To make one important thing clear: I am not talking about the songwriting, the producing or the arrangements, what i mean is that most records that were put out by Prince are sounding terribly when it comes to mixing and mastering.

To give you some examples:
- I had Parade on vinyl, and it soudnt good (not great, but good), but you could hear the different instruments used clearly, and there was enough dynamics in the sound. But after that, i bought the cd-version, and it sounded very flat in comparison: you couldnt hear the mandolins on Under The Cherry Moon clearly, the orchestral arrangements on different songs didnt show the nuances i heard on vinyl before, On Sometimes it Snows in April you could hear the strings crackle, the reverb of the wood of the acoustic guitar, on cd its way harder to hear this little nuances.
- Sign of the Times: One of the greatest records off al time is almost ruined by the mastering (?). Both on Vinyl and Cd the sound is very flat, while inventive, original arrangements like these should be heard in full clearity, i think... I always have to put up the volume very loud, to really enjoy the music.

When i think back, the only records released by cd, that sound really good on cd are: Diamonds and Pearls (hence the drumsound, in the first place), The Gold Experience and Chaos and Disorder.. The Rainbow children sounds kinda good, but misses treble, and Musicology sounds very flat again.....

So, i am hoping for remasters of Prince cd's (especially from Parade, Sign and Lovesexy) that do the music on those records justice...

Anyone agrees?

yes. all his albums sound like they're just begging and pleading to be remastered. i really wish he and WB would knock it off and come to some kind of agreement, already. they're gonna make lotsa green when they do, and prince is gonna have some reeeeally happy fans.

Yeah it is a weird thing.

On one hand they are sorta the best sounding albums ever (well minues Sign... that one... i dunno really sounds like poo)

But on the other hand they don't sound good at all.

You can even remaster them yourself to a degree with just a little bit of software. Even though you are using the CDs as a source, you'd be amazed at how they can come out.

But nothing would compare 2 some fresh WB remasters thats for sure!

GREAT THREAD!

And you are RIGHT ON in catching this. I'm not sure what is up with Musicology. Some songs sound like they where recorded in one shot, and are very in your ears. Others sound great. I thought Reflection and Illusion were great as far as the sound. Marrying Kind and If I are only gret because of the the songs themselves. Life of the Party sounds like hell though. Much better the first time I caught it live.

I also add Batman to the "Great Sounding" CD lists, and Lovesexy is just out of the park.

Well, we have to understand that the early cd's that came out from Warner Bros were mostly from the late 80's to the early 90's, right when the cd revolution was at its peak. So, the remastering is pretty flat because they just didn't have the technology we have now.

Oh man, so true.

It makes me wanna cry to know how heavenly songs like Adore would sound remastered.

Was that The Very Best Of Prince crap WB put out remastered versions of the songs? Anyone know?

I can't believe such a brilliant, legendary artist still has such outdated sounding CDs.

Sign of the Times is the worst sounding cd, and its still my fav record of all time. If i remember right, they just took the vinyl mix and threw it onto to CD. Talk about no respect for the consumer.

I guess the the whole WB situation and now his wish to distance himself from certain parts of his past has impeded the remastering process.

It's a damn shame.

Do WB need permission from him to do this?. They own the recordings after all. It'd be amusing to hear Prince telling the fans "Don't buy these remasters!"

the reason i'm asking is WB have reissued The Hits/the B-Sides at a knockdown price in the UK. maybe it's be out of his hands what happens with these classic albums.

If it is, go right ahead WB! Please.

When is somebody (Prince or WB) gonna release "Adore" without the cheering segue at the beginning?

Marrk said:

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yip, i think Prince would have to give permission for them to be altered in any way, hence the mexican stand-off with P & WB,

One thing fans can do that aint that hard is to
use any music software to rip the cd,s and double the volume,
add a bit of bass helps, and generally do some basic remastering of your own.

ive done SIGN,LOVESEXY and BLACK ALBUM and they all sound heaps better especially the BLK ALB.

andykeen said:

I agree. Plus, he gets bored, even with music that's just a few months old. I don't think he even wants to go there right now.

My opinion on all this: let it go.

Leave the music be and just enjoy it for what it is. It's classic and it has that classic sound. Some of the music for that era just doesn't need to be remastered. If you want it to remastered -- do it yourself. I really and truly think Prince won't even go there unless Warner Bros gives him his master recordings. Until that happens, I will continue to listen to my vinyl copy of "For You" with all the pops and cackle sounds and cherish my version of "SOTT."

altavista said:

agree
he probaly rarely even thinks about those
songs of the past

Unless he was completely re-recording them I don't think its
gonna happen

I am telling you - solve the problems by getting the japanese pressings. They ALL sound better. The japanese Controversy sounds like it was recorded yesterday and the Gold Experience is flat out phenominal.

The Beatles albums sound even worse.

Actually, I prefer pulling out my old vinyl albums. The vinyl seems to have more bass than the CDs plus the songs sound just like they did when they were popular and there was no such thing as CDs.

I have everything on vinyl until 'Graffiti Bridge' but all the albums
are scratched
I used to always poor water on them , so i won't hear the scretches
(really it works)
If i don't do that i can't listen to them

That's what my husband is always saying.

vainandy said:

I've only got one of Prince's albums on vinyl , and thats Sign O The Times , which I bought off ebay after reading a few people saying thats its essential to hear it on LP .I admit I wasnt expecting that much of a difference from my cassette and CD copies but I was wrong , its a whole new experience hearing that classic on vinyl , background lyrics , certain intrumentation jumped out at me that I'd never noticed before . If theres similar losses on all his CDs then hell yeah remaster the whole lot I say

PurpleKnight said:

I believe soo!