| The Chocolate Invasion (subtitled Trax from the NPG Music Club Volume One) is the 29th full-length studio album by Prince, and is the first compilation album of NPG Music Club downloads from 2001-2; a companion piece to The Slaughterhouse (released on the same day).
Four tracks are edits or alternate versions to those previously-released.
In 2003, the album was planned for inclusion as the centerpiece of the The Chocolate Invasion 7 CD set, which was put on hold indefinitely in late 2003, officially due to a manufacturing problem.
The album was issued under two slightly different configurations in 2004 and 2015. The most notable difference being the inclusion of the original version of The Dance as the eighth track on the first version (while the tracklist seen on the CD label image used on the 2004 download page contained a different track order and My Medallion). The Dance was removed from the album when it was re-released in 2015 on the Tidal music service, using the original, previously-unissued 2003 configuration with My Medallion, which was not included on the initial release. The original version of The Dance was the sole new track on the firt release of The Chocolate Invasion and was later re-recorded for 3121. The other notable difference being Sexmesexmenot which was the fifth track on the 2004 version of the album and the eighth track on the 2015 re-release.
During its initial availability on Tidal, the album was available only to stream before a download store was opened three months later, offering the album in mp3 and flac files. The album was made available and other digital plateforms after Prince’s passing.
Sessions and compiling
Specific recording dates are not known, but it is believed that most of the tracks were recorded between late 1999 and 2001 at Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA. Many of the tracks were at one point considered for the album High, which was completed in late Summer 2000, before being abandoned. Instead, the tracks were released on an individual basis on the NPG Music Club.
The Dance was not released before its inclusion on The Chocolate Invasion, and its genesis is not known, but was likely recorded during the same timeframe as the other tracks (Prince later re-recorded the track and included it on his 31st album 3121).
Notably, Gamillah had been previously released under the name New Power Generation. This collection does not credit tracks at all, but the album is considered here as a "Prince" release.
Sam Jennings is credited as executive producer for playing a role in deciding the tracklist and the title of the album.
Promotion
No singles were released from the album at the time of release (U Make My Sun Shine had been commercially released in 2001, however, and Supercute had been sold at shows on the Hit N Run Tour in 2001).
The album was not eligible for the charts, as it was available only through the NPG Music Club, and 11 years later through Tidal.
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2004: Musicology ◄
