Prince Album by Album Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by theanalogkidsignals, Jul 19, 2015.

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  1. RichC

    RichC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Charlotte, NC
    1999 kicks off a real "purple patch" (sorry) of outtakes for Prince, one that extends well into the 90's (and mostly dries up at the end of the Warner era). I have an old book released by the Prince.org site (??) that is absolutely essential in terms of tracking unreleased songs. Princevault.com also does this, but it's a bit harder to find content there if you don't know what you're looking for.

    Anyway, I'll find the book and post some info, but in general, all outtakes fall into three categories:
    1) circulating in great-to-excellent condition
    2) circulating in good-to-poor condition
    3) not circulating

    I personally only bother with (1), but of course songs can always jump from one of the other categories literally overnight. Last year, someone tracked down a brand-new source and a LOT of songs suddenly moved into category (1)... "Don't Let Him Fool Ya," for example, is a 1999 outtake that went from not-on-my-radar (never showed on any previous boots) to WOW! (near-studio sound) thanks to this one poster.

    EDIT: Freek999 beat me to it, so I'll just back up what he said. "Extralovable" is in my Top 5 for All-Time Prince Outtakes, along with "Do Yourself A Favor." The latter was "officially" released in the 94 East material, but this is NOT the Prince version. (He only plays guitar and contributes no vocals.) Prince's version from 1982 is a one-man jam and is absolutely fantastic, right down to his weird "Jamie Starr" voice at the end (the one he uses on Cloreen Baconskin, among others).
    I really like Turn It Up... sounds like it was planned for The Time. Purple Music is long but essential. I've never found a decent-quality version of Moonbeam Levels. For that matter, I could really use a better-quality version of Do Yourself A Favor....
     
    Last edited: Aug 4, 2015
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  2. Izozeles

    Izozeles Pushing my limits

    I can't say much about PR in addition to what's already been said. It's not among my favorite Prince albums, but any record that has sold so many copies deserves recognition. It has some true highlights, tough and was another (more to follow) game changer on a career that only Stevie could match. When Doves Cry is one of the great singles of the decade, and the way drums were mixed turned a sad song into a commecial hit. Computer Blue is also a great jam and also a prime example of what the Revolution was capable to add in to the mix. Finally, Take Me With You absolutely ventures in to new territory and previews the coming Beatles like pysicodelia that was about to follow. A fantastic track, duly portraited in the movie.
    As has also been said, the b sides were out of this world. Erotic City 12" is my favorite flip side EVER
     
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  3. kanno1ae

    kanno1ae Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
    Recently I heard many of the "long version" outtakes from Purple Rain--the unedited versions of the songs that made the album. Wow! There were some fantastic parts cut from songs like "Computer Blue" and "Darling Nikki." There's no doubt this could've been a great double album, between the longer versions and the B-sides.

    On the other hand, it's pretty much a perfect album the way it is. Why risk dragging it down with "filler" or overly long songs when it's such a masterpiece in its current length?
     
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  4. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    I liked but never loved Purple Rain, mostly thanks to "When Doves Cry" (utterly brilliant - I vividly recall seeing the video for the first time over at my friend Bill's house one afternoon after school) and the trippy psychedelic 'Take Me With U" (a taste of things to come from the Purple One). "Let's Go Crazy" and "I Would Die 4 U" were solid hits as well and I think more of them today than I did at the time (and I liked them well enough even then).

    There is something about the harsh - and somewhat anemic - sound of the record I've never been able to fully warm to (it's very circa '84-'87 in its sound), but I've grown to appreciate the other cuts more as the years have passed, and now consider all of them classics, especially "Computer Blue" and of course the title cut. I can now see why it's broadly regarded as his finest hour, although personally I still get more enjoyment out of Parade. Purple Rain is unique though in that it unites all of the "Princes" we got in the '80s into a single record - New Wave, funk, rock, psychedelia - it's all on Purple Rain.
     
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  5. smokeverbs

    smokeverbs Senior Member

    Location:
    Detroit, MI, USA
    Great list. Me, I've edited those couple offending bars from "Extra Lovable" and "Lust U Always" and don't even miss 'em.
     
  6. smokeverbs

    smokeverbs Senior Member

    Location:
    Detroit, MI, USA
    Is that book Per Nilson's 600 page "The Vault"? That remains an essential resource.

    Whens the last time you heard a copy of Moonbeam Levels, it's circulating in wonderful quality now.
     
  7. 99thfloor

    99thfloor Senior Member

    Location:
    Sweden
    Purple Rain seems to be a little bit dividing, but I am with the (majority?) part that think this is Prince’s masterpiece. I didn’t listen to this at the time, but came to it after the fact, knowing it mainly as one of the best-selling albums of all time. And in that context and with that in mind I thought what a strange and quirky album to become a multi-million seller, I don't really think this is a very commercial sounding album (in relation to what was happening at the time), there is something unusal and unique about almost every track. Looking at such an all time best selling list, I think this must be some of the most experimental music found there.

    This is also when Prince albums, which each new release, really starts taking drastic jumps in style, I find it hard to find much in this that connects it to the previous album, it is such a big leap, from the often spacey electronic and futuristic pop/funk synth driven sounds of 1999 to something I actually find hard to describe (which is a good thing, it means it is unique) maybe a more dense experimental/psychedelic rock sound, where the (distorted) guitar often figures prominently.

    Also thinking about influence on other music, while it is easy to see how 1999 had a big impact I can’t really recognize what influence Purple Rain had on other music, it is so unique that I don’t think anyone else could do anything that followed in it’s footsteps, maybe someone can point me to something that has a similar sound?

    There is not much point in going through this all song by song, since I like everything on it (maybe the more conventional "Baby I'm a Star" a little less than the rest, but that is just because there is so hard competition), but I’ll mention some of them.

    The opening rocker ”Let’s Go Crazy” is the only one where I can find a precedent, I think it is the rock sucessor to the poppier ”Let’s Pretend We’re Married”, it has the same groove, and some melodic similarities. Also, since ”...Married” was one I criticized hardest for the stiff and rather naked drum machine, in ”Let’s Go Crazy”, even though it is basically the same ”bof-baf” beat, there is so much else rhythmically and in the textures going on that it feels very integrated, I have no problem with it here. Some great guitar playing of course, I especially like the freak out ending. What at first listen seems like a standard blues style closing riff doesn’t really end where expected, but on a different chord, with the guitar motif going ”past” where you think it’s going to stop. I have never heard anything exactly like this in Rock, it is more of a Jazz inspired thing, very nice and clever. The song as it is on the album is great, but there are so many cool things going on in the extended version, and the song gets a whole different structure when you hear that, it’s almost like a different song, two different experiences, but I like both - the single edit however is too butchered (and what a strange thing the intro is on that…)

    "Take Me with U" is a great song, and I can see why he wanted to squeeze this onto the record, even though there wasn’t room. The only thing that slightly takes away from it is that Apollonia really isn’t such a great singer, and some of her vocals here sound like she’s having a problem, she doesn’t really pull it off. I wish someone else was duetting, but she’s in the movie, so…

    The whole ”Beautiful Ones” / ”Computer Blue” / ”Darling Nikki” is a great sequence of compact experimental pop songs, but again if you hear the (unreleased) long versions this becomes something else, a progressive suite with psychedlic elements. Some things in ”Computer Blue” only start to really make sense when you hear the longer 7 min. version, like Wendy and Lisa talking in the beginning, since they reappear later in the song, or Prince’s scream at the end, which is the climax of what has happened before. There is an even longer version, at 14 min., but that is a bit overlong and I don’t think that was ever intended for release(?).

    Much has been made about how "When Doves Cry" has no bass, but as I pointed to, some songs on 1999 really has no bass either. Did he record it with bass or not originally? I have seen reports on both. I used to think this was a strange song, now I love it.

    "I Would Die 4 U" really has no melody, it is basically just one note, but still it works, this is something that would annoy me in other music, but it is very cool here, great track. Using live recordings as the basis for the ending three songs (but not really clearly presenting them as such, with only some faint audience noise at the end of tracks to give it away) is a both unusual and great touch, which of course reinforces the tie to the movie. I have to say what an impressive vocal ”Purple Rain” is, I have heard the original full length recording (though I no longer have it) and, as far as I could tell, it appears on record exactly as it was performed, and since this was the first time they did it live, what and incredibly inspired performance, perfect. The same goes for the guitar playing, as I understand it the iconic motif that is repeated at the end was a spur of the moment thing (in the long version you can hear him stumble upon it, and then go back to it to repeat it, which of course is edited on the record, but still). Also kudos to Wendy for the rhythm guitar, she plays some rather unusual voicings, and I would have never figured out the first chord if I had not seen that video where she explains it. She also does some finger bending stretches on the other chords, and I am amazed that she does not mess it up, since it was her first time performing live with the band (there is again some tenative playing in the original recording that is edited out).

    Back on 1999 I said I would have wished it to be trimmed down, maybe to a single album, but with this one I would have liked it if the full lenght versions had been used, it becomes a different record with all those, but just adding that back doesn’t fill out a double album, so what else to include in that scenario? I don’t have a god answer to that. They could of course have included the songs by the other artists, but that would have made it a dfferent type of record and taken away some of the magic and just made it a regular soundtrack. There are of course the B-sides, which are outstanding, but they don’t really fit in with the main album (and they’re not in the movie, so then it would not be a soundtrack). Another alternative is to have used more of/from the live recordings. There were early configurations with songs I haven’t heard, so maybe using all those original songs plus the later additions? I don’t really have a good solution, so maybe it is best the way it ended up after all. But it would be great if all those full lenght version would be at some point officially available, they deserve to be.

    I mentioned the amazing B-sides, some of the best Prince music, and some of it I might even sometimes prefer to the album. "17 Days" I think was originally intended for Vanity/Apollonia 6, but fortunately he kept it for himself, beautiful song. ”Erotic City" reminds me of Sly & the Family some, with the different voices, some nasty Funk with some nasty lyrics, partly sung by Sheila E. in one of her first vocal performances I believe. ”Another Lonely Christmas" is a majestic, dramatic ballad, I love the psychedelic delay on the vocals, something about both that and the guitar sound reminds me of a Hendrix song, but I just can’t figure out which one it is. ”God” in it’s vocal version is one I always skip, it gets on my nerves, but the instrumental version has some cool spacey guitar playing.

    I don’t remember hearing this record or these songs much at the time, but then again I was only ten, I remember the other giants of the day much more clearly, Springsteen, Madonna and M.J., and looking at chart statistics he had some of the lowest showings with these singles (and all singles really) in Sweden (although the album went to no. 3). "When Doves Cry" was not at all the big hit over here that it was in the US (it only went to no. 18). Prince has never really been as big here as elsewhere, even with his most accessible records, and the only one the square Swedish audience seems to get is ”Purple Rain” itself (which went to no. 5), which is the only song you ever hear nowadays (maybe with the exception of ”Kiss”), I guess since it is not an R&B based song at all (music based in an R&B tradition just doesn't work as well here), and this has given me mixed feelings about the title track, since it is a rather untypical Prince songs, and yet that is the one that everyone identifies him with. The other singles didn't chart at all (and none of his earlier singles had either).
     
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2015
  8. theholygoof

    theholygoof Forum Resident

    Location:
    Madison, WI
    Thanks for all the great posts, y'all. Two questions, one, there are two versions of the inner sleeve, right? One has the lyrics over a sun drenched Lake Minnetonka, which was very difficult to read, and the more common version, with lyrics over purple rain. My understanding is ther's no difference in the mastering.

    Two, I find this album rarely in the used stacks here in Madison, which shocks me when you think about how many of these were sold. Anyone else have the same experience?
     
  9. FurY2007

    FurY2007 New Member

    Sorry for jumping in like this, been lurking/reading this whole thread and thought I'd add my 2 cents by posting the original Ultimate reference disc config (even though we're still talking Purple Rain) :

    Disc 1:

    Kiss 7:16
    SOTT 3:41
    U Got The Look 6:43
    ICNTTPOYM 3:41
    Hot Thing 8:31
    Alphabet Street 5:39
    Thieves In The Temple 8:07
    Diamonds And Pearls 4:21
    Gett Off 4:32
    Money Don´t Matter 2 Night 4:47
    Cream (NPG MIX) 4:52
    7 3:55
    Nothing Compares 2 U 5:04
    My Name Is Prince 4:04
    Sexy MF 3:54

    Disc 2:

    Purple Medley 3:14
    I Wanna Be Your Lover 2:58
    Uptown 4:10
    Controversy 7:15
    1999 3:38
    Little Red Corvette 8:26
    Let´s Go Crazy 7:43
    Erotic City 7:24
    Purple Rain 8:42
    When Doves Cry 3:50
    I Would Die 4 You 2:58
    Pop Life 6:19
    She´s Always In My Hair 6:32
    Raspberry Beret 6:35


    The above was the original configuration, however the advance copies turned out as follows :

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2015
  10. FurY2007

    FurY2007 New Member

    Sorry for this. Another slight jump back to "1999", D.M.S.R. was featured as an edit on the Risky Business OST with a 5:06 (actually 5:02 plus some silent seconds after the fade out) length, an edit that isn't on any other release.
     
  11. RichC

    RichC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Charlotte, NC
    That's the one! The Vault. My one stop source.

    I need to find new links as apparently a lot of known outtakes have suddenly reappeared in much better quality! PMs welcome of course.
     
  12. Peace N. Love

    Peace N. Love Forum Resident

    I don't want to derail the thread, nor encouraging the inappropriate use of unauthorized recordings; but I would be curious to see other fans' recipes for a best-of-the-unreleased stuff - maybe 20 tracks, because the volume of stuff that's out there can be overwheling. New thread?
     
  13. RichC

    RichC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Charlotte, NC
    I think Purple Rain is an odd album for die-hard Prince fans. On the one hand, it's a masterpiece, a commercial and critical triumph with no weak tracks, and there's no justifiable way to not include it in the upper echelon of the man's albums. On the other hand, the ubiquity of most of the tracks (on radio, in clubs, on compilations, and at his concerts) means that it's hard to hear the album in a fresh light anymore.
    As others have mentioned, I'm more inclined these days to listen to the album in its alternate-universe "extended" form. The first five tracks were all edited down in some significant way, with "The Beautiful Ones" and especially "Computer Blue" being drastically improved in their longer incarnations. Throw in the additional B-sides and you really do have an amazing double album that might even best 1999 or SOTT. (And as I've said before in non-Prince threads, two of the best A-side/B-side combos in the history of single releases have to be "When Doves Cry/17 Days" and "Let's Go Crazy/Erotic City.")

    On a personal note, this might be the very first album that felt like it was "mine" from Day One. As a little kid with no older siblings who wasn't allowed to listen to much Top 40 radio, I would typically hear hit singles months after the fact, and it took me a loooong time to connect the songs I loved back to the original artists. (For instance: The first album I ever owned was Thriller, but not until fall of 1983. And when I first heard "Human Nature" on Casey Kasem's Weekly Top 40, I assumed it was a woman singing!) The same thing happened with Prince: I loved "Little Red Corvette" without knowing who it was, then made the connection to Prince via "Delirious" and then "1999," and eventually I borrowed the 1999 tape from a friend to copy (and play at very low volume lest my parents hear!), all the while binge-watching the local Atlanta "video music channel" hoping they'd air one of the elusive videos. (In my kid brain, the videos for "1999," "Little Red Corvette," and "Controversy" were all shot back-to-back and beamed in from a weird planet where everyone wore trenchcoats and performed under red and purple lighting.)
    So, when MTV aired the "World Premiere" of the video for "When Doves Cry," I was glued to the television with my dad's VCR at the ready. The song and the video, frankly, blew my mind. It was my absolutely favorite song EVER and I played the video (and the audio tape I dubbed from it) over and over with the kind of obsession unique to 11-year-olds. When Purple Rain came out, I still wasn't allowed to own any Prince albums thanks to my (deeply religious) parents, but I managed to dub a friend's copy and wore that tape out for the rest of 1984. From that point on, I was a Prince fan for life. Even when the later albums disappointed me or (arguably) went over my head, I still got that 11-year-old rush whenever the first single from the new album dropped: "Raspberry Beret," "Kiss," "Sign O' The Times," "Alphabet St," "Thieves In The Temple," and so on. I don't think I've ever been so excited about an artist since, and it all starts with Purple Rain and "When Doves Cry."
     
  14. 99thfloor

    99thfloor Senior Member

    Location:
    Sweden
    That is the track listing I have seen, but no actual CDs like that were made then?

    Maybe it is just a myth, I looked around to see where it was I had read this, on Princevault it says copies ended up in the US, Australia and Greece, seems very specific, but I can't find any actual trace of it on the web (this info. is also on Wikipedia, but that really means nothing). You would think something like this would have an entry on Discogs if there were 1000 copies, so maybe it is false...? If one combs through prince.org maybe there's something there about this.

    Here is the page on princevault, make of it what you will:
    http://www.princevault.com/index.php/Album:_Ultimate

    Maybe that could be saved for when we are at something like Crystal Ball? Like alternatives to that collection of outtakes?
     
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2015
  15. Peace N. Love

    Peace N. Love Forum Resident

    Good idea. Give everyone a chance to ponder their tracklist.
     
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  16. RichC

    RichC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Charlotte, NC
    I like the idea of offering up outtakes from each respective time period as we progress, but yes, a "Best Of The Outtakes" tracklist should probably be saved for Crystal Ball where it makes the most sense.
     
  17. skisdlimit

    skisdlimit Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bellevue, WA
    This was my experience too! :agree:

    The LP edition of Purple Rain also came with a collectible poster:

    [​IMG]

    I don't have too much more to add to what's already been said about Purple Rain (an obvious classic!), except to count me in as someone who was disappointed when a 30th anniversary edition never happened last year. This album is simply begging for deluxe treatment, not only for all those extended mixes and B-sides, but also to include the non-Prince songs that appeared in the film (i.e. Dez Dickerson's "Modernaire", Apollonia 6's "Sex Shooter", etc), which would make it a true soundtrack.

    I'm not exactly holding my breath for this, or any other classic Prince album, to be reissued as such, though....
     
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2015
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  18. 99thfloor

    99thfloor Senior Member

    Location:
    Sweden
    Speaking of outtakes and songs that appeared in the film, here is a list of the songs in their order of apperance. Songs marked (*) are, I believe, in some way unique to the film (either they are otherwise unreleased, or they are different versions to what is on record).

    "Lets Go Crazy (Special Dance Mix)"
    "Jungle Love"* The Time
    "Take Me With U"
    "Modernaire"? Dez Dickerson
    "The Beautiful Ones"
    "God (Love Theme From 'Purple Rain') (Instrumental)"
    "When Doves Cry"
    "Fathers Song"*
    "Computer Blue"
    "Darling Nikki"
    "Sex Shooter" Apollonia 6
    "The Bird"* The Time
    "Purple Rain"
    "I Would Die 4 U"
    "Baby I'm A Star "

    "Fathers Song" was in one of the early configurations of Purple Rain, and the melody is also incorporated into "Computer Blue". I have never heard a recording of it, was it an piano instrumental, like in the movie? Was that piece also incorporated into "Computer Blue" at the same time, meaning the melody was repeated in two songs, or was it added when "Fathers Song" was removed from the track list?

    "God (instrumental)" is only on the UK 12" of "Purple Rain" and not available digitally.

    I think the songs by The Time are different versions in the film (they run at very different speed if nothing else). I don't know about "Sex Shooter". "Modernaire" does not have any input from Prince that I know of, and I am unsure if it is officially released, it was on some kind of Dez Dickerson compilation he put together himself.

    These are the songs in the credits, but there are also several other snippets of music, that maybe someone else more knowledgable can identify...?
     
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2015
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  19. kanno1ae

    kanno1ae Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
    I saw that entry on PrinceVault, too, and I read it differently. The 1,000 copies that ended up being sold are the same as all the others that eventually were released several months later. The early track list was modified upon Prince's request long before anything was pressed up.
     
  20. 99thfloor

    99thfloor Senior Member

    Location:
    Sweden
    Ah, I think you are right... Very stupid of me, sorry if I caused confusion... :oops:

    Wikipedia says a promo version was sent out with the early track listing, but I think we have established that to be false also.
     
  21. setalpgninnpsekil

    setalpgninnpsekil Forum Resident

    There is absolutely no way that he is that much taller than the rest of the band.
     
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  22. kanno1ae

    kanno1ae Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
    No worries! I think there was an assumption (perhaps started by a rumor) that the reason the April 2006 release date was cancelled was because of Prince requesting a different track list. It seems, however, that the real reason was because it would compete with his then-new album 3121.
     
  23. cb70

    cb70 Senior Member

    Prince plays all the music on Modernaire and I believe produced it. Dez only contributed his vocals.
     
  24. theanalogkidsignals

    theanalogkidsignals Forum Resident Thread Starter

    No way! My edit of D.M.S.R. is 5:06 exactly!
     
  25. 99thfloor

    99thfloor Senior Member

    Location:
    Sweden
    Oh, really, I didn't know that, I thought it was his own thing, thanks for the correction. I see it has been released as a single as well as on a compilation, but only in more recent times.

    Do you know anything about the other music in the movie?
     
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