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

Honestly, I'm surprised to see Batdance included.

Would love to see a deluxe version of the Batman soundtrack with Dance With The Devil included.

 

Yes! A three CD set would be awesome! Remixes, demos, etc. I'd be all for that!

 

That is too obvious an idea for them to ignore, right? Something like Duran Duran's "Night Versions" would be really cool.

 

It'd have to be on quite a few CDs. One set I've got, which is very much incomplete, is 6 discs and there are at least 4 discs worth of stuff that isn't included. Start throwing in associated artists 12" mixes and your into 15+ discs. I'd hope, if it happens, for there to be a 2 disc set of greatest 12" mixes and then a bigger set with the lot. There's gotta be at least 1 disc just of Get Off remixes alone.

 

You're forgetting 3 big ones:

"We CanF!ck" - Dec '83 - Jan 1984
"Love and Sex" - Feb 1984
"Katrina's Paper Dolls" late 1983

I don't think "Wonderful Ass" qualifies. It's was too early in 1983. Although Prince didn't work in sessions for an album, from the conventional standpoint, I've always believed that as an album Purple Rain started with the recording of "When Doves Cry" and Prince was inspired from there.

 

Wow! They already have it up! Just checked out the song list on the site. Can't wait to hear 'Grand Slam'.

 

For Dirty songs, I think Sister was second to none, even for a maniac like me

 

True, but it's not on this comp.

 

I so want this Purple Rain set to be killer but I worry that we are setting ourselves up for a major disappointment.

 

I think they need to start with the obvious stuff first. 1 or 2 disc compilations will be the path, I believe. To come out of the gate with a massive multi-disc set dedicated to 12"mixes would be retail suicide.

At least we are finally getting SOMETHING. Getting nothing is the ultimate disappointment.

 

Someone on Prince.org said something to the effect that this is basically for the casual fans, i.e those who predominantly took an interest in Prince after his death. The real goodies for the super fan will most likely come later on after the hype dies down a little. Let's not get too worried about what is and what isn't here yet, I'm certain we'll get them later!

 

Ha! I didn't notice that.

 

I'm hoping !

 

yes last year it go re-released without the limited edition 3rd disc

 

"Purple Rain - With New Hat!"

 

I dunno - if they give us a super-crappy "deluxe" version of "PR", it might be worse than nothing. At least "nothing" leaves hope we'll eventually get something good - if they serve us a crapburger, then we know we're screwed...

 

A 12" compilation of the Warner era (since that is what is "allowed") would only need to be a 2-CD, or maximum a 3-CD, to cover the important stuff (meaning excluding stuff like ten mixes of "Gett Off" in a row).

Yes, I'm not getting why so many are getting their knickers in a twist because there has been a compilation released. This has only begun, and I prefer them to take their time and do things properly, rather than rush out a multitude of haphazard releases right away.

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I saw there's a line of resoning on prince.org that goes that these are "non-estate" releases, meaning they are cooked up by Warner on their own, without direct involvement from the estate, that could be a reason why it stops where it does. But if so that could also indicate that Warner owns the vault material that was recorded during this peroid. This is just a lot of speculation or course.

 

Why? Ludwig, for one, has turned into a corporate hack. Ears of stone.

Better, Grundman, Hoffman, or Gray. Hersch, eh, maybe.

 

Let's hope Phil Collins is not in charge!!

 

Yeah, that is reasonable. I was talking about how a 10+ disc set was unrealistic.

 

Yeah, I guess those Phil Collins reissues were a disaster, weren't they?

I would've picked up the deluxe versions of the first 4 albums but I heard such bad things about them that I didn't bother!

 

I may grab that 'Ultimate' comp Morgan instead of this new one, that title name is awful, like it's being marketed for 10 year old's Thanks for the reminder

 

You regard it as a cash-grab, but you're still buying it?

 

My plan for 4Ever is to borrow it from the library. If the sound quality is an upgrade on The Hits and the existing CDs, sure, I'll buy it as a Christmas present to myself. But I honestly don't expect it to be. (The way Warners totally botched Madonna's Celebration still has me seething). / . More likely, I'll (quietly now...) rip "Moonbeam Levels" and wait patiently/optimistically for the deluxe Purple Rain.

 

So, reading around a bit, there are some comments from insiders that suggest both these releases were agreed upon from before (maybe back in 2014, when the deal with Warner was made). (For example there is this: Instagram photo by Justine Walpole • Oct 21, 2016 at 9:38am UTC ») In any case, the press release talks about the "deluxe version of Purple Rain, plans for which were agreed with Prince", so what if he had actualy finalized the track listing of the Deluxe edition? If so, what if Warner have the rights to "Moonbeam Levels" and it makes an appearance on 4Ever simply because it is a taste of their upcoming Purple Rain reissue, meaning the companion disc is a completely random collection of outtakes? We are assuming that a Deluxe edition is an expanded version of the main album, with tracks from that era, because that is the norm, but if Prince put this Deluxe together himself, all bets are off, because he wouldn't have been thinking like that...

Edit: Then again the press release says "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" is on the compilation, so...