The new issue of UK music monthly Uncut has just been released (it's the January 2018 issue), containign their "Review of 2017". For the category "Archive releases", the eighth place goes to Purple Rain Deluxe:

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The Prince motherlode did not quite materialise in2017 – “Deliverance”,an EP of tracks from 2006-2008, was quickly suppressed by his estate in April. An official campaign began, though, with a deluxe Purple Rain, featuring a remaster overseen by Prince himself, a live show, and a bonus disc of previously unreleased material. Fantastic in itself, but almost unbearably exciting when one imagined what still remained in The Vault.

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[Edited 11/17/17 8:38am]

BartVanHemelen said:

The new issue of UK music monthly Uncut has just been released (it's the January 2018 issue), containign their "Review of 2017". For the category "Archive releases", the eighth place goes to Purple Rain Deluxe:

.

The Prince motherlode did not quite materialise in2017 – “Deliverance”,an EP of tracks from 2006-2008, was quickly suppressed by his estate in April. An official campaign began, though, with a deluxe Purple Rain, featuring a remaster overseen by Prince himself, a live show, and a bonus disc of previously unreleased material. Fantastic in itself, but almost unbearably exciting when one imagined what still remained in The Vault.

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[Edited 11/17/17 8:38am]

What can I say...? Either there wasn't much competition or they just don't have a clue what they're talking about...

Not to say it was all bad, but there were so many flaws and problems with PR Deluxe that WB, one of the three biggest record companies on Earth, a historical institution dealing here with one of the best-selling and most influential artist of our time, deserves a lot of blame for making mistakes many of us, unprofessional fans/customers, were able to pinpoint within 48 hours after the package was out.

At some point you know, I'm cool with a basic worker doing an approximative job for a basic salary in a job they hate and just do to pay the bills, but when you know how much those music industry execs make, and the social prestige they get for working in that field, I believe they should earn that money or let someone more qualified do the job!

Right now I'm digging Bob Dylan's Trouble No More, which is 8 CDs and 1 DVD of live recordings and outtakes from his years as a born again Christian,1978-1981. It comes in a box with two books, one with liner notes and the other with photos. Compared to that, Purple Rain deluxe falls short in every way.

NorthC said:

And yet despite its flaws, cd2 of PRD, those songs that are so fantastic, that I, for one (and being a Prince fan and all), just can't stop listening to, makes it by far the best album this year.
Why pretend (sorry, can't help but come to that conclusion) to dig 8 CDs worth of morose, miserable mumblings of the most overrated, ungrateful artist in history.
Sorry, as u can c, I can't stand Dylan.

^That's allright, we can't all have good taste.

Darshy said:

NorthC said:

Right now I'm digging Bob Dylan's Trouble No More, which is 8 CDs and 1 DVD of live recordings and outtakes from his years as a born again Christian,1978-1981. It comes in a box with two books, one with liner notes and the other with photos. Compared to that, Purple Rain deluxe falls short in every way.

And yet despite its flaws, cd2 of PRD, those songs that are so fantastic, that I, for one (and being a Prince fan and all), just can't stop listening to, makes it by far the best album this year. Why pretend (sorry, can't help but come to that conclusion) to dig 8 CDs worth of morose, miserable mumblings of the most overrated, ungrateful artist in history. Sorry, as u can c, I can't stand Dylan.

But here's the point, and why the Dylan release, and all the other Dylan archival releases, and so many others are better as archival releases--they're DONE RIGHT. They're actually archival, presenting large amounts of new material, and/or previously released material handled respectfully and with a sense of its importance historically. With decent remastering of reissued material (which the main album did not get on Purple Rain, even if it was "Prince's" mix). Yes, the new disc has got some great material on it, but there's relatively little considering what we know was made--but what's really scary is that we're probably never going to get a truly great release--because, as is becoming increasingly clear after the news about the state of the vault--Prince didn't take care of things. The fact is that the copies that are in collector's hands might very well wind up being in better shape than much of what he kept--so improvements on already leaked tracks might not really be coming, and, even worse, many unheard tracks might never be heard just because Prince didn't take care of them.

Wonder what the rest of the list looks like? Can't find it anywhere.

thedoorkeeper said:

Wonder what the rest of the list looks like? Can't find it anywhere.

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You can buy the mag: http://www.uncut.co.uk/pu...nuary-2018