, No. 19 UK
- Jam of the Year World Tour followed the album and was a major success, though very few songs from Emancipation were played
- The tour was described as a significant comeback for Prince after the commercial and critical disappointment of Chaos and Disorder
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Trivia
- The song 'The Love We Make' was used as the finale of the 2020 TV series We Are Who We Are
- 'The Love We Make' was inspired by the death of Jonathan Melvoin
- Prince's song count, disc count and length were linked by him to the Egyptians and the pyramids
- 'Mr. Happy' samples 'What Can I Do?' by Ice Cube, and 'Style' samples 'Atomic Dog' by George Clinton
- 'Face Down' contains a strings sample of 'Killin' at the Soda Shop' by Jill Jones, orchestrated by Clare Fischer
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
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