Come

For me Come is a bittersweet album, as it was the first Prince release since the passing of one of my closest friends and like me a major Prince fan. We used to spend hours listening to Prince albums and talking about it, so to not have that opportunity made it a difficult album to listen to, especially when there were songs I knew he would have loved to hear.

So with a tinge of sadness, I sat in front of stereo, plugged in my headphones, pressed play and laid back on the ground and closed my eyes. It seemed a fitting position to take as the waves that opened the album seemed to crash over me. With a nod to the original track it was based on “18 and over” (and another nod to “school yard crush” with it’s clanging jingle bells) Come is one of Prince’s most sexually graphic songs but with a mellow phrasing and arrangement it manages to seduce rather than come over all hot and sweaty. With a beautiful soaring horn section punctuating the song’s major melody line, and a bass line that just slivers along the fret board Come sets up the mellower feel of the album. And while one of Prince’s more epic album openers timing in at 11:13 it never seems to overstay its welcome slinking and sliding into another phase of seduction and deliverance. One of Prince’s smoothest openers on record.

With headphones on hearing Space I got to hear things I’m sure I would have missed through my main speakers, such as the throws of passion moanings that make this song less outer space as the title might suggest and more inner space – with the lyrics dealing about true intimacy that transcends the physical. With its ethereal mix this song floats through the headset and carries you away with it.

If the first two tracks were seductive in tone, Pheromone reduces the act down to its primal elements. With a driving beat that seems to increase the tension with each passing wham of the snare we get a voyeuristic view of the kinkier side of lust. Whereas the lyrics on first read might have others almost screaming the lyrics, Prince’s vocal delivery is almost from the scene and thus lower in level as if not wanting to be sprung spying. While intriguing the song seems to lack dare I say it a climax and thus feels unsatisfying.

With its hardcore house rave feel Loose! Unfortunately comes across as someone trying to catch up to a musical trend rather than lead it. With Cybersingle and Interactive floating around at this time (both of a similar ilk) I can’t help but wish they were here in place of Loose!

Leaving carnal activity alone for the moment Prince offers up a haunting song in Papa. I love the treatment given to the bass and guitar tracks. With the same kind of intensity of songs off Purple Rain Papa finds Prince really showing his vocal ability to deliver lyrics with passion and angst. And there’s always a rainbow at the end of every rain.

The party jam of the album Race hooked me from the start. Reminiscent of the Diamond and Pearls era, the song sees Prince working those backing vocals. With a pointed social commentary that aims to unify us all under the one race rather than segregate this song inspired me to actually write Human on several forms for a long time after.

With a return to form on the ballad side of things Dark pays homage to the blues roots that all songs of heartbreak owe. A beautifully composed song, the first time I heard it thunderstorms were erupting around me and it seemed fitting. So to this day Dark remains a rainy song for me.

Solo, ok so while I can appreciate the richness in this vocal performance, I have to confess that normally I find myself skipping it. It always feels like a lyric in search of a song, and strangely enough remind me more of Terence Trent D’Arby’s neither fish nor flesh album than a Prince song. Though I do appreciate the double word play of Solo and So Low that exists in the feeling of the song.

Pushing the bounds of the one word titles that each song has Letitgo had radio hit written all over it, and under better circumstances might have been a bigger hit than it was. Probably one of Prince’s most honest lyrics, he seems to take stock of his life, and give up the worries and concerns of where his life was at and leave the baggage behind, and go with the flow. The lyrical metaphors drew me in straight away, and that sing song chorus just makes you want to join in. And over a decade late Letitgo still sounds fresh and relevant to the modern music landscape. And what a beautiful guitar and organ solo towards the end of the track. This is one of the songs I would have loved to have been a fly on the studio wall for, I just find the whole construction of the song so wonderful.

Well what can you say about Orgasm? My only real comment was when I worked in a record store and I would play the cd, this song always drew a few intriguing looks from the record buying public.

Not one of his strongest releases Come still packs a sizeable punch, and quarrels with Warner Bros aside, it deserved greater support than it received. But with most of the songs cobbled together from past recordings, and Prince declaring himself dead on the album cover, it was no surprise that Prince’s mind was elsewhere with the recording of The Gold Experience, the first album by a reborn artist and an album we will discuss tomorrow, but for now pull out Come, play it and let us know what you thought back then and today.

[Edited 9/30/10 19:02pm]

"I'm not human I'm a dove, I'm ur conscience. I am love"

smoothcriminal 12	I just listened to Orgasm for the first time. Too much for my young ears.
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JoeTyler	thedance said: JoeTyler said: Delete Loose!, Pheromone what? those 2 trax are great !? Loose: mad dance track that doesn't flow with the rest of the album Pheromone: weak Peach sequel, average funk/rock...tired ass drum line...
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nursev	Great album-best artist on the planet
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