My opinion only, but I think they CANNOT release Extraloveable unless it's a fade edit of the earlier version. Here are lyrics from late in the song: "This ain't just about your body, baby It's about your mind (Ooh ooh!) Come on and take the drop, baby And spare some time (Ooh!) I'm on the verge of rape I don't think you heard me (Ooh ooh!) I'm on the verge of rape I'm on the. I'm sorry, but I'm just gonna have to rape you Now are you going to get into the tub or do I have to drag you? Don't make me drag you I can be very cruel" No way you can put that today. No way. And frankly, while I often find SJW's a bit hysterical and overly-dramatic, I'd agree with them on this one.
The main album was remastered by Joshua Welton under Prince's supervision, that is why it sound like it does. Bernie Grundman remastered the outtakes. From the linked interview with Michael Howe: ...Bernie Grundman, who obviously mastered all of the stuff back then, is the guy who has been doing all of the remasters for us, and he’s doing it right from high-res transfers of the original half-inch flat analogue reels, and he’s doing a remarkable job.
It could just be a case of "Extraloveable" being outside of the purview of this box. I believe it is from 1983 and when Prince was beyond the 1999 sessions. There is the possibility it may show up in a future set of unreleased material.
I think they can, and I hope they will release the full version without editing anything. Honestly, don't bother releasing it at all if you're going to censor or edit things. Same goes with Lust U Always. If Bobby Brown Goes Down can be released, be a #1 hit in Europe, and be released as a part ZAPPAtite in 2016, Extraloveable original can be released.
Bobby Brown was pure satire and everyone knew it...those Prince lyrics are not satire. I love Prince and know those lyrics were just dumb young bravado/machismo silliness but if that song came out on a celebrated new release reissue now it would be talked about online as though he were saying those things now and that is not something we need to see happen to his legacy.
I mean, as we saw with Originals, the Estate isn't afraid of cutting/shortening songs. Extraloveable could easily segue out before the "problematic" lyrics start or they could just drop the vocals in the mix. Something like that would be a fine compromise.
I agree. If I had to make a decision I too would've thought it's not right to release something like Extraloveable or Lust in a reissue with high interest from the public, like 1999. Maybe someday, when there's less heat from the media. I hope the estate could make it happen before I die.
I'm hoping for an estate online subscription for downloadable bonus tracks in Flac. (a guy can dream, right?) But this is the part that I disagree with, simply because nobody knows, but Prince, what his intentions were with the lyrics. You can hypothesize but you can never know for sure. Many of Prince's songs have elements of theatrics anyway. I mean, I have a young daughter and wife whom I cherish greatly. I wouldn't want anybody to advocate rape. But it's a song. It's not the act, itself.
I agree we don’t know however what I do know is in 2019 if that song comes out a few small online publications will pick up on it and like all things online it will get to be a bigger and bigger story and then one day we will see a segment on CNN about Princes Rape Songs. Then the record company has to distance themselves from Prince because you can’t have a corporation with stock holders profiting off a “rape song”. And on and on it would go. I don’t want that for his legacy and if the way to avoid it is to have two whole songs stay unreleased (for now) I am ok with it.
My beef w/ the PR deluxe was just that - the different mastering between the main album and the outtakes, singles and 12 inch edits. My attempt at a custom “Ultimate Purple Rain” CD mixing sources from the same set resulted in fluctuating volume levels.
Who ever at Warner thinks people are going to pay big money for the CD/DVD set in paper sleeves are delusional. Why not just package with a $50 rusty 20-year old car with the CDs under the seat. They'll be just as scratched up as the paper sleeves these come in from the factory and cost the same. Screw 'em. Can't wait for the "buuuut, is about the muuusic!" If it plays, yes it is.
I’m just bummed that the 4LP set includes all of the single edits and not the unreleased material. So mercenary of them to force you to buy the super deluxe set if you want the unreleased stuff on wax. And Jill Jones looks fine as hell in that live vid!
It's true that the whole thing could be a literary (or theatrical, if you will) creation and not an autobiography. Nonetheless, the man took a listen to hundreds of his own works over the years and said "Er, no.", probably because there wasn't the bandwidth, mostly, but also surely sometimes because something was wrong with a vocal or guitar, or because he had moved on and pulling something out of the vault would have been akin to publishing one's middle-school journals. For years, he performed his songs radically altered, regretting earlier decisions: excising profanity; "The Christ"; "Don't buy the black album"; admonishing audiences "Don't say it" wrt infamous slots for singalong profanity; Erm, the reworked "Xtralovable" for Hit n Run. I don't generally go along with his revisionism, but I see no reason to suddenly change horses midstream and find artistic purity in giving a 37-year-old 'rape soliloquy' a pass. Stones fans still have to resort to bootlegs of 'CS Blues' 50 years later. Somehow life goes on.
I don't see any paper sleeves there. It looks like cardboard in my eyes. Might even be mini-LP style. No different than some other recent boxsets (David Bowie, Kate Bush)
That's actually a lot less than I thought it would be. Although I suppose the RRP on the streets will be more like £225. Even so, the going rate for new re-releases seems to be £25 or so per disc (see the upcoming Abbey Road deluxe). Or, if we take today's releases of The Versace Experience and Chaos & Disorder as yardstick - £38 per disc!
Yes. I don't have any reason to believe that Prince ever raped or sexually assaulted anyone. Nor that he would ever approve of it. It can be credibly argued that Extraloveable and Lust U Always songs just portray fictional scenarios - ie a carachter who has simply been driven so crazy by lust that he feels compelled to break through all sexual boundaries. In a way it is consistent with the sexual provocateur persona he had going on in the early 80s. I don't think Prince ever committed incest, or stole someone's bride on the way to her wedding either, nor would he necessarily approve of these things (see 'Sister' or 'Head'). But in today's environment, when there are packs of people roaming social media just looking for reasons to be offended, I think that any context or nuance that there might be to a discussion about the tape lyrics in Extraloveable and Lust U Always will be lost. So, best to keep them under wraps. Not all publicity is good publicity. I wouldn't be surprised if someone, somewhere on Twitter, decides to get narky about Irresistible B * tch.
I wholeheartedly believe Prince could have stolen a bride or two on the way to their wedding. What’s fictional is the events as described in the song. That’s about as much as we can get into that one. Ha.
The 30 November Masonic Hall Detroit performance of the song 1999 (10 mins 23 secs long) is up on Qobuz for streaming. Initial impressions - good performance, some source related microphone issues on the recording but def good soundboard quality and well above bootleg. Instruments are mixed well, especially the guitar. Album 1999 (Live at Masonic Hall, Detroit, MI, 11/30/1982 - Late Show), Prince | Qobuz: download and streaming in high quality
Yeah, from the Youtube link upthread, I noticed the distorted vocal on the "I was dreaming when I wrote this, forgive me if it goes astray" part. But it sounds better on the "...too fast" part. Overall the the track sounds great though. Can't wait to hear this whole show.