The Family - The Family
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Music CD Cover
Artist: The FamilyEdition: Music CD
Format: Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 1985-01-01
Music Label: Paisley Park
Free Music Notes for The Family
Free Music Review: An Underrated Paisley Treasure !
Hit: 5 Stars
I've owned this title over the years on cassette,vinyl record and now cd(the cd was an absolute surprise score I found for under $10 at a used music store that had NO idea or clue who The Family was, hence the cheap price for the Japanese import---an American stateside cd version was never released, unfortunately).In all the years of having this album it still gets a spin in my home ever so often;It is one of my all time favorite Prince protogee projects whose music,vocals and lyrics amaze me to this day.There will be some who will say The Family's debut sounds "dated". In my humble opinion it has aged like fine wine and sounds even better to these ears today.
The Family was truly a band that at the time was considered "experimental", avant garde or just difficult for radio stations to classify as well as many Prince fans alike. Imagine, a Minneapolis band whose music was a hybrid or concotion of some of the snazziest and jazziest R&B,pop,jazz,dance, AND classical/orchestrated elements to come out of the Paisley Park camp. Not to mention, whose lead singer , Paul Peterson's, (St. Paul) vocal range and suave slick cat 'tude contained that soulful edge and funk without ever sounding contrived or fake.St. Paul is for real!Susannah Melvoin also had a remarkable vocal talent as well;However, I felt that her voice was not as vastly used or prominent as it should have been---her presence felt more like that of a background singer than that of a co-lead vocalist for the group.The string arrangements by Claire Fischer added to the classiness of the entire project. At times, some tracks displayed their grandness in the minimalist useage of instruments and in their emotional-lyrical approach (River Run Dry,Nothing Compares 2U)...Less meant more!Of course the real capstone of the entire album was the track The Screams of Passion with it's classical musings, Susannah's and St. Paul's lustful moanings, the unforgettable and creative cadence-like "clicking" electronic back-beat sound (which was actually drummer Jelly Bean Johnson tapping on the rim of the drum to create the effect).I almost forgot to foolishly mention that it also contained the BEST version of Nothing Compares 2U(sorry,Sinead O'Connor's version just cannot hold a candle to The Family's version)...
The overall cover photography and theme concept harkened back to the 40's and 50's golden Hollywood era.The retro-noirish stylings made for a very awesome and fascinating visual album as well;It was a complete package.This whole visual artistic idea would re-appear in Prince's 1986 film "Under The Cherry Moon" in a more "up-front" and in your face concept...
A true gem of an album that should have received so much accolades and more appropriate exposure back in 1985. Sadly,The Family's debut album received so little exposure and it's video Screams of Passion received so little airplay(MTV).It has now become a highly collectible,almost cult-like sleeper and extremely rare Prince protogee project along with Jill Jones! The Family is a must have album for anyone's Prince side project protogee catalog for completion!IF there is EVER to be some sort of Family re-union for a second album it will be long overdue!
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