N.E.W.S. is the twenty-fourth studio album by Prince, containing four tracks of 14 minutes duration each. Recorded at Prince's Paisley Park Records over a single day, the album was initially available through Prince's NPG Music Clubwebsite on May 26, 2003 before becoming widely commercially available on July 22. The album can be seen as a modern incarnation of Madhouse, but this time as a Prince release. Original Madhouse member Eric Leeds lends his talents, as well as The New Power Generation members John Blackwell, Rhonda Smith and Renato Neto. The album is reportedly the lowest-selling Prince album released to date, with just 30,000 copies sold, but it did become a top ten hit on the Billboard Internet sales chart, and garnered a Grammy nomination for "Best Pop Instrumental Performance".
Track listing[edit][]
- "North" – 14:00
- "East" – 14:00
- "West" – 14:00
- "South" – 14:00
Band members[edit][]
- Prince – electric guitar, Fender Rhodes, digital keyboards and percussion
- Eric Leeds – tenor and baritone saxophone
- John Blackwell – drums
- Renato Neto – piano and synthesizers
- Rhonda Smith – electric and acoustic bass