Continuing the One Album A Day Celebration of Prince's music we turn our attention to Come. (I have omitted the Hits/B-Sides pack as an album I will return to at the end of the series due to the heavy compilation component)

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 Interactive floating around at this time (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.

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.

Swa
[Edited 7/2/09 4:21am]

By now i was in the music business and heard all of the mess between Prince and his label..rumblings about he wasnt recording anything new and blah,blah,blah..Then "come" comes out and my perspective started to change..maybe its because im on the inside now..its the only album i listened to once and have never listened to again..."letitgo"..i had already heard months prior and u can tell this was just a bunch of old unreleased material..I know many people love this album and I respect that..I'll take your advice and go listen to again...but i cant find it.....

"14 years and tears I've longed to sing my song..A horse couldnt drag your ass to put me on"..
[Edited 7/1/09 18:53pm]

Nice review...I don't what to think about the "Prince declares himself dead," in the summary. I never got that impresseion. In my opinion..."Pheromone," is satisfying for the mystery the song delivers.

great review

Come
pheromone
papa
letitgo
dark

This album had to grow on me...
at the end of my 1st listen....
I wanted more....classic album

I herd Prince wanted to Release Come and The gold exspirience
at the same time....Putting 2 rest the Prince image with come...
And emerging As with better matrerial with the gold exspirience...

Swa said:

Cybersingle didn't come out until 2000... did you mean Endorphinmachine?

billymeade said:

No I meant Cybersingle - it was part of the "Interactive" PC Game.
[Edited 7/1/09 19:28pm]

Swa said:

Ok maybe I am confused - but I thought the game had "Interactive", "Enorphinmachine" and "Cybersingle" spread throughout it. It's been a decade since I played it so I may be mistaken.

Swa

this is one of his most undervalued albums, in my opinion. It's a shame it was treated as a sorta throwaway because it has some really stellar material. Had he and the label gotten behind the project, it may have done really well. I still listen to it quite often. It's a very dark little underground funk sorta album... what the Black Album wanted to be.

I actually think Come may be his best album of the 90's.
[Edited 7/1/09 20:04pm]

Excellent album,

I really love it - if only Interactive and Lovesign had been included....

Love this album! "Space" is my song!

Cybersingle was not around at the time. Endorphinmachine was.

My only disagreements with your review is that I think both Pheromone and Loose! are highlights of the album. Those are two strong tracks, whereas Letitgo is lame and weak and it's no wonder it didn't chart.

Swa said:

Really? How funny, I blew the dust of that CD-ROM today and had a bit of a play with it! I spent so many hours playing that thing back in the day! I don't remember Cybersingle being there though, where was it?

NoVideo said:

I HHAAAAATED this ablum when I first got it, it was such a departure from Diamonds and Pearls and the Symbol, which were my first 2 prince records...as usual, I still gave it quite a few tries, trying to understand it.

Now I love it, I think every song is excellent, It's just sublime, the whole thing. Who cares i was 'cobbles together', it has a unified sound to me. IT's hard to listen to Orgasm with people around, though, isn't it?
Unless you're at a swingers party, I guess...

Got it and the Black Album the day I graduated high school December 2nd 1994, loved both then and love them now.
Love 11 minute porn opener Come (Can I Fuck u baby), Space and Pheromeone keep it going, Loose (Shake your motherfucking tube loose) ok but could give a migraine. Papa ok a bit weird, Race I found a bit tiring, I don't really like his civil rights type stuff (Eg We March). Dark is his finest ever ballad, silky smooth, lots of emotion and superb falsetto voices, easily his best song since Adore (My #5 all time favourite Prince song). Solo is on the other hand unlistenable, a self indulgent experiment, and Letitgo is a superb single, yet a very funky and catchy Prince song, with its beats and crazy drum machine breaks and the lyrics are like jellybread. Orgasm is bizarre, Prince getting down to the base instincts hes great for, the "I love you" at the end really gives the whole album the full amount of pathos it deserves. Plus he was really cursing like crazy at this phase.
Rather than his decline, this was his finest form since sign, I just love this album a solid A here

Swa said:

My face is red - I stand corrected.

Cybersingle was not around at this time - I was confusing it with Interactive and Endorphine Machine.

Thanks for the correction.

Swa

Swa said:

There are only, like 5,000,000 prince songs to remember, don't sweat it! Your point regarding Loose still stands!

After the cheesy kiddie derivative pop sensibilities of most of his 90's work, I was glad to hear Come, the complexity of somewhat jazzy music of the title track with the horns and baselines throughout was a welcome change.

Pheromone is as elective and daring as I would expect from Prince.
Lettigo is an old school breath of fresh air,..

the rest are standard 90's kiddie drivel.

While hardly perfect, i think Come and "The Truth" are his best work of the 90's

The only two 90's CD's in my collection that i know where they are kept, and ever play.
[Edited 7/2/09 7:06am]

This is my love/hate album. Well, I don't actually ever hate it ever. I just go through long periods of not thinking it's "all that", then other times I just LOVE it.

Space is my fave. (Universal mix is one of my all time remixes).

I always come back to this album more than The Gold Experience.

I always preferred the electronic hypnotic version of 'Come' from the Beautiful Experience film.

Lovesign, Letitgo & Race are definately lost hits from this period. Lovesign got so much airplay in the UK and then wasn't released as a single. Doh!

Dazza said:

I believe Lovesign was intended to be the follow-up single to TMBGITW, but Warner Brothers blocked it. Can anybody confirm that?

I love the music throughout the album, but the lyrics seem a tad uninspired in places.

'Space' is one of his best songs ever though.

Does anyone know if there were other tracklists for this album? I am familiar with the Original Test Pressing but it seems like there may have been other versions of Come.

Like a lot of folks it took me a while to "get" this album. There were a few tracks I loved right away ("Come," "Papa," "Dark") but to my ears most of the album did not sound like Prince. Today I rank it near the middle of his output, he's released a lot of albums that are better and probably just as many that are worse. It's not the first Prince album that I reach for but when I do listen to it I enjoy it all the way through.

rialb said:

I think a lot of us feel that way. When you put it on though it is hard to press stop.

Swa

rialb said:

Prince: untitled cassette (March 1993) - track list by BorisFishpaw, referred to as the first known configuration of Come
1. Come (4:49)
2. Endorphin Machine (3:51)
3. Space (5:30)
4. Pheromone (4:22)
5. Loose (3:23)
6. Papa (2:19)
7. Dark (6:26)
8. Dolphin (4:57)
9. Poem (3:30)

Prince: Papa EP (April 1993) - intended 4 release on Prince's birthday 7 June 1993. Reported in Uptown #9 & by MTV News
1. Papa (2:48)
2. Come
3. Peach (3:48)
4. Race

: Come (29 May 1993) - date mentioned in "Mayte’s" fax to Controversy #42
Track list unknown, but includes Come, Race, Pheromone, Dark, Dolphin, Pope

: Come (June-August 1993) - mentioned by BorisFishpaw
Track list unknown

Prince: Come (11 March 1994)
1. Poem (3:36)
2. Interactive (3:05)
3. Endorphine Machine (3:49)
4. Space (4:30)
5. Pheromone (4:23)
6. Loose (3:26)
7. Papa (2:48)
8. Race (4:17)
9. Dark (6:03)
10. Solo (3:50) (Prince/David Henry Hwang)
11. Strays Of The World (5:18)

Prince: Come (April-May 1994) - mentioned by BorisFishpaw
Track list unknown, but supposedly includes 2 versions of Come

Prince: Space single (19 September 1994) - mentioned by Simonmillar on Housequake
Space (Universal Love Remix Edit) (4:00)
Pop Life Edit (Kirky J Remix Edit) (4:36)

Prince: Space maxi single (21 September 1994) - mentioned by Simonmillar on Housequake
Space (Universal Love Remix) (6:10)
Space (Funky Stuff Remix) (5:41)
Space (Funky Stuff Remix Dub) (4:47)
Space (Acoustic Radio Remix) (4:41)
Space (Album Version) (4:31)
Pop Life (Kirky J Remix) (6:13)

Prince: Come EP (pre 14 October 1994) - mentioned by BorisFishpaw
Track list unknown, but 7 versions of Come, incl. 18 & Over and The Beautiful Experience TV movie version

Prince: Loose! single (1994) - mentioned by BorisFishpaw
Track list unknown but probably includes Loose Dub and So Dark, possibly titled or later re-titled The Tora Tora Experience

scififilmnerd said:

Thank you for the info. It's hard to picture Come with tracks like "Interacive," "Endorphinmachine" and "Strays Of The World" included.

rialb said:

Yeah I agree, as much as I like those songs, I think Come is better as it is. Very sleek, funky album.

My favs are Come and Space. Had to put this on repeat more than twice to get a hook on it.Now I enjoy it along with GOLD.

Most of Prince's work in the 90's including "the gold experience" had a dumbed down vibe, lyrically and musically. This one, while still on the dumb side, at least was a lot more creative and interesting.

Songs like "Space" are in a electronic new age Prince jazz style all its own.

Pheromone is a delicious crazy ass head-bobbing groove that i cant figure out what process was used to create it, with that backward sounding synth.

Solo is so gorgeous on one level, strange on another, that a lot of prince fans will never be able to grasp it.

I too think the electronic version of "come" would have fit better, and as much as i hate to admit his old fashioned for the 90's version of techno he employed on it has aged better than the overdone pussy slurping and lip smacking version on the LP. It could be ice cream he was enjoying, but it still doesnt sound good.
While I love the horn and bass arrangement, the lip smacking has forever turned me off to this version.

Lettigo is classic prince with the awesome keyboard doodling throughout.

If i hated the overdone lip smacking and pussy slurping of the title cut, then i loath the idiotic overdone moaning of the closing track.

Overall i still like "Come" better than all his other 90's stuff, mostly because it is the most unrestrained album of the 90's, a safe pop record this ain't. He didn’t give a shit since it was to be his last new Prince album for WB.

.
[Edited 7/5/09 22:08pm]

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

I like the version of Come used, the laid-back groove kinda works for me - - but I agree that the "sound effects" were just tasteless (ironically enough) and pretty much ruins the song for me. I wish there was a good edit of it that cuts all that stuff out.