PRINCE VS. WB: THE FANS LOST
Part 5: Chaos and disorder

By Scififilmnerd

The creation of Chaos And Disorder
had just wrapped up work on the second configuration of The Gold Experience in October 1994, when he made the first configuration of Chaos And Disorder in November/December. When a later configuration was released in 1996, it said in the cover that it was a compilation originally intended for private use only. And although made videos for some of the songs in late 1994, the compilation wasn’t slated for release at the time. Instead announced in a press release that he wanted to release an acoustic set entitled Heart on NPG Records when he was free of his contract with Warner Bros.
“He’s always making an album and he’ll put it away,” Mayte told Uptown in July 1995. “He got how many albums? He has got about five or six that are done now and people are asking, “hey, what about this? Is this the next one?” But you never know.”

Chaos And Disorder tracks
shot a video for the Chaos And Disorder track The Same December on 8 November 1994. The song had a similar sound to the version of Dolphin that was included on The Gold Experience, indicating that they were probably recorded at the same time. Videos were also made for the Chaos And Disorder tracks I Like It There and Zannalee (from May 1993) and for the 4 August 1985 Prince And The Revolution song Empty Room, indicating that it was also included on the compilation.
Other Chaos And Disorder tracks known to be in existence at the time was the title track and Right The Wrong, which were recorded on the same day in October 1993 and had been included on the first configuration of The Gold Album. The song Chaos And Disorder had evolved from a live extension of Peach, which had played on the summer 1993 Act II tour of Europe.
Except for Empty Room, all of the tracks had been recorded with members of The New Power Generation. The NPG Hornz played on Right The Wrong.

: Chaos And Disorder (late 1994)
Track list unknown but includes: Chaos And Disorder, I Like It There, The Same December, Right The Wrong, Zannalee & Empty Room

Possible Chaos And Disorder tracks
With Chaos And Disorder apparently being the guitar rock album that Come ended up not being, another likely candidate for inclusion on Chaos And Disorder was Calhoun Square, which was recorded 15 June 1993 and of which an edit was made around this time.
Chaos And Disorder appeared to have been a compilation of songs that didn’t make Come or The Gold Experience. As such, Interactive, What’s My Name, Strays Of The World, It’s About That Walk, Hide The Bone, Somebody’s Somebody, Ripopgodazippa and New World could theoretically have been included on it. (Acknowledge Me was included on NPG: Exodus at the time of the sequencing, and Listen 2 The Rhythm had been given to Mayte as The Rhythm Of Your .)
Of course, the compilation could also have included tracks that have never been released or bootlegged and remain unknown to fans.
By 22 December 1994, had put the video show together that would be shown prior to his concerts on the European The Gold Experience tour in March 1995. It included three Chaos And Disorder tracks.

: The Gold tour video experience (22 December 1994)
1. The Same December (3:24)
2. 18 & Over (4:16)
3. Zannalee (2:51)
4. Empty Room (3:22)

44 seconds of Zannalee, recorded 14 June 1993, were released on The Undertaker home video in March 1995, previewing the full version of the song on Chaos And Disorder. To celebrate the video release, performed the full version of Zannalee at an aftershow in London 23 March 1995. It was also performed at a concert at Paisley Park 26 August 1995. By then, police sirens were added to the song, indicating that the version that appeared on Chaos And Disorder in 1996 had already been recorded by this time.

Free the slave
On 22 December 1995, Paisley Park issued a press release that said: “ has officially given notice to Warner Bros. Records (WBR) of his desire to terminate his recording agreement with the company. (…) The Artist is prepared to deliver the three remaining albums under his former name Prince, which will fulfill his contractual to WBR. Currently, the albums are titled: Prince: The Vault – Volumes I, II and III. will release a new recording entitled Emancipation once he is free from all ties with Time Warner.”
Another regime change had occurred at Warner Bros.: Danny Goldberg was out after just one year as Chairman and Vice Chairman Russ Thyret assumed the top job.
Thyret had little appetite for dealing with ’s many complaints and demands when he wasn’t even selling that many records, so he concluded that the label needed to end the relationship.
In early 1996, negotiations began between Warner Bros. and ’s new attorney, L. Londell McMillan. An agreement was quickly reached that would ultimately deliver two albums of material from the vault to the label, which would then release him from his contract.
decided that one of those two vault-releases should be Chaos And Disorder, but instead of just letting it be released as it was, he unfortunately decided to do quite a lot of additional work on it, updating tracks, removing tracks and adding new ones.

The devolution of Chaos And Disorder
Before disbanding The New Power Generation 8 March 1996, had recorded Sarah with them and The NPG Hornz. During March, made a new mix of the song and of Right The Wrong. The former NPG member Rosie Gaines was brought in to add background vocals to Chaos And Disorder and the new songs Into The Light, I Will and Dig U Better Dead. The NPG Hornz played on Into The Light and I Will.
It is possible that Into The Light and I Will were originally recorded earlier and may even have been included on the original Chaos And Disorder configuration, as they, like What It Is… from 1994, seem to have been inspired by Betty Eadie’s book Embraced By The Light. In the liner notes by Jim Walsh for The Gold Experience it says that was enamored with the book during the making of that album.
“I don’t read many books,” told Vox in 1995, “but I have read Embraced By The Light. It was inspired by a near-death experience. It throws light on the little things in day-to-day life.”
Rosie Gaines also added lead vocal to I Rock, Therefore I Am, which sounded like an outtake from the 1992 -album with horrible Jamaica-rap added by Steppa Ranks in the style of the 1993 Pink Cashmere (12” Remix) and a 1996 rap by Scrap D., possibly replacing a Tony M. rap. Scrap D. also appeared on a couple of Emancipation tracks that same year.
In late March/early April 1996, hired NPG members Michael Bland and Sonny Thompson for a Chaos And Disorder-session at South Beach Studios in Miami. They recorded a new version of I Like It There, and new versions of Chaos And Disorder and Right The Wrong that weren’t used, as well as the new track Dinner With Delores.
Finally, added the new version of Zannalee and the new song Had U and the new configuration of Chaos And Disorder was done. Sarah ended up on The Vault… Old Friends 4 Sale instead.

: Chaos And Disorder (April 1996)
1. Chaos And Disorder (4:20)
2. I Like It There (3:15)
3. Dinner With Delores (2:46)
4. The Same December (3:24)
5. Right The Wrong (4:39)
6. Zannalee (2:43)
7. I Rock, Therefore I Am (6:15)
8. Into The Light (2:46)
9. I Will (3:36)
10. Dig U Better Dead (4:00)
11. Had U (1:26)

Release of Chaos And Disorder
On 26 April 1996, delivered Chaos And Disorder and The Vault… Old Friends 4 Sale to Warner Bros. complete with the artwork design. The record company had no influence over the contents of either album. According to a Warner Bros. executive, it was a “take it or leave it, fuck you”-situation. Several top-level executives were upset about what was perceived as some of ’s most mediocre work in ages. The general feeling at Warner Bros. was that dumped garbage on them.
Dinner With Delores was chosen as the first single and filmed a video for it in Los Angeles, 20 May 1996. For once, the video was actually released to coincide with the single release, but the song still failed to chart.

: Dinner With Delores single (June 1996)
1. Dinner With Delores (2:46)
2. Had U (1:26)
3. Right The Wrong (4:39)

On 8 July 1996, a live performance of Dinner With Delores was broadcast on CBS’ The Late Show With David Letterman. It had been taped about a week earlier, 2 July 1996. still had “slave” written on his cheek. On 9 July 1996, he performed Dinner With Delores and Zannalee on NBC’s The Today Show. Along with two newspaper interviews, that was about all the promotion did for Chaos And Disorder, which appeared in stores 9 July 1996. The cover announced that the compilation served as the last original material recorded by for Warner Bros. Records.

Chaos And Disorder fared miserably on the charts, reaching only number 26 on the Billboard Album Chart and failing to enter the R&B Chart. It became ’s poorest selling album of new music since early in his career, moving just 140.000 copies in the United States and fewer than 500.000 worldwide.

Critical reaction
Most critics lambasted Chaos And Disorder. “Tucked inside the cover of his latest platter is a warning that the LP was “originally intended 4 private use only”,” wrote Jim Farber of NY Daily News. “Translation: “Songs this junky should've never made it out of the studio. But since I can't stand my record company, and I couldn't care less about my fans, I put them out anyway - the better to give Warners one last reason to be sorry they ever crossed me.””
“Chaos & Disorder appears to be an uninspired collection of warmed-over jams, sketches, snatches and leftovers,” wrote Jim Walsh in St. Paul Pioneer Press. “Has there ever been a more forgettable Prince single than Dinner With Delores? (…) But the biggest mystery is why would an artist so proud, and so fiercely competitive and trailblazing, release such a mediocre work?”
“Chaos and Disorder is a vault-clearing throw-together meant to fulfill a contract,” said Entertainment Weekly. “No longer content to wallow in a persecution complex, now apparently feels his fans have to pay for the cross.”
“Maybe he was just saving the good stuff for his new three-disc set, Emancipation,” pondered Rolling Stone Online. “If so, the die-hard fans got hosed. And they’re not the ones who made him a slave.”
On the positive side, some reviewers concluded that “for a slapped-together throwaway, it’s not bad” (Minneapolis Star-Tribune), “these are hardly the throwaway outtakes some artists use to wrap up a contract” (The News-Leader, Springfield, MO) and “you’d do well to remember that the worst throwaway crap from TAFKAP outshines the vast majority of other current artists’ most inspired efforts.” (Rebecca Eisenberg, Addicted To Noise.)

The final Chaos And Disorder tracks
There was no second single release from Chaos And Disorder, but had shot a new promo video for The Same December in Los Angeles in June 1996. It was released to TV stations.
In 1998, released Calhoun Square on the Crystal Ball collection, and in 1999 It’s About That Walk and Sarah followed on The Vault… Old Friends 4 Sale before became a Jehova’s Witness and changed his heathen -name back to Prince. Then a 2002 rehearsal version of Empty Room was released on the download album C-NOTE on Prince’s now defunct NPG Music Club website in 2003.
In 2007, Prince performed Calhoun Square, Chaos And Disorder, I Like It There and Empty Room at a memorable rock aftershow in London, 29 August. In 2009, Prince reunited with NPG members Sonny Thompson and Michael Bland for a legendary rock concert in Los Angeles, 28 March. They performed Chaos And Disorder, I Like It There and Empty Room, not to mention the classic Peach from Come, taking the audience back to happier times – for the fans, if not for Prince. Of course, Prince changed the lyrics to Chaos And Disorder, singing “your world” instead of “my world”, suggesting that there’s no chaos and disorder in his life anymore.

Thanks to:
Virgo

Sources:
Axel Engelhardt: Child Of The Sun – an interview with Mayte, Uptown #21
Alex Hahn: Possessed – The Rise And Fall Of Prince
KAB: 1993-1996, contract filler and justifying C&D…..: http://prince.org/msg/7/159658
Steve Malins: Cradle To Slave/Tome Alone, Vox, May/June 1995
Prince In Print: http://princetext.tripod.com/
Uptown Presents Days Of Wild – A Documentary Of Prince/

Part 1:
The Come(back) album that never happened: http://prince.org/msg/7/317254

Part 2:
No records allowed, only videos: http://prince.org/msg/7/317534

Part 3:
All that glitters ain’t Gold: http://prince.org/msg/7/318315" target="_blank"> http://prince.org/msg/7/318315

Part 4:
Slave to the system: http://prince.org/msg/5/319042

Part 6:
Free at last!: http://prince.org/msg/7/342786

Appendix 1:
List of unreleased Prince album configurations: http://prince.org/msg/7/319757

Appendix 2:
List of unreleased Associated Artists album configurations: http://prince.org/msg/5/319895

Appendix 3:
List of chronological Prince recordings: http://prince.org/msg/7/320445
[Edited 8/26/10 8:26am]

CHRONOLOGICAL CHAOS AND DISORDER RECORDINGS
* = released version

Eden Prairie Warehouse, late July – mid August 1985
Empty Room #1 (4/8) – recorded live with The Revolution

, Paisley Park, January – March 1992
Empty Room #2 (2:03)

Come & Glam-O-Rama (later “Glam Slam Ulysses”), May 1993
Zannalee #1 (2:51)

The Paisley Park Power Trio: The Undertaker, Paisley Park, 14 June 1993
Zannalee (Prelude) (0:44)

Paisley Park, 15 June 1993
Calhoun Square #1 (4:46)*

Guillome Tell Studios, Paris, 2 September 1993
It’s About That Walk #1

Paisley Park, mid to late October 1993
Chaos And Disorder #1 (4:13) – recorded on the same day as
Right The Wrong #1 (4:42) – segues with Acknowledge Me

Guillome Tell, Paris, 10-22 November 1993
It’s About That Walk #2 (4:26)* - possibly identical with #1

Chaos And Disorder, November - December 1994
The Same December (3:24)* - pre 8/11
Empty Room #3 (3:22) – possibly identical with #1
I Like It There #1 (3:15)*
Calhoun Square #2 (4:28) – edit of #1

& The NPG, Paisley Park, late February – The NPG is disbanded 8 March 1996
Sarah #1 (2:50) – with The NPG Hornz
Into The Light (2:46)* - with The NPG Hornz, background vocals: Rosie Gaines
I Will (3:36)* - with The NPG Hornz, background vocals: Rosie Gaines
One Of Us #2 (5:19)* - tentative placing

Chaos And Disorder & The Vault, March 1996 – delivered to W.B. 26/4-‘96
Sarah #2 (2:52)*
Chaos And Disorder #2 (4:20)* – background vocals: Rosie Gaines
Right The Wrong #2 (4:39)*
Zannalee #2 (2:43)* - tentative placing
I Rock, Therefore I Am (6:15)* – with the NPG Hornz, lead vocal: Rosie Gaines, rap: Scrap D & Steppa Ranks
Dig U Better Dead (4:00)* - background vocals: Rosie Gaines
Had U (1:26)*

The Paisley Park Power Trio: Chaos And Disorder, South Beach Studios, Miami, late March – early April 1996
Chaos And Disorder #3 – with Sonny Thompson & Michael Bland
I Like It There #2 - with Sonny Thompson & Michael Bland
Dinner With Delores (2:46)*
Right The Wrong #3

C-NOTE, October-November 2002
Empty Room #4 (4:01)*


[Edited 9/30/09 7:36am]

I love these. All the hard work you do on these Ultimate threads is greatly appreciated.

The "Gold Tour Video Experience" Also had a video for Pussy Control

purpledoveuk said:

I know, but I don't recall it being shown in full...?

And it wasn't shown in sequence with the ones I've mentioned.
[Edited 9/25/09 6:25am]

Naturally, I made a collection of the Chaos And Disorder tracks that I can stand listening to:

Ultimate Chaos And Disorder:
1. Chaos And Disorder (4:13)
2. I Like It There (3:15) – from Chaos And Disorder
3. Dinner With Delores (2:46) – from Chaos And Disorder
4. The Same December (3:24) – from Chaos And Disorder
5. Right The Wrong (4:42)
6. Zannalee (2:51)
7. Empty Room (3:22)
8. Somebody’s Somebody (4:43) – from Emancipation
9. New World (3:43) – from Emancipation
10. Sarah (2:53) – from The Vault… Old Friends 4 Sale
11. Into The Light (2:46) – from Chaos And Disorder
12. I Will (3:36) – from Chaos And Disorder
13. It’s About That Walk (4:26) – from The Vault… Old Friends 4 Sale
14. Calhoun Square (4:46) – from Crystal Ball
Live:
15. Chaos And Disorder (4:05) – Los Angeles, 28/3-09
16. I Like It There (3:24) – Los Angeles, 28/3-09
17. Zannalee (2:34) – Paisley Park, 26/8-95
18. Empty Room (4:49) – Los Angeles, 28/3-09
19. Calhoun Square (6:16) – London, 29/8-07
20. Empty Room (2002 Rehearsal) (4:01) – from C-NOTE

one of my top 5 favourite Prince albums. Thanks SciFi!

These 6 songs are good - or even great, imo:

1. Chaos And Disorder (4:20)
2. I Like It There (3:15)
3. Dinner With Delores (2:46)
4. The Same December (3:24)
5. Right The Wrong (4:39)
6. Zannalee (2:43)
7. I Rock, Therefore I Am (6:15)
8. Into The Light (2:46)
9. I Will (3:36)
10. Dig U Better Dead (4:00)
11. Had U (1:26)

the rest of the songs are average, or forgettable...

the cover artwork had a "Fuck you" attitude towards WB, didn't it...?







^ A real ugly front cover pic, the 1999 vinyl album with the eye label smashed to pieces.

But I like those videos to Dinner With Delores and The Same December, those songs should have been minor hits. Zannalee could have been a hit too, imo.
[Edited 9/25/09 6:57am]
[Edited 9/25/09 6:57am]

thank u so much! I like video for The Same December. I Like it there is boring, very boring and Dinner with Delores ...hmmm beautiful Prince but stupid storyline.

and what's about cd? I like Rosie's voice in songs, but rap NO NO NO!

I think 'I Like It There' video was shot late 95/early 96 as the golden statues in the video were the ones from Glam Slam LA which closed late 95.

rlittler81 said:

late 95? I think 1996

rlittler81 said:

Didn't they have those golden statues in November 1994? I don't know. I've never been there.

A general observation:

Prince really appeared very 'restless' in that period (1993 - 1995). The everchanging tracklists of the Come, The Gold Experience and Chaos and Disorders albums, the delay of the official release of the Gold Experience, the dispute with WB, quite some turmoil going on there...

I have been absent from these threads because of a deadline I have to make, I will make my cameo very soon to contribute. The early 90s was absolutely an exciting time to be a Prince fan. C&D comes very close to making my top 5

LaAmi said:

Glam Slam LA closed 20th August 1995 according to the vault.

From NPG Issue #1

scififilmnerd said:

As good as the London rock show is, I still think the L.A. one is better simply because with Michael B. and Sonny T. playing, it's like... the real deal. Like, they play on the original recordings. And frankly, I haven't cared about any NPG line-up since the REAL NPG was disbanded in 1996.

Is that just me? Please discuss.

Thanks for the info. I love Chaos. What album are you doing next? Emancipation?

German "t.a.f.k.a.p." promo of Chaos And Disorder.

nice job, as always. Had this album been fleshed out w/ the tracks that ended up on The Vault, and treated seriously as a major release, it might have done well. There are a few really stellar tracks, especially The Same December and Into The Light/I Will (which I always segue together as one track.)

From Uptown #23 via The Dawn website

ah... there it is! really nice to have the chapter closed, I never noticed on the front that that was a 1999 record that got smashed! I'm going to listen to C&D right away. Thanks for all your efforts!

Fantastic as ever SciFi

C&D still one of my favourite albums - despite it's flaws - just wish we knew more about earlier configurations..

I've looked a few old magazines for info - just stratched the surface really but..in The Continental issue #14 published in June 1996 it states that Prince in an interview in El Pais, circa Dec 1994 gave the journalist a copy of a cassette containing Dolphin and Dinner with Delores, saying he liked the songs and wanted to release them as a single??? How true this is - I couldn't say??

Also, the acoustic album Heart - is it not logical to assume that this transformed itself into The Truth? We know album names and configurations can change many times before their release???

purpleworld said:

I have no plans for further articles at this time. Sorry.

KAB said:

In that interview, the Spanish journalist is allowed to listen to Dolphin and Gold. (I think I've told you this before...?)

KAB said:

I think so, too.

I've said this before but Chaos And Disorder was the first Prince album I bought and it will always be special to me for that reason. It was great to learn a bit more about it's development and the changes that it went through before it was eventually released. I really like "Dinner With Delores" so I'm glad that the album was tinkered with but it really could have been a killer rock album if Prince had incorporated all of his best stray rock tracks from the '93-'96 era and released them as an album. If you drop tracks like "I Rock, Therefore I Am" and "Dig U Better Dead" and include songs like "Empty Room," "Da Bang" and "Calhoun Square" I think you would end up with his best ever rock album.

rialb said:

I agree, but Da Bang is an Emancipation era track. It was recorded after the completion of Chaos And Disorder, in Los Angeles somewhere between 20-27 May 1996.

scififilmnerd said:

I never understood the vehemence directed at Chaos And Disorder. I can see how after The Gold Experience that people would be disappointed and I also acknowledge that the album is hardly full of hit singles but is it really "garbage?" For me, the first side "Chaos And Disorder"-"Zannalee" is terrific. Side two does lose a little steam but tracks like "Into The Light/I Will" and "Had U" are pretty good and even the lesser tracks ("I Rock, Therefore I Am" and "Dig U Better Dead") have some redeeming qualities. I guess if you are not a fan of Prince's rock music I can understand why you would not like this album but for me, as a huge fan of Prince's rock music, I love it.