Publication: London Times [UK]
Date: November 22, 1996
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Title: "David Sinclair Salutes the Artist Recently Known as Duff On His Three-Hour-Long Return to Superstar Form"
Reviewed By: David Sinclair

He sings, he plays, he wears a joke beard made out of caviare ­ is there no end to Prince's talents?

With one mighty LP, the Slave was free

PRINCE
Emancipation
(NPG/EMI 7243 8 549820; three CDs £19.99)

HE MAY be the most prolific superstar in the history of pop, but as Prince enters a new phase of his career with his first record for EMI, his stock is at a low ebb. His previous album, Chaos and Disorder, a desultory kiss-off to his former record company, has sold fewer than 40,000 copies in Britain, a dismal result for an artist of his stature.

As public interest has waned, so the media has tired of pandering to the little man's identity crises and crass promotional ploys. Not the best moment then, you would think, to chance his arm with a grandiose triple CD, ominously titled Emancipation and promising "three hours of love, sex and liberty". Frankly, it looks as if he's been given enough rope to hang himself, with slack to spare.

But, against the odds, slack is one thing this album is not. Gone for the most part is the empty braggadocio and slapdash production that have marred his output in recent years. Instead, along with the complex horn parts, barbershop soul harmonies and multiple layers of percussive activity, there is a return to the inventive vitality that used to be taken for granted.

There are sultry, pleading ballads, such as Soul Sanctuary and Saviour; uptempo dance tracks, notably a sensational electro-funk groove called New World; affectionate cover versions of hits by the Stylistics (Betcha By Golly Wow!), the Delfonics (La, La, La Means I Love U) and Joan Osborne (One of Us); and a handful of badass rap tracks, the heaviest being Face Down.

While musically there is little he has not tackled before, there are some stunning moments, as on Slave, where he harnesses a murky drumbeat to a 1990s-style cottonfield chant of "They just keep trying to break my heart". And there are signs of a growing maturity in his lyrics. Let's Have A Baby marks the first time he has looked beyond the mechanics to the consequences of sex, and, despite the self-pitying tone of White Mansion and Damned If I Do, they are two of several songs that offer an honest reflection of events in his life, instead of the usual voyeuristic fantasies.

Although it is a lot to swallow, Emancipation is anything but the self-indulgent mess we might have expected. Never mind the quantity, enjoy the depth.