Anyone else have this problem?

I bought it back in 93 and disc 2 doesn't even play anymore, the silver stuff on the disc has just disappeared completely in places.

Cheap manufacturing I guess....cheap CDs.

mrdespues said:

You probably need to clean them. My Hits/ B-Sides discs are in excellent condition. My only suggestion to you is to buy a can of Brasso. I tried this on my Damita Jo cd by Janet Jackson and it works perfectly, some of the scratches are still there, but it sounds restored. If that doesn't work, you need to return that item and get yo money back. tHAT set costs $40 or $50 dollars. That is making me mad because you probably can't return it if you had it since 93. How come you didn't return then? Well, I guess you're going to have to save up a few $$$$dollars$$$$$ and buy a new copy. I would buy mines from www.amazon.com, fye music store, or coconuts records

mrdespues said:

bummer despues, but the real question is, how many stars is this CD

LAProducer said:

]

I'm afraid 2 ask but, what does that mean?

If u ask me, I rate the collection 5 stars.

THE HITS/THE B-SIDES IS THE ULTIMATE PRINCE COLLECTION
HANDS DOWN!!!!!

Okay to answer everyone:

I've had this collection for a loooong time and only in the past two years has it shown signs of deterioration, which is why I didn't take it back sooner. It was just fine for a long time. And by deterioration, I don't mean scratches, I mean, parts of the CD are now CLEAR...there are spots of clearness all over all three CDs where pieces of the silver part of the CD have seemingly rotted away. I have no idea how this has happened except that I know that CDs DO deteriorate over time, particularly the earlier-made CDs which were of cheaper material I believe. So I guess I am alone with this problem so far...hmm...

As for how I rate the set?

5 stars, definitely. You couldn't find a better collection, which is why I'm gonna have to buy another one at some point.




.
[This message was edited Sun Jul 4 1:41:28 2004 by mrdespues]

mrdespues said:

Actually, this collection motivated me to make my own personal best of, which ended up becoming 5 CD's. You seem like you have a lot of P material, hell, make your own best of. Granted, I work in the biz so was able to do my own mastering to make sure the material didn't sound drastically different, but you could still pretty much do the same. SOTT is one of the worst mastered CD's ever. Good luck

LAProducer said:

Yeah, that's a good idea actually...thanks. I actually started making what I called "The Complete Best Of Prince" which is probably around a 12-disc collection (I've only made the first two discs so far) which includes EVERY track that I love from EVERY album including EXTENDED versions where possible AND unreleased outtakes where they are in Good-Excellent quality and are studio versions. It's exausting to make though, so I've taken a break from it for a while...

.
[This message was edited Sun Jul 4 1:54:26 2004 by mrdespues]

LAProducer said:

I agree, but if you play the compact disc of SOTT in a disc player, that sucker is going to sound good, and in some parts thin. It reminds me of Sly Stone's album, There's A Riot Going On, that CD is thin and dry. I can't even hear some of the instruments...

LAProducer said:

That would be a good idea!!!

silverchild said:

well there's a reason for that...Sly recorded the original on 4-track with about a billion overdubs which made the material very muddy to begin with.

mrdespues said:

dude, be careful, it becomes addictive, especially when you have to narrow things down. I think, if you really become selective, you can do a 5 CD set. That's what i did, and i'm very proud of the end result, even though it took a big chunk of my life to actually complete. Here's what i ended up with

1. Sign O’ The Times
2. Let’s Go Crazy
3. When Doves Cry (album version)
4. Controversey (album version)
5. Darling Nicki
6. Kiss
7. Erotic City
8. 1999
9. Baby I’m a Star
10. Pop Life
11. U Got The Look
12. My Name Is Prince
13. Money Don’t Matter 2 Night
14. I Wanna Be Your Lover
15. Nothing Compare 2 U
16. Paisley Park
17. Pink Cashmiere

CD 2
1. Alphabet Street
2. DMSR (album version)
3. Take Me With U
4. 7
5. Girls and Boys
6. The Beautiful Ones
7. Anestasia
8. 17 Days
9. America
10. P Control
11. Wherever you go
12. Cream
13. Diamonds and Pearls
14. Another Lonely Christmass
15. Purple Rain

CD 3
1. I Would Die 4 U
2. Rhasberry Beret
3. The Ladder
4. If I Was Your Girlfriend
5. Little Red Corvette
6. Circle of Amour
7. Get Off
8. Sexy MF
9. Do Me Baby
10. Thunder
11. I love u in me
12. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
13. Call My Name
14. Girl
15. M
16. Madsex
17. When 2 Are in Love
18. Crucial

CD 4
1. Days of Wild
2. Gold
3. The Question of U
4. Shhh…(Live Version)
5. The Cross
6. Forever In My Life
7. Under The Cherry Moon
8. Sometimes It Snow in April
9. Love Bizzare (Edit)
10. Lovesign (remix)
11. Joy in Repetition
12. Illusion, Coma, Pimp…
13. The Marrying Kind
14. If I was the man In your life
15. A Million Days
16. Tangerine
17. Dear Mr. Man

CD 5
1. Around The World In a Day
2. Christopher Tracy’s Parade
3. New Position
4. I Wonder U
5. Sexuality
6. Bob George
7. Starfish and Coffee
8. Peach
9. Free
10. Head
11. Musicology
12. 18 and Over
13. The One
14. Billy Jack Bitch
15. Loose
16. The Most Beautiful Girl In the World
17. Condition of The Heart
18. Face Down
19. Old Friends 4 Sale

LAProducer said:

It could be organized a little more like this:

Disc 1- The Early Years: For You to 1999
Disc 2- The Purple Peak- Purple Rain to Sign O the Times
Disc 3- Pre-symbol- LoveSexy to Graffiti Bridge
Disc 4- Symbol Years- D&P to Emancipation (This might be difficult)
Disc 5- A Rebirth- Rave to Musicology
Discs 6-7- B-sides and rarities (they should be by themselves)

Hell, this would be a box set I would buy.... Great idea LA Producer
[This message was edited Sun Jul 4 2:05:55 2004 by silverchild]

silverchild said:

I might actually do a bootleg series also. I didn't want it chronologicaly oriented intentionally, i was going more for feal of what worked. What flowed in and out best. Hell, it's just 4 me anyway. I only cheated a little, live version of shh, love bizzare(but p does do lead vox on it) and old friends 4 sale boot version. Other than those, it's exclusively official releases.

mrdespues said:

This happened to my first Beatles Anthology. Write to the manufacturer.

mrdespues said:

That's interesting, but I heard different. I heard he mixed the album soooo much, that the production and album sounded very muddy and messy.

gooeythehamster said:

My Herbie Hancock Box was messed up. The plastic box was in good condition, but the discs had a defection and I called Sony and they gave me a new one.

silverchild said:

really, it's just a mastering issue more than anything. If you know what you're doing, you can easily bring any of that material up to level and sound quality

LAProducer said:

I would want to have some of the scrapped sessions of The Black Album included on the box set....

LAProducer said:

Yeah, but with Sly's 1971 album, TARGO, he was on drugs and he probaby didn't even know what he was doin' anyway.... That whole album needs to be restored.

silverchild said:

I did dude, bob george, CD5. That, in my opinion, is the only black album song that was worthy of my 5 CD best of

LAProducer said:

I'm talkin' bout your bootleg box set, but Bob George should be be on this box too.

silverchild said:

technically, i think bob george should be on the official. The black album was eventually officially released

this is also a great way to finally figure out what your favorite Prince album really is like when i put about 8 songs from The Gold Experience on my compilation

silverchild said:

See, the way I heard it, Sly kept on letting good looking girls sing backing vocals on the tracks as a way of getting them into bed with him! Problem was he kept having to erase the vocals from the tapes afterwards (just 'cuz a girl look fiiine, don't mean she can saaayyng!) - hence the integrity of the master tape gradually deteriorated.

Don't know if that's a myth or not... but it's interesting to think about how unintentionally the album's unique sound was produced, given that it has been so influential (on hip-hop, etc)...

Funny how this thread has turned into something more interesting.

Here's my version...I've made it such a large compilation for two reasons. One, because I want EVERYTHING I love all in one set and secondly, I'm moving to the States soonish and need to have a compendium of all my Prince stuff cause I can't ship all my Prince collection over till much later. It's all in chronological order, with b-sides, album versions, extended versions and outtakes (only the best quality ones)...

Here's the first four discs (I've only done this many so far):

The Complete BEST OF PRINCE

Disc One:

1) Just Another Sucker
2) We Can Work It Out
3) Soft and Wet
4) Just As Long As We're Together
5) Crazy You
6) Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad
7) Sexy Dancer (extended version)
8) I Wanna Be Your Lover
9) I Feel For You
10) Still Waiting
11) Bambi
12) Do It All Night
13) Partyup
14) Uptown
15) Head
16) Dirty Mind
17) When You Were Mine
18) Gotta Broken Heart Again

Disc Two:

1) Controversy
2) Private Joy
3) Gotta Stop (Messin' About)
4) Sexuality
5) Do Me, Baby
6) Annie Christian
7) Let's Work (extended version)
8) Horny Toad
9) Something In The Water (Does Not Compute)
10) Moonbeam Levels
11) Little Red Corvette (extended version)
12) How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore?
13) Free
14) International Lover

Disc Three:

1) 1999
2) Do Yourself A Favour
3) Automatic
4) D.M.S.R.
5) Irresistable Bitch
6) Lady Cab Driver
7) Computer Blue (extended version)
8) Let's Go Crazy (extended version)
9) The Beautiful Ones
10) Darling Nikki
11) 17 Days
12) When Doves Cry

Disc Four:

1) Erotic City (extended version)
2) I Would Die 4 U (extended version)
3) Baby I'm A Star
4) Purple Rain
5) Desire (Prince version)
6) Another Lonely Christmas (extended version)
7) God (vocal version)
8) God (instrumental version)

mrdespues said:

I noticed some pops in the sound quality towards the end of my unscratched Disc 2 for some strange reason.

mrdespues said:

I hate to break this to you, John, but from your description it sounds like a case of bacteria eating into the silver.

It might sound like a joke but I'm serious. Most CDs of a certain age, particularly those that are at least one decade old, if exposed to a combination of factors (mostly resulting from heat and humidity) are highly likely to fall prey to this type of syndrome in certain conditions and once it takes hold there is no going back.The discs are dead.

This type of thing ought to be documented more often and the industry should do a great deal more instead of continuing to charge exorbitant prices for poor quality product.


.

That sucks. The same thing happen to my friends "black album" cd.

mrdespues said:

I read somewhere that they've discovered a lot of the early cds from the 80s are rotting away - this is something to do with the glue or paper they used on the label reacting with the silver material the actual music is encoded on. Even if you never play it, it can rot away in it's case. However, later cds from the 90's shouldn't be effected the same way, but it sounds like essentially the same problem - something is reacting with your cds. Perhaps damp is getting in where you store them, I would move your collection to another location if I was you!

The same thing happened to all 3 copies of the 0(+> CD I own...they still play in some of the newer CD players, but I wonder for how long.