Whoever helped put this together at WBros was a true Prince fan. The sequencing, the unreleased "Power Fantastic" among other new songs, the B-sides being included in the same package, and even the photos were just perfect. This was done right and really gave even the true fans something to listen to. I think we need another Crystal Ball or more Vault releases, but this 3 CD set will stand the test of time as a great overview of Prince's best work..

Anyone agree/disagree?

Disagree- this collection is very well done, but not perfect. Where are the batman songs? Plus the songs are mostly edits. No full length Adore? A chopped off When Doves Cry? Horrendous.

I don't like the fact that some of the hits were edited .

(damn you must've been just a little earlier with that comment)
[Edited 9/28/04 15:50pm]

No way, distinct lack of Parade and Batman singles.

NouveauDance said:

Lack of singles, possibly, but it was generally well done.

Keep in mind that even with the edits, these CDs are quite long. Would you have been willing to omit any of these songs to make room for full-length cuts? And before anyone says Pope, previously unreleased tracks don't count.

But, yeah, I think they should have thrown on Batdance and Partyman, though I know they couldn't because of technicalities. It's generally an excellent compilation, and I would recommend it to any person just starting to listen to Prince.

It was a pretty definitive collection for the time, but the omission of Love or Money on the B-Sides was criminal.

TheBigBang said:

You couldn't be more right.

I haven't heard Love or Money since the vynil era.

I was glad to see the single versions on that album. I already had all the albums on CD so it was good to have extremely well edited single versions, such as "Controversy" and "Uptown" on CD as well. He should have put the single version of "Let's Go Crazy" also instead of the album version. The single version of "Let's Work" should have never have been left out. "Sex" was a B Side that should not have been left out also.

A.
I hate the edited versions

B.
It should have been in chronologic order
People unfamiliar with Prince’s back-catalogue don’t have a clue how Prince’s music developed through the years

ThataintFunky said:

I really liked it wasnt put in that order. It's what the real fans would want to hear, a mix cd, and it gave new fans a chance to appreciate songs that they would normally skip over or not know.

i actually enjoy the last couple of songs on the "b" sides-the flow is almost perfect 2 me
lemme see-from like erotic city to the end is magnificent

DMSR said:

I consider myself "a real fan" ... and I felt screwed ....
I owned already all the albums and all the 12 inches. Took a lot of time and money to find all the 12 inches!! Now every asshole could easily buy this set, which isn't compiled for "the real fans" but for the non-fans. Prince put some "new" tracks on it, which were avable on bootleg allready or are disgusting (or both).

So, the non-fans don't get any insite in the development of Prince's music ... and the fans just get f*cked, paying a lot of money for some awful leftovers (or worse .... a dramatic version of "Nothing Compares 2 U").

If you want a good compilation of the b-sides / 12 inches: BOOTLEG!

12" Archive v2.0
SaTim Records Catalog # T2001 A-B-C-D-E-F
Track Listing

Disc 1: Just Another Sucker (Dance Mix), If You Feel Like Dancin' (Dance Version), If You Feel Like Dancin' (Radio Edit), Just As Long As We're Together (Disco Mix), Soft And Wet (Disco Mix), Sexy Dancer (Long Version), Gotta Stop (Messin' About), Let's Work (Dance Remix Long Version), How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?, Little Red Corvette (Dance Mix), Horny Toad, Irresistible Bitch

Disc 2: 17 Days, Let's Go Crazy (Special Dance Mix), Erotic City (Make Love Not War...), God (Instrumental), God (Vocal), I Would Die 4 U (Extended), Another Lonely Christmas

Disc 3: Paisley Park (Remix), Raspberry Beret (New Mix), She's Always In My Hair (New Mix), Pop Life (Extended Version), Pop Life (Fresh Dance Mix), Hello, Hello (Fresh Dance Mix), America (Extended), Girl (Extended)

Disc 4: Kiss (Extended), Love Or $ (Extended), Mountains (Extended), Alexa de Paris (Extended), Anotherloverholenyohead (Extended), La, La, La, He, He, Hee (Highly Explosive Mix), Shockadelica (Extended), U Got The Look (Long Look), Housequake (7 Minute Mo' Quake)

Disc 5: Hot Thing (Extended Remix), Hot Thing (Dub), Alphabet Street (This Is Not Music.....), Glam Slam (Remix), Escape (Free Yo Mind...), I Wish U Heaven (Parts 1,2,3), Scarlet Pussy, Scarlet Pussy (Extended), Feel U Up (Long Stroke), If I Love U 2Nite

Disc 6: Gett Off (Damn Near 10 Minutes) Gett Off (Thrust Mix), Gett Off (Rosie's Dub), 7 (After 6 Long Version), Pope (Remix), Pink Cashmere (Remix), The Most Beautiful Girl In The World (Beautiful Extended Club Mix), Beautiful Beats, The Most Beautiful Girl In The World (Brian's Mix), Face Down (A Capella), Face Down (Instrumental Money Mix), Face Down (X-Tended Rap Money Mix), The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (Jason Nevin's Romance Beats)

a lot of THANX TO SaTim ... allthough I don't understand the purpose of disc 6 !?

I really love the compilation, but I have one major problem with it. It's not an representative overview of Prince's work!! It mainly contains single releases, when we know that a lot of P's best music wasn't in the top40...

Where are songs like?
* Housequake
* Anna Stesia
* Sometimes it snows in April
* Lady cab driver
* Bambi
* The beautiful ones
* Joy in repetition
(to name a few )
[Edited 9/30/04 2:47am]

It's okay - but I don't see how in the world they could leave out Batdance - that was a #1 single! Certainly that qualifies as a "hit".

Also - they should've had a b-sides 2 so we could get Love Or Money, Horny Pony, Loveleft Loveright, Violet the Organ Grinder, God (instrumental), blah

Even more criminal was "The Very Best of Prince" - boo!!!!

Y the fuck was "horny Pony" left off and some crap like "god" was put on?
[Edited 9/30/04 4:53am]

skywalker said:

DMSR said:

Disagree. How do you NOT put "Sexy Dancer" on this comp is beyond me....
(Bought it, anyway.)

NouveauDance said:

Yep

I thought - overall - it was a pretty nice compilation. I am glad the edits were used, because:

1) we already have the album versions on CD. It was nice to have single mixes like Controversy.

2) Had the album versions been used, there would have been fewer tracks.


There were several singles left off, including 3 from Parade. However, given the amount of space available, I think they made pretty good choices. I probably would have done it slightly differently, with less of an emphasis on the early singles. Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad could have been dropped, and replaced with Mountains. I would have replaced Do Me Baby with the single version of Let's Work. I thought the inclusion of Adore made no sense - if you are going to have a singles compilation, stick to singles.

The main crime on the b-sides disc was the omission of Love or Money... why was Escape included and Love or Money left off? Escape was basically a throway remix vamp based on Glam Slam - a waste of space.

I think the Batman singles were left off because they didn't really fit, being so tied in to the movie. But maybe there was a licensing reason why they were left off. --- does anyone know for sure why they were left off? - - - -

skywalker said:

"horrendous" ain't even the word...it's a nice starter set for newbie fans perhaps, but by no means is it perfect.

ThataintFunky said:

hehe, i have that set! it is pretty good.