8

Eight instrumental tunes — entitled “One,” “Two,” “Three,” etc. — make up the 38-minute album, 8. Jazzman Prince layering his piano and keyboards on top of his own bass, on top of his own drums, continuously reacting to himself as a stranger from a musician’s point of view, is Prince earning his musical genius reputation. Saxophone and flute came courtesy of Eric Leeds (of Prince’s backing band, The Revolution); sax and keyboard variations of a sinuous musical riff center “Six” (a top 10 single) in a funky, rhythmic groove. The best part? No one knew Madhouse was Prince. (Translation: everybody knew Madhouse was Prince.)