*raises hand* Single edits are a crucial part of the experience for me and for many others--I'm sure I'm not the only one who bought the singles as well as the LP if there were mix/edit differences.
Gutted at the absence of Xtraloveable..... ....But getting Do Yourself A Favor in HQ quality almost makes up for it. "Do I hear some chicken scratchin??"
Yes, any properly done archival release of an album will have a disc of single versions, and if you're doing that, you might as well be as comprehensive as possible. This material isn't being included at the expense of any outtakes. The alternative to having all those different versions of songs on that disc wasn't having a bunch of exciting outtakes instead, but having a shorter disc of only the most obvious tracks (e.g. the four US A-side edits, the three non-album b-sides, and the 'Corvette' 12" mix). I'm delighted they've gone to the trouble of gathering all those other variants and made it complete. This also gives you the opportunity to compile a single-album version of 1999 that doesn't omit any tracks. Something in the Water is only four minutes long anyway, and the only other full length track, 'International Lover', is the closer.
This looks excellent! Modelled on the Purple Rain Deluxe, so there's a bit of continuity, but more of everything, extra disc of outtakes, extra disc of live material, and seemingly better executed with regards to having outtakes from defined time spans (Purple Rain was a little bit random with what was included). Remember that for Purple Rain the main album was alredy remastered under Prince's supervison, so they had to use that (butchered) version, the other two discs of the set had great mastering by Bernie Grundman, so there is no reason to think that this wouldn't be like them. I am with the crowd that loves single edits and think they are essential. But one thing I don't understand, and I said this about Purple Rain as well, is why they group multiple versions of the same song together after one another when they don't have to? Why not instead group all regular 7" singels and their respective B-sides first, then 12" versions (which there is only one here, but just an example), and then, in this case, the mono/promo versions, then the "video" versions, etc. so that it is more listenable and not just an archivist excercise. I also didn't know there was, or hadn't noticed, any diffeence in the music to the videos (different edits maybe), but if there is going to be a disc devoted to singles they may as well fill it up, this album obviously doesn't have extended 12" versions since the longest versions are already the ones on the album, so it's good that they used whatever else they had. Like it's been said, it's not like we would have gotten extra outtakes on the last half of that disc instead.
I want to agree with you, but the sequencing is bad. When would you ever want to listen to that bunch of edits? If they had put the 12" version and the 4 b-side tracks as the first 5 tracks, at least you could have ejected the disc after that. But they have put two edits of the same track in pairs! I can't imagine anyone want to listen to ste stereo edit of "1999" and then immediately the mono edit as the next track. Same for "Let's Pretend…"
Great minds think alike. The funny thing is that with Purple Rain the leaked tracklist actually did what you and me suggest, had all the 7" A- & B-sides first, and then the 12" versions A & B, and no song was repeated directly, so they actually had this idea, but then on the released version they had changedit into this same thing as here, grouped tracks according to song instead, so someone obviously thought it was better, I can't imagine why.
Can't wait for this. 29th November seems along way off. Not yet seen a price for the 10lp set yet I might go for the CD Set, just forked out £100 for Emancipation and Chaos on vinyl.
This is an interesting tidbit I see in an article on Pitchfork about the reissue: Prince’s 1999 Gets Deluxe Reissue With Unreleased Tracks | Pitchfork I'm now wondering what the relation is between this album and Duff McKagan? It's not a name you would expect associated with this release. Not that I know Andrea Swensson and Duane Tudahl, but their associations seem more logical. So, anyone knows?
Duff McKagan is a massive Prince fan, and a bestselling writer as well. He has often cited 1999 as his all time favourite album, and a record that, in a roundabout way, motivated him to move from Seattle to L.A in the early 80's (where he met the GnR guys, and the rest is history).
My problem with them is that they stick B-sides in between repetitive issues of a single song, I'd rather have them one after the other. This is easily remedied by making a playlist and so I guess it saves wear-n'-tear on the hard copy. I never play the Purple Rain disc of single edits.
I love the cover art as well! I don't think people need to fret about it as I assume inside the box it will include the original cover of 1999 as that is Disc 1 of the set.
Looks like a very good set ... It's a shame they didn't look to do a surround mix though. Prince could have some excellent surround mixes
How they’re doing it how i sequence my playlists, and how I did my own 1999 deluxe a few years ago. I like having my different versions side by side so that all of the differences are easily comparable.
Thanks! I never knew that, obviously. Nor that he's a bestselling writer. So his essay might be interesting.
For anyone curious, Duane Tudahl wrote the *fabulous* recent deep dive into the Purple Rain era (83-84) studio sessions. Highly recommended. His next book will cover 85-86 so has the potential to be even more fascinating. Prince and the Purple Rain Era Studio Sessions
Thanks for that link! That's a book I'll put on my to-get list. Funny, a few months ago I bought another book about Prince's work (the name escapes me for a moment, haven't read it yet). And while the link to Google Books is great, I prefer to have a physical copy.