New Prince: 4Ever (2016) & Purple Rain Deluxe (2017)

Yeah, that's pretty much what I got, give or take a few seconds.
It's unlikely that they'll include the edit of Purple Rain considering that it's such an iconic song.

 

Also, Amazon UK have it listed as a 2 CD set, so edits it is.

 

Nice to see "Batdance" finally being included on a Prince comp. I know a lot of people (especially around here) aren't too crazy about it, but it was a #1 hit and should rightfully be included on any hits collection of his. I'm also hoping for edits of the songs as well, as I believe the single version of "Let's Go Crazy" has never seen the light of day on CD, and the single mixes for "Alphabet St" and "Batdance" have only ever been on promo CD singles. I don't know if the single version of "Purple Rain" has ever made it to CD - I know I've never come across it. Keeping fingers crossed on this one!

 

Additionally, I see on Warner's B2B site that the MSRP for this 2-CD set is $20.98. No vinyl version is currently listed. (That being said, that picture for the album cover would be fantastic to have in a bigger physical format.)

Compared with The Hits/B-sides, the comps share 31 tracks (out of 40 on the 4Ever comp). The songs NOT on The Hits/B-sides:

Let's Work
Take Me With U
Paisley Park
Batdance
Mountains
Girls & Boys
Glam Slam
Moonbeam Levels (obviously, since it's previously unreleased)
My Name Is Prince

Sorry for the messy list below, but here is a listing of the versions of songs with AV Time = Album Version Time, and S Time = Single (or remix/edit from a single). The X indicates the song being on The Hits/B-sides.

CD1 Song AV Time Album Year S Time Incl on The Hits/B-sides
1 1999 6:22:00 1999 1982 3:36:00 x
2 Little Red Corvette 4:58:00 1999 1982 4:55:00 x
3 When Doves Cry 5:52:00 Purple Rain 1984 3:47:00 x
4 Let's Go Crazy 4:39:00 Purple Rain 1984 4:39:00 x
5 Raspberry Beret 3:31:00 Around The World In A Day 1985 3:31:00 x
6 I Wanna Be Your Lover 5:47:00 Prince 1979 2:56:00 x
7 Soft & Wet 3:01:00 For You 1978 3:02:00 x
8 Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad 3:49:00 Prince 1979 3:48:00 x
9 Uptown 5:30:00 Dirty Mind 1980 4:09:00 x
10 When You Were Mine 3:44:00 Dirty Mind 1980 3:43:00 x
11 Head 4:40:00 Dirty Mind 1980 4:43:00 x
12 Gotta Stop (Messin' About) 2:54:00 B-side 1981 2:54:00 x
13 Controversy 7:14:00 Controversy 1981 3:35:00 x
14 Let's Work 3:52:00 Controversy 1981 2:56:00
15 Delirious 3:56:00 1999 1982 2:38:00 x
16 I Would Die 4 U 2:51:00 Purple Rain 1984 2:56:00 x
17 Take Me With U 3:54:00 Purple Rain 1984 3:54:00
18 Paisely Park 4:41:00 Around The World In A Day 1985 4:41:00
19 Pop Life 3:42:00 Around The World In A Day 1985 3:41:00 x
20 Purple Rain 8:41:00 Purple Rain 1984 4:02:00 x
93:38:00 74:06:00
CD2
1 Kiss 3:38:00 Parade 1986 3:45:00 x
2 Sign O The Times 4:56:00 Sign O The Times 1987 3:42:00 x
3 Alphabet St 5:38:00 Lovesexy 1988 2:25:00 x
4 Batdance 6:13:00 Batman 1989 3:28:00
5 Thieves In The Temple 3:20:00 Graffiti Bridge 1990 3:19:00 x
6 Cream 4:12:00 Diamonds & Pearls 1991 4:12:00 x
7 Mountains 3:58:00 Parade 1986 3:58:00
8 Girls & Boys 5:30:00 Parade 1986 3:27:00
9 If I Was Your Girlfriend 5:01:00 Sign O The Times 1987 3:46:00 x
10 U Got The Look 3:47:00 Sign O The Times 1987 3:46:00 x
11 I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man 6:28:00 Sign O The Times 1987 3:38:00 x
12 Glam Slam 5:04:00 Lovesexy 1988 3:28:00
13 Moonbeam Levels 3:55:00 Unreleased 1982 3:55:00
14 Diamonds & Pearls 4:43:00 Diamonds & Pearls 1991 4:19:00 x
15 Gett Off 4:31:00 Diamonds & Pearls 1991 4:27:00 x
16 Sexy MF 5:24:00 The Love Symbol 1992 3:55:00 x Remix Edit?
17 My Name Is Prince 6:38:00 The Love Symbol 1992 4:05:00
18 7 5:12:00 The Love Symbol 1992 4:06:00 x
19 Peach 3:48:00 The Hits/B-sides 1993 3:48:00 x
20 Nothing Compares 2 U 4:57:00 The Hits/B-sides 1993 4:17:00 x
96:53:00 75:46:00

As to the comments earlier in the thread about there already being a comp similar, yes, you're right... there is a similar comp. And to the comments about the practice of including only 1 previously unreleased track so as to lure fans with a lot of the material already to buy a chunk of the songs again, technically, you're right. As someone else said earlier, though, no one is making you buy this. Also, there's a possibility that "Moonbeam Levels" shows up on some other deluxe set that hasn't yet been announced. If it doesn't, I don't foresee 4Ever going out of print any time soon. So it's not like you're out anything. And hopefully, "Moonbeam Levels" is available as a digital download for $1.29 on your digital retailer of choice so as to not make customers spend $21 for only one song if they don't want to. I'm sure there will be people who complain that they want the physical product. Sometimes, you can't have it both ways.

However, to both points, there is an argument to be made that by releasing this that it's helping the Prince estate (and brand) to be able to earn money to pay off taxes given that 1) it's a compilation of hits that is 2) being released during the busiest shopping season of the year 3) that isn't too many months removed from the artist's death date so there is likely 4) still a healthy consumer demand for his work for 5) people's own collections and 6) gifts to others for Christmas presents. So think of this release as to helping win the war, not the battle. It hopefully helps the estate financially and buys some time for the estate and the label to continue to piece together a larger plan for releasing further material from the vault as well as getting some albums back in print that currently aren't available.

 

I bought it on vinyl at Tower when it was released.

 

If you bought an album called Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic, you most likely bought the 2nd one listed below. Anything else beyond that was most likely a bootleg (unless it was Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic, which was unlikely to be in a shop).

Someone else gave the original track listing for Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic, which was shelved around 1989. You can see a proposed configuration of this at the link below.
Album: Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic - Prince Vault »
(Multiple track configurations considered. See link.)

However, in 1999, the album Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic, similar title but a different project altogether, was released via NPG/Arista:
Album: Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic - Prince Vault »

1. Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic (4:19) 1
2. Undisputed (4:20)
3. The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (5:30)
4. Segue (0:04)
5. Hot Wit U (5:11)
6. Tangerine (1:31)
7. So Far, So Pleased (3:24)
8. The Sun, The Moon And Stars (5:16)
9. Everyday Is A Winding Road (6:13) 2
10. Segue (0:19)
11. Man'O'War (5:15)
12. Baby Knows (3:19)
13. Love U, But Don't Trust U Anymore (3:36)
14. Silly Game (3:30)
15. Strange But True (4:13)
16. Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do (3:16) (track time is 8:51 including silence after track)
17. Segue (0:44) (not listed on back cover)
18. Prettyman (4:25) (not listed on back cover)

In addition to Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic, there was a separate project/companion piece that was called Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic (In2 vs. Un2) available to NPG Music Club members. It contained some different mixes of some of the same songs from Un2, removed a couple tracks, and added another track only ever available on In2.
Album: Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic - Prince Vault »
Tracks:

1. Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic (5:15)
2. Undisputed (The Moneyapolis Mix) (5:46)
3. The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (8:07) 1
4. Hot Wit U (Nasty Girl Remix) (4:24)
5. Tangerine (2:14)
6. So Far, So Pleased (3:24)
7. The Sun, The Moon And Stars (5:19)
8. Man'O'War (Remix) (5:12)
9. Baby Knows (3:54)
10. Love U, But Don't Trust U Anymore (3:36)
11. Beautiful Strange (4:56)
12. Silly Game (3:30)
13. Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do (3:16)
14. Prettyman (5:36) - not listed on back cover

 

1 new song....not enough to get $20 out of me, not for 1 song. i hate when they do this crap, and sadly this is only the beginning for prince....especially when you consider that, supposedly, there are literally hundreds of songs in his vault.

 

$20? More like $25-$35. Hundreds of songs? More like thousands.

 

Like many of you, I'm not interested in yet another hits compilation. And only time will tell on Purple Rain deluxe. All I can say definitely is I'm glad I own a 180g pressing of that fine album, produced at RTI.

 

Yeah, that's my motive. It'll be nice to have the single edits on CD but it's not £15 for something to play, it's £15 to chip in.

 

The one you can buy in the supermarket now certainly doesn't!

 

Hey, new compilations always bring in younger/newer fans to buy new back catalog releases, so why complain?

 

There's this thing called "download," legal or otherwise.

 

The more I think about it the sadder I get about this... With this first release they are cementing the view that his career was over by the early 90's. The cover has "1958 - 2016" on it, but contains nothing from the last 20+ years... (B.t.w., did they need to put those years on the cover? I mean we all know that, it will just look weird to have that on there later on.) I am guessing this is what the release strategy for the future will be, it will be all about the 80's and the rest will be left sitting... It does make room for a dedicated single disc NPG compilation instead later on, to introduce that era to the uninitiated, but somehow I doubt we'll see that.

The track listing is chronological, then they have pulled out the 5 biggest hits of each disc and put them at the front (and moved "Purple Rain" to the end of one). This also mirrors The Hits, which kind of did this, but in a looser fashion.

That would mainly be me... But I actually think it is a good thing that it is included, makes it a more "accurate" compilations (but the edited version will do). In that sense, for someone new to this music, I think this is the best compilation so far. I doubt we'll see the edited "Purple Rain", that is too iconic in it's full version (I would like to have the version with the string-coda edited off though), I also doubt "Let's Go Crazy" is the edit, I think they want that classic intro intact, the single makes a mess of it. But I think we will actually finally get the edited "Alphabet St", let's hope.

 

One of my wife's Xmas presents has just been sorted with this comp.

 

Considering how fussy Prince was over his videos being on sites like Youtube i think this would have been a good chance for a DVD/BR of his videos.

 

I'm sure that's coming sooner rather than later.

 

I'd surmise that this has more to do with licensing/rights and bouncing around between labels in the late '90s and '00s/'10s than anything than a supposed "Warner doesn't believe in the viability of his post 1992 catalog" theory. Besides, if the majors were to collaborate and cull together a true career retrospective, this release wouldn't be out so soon following his death.

This may be true for CD1, but CD2 isn't fuly like that. After Cream (1991), you bounce back to Parade (1986), SOTT (1987), Lovesexy (1988), and then to the unreleased "Moonbeam Levels" (1982) before getting back to the chronological D&P (1991) going forward.

Re: Batdance. My main issue with the edited "Batdance" is that it foregoes the sizzling guitar solo in the album version. It's one of my favorite Prince guitar solos. However, if including a single edit collects the track for others to hear and paints a more complete picture of his work, then I'm cool with that. Besides, the Batman OST typically retails for $4.99 anymore, so it's not like it's a huge chunk of money if someone learned of a longer version and wanted to buy it.

Re: Purple Rain... I'm in full agreement that the full version is too iconic. The string coda does drag a bit, but it's not a dealbreaker.

Re: Let's Go Crazy... completely agree. That album version intro is fantastic and the radio edit is a complete mess, as you said. I'm not really sure why an edit (3:46) was ever made of that. At 4:39, it wasn't too long for radio at that point. The song is better for its inclusion. I suppose the powers that be either at the label or at radio felt that the spoken word intro might lead to listeners to change the station and opted to shorten it. It's certainly weird to hear it, though.

 

Don't be sorry. Feel the joy!

 

The comp - it's certainly an outstanding collection of material. Hope they go with the single versions. Wish it had been chronological and included some later material, but it's probably as good as we could expect for the posthumous best-of set. And one unreleased song is one more than I expected. So, coupled with a deluxe Purple Rain, this seems like a promising enough announcement to me, aimed at a wider audience. Hopefully, some interesting fan-service sets will follow in due course...

 

Without even knowing what is on it, a 2 CD deluxe version of 'Purple Rain' seems too skimpy. It does leave the door open for the inevitable super deluxe edition a few years down the road.

I always hoped that any deluxe edition would include audio and video of the First Avenue concert that a lot of the basic tracks were taken from. Its "out there" already but would be nice to have offical releases of that show.

 

This is exactly what the estate needed to do, and I hope it's a nice, tasteful package. I just really really can't understand nothing coming from the NPG era. It makes no sense, and all I can think is that that material hasn't been remastered and the estate doesn't have the time/money to commission one. Or else even though WB now has the distribution rights to the WB-era estate-owned material in perpetuity, the estate is reluctant to grant WB distribution for the NPG-era stuff. But that makes no sense and is a slam for people like me who are hoping to see the two halves of Prince's career reconciled.

 

But Prince controlled his post-Warner output, any deals he made with labels would have been him licencing out to them, they do not own that material. The estate should control all that, and since this is released by "NPG Records and Warner Bros. Records" no other collaboration is necessary, so I don't see what the problem would be.

The first six tracks on disc two (which covers Parade onwards), the big hits, are pulled out of the chronology of that disc and placed at the start ("Kiss", "Sign 'O' The Times", "Alphabet Street", "Batdance", "Thieves In The Temple", "Cream"), just as on the first disc, after that it goes back to Parade again and moves chronologically, "Moonbeam Levels" is treated as an unreleased Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic track, so it is where it should be.

That sounds like a more plausible explanation, that this material was already prepared and ready to go, and they had to get something out there quick. Let's hope there will be a NPG compilation later on, it is needed.

 

I love "Batdance". What an amazing track! It's schizophrenic and ridiculous and cheesy and wonderful.

 

It is cool that Moonbeam Levels is going to be on there but as someone who has all of the albums and tons of bootlegs and vinyl rips of singles, extended mixes, B-sides, etc. I plan on just getting that one song, not buying the whole compilation. I guess it makes financial sense to release a new compilation now though on account of his passing so many a lot of casual Prince fans will pick this up and dig a little more into his discog


This Purple Rain 2-Disk remaster is very very interesting to me though, I cannot wait to see what is on the bonus disk and how the remaster will sound quality wise.