Missing the Hits

0(+>'s second album, Chaos and Disorder,was released on July 8, 1996. Just thought I'd tell you,in case you missed it. Many fans did, it seems.The album peaked at 14 on the UK chart,the first new release (which excludes the Black album), not to go top 10,at the very least.9 of the 11 songs were brand new,unheard on the bootleg circuit ,only Zannalee and The Same December had been heard previously,being played regularly on the video screens as a prelude to the 1995 Gold tour.When the Gold Experience and Come were released, many fans had heard/owned many of the album tracks beforehand,still the albums shot into the top 10 on release (at #4 and #1 respectively). With Chaos, here was a fresh album for the fans,yet they didn't go for it.Why?Has the lack of promotion of recent albums served to diminish his fanbase, driving away the Prince faithful. Sure, there was no advance single release, but the same strategy didn't stop Come from topping the charts in 1994. Dinner With Delores received a cursory release 2 weeks after the album in the UK,hitting #36.Like I Hate U and Letitgo,it continued a recent trend of the initial (only?) single from an album failing to make any significant impact on the charts,unlike in the 80's and early 90's,when the singles almost inevitably went into the top 10,both sides of the atlantic.Perhaps the cause of the slump in single sales in the UK can be traced back to 1994.For a while ,british fans had been imploring him to release an EP or one-off single of new material,so that he could reach the #1 spot which had eluded him so far in his career. For whatever reasons,TMBGITW was released,and the fans snapped it up,to give him the #1 single they wanted so much for him. Since then most of his singles have died the death and though it pains me to write this, people could call "0(+>" a one-hit wonder.Have we lost interest in his single positions since he reached #1? Maybe that was the only thing left we could give him and now we have, our job is done.

Alternatively,the fans could be responding to the lack of single releases since then, assuming that 0(+> no longer cares to get back on the album/single treadmill that Prince skipped along indifferently, wishing to try something new once he's sorted out his contractual difficulties,maybe handling the distribution of his albums himself,judging by the recent interview in Forbes magazine. We all knew Prince didn't care how his albums/singles fared in the charts, but we cared,as we wanted to keep him high in the charts,as the music was too good to keep to ourselves. Recent albums haven't had the obvious standout singles of the 80's, and perhaps consequently haven't had singles released. This has resulted in a terminal decline in his new albums sales. This is a shame.There are undoubtedly people out there who are budding 0(+> fans,but maybe don't know it,as they aren't being exposed to the music.0(+> has said that he doesn't want anymore fans,but we can't all have what we want now can we! Perhaps all he wants is enough people to fill an arena or two per country,so he can continue touring,in which case he has no problems, we'll always be there for him.

There is definitely an untapped market of fans out there,as his back catalogue continues to sell. Whether by coincidence or not, as TMBGITW rode high in the US charts,Purple Rain surpassed sales of 11 million over there,10 years after it's release.Us europeans tend to look with disdain at the american market,judging it to be the fickle fanbase that deserted Prince most easily in the mid-to-late 80's,as he built up a hardcore european following. Yet new US fans continue to appear,buying his most successful album up to a decade after it dominated America.Purple Rain,along with Diamonds and Pearls,also stromed back into the top 30 album charts over here in 1995,when rereleased at mid-price.The fans are out there,they just need reminding now and again.

Despite Purple Rain's resurgence,we mustn't over-exaggerate the effect of TMBGITW's success though. Sure, it was a huge worldwide hit,but that didn't translate into album sales for The Gold Experience.How could it,they were released 18 months apart and the record-buying public have short memories when they want to.This was a wasted opportunity in my opinion.If 0(+> had released,say,Acknowledge Me or Lovesign (2 very funky and wildly commercial songs),after the success of TMBGITW,they could have done for him what "Jesus to a child" and "Fast Love" (2 UK #1 singles) did for George Michael-namely,remind the public that before they both started to whinge about their respective contractual difficulties, they were, and are, first and foremost,great artists.

We mustn't dismiss the theory that maybe he has lost fans purely because the music hasn t been so great of late.Those critics of Come,TGE,Chaos may be saying that they were just contractual obligation albums and the quality of the songs was deliberately poorer than his greatest work,as 0(+> is saving his best songs for Emancipation.There is a danger of pinning too many hopes on Emancipation to explain away his work of late.If the album doesn t live up to expectations then does that mean 0(+> is really past his prime. Besides,isn't this exactly what we did with The Gold Experience, another self-proclaimed classic that was built up beyond all proportions and then subsequently couldn,t possibly live up to its own hype.Emancipation is said to contain many great songs,but what we have heard on bootlegs so far hasn't really been that impressive, has it? Slave and New World are good,but nothing more. Right Back Here In My Arms, with its cool vibe, has promise, but Betcha By Golly Wow isn't that good, besides, it's a COVER. Since when did he ever release covers. Prince was covered, never covered himself and I can t help but feel slightly disheartened at the prospect of 4 or more covers on this album, obvious classics like Stairway to Heaven have been bandied about, a cliched choice if you ask me. There are less obvious songs he could take ,and turn around into great covers.He said before that he hears songs on the radio and thinks how he would have done them differently,improved them.Here is his chance to prove it! There are some great songs rumoured to be on the album, Acknowledge Me and Days Of Wild for a start,but 2 great songs does not a great album make!

0(+> may well find it difficult resurrecting his career to a level equal to Prince's, critically and commercially. We all saw the end of the 3 Chains O Gold video,where 0(+> stands at the graveside,throwing earth on the chain-mail mask,symbolically laying the dead "Prince" to rest. Nobody saw the rest of the scene though,when the foundations of the grave gave way, sending 0(+> plummeting to join his former alter-ego,as the subsiding earth encapsulated them both,burying the whole sorry mess forever!