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Exodus - album by New Power Generation, Edel (1995)

Exodus New Power Generation • Edel • 1995
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1995
Exodus

1997

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Exodus

Edel

album

Everybody’s a slave until you say ‘no’.

Exodus is the second album solely credited to Prince’s backing band the New Power Generation, following 1993’s GoldNigga. Prince this time appears under the moniker Tora Tora (the war cry famously employed by the Japanese kamikaze pilots during their attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941) to highlight his ongoing dispute with Warner Bros Records, and to keep his birth name off the release due to contractual constraints. The liner notes point out “This album is dedicated to the memory of His Royal Badness” because Prince for all intents and purposes was “muerto” on 7 June 1993 – the date he changed his name to Prince Love Symbol.

The narrative of Exodus is dominated with Prince’s ongoing outrage at Warner, which is identified in its segues as “that record company”. The theme is continued with Count The Days, and most pointedly in the album’s closing track The Exodus Has Begun – which issues a call to artists to quit the yoke of major labels, who “offer us pennies when it’s millions and millions they reap”.

Creative independence being the mantra, Exodus was issued while Prince was performing his Ultimate Live Experience tour, which was intended to promote The Gold Experience – its commercial release was withheld by Warner at that time. Prince released Exodus instead, towards the end of the tour’s European run and gaining traction on friendly soil. Exodus was issued on 27 March 1995, independently under Prince’s own NPG Records and distributed by Edel, an independent music publishing firm founded in Hamburg in 1986 and previously handled the distribution of his compilation album 1-800-NEW FUNK. It was released while Prince was in Europe staging his Ultimate Live Experience tour. Exodus was not released in the US, possibly to avert legal action, and global sales amounted to 70,000 as result. Only the Good Life single received a US release.

Remarkably, much of Exodus was recorded in a single day using Studio A at Paisley Park Studios, on 15 May 1994. The tracks laid down that day were Get Wild, New Power Soul, The Exodus Has Begun, Hallucination Rain and Count The Days, with small changes being done and the remainder of the album worked on until January 1995. Writing every track for Exodus, Prince is hidden under the pseudonym Tora Tora due to contractual reasons. He also performs most of the instruments throughout and his vocals are even heard in two tracks – The Return of the Bump Squad and The Exodus Has Begun. NPG’s Bassist Sonny T provides lead vocals for the remainder of the album’s tracks. The song Get Wild (5:58) was earlier issued under Columbia Records on 6 December 1994 on their soundtrack for the movie Prêt-A-Porter. Get Wild was subsequently released in the UK as a maxi-single in support of Exodus. An interesting feature with the vinyl edition of the UK 12″ single is that its side-B plays inside out opposed to outside inwards.

Every day I’m with your ass is another day wasted

In all, Exodus produced three singles, all released in the UK where the album peaked at number 11, in part result of the Ultimate Live Experience tour and that it coincided with Prince’s first ever interview on UK TV, The Sunday Show (broadcast on 12 March 1995) plus appearances on Top Of The Pops (aired 16 March) performing Get Wild with the NPG and The White Room for Channel 4 (April 5th). Get Wild charted at 19 in the UK. Prince was masked by a scarf in all TV appearances, partly for legal reasons but in the main to highlight his feud with Warner over their ownership of his past music. Ever looking at ways to diversify and rely less on record sales, in 1995 Prince launched a perfume taking the name of the album’s lead single Get Wild. The fragrance was sold at his Glam Slam clubs and NPG retail stores and proved reasonably popular. Two further singles followed: The Good Life in June 1995 issued in the US by Warner Brothers and in Europe by Edel; and finally Count The Days that September as a Europe only release. Boasting many excellent remixes complete with reimagined lyrics, The Good Life secured the album its second top-40 UK single.

Exodus became the final project featuring the original lineup of the New Power Generation. In the summer of 1996, the retainers for Sonny T, Tommy Barbarella and Michael B were not renewed and they were replaced in the band with a fresh lineup of the NPG. Mayte quit dancing at this juncture due to her pregnancy with Prince’s child.

NPG - Exodus 1995
Photography by Nicole Nodland

Performers

Vocals/Guitar
Prince Love Symbol (as Tora Tora)
Vox/Bass Guitar
Sonny Thompson
Drums
Michael Bland
Rhythm Guitar
Mike Scott Cherry, Cherry
Keyboards
Morris Hayes
Tommy Barbarella
Backing vocals
Mayte Garcia
Saxophone
Eric Leeds The Good Life, Return Of The Bump Squad and Big Fun
Trombone
Michael B. Nelson Get Wild, New Power Soul and The Exodus Has Begun
Baritone sax
Kathy Jensen Get Wild, New Power Soul and The Exodus Has Begun
Trumpet
Dave Jensen Get Wild, New Power Soul and The Exodus Has Begun
Steve Strand Get Wild, New Power Soul and The Exodus Has Begun
Tenor sax
Brian Gallagher Get Wild, New Power Soul and The Exodus Has Begun
Scratches
Brother Jules The Exodus Has Begun

Data

Producer
Prince Love Symbol (as Tora Tora)
Label
NPG Records
Distribution
Edel
Cover/Design
Debbie McGuan, Steve Parke and Michael Van Huffel
Released
31 years ago on 27 March 1995
Running Time
65:33
US Chart Peak
Did not chart
UK Chart Peak
11
Orig. Formats

Tracklist

  1. NPG Operator Intro (0:35)
  2. Get Wild
    Prêt-A-Porter Prêt-A-Porter (1994)
    [sung by Sonny T] (4:33)
  3. Segue (0:38)
  4. DJ Gets Jumped (0:22)
  5. New Power Soul [sung by Sonny T] (4:10)
  6. DJ Seduces Sonny (0:38)
  7. Segue (0:43)
  8. Count The Days [sung by Sonny T] (3:24)
  9. The Good Life [sung by Sonny T] (5:48)
  10. Cherry, Cherry [sung by Sonny T] (4:45)
  11. Segue (0:18)
  12. Return Of The Bump Squad (7:20)
  13. Mashed Potato Girl (0:21)
  14. Segue (3:00)
  15. Big Fun [sung by Sonny T] (7:26)
  16. New Power Day [sung by Sonny T] (3:49)
  17. Segue (0:14)
  18. Hallucination Rain [sung by Sonny T] (5:49)
  19. NPG Bum Rush The Ship (1:40)
  20. The Exodus Has Begun [feat. Sonny T and The Steeles] (10:06)
  21. Outro (0:37)

Released as a single

Singles from Exodus

Get Wild: The Wild Experience, single from Exodus, NPG Records (1995)

Get Wild: The Wild Experience

NPG Records

Released
20 March 1995
Distribution
Edel
US Chart Peak
No Release
UK Chart Peak
19
Cover/Art
Steve Parke and Michael Van Huffel
Formats
  1. Get Wild (4:51)
  2. Beautiful Girl (4:32)
  3. Hallucination Rain (5:52)
Get Wild, single from Exodus, NPG Records (1995)

Get Wild

NPG Records

12"/Maxi-Single


Released
3 April 1995
Distribution
Edel
US Chart Peak
No release
UK Chart Peak
Did not chart
Cover/Art
Steve Parke and Michael Van Huffel
Formats
  1. Get Wild [Money Maker] (6:01)
  2. Get Wild [Kirky J's Get Wild] (6:38)
  3. Get Wild [Club Mix] (5:04)
  4. Get Wild [In The House] (6:14)
  5. Get Wild (4:33)
  6. Get Wild [Money Maker Funky Jazz Mix] (6:20)
The Good Life, single from Exodus, NPG Records (1995)

The Good Life

NPG Records

Released
13 June 1995
Distribution
Warner Bros. Records
US Chart Peak
Did not chart
UK Chart Peak
No release
Cover/Art
Debbie McGuan, Steve Parke and Michael Van Huffel
Formats
  1. The Good Life (5:48)
  2. Get Wild [Money Maker Remix] (6:01)
The Good Life, single from Exodus, NPG Records (1995)

The Good Life

NPG Records

12"/Maxi-Single


Released
13 June 1995
Distribution
Warner Bros. Records
US Chart Peak
Did not chart
UK Chart Peak
No Release
Cover/Art
Debbie McGuan, Steve Parke and Michael Van Huffel
Formats
  1. The Good Life (5:48)
  2. The Good Life [Bullets Go Bang Remix] [remix by Kirk Johnson] (5:14)
  3. The Good Life [Big City Remix] [remix by Kirk Johnson and Brother Jules] (5:05)
  4. Free The Music [feat. Mayte] (1:47)
  5. Get Wild [In The House] (6:14)
  6. Get Wild [Club Mix] (5:41)
The Good Life, single from Exodus, NPG Records (1995)

The Good Life

NPG Records

12"/Maxi-Single


Released
7 August 1995
Distribution
Edel
US Chart Peak
No Release
UK Chart Peak
29
Cover/Art
Debbie McGuan, Steve Parke and Michael Van Huffel
Format
  1. The Good Life [Platinum People Mix] [remix by The Platinum People] (6:40)
  2. The Good Life [Dancing Divaz Mix] [remix by Dancing Divaz] (6:40)
  3. The Good Life [Bullets Go Bang Remix] [remix by Kirk Johnson] (5:14)
  4. The Good Life [Big City Remix] [remix by Kirk Johnson and Brother Jules] (5:05)
The Good Life, single from Exodus, NPG Records (1995)

The Good Life

NPG Records

12"/Maxi-Single


Released
7 August 1995
Distribution
Edel
US Chart Peak
No Release
UK Chart Peak
29
Cover/Art
Debbie McGuan, Steve Parke and Michael Van Huffel
Format
  1. The Good Life [Platinum People Edit] [remix by The Platinum People] (4:12)
  2. The Good Life [Platinum People Mix] [remix by The Platinum People] (6:40)
  3. The Good Life [Dancing Divaz Mix] [remix by Dancing Divaz] (6:40)
  4. The Good Life [Bullets Go Bang Remix] [remix by Kirk Johnson] (5:14)
  5. The Good Life [Big City Remix] [remix by Kirk Johnson and Brother Jules] (5:05)
  6. The Good Life (5:48)
Count The Days, single from Exodus, NPG Records (1995)

Count The Days

NPG Records

Released
25 September 1995
Distribution
Edel
US Chart Peak
No Release
UK Chart Peak
Did not chart
Cover/Art
Debbie McGuan, Steve Parke and Michael Van Huffel
Format
  1. Count The Days [Clean Version] (3:24)
  2. Count The Days (3:24)
  3. New Power Soul (4:10)

Exodus album review

The Exodus has begun! Exodus is NPG’s explosive follow up to 1993’s GoldNigga, much of it recorded in a single day. Although all written and most of the instruments are performed by Prince, all songs are sung and indeed remarkably well by the band’s bassist Sonny T. Despite that, the album is largely a collection of extended segues. There are however several killers, Exodus gives us the roaring Get Wild, the bouncy Return Of The Bump Squad and intoxicating Hallucination Rain, the bass delicious in Big Fun.

Exodus reaches its climax with the standout closing track the rallying The Exodus Has Begun, which Prince plays as hard as you’ll ever hear him. Exodus was created in the lowest point of Prince’s relationship with Warner Brothers, when the label was withholding the release of The Gold Experience and Exodus was the vehicle with which to vent his venom at “that record company”. It would form the subject matter for his solo follow up Chaos And Disorder. The ill temper benefits tremendously, but unlike Chaos, Exodus is not bleak listening. Prince’s mid 1990’s output was a thrilling experience, bursting with renewal. Testament to the somewhat surprising chart success of its maxi-singles and quality of their remixes; The Good Life cuts are well worth discovering.

Although Exodus erroneously prophesied the demise of major record labels, whose number did indeed diminish albeit grow more powerful, the message certainly struck a chord and got artists thinking long and hard about creative control.

Exodus is rated 4.5 out of 5 by Goldies Parade.

Related release

Prêt-A-Porter

Prêt-A-Porter

Columbia Records • 1994

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