Then how do you explain the maxi singles? Obviously Prince put
a lot of work into those songs.

Space maxi single and Letitgo maxi single contain about 45
minutes of music each. Completely different versions and a
couple of very cool remixes of those tracks.

Plus, there are about 7 versions of "Come" he recorded that
were never released, but yet slated for a single release at
some point.

Even "Loose" has at least 2 remixes floating about. The same
goes for "Pheromone" which has the instrumental mix and the
more elemantal mix that starts off with some loud ass guitar
keys that sound like a brachiosaurus in a submarine lol.

Also, "Race" had several mixes before it was finally released
on this album. Some of which were superior to the one that he
finally placed on the cd (the one with the long jazzy 1920's
style ending).

Beyond all that, all these songs were recorded at the same
time as the songs that ended up on the "Gold Experience" and
at different times songs from both projects were mingled on
the tracklists before the release of both albums.

Outtakes like "Interactive" were similarly a part of both of
these discs at one point.

So why, just because the album was offered to warners in the
time of the dispute, do people keep insisting that "Gold" is
an album full of stellar songs and that "Come" is nothing but
a mere bag of outtakes?

The changes in sequence for the album and the various acetates
would hint at a very different Princely view on this album.

Take "The vault...Old Friends 4 Sale". Not that's an album full
of songs he just pulled from the vault and gave to them to get
out from under his contract.

But Come? Come on. It's a fine, dark, sexually claustraphobic
album with some top-notch tunes. In fact, all the tunes on it
are superb. The only thing the album might suffer from in some
slight way is that it has no real beginning or end.

The first song is a bit too long to make it a good slamming cut
for opening an album and the closing "orgasm" is simply awfull.
But if it would have better book end songs, I'm sure this would
flow like one of his very best albums.

Anywho. The thing that makes me go is the fact that
Prince himself calls it a "contractual obligation" album.

And that just isn't right. I'm sure it wasn't stricly intended
as such (note the difference in approach between this album and
"The Vault").

Could it be he just chose to throw it into that same bag after
it failed to sell satisfyingly and after it was gunned down by
critics and fans alike??

Not sure. For me personally, the fact remains that this is an
incredible album that I always enjoy listening to. Compared to"
for example "Musicology", this album displays the essence of
Prince's songcraft much much more. "Space" and "Papa" alone are
worth more in his catalogue imo than the entire "Musicology" cd.

I agree. Its one of my favourite albums from a great era. Its classic Prince - dirty, sexy, explicit. There's only 2 songs I skip - Solo (which scares the shit out of me) and Orgasm (which isnt even a song).

I also liked the videos/performances of Race, Pheromone, Papa that were in the Beautiful Exprerience. And as you say, the maxi singles are great, especially the Space universal love remix.

Love it! Even more than Gold actually.

IstenSzek said:

Could be.... but I like it better than "Come"... it's kinda hard for me to get past the song "Come"... He should've released the "techno" version of that song...

MartyMcFly said:

Yup, that's what I'm saying. With the Techno version of "Come" to kick the
album off (perhaps even with Interactive as the opener) and a smooth slow
jam to eaze out of the album (perhaps even the long slow Come version that
is now at the beginning of the disc), this would feel a lot more like an
album. All good albums need a good beginning and end. Without those two
elements, albums feel unfinished.

Come IS a 'contractual obligation' album, but that doesn't mean that it's
necessarily full of 'throw away' songs.

Prince doesn't consider the songs themselves as sub-par or throwaway.
It's the album itself which is the issue, not the songs it contains.
This may seem like a strange idea, seeing how an album in one sense is
just a collection of tracks, but it's an important distinction to make.

It's a similar situation to the Apollonia 6 album. That album was
originally going to contain many top-notch tracks like '17 Days',
'Manic Monday' and 'Take Me With U'. The reason these tracks were
not included on the finished album was because Apollonia herself
had no desire to become a singer and permenantly front the band. She
wanted to continue her career as an actress and do her own thing,
but was perfectly happy to promote the Purple Rain movie by fronting
Apollonia 6, releasing the album and appearing live for the duration
of the Purple Rain era. Knowing this, Prince decided not to 'throw away'
some of these better tracks on an album that was going to be a one-off
and replaced them on the album with lesser tracks.

A similar situation (though not quite the same) happened with Come.
All the tracks were written originally with a bigger project in mind.
When the problems with WB came to a head, Prince didn't feel inclined
to give them his best work, and so Come was stripped down to the bare
minimum he could get away with and class it as an 'album'. Prince
basically gave them 'half an album' and padded it out with filler.
This is also the main reason that he used such a long version of the
title track, not because it was 'better' but because it was longer and
would fill up the album more. This is also the reason for the inclusion
of 'Orgasm' too. So it wasn't that the tracks themselves were throwaway
(in most cases) it was that Prince wanted to give them as few tracks
as possible (while still turning in a half-decent album).

IstenSzek said:

Interactive seems a bit too fully-bodied for the Come album. Definitely more suited to Gold. But I agree that the other version of Come would've been a great lead off track. Perhaps LoveSign as the closer. That song always has sounded like it belongs on there to me. Perfect after Letitgo.

BorisFishpaw said:

as always, a brilliant piece of information!!

IstenSzek said:

Boris breaks it down, yet again.

GangstaFam said:

LoveSign would be perfect on that album indeed!!!

IstenSzek said:

It could've faded out with the a capella "Pop pop pop go da pistol...bang bang bang go da gun!" from the Soul Train performance.

BorisFishpaw said:

Boris,

If 'half an album' was given, what CONstitues the'half an album' worth of filler?

Prince had 'moved on' by the time Come was eventually released,
thus the album was placed within the CONtractual obligation belt
(the same principle applies 2 The Black Album).

The songs themselves, however, were never CONsidered 'filler'.

love

GangstaFam said:

that would have been just to die for!

i'm going to burn YET ANOTHER version

Anji said:

Ahh, I didn't mean there's half an album of filler on Come, only that Come
is only little more than half an album (there's a difference).
Maybe 'filler' is the wrong word, as I doubt Prince himself considers
any tracks he does 'filler'. I'm just saying that had Prince not fallen
out with WB, then Come would have been a different (and longer) album.

Maybe something a bit like this...

1. Come (short/fast version)
2. Endorphinmachine
3. Space
4. Pheromone
5. Loose!
6. Papa
7. Race
8. Zannalee
9. Dark
10. Pope
11. Extraordinary
12. Dolphin
13. Come (long/slow version)

Cool, Boris.

Eye new what u wanted 2 say.
Just keeping u on ur furry toes...

Prince doesn't CONsider Orgasm 'filler'.

love

Come is my favorite Prince album along with Parade, so I'm intrigued by those remixes mentionned above. I think it's a very coherent album, except for the inclusion of Orgasm, which is useless and unlistenable. But Lovesign is a little too poppy for this album, IMHO

Is the techno version of Come the same one used in The Beautifull Experience, or is it different?

How different are the remixes, for Race and Loose?

Thx

thepooh said:

one of the Loose remixes is on Crystal Ball and another one appeared
as a snippet on "The Sampler Experience", I believe there was also a
bit of it on the "Versace Experience". Either one of those tapes.

the different versions of Race are first up an instrumental and an
a capella version. Although those might possibly be constructed from
bits and bobs off the "Interactive" cd rom, I'm not sure. But there
is also a complete version that has a different ending and is a bit
longer than the album version. Almost like one of his remixes where
he tags a bit onto the original song at the end. No other lyrics,
just different music. PurpleAxx I believe, sounds like some 20s club
music, done in a 2045 bar If you know what I mean hehe.

Come is about the same as the "Beautiful Experience" version, yes.
Although there are even more versions. There's also one that mixes
the slow/long version with the electronic one and has a break in
the middle, a la "Interactive". Then there's the PA version of an
early take of this song which features a few other lines, like

maybe you should wrap you legs
around my neck for a while
and see if I can make you smile

Which is a faster version, but has more of a "band" feel than the
electronic version.

Ah, there's just such a wealth of material from the Gold/Come era.

Anji said:

He should.

IstenSzek said:

I think it'd fit in nicely on the 2nd, more political/personal half with songs like Papa, Race, Solo and Letitgo.

Peach I think goes well right before Papa, and Pope right after it if I'm remembering my last version correctly.

Including Lovesign, Peach and Pope keeps with the one word title theme as well.

BorisFishpaw said:

How can u know 4 sure what Prince "had in mind"?

shaomi said:

Boris just knows.

GangstaFam said:

???

shaomi said:

He's the org's resident expert on Prince.

GangstaFam said:

Someone from the Prince camp, or just someone who documented a LOT? (sorry i'm curious, that's just the way i am )

Both versions of "Come" could/should have been on the record, damnit. Electronic to start off things and the soul version to close the whole set, preferably. I can't believe people are calling one or the other a "weak track".

They're both tolly fantasmamastic for different reasons.
[Edited 9/2/05 9:02am]

I believe it was "Chaos & Disorder" that was the "throw-away" obligation album. That contrite piece of shit.

Novabreaker said:

that's a new one.

GangstaFam said:

I got bored with proper English.

GangstaFam said:

I included "Peach" on a version of "Come" too! In order to rock things
up a bit. But I also included "Interactive" instead of "Pope" since I
just can't stand that song

IstenSzek said:

Thank you very much for your answer.

Wish I could listen to those remixes.

I think Come has aged quite well compared to other albums