Wasn't it a contractual obligation album?

The reason I'm asking is I'm curious as to why Prince promoted it by making videos for the singles and even rerecording some of the songs for commercial release (the version of Dark that appears on Crystal Ball was intended for a single release at the time... or so someone told me).

He didn't do any of this with C&D or The Vault as far as I'm aware (was there a video for Dinner With Delores?).

Also, what do you guys make of the album?

yeah, there were videos from C&D for 'dinner with delores', 'i like it there' and 'the same december'. they just rarely if ever were shown on TV.

'come' is a mysterious album to me...i think it was the first of his 'contractual obligation' albums to WB, but i also think it was one of the most experimental albums (for PRINCE, at least) he's ever recorded.

to me, this album felt like the product of someone trapped in his own stardom, trying to prove to himself and his fans that he could still go beyond himself as he was known to the masses. there's stuff in that record that takes me beyond, and there's stuff on that album that's just simply good prince music. "space", for example. that song is sublime. in another phase and time, it could have been considered one of his classics.

'come' is by far one of my favorite prince albums...over the past couple of years, i think it's been my favorite album by him, period.

I've wondered about this too. There is a video for Chaos & Disorder (Dinner With Delores). Its actually not bad considering it was his fulfillment of his record contract. I myself don't have "Come" but i heard that it was an okay listen. U can check out Dinner with Delores online at Yahoo (Launch).

The short answer is that, Yes... 'Come' is a contractual obligation album.

But it didn't start out that way. All the songs on it (with the exception of
Letitgo) were recorded with the intention of being released on a 'genuine'
album, and early versions of the album were compiled with this in mind. However,
the version of the album that was released was a 'bare minimum' version. That's
not to say that any of the individual tracks themselves were substandard or
throwaway, it's just that the actual number of tracks and the running time of
the album was reduced to give WB as little as possible.

Anxiety said:

Great post. When Prince said "there are gems buried everywhere" he probably had Come in mind.
I know that the version we have may not be the one that Prince originally intended to deliver, but I still love it.

Strays of the World should have been left on the album. It´s a great song with a very tight NPG and it perfectly fits into that whole Come concept.
And also prefer the album version of the song Come to the version on the Beautiful Experience TV special....I know most people rather dig the other version but I really like the way he sings on this one...that spoken version is also cool, but the album version is my favorite one, except for those corny and embarrassing pussy licking sounds.

KoolEaze said:

What pussy licking sounds???? I though he was eating an orange.

skywalker said:

actually, he was chewing a big piece of bubblelicious - that song was originally going to be called "gum (you should chew that, baby)" but he changed his mind.

I love the "come" album!!! It has a unique style to it.

I bought this last year in July and I really love it. I'm still looking for that Sacrifice Of Victor book that was released at the time the COME album was released.

Anxiety said:

And here I was thinking that it was originally called "Chum," but that was scratched after he became a vegetarian.

I like a lot of the "Come" album, but parts of it do turn me off a bit. Mainly "Race"...the first time I heard it, I was like, "We finally got rid of Tony M and now Prince is trying to rap as fast as humanly possible?" Live versions of "Race" (usually mixed with Girls & Boys) are much, much better in my mind.

The unreleased alternate versions of "Come" (the song) kick serious ass in my mind. Much smoother, more cosmic of a song than the album version, which is good in its own right (sans the oral sex, which was just a bad, bad choice).

The album certainly birthed for us one of the greatest Prince maxi singles there have ever been in "Space." The Universal Love mix is one for the ages.

There was a Rolling Stone article in early 1994 in which Prince previewed for the interviewer "Come" and "The Gold Experience" -- the interviewer wrote something to the effect of "Come" being a fully complete album, just waiting to be released, but that Prince was clearly more into The Gold Experience. I remember the writers exact description of "Come" -- he wrote that it sounded good, "top notch." But he also wrote that TGE was more full of life and energy. (Just a little sidebar for ya.)

'race' is probably my least favorite on the album, even with 'orgasm' and 'solo' in the mix...that rapping just turns me off, it sounds so silly. but there are some good musical moments in the song, and even some decent lyrical moments in it, so i can't write it off completely.

Anxiety said:

All the rapping aside in that song, I think what disappointed me most is to have Prince sing "...and I will let the rest dissolve with my guitar underneathe the sea," followed by...nope, not a guitar solo...but overproduced horn riffs. ?

Doozer said:

That was Vibe magazine and I still have that copy.

rockwilder said:

Thanks for the correction.

Come is my favourite P album from the 90s. Fave track on it is Papa.

BorisFishpaw said:

Right. This is exactly how I look at all the 'Contractual Obligatory' released albums - the end product was done as a bare-bones contractual release, but the material was not recorded with this intention.

The whole 'contractual release' thing has led a lot of fans to look down on Come and Chaos & Disorder, when, in retrospect, the bulk of the material on the is the same standard as found on that championed album, The Gold Experience.

The Gold Experience is over-rated IMO. Too commercial sounding. Horribly overblown title track and an insipid ballad that I resent him being associated with.

Chaos & Disorder rocks! I'd take The Same December, Into The Light, I Will and Had U over anything on TGE.

I also love Come. It isn't his best musically, but I'm drawn to the gothic appeal of the artwork and the lyrics.

Plus Dark is one of my favourite ballads.
[Edited 1/28/05 3:35am]

he wanted to make a whole album with one word titles