i totally agree with you. As a young fan i didn't get the chance to see Prince Live (well i downloaded some videos, the lovesexy tour, and some performances) but thats not the point. I want to have some high quality DVDs and watch them on my tv in surround sound. Wtf Gold Experience out of print??? damn.....Now i gotta go to ebay.....Young people do you feel my pain?????

skywalker said:

Yes!

I agree, Prince should do something about his legacy, and ultimately, it really
is down to him and no-one else whether this happens or not.

MajesticOne89 said:

Amen to that, youngin'.

I fortunately was able to see him last time he toured (WOOOO!) but sitting here maxing out my memory downloading torrents is not the way. DVDs would be sweet I wish the music was more accessable as well. :/ Maybe the young people will live to see this come to fruition...

I imagine he'll come round eventually.

This little comeback trip he's on since Musicology won't last, and then remasters/re-issues are the logical next step for a bit of attention.

NouveauDance said:

He Trips but none ever last.

I agree!! Prince seriously needs to have his old albums remastered.The sound quality on classic CDs like 'Dirty Mind','Controversy' and 'Sign O The Times' is embarassingly weak and lifeless.These days,when I wanna listen to those albums,I don't even play the CD.I play my old vinyl records instead.

An artist of his stature deserves to have his entire catalog remastered.I just recently bought Santana's third album "III",and it is now a 2-CD Deluxe Edition with bonus tracks,an entire live concert from that era,and a nice booklet with liner notes and rare photos.Several of Santana's other albums were remastered in recent years and these remasters are just incredible.There is absolutely no reason why Prince's catalog shouldn't get the same treatment.

I don't know what's going on with Prince and Warners,but they both need to come to an understanding and work together to get these CDs remastered as soon as possible!!! Prince is gaining newer,younger fans all the time and they're gonna go back and look for his old CDs.It's a shame that they won't be able to hear his music the way it deserves to be heard....remastered!

Totally agree!

He often talks about his songs being like his children... WELL ACT LIKE A PARENT MUTHA-FUCKA - DRESS THEM IN NEW CLOTHES AND NOURISH THEM!!! STOP BEING AN ABSENTEE DAD! PULL YOUR FINGER OUT AND LOOK AFTER THEIR WELL-BEING! DON'T JUST RUN AROUND ALL WILLY-NILLY HAVING HEEPS OF KIDS AND FORGETTING ALL ABOUT THEM!! NURTURE MUTHA-FUCKA, NURTURE!!

It's the reason why the bootleg community is so valuable. You CAN get virtually ever tour in very good sound quality and there are dozens and dozens of outtakes from throughout his career.

He's actually missed the opportunity to have a real impact as far as reissues/special editions. Every man and his dog has some kind of brilliant remastered bonus dvd edition, his would just get lost in the avalanche.

Yeah I also thought about this recently, what would happen if our hero died tomorrow? What would happen with all his music? Who will take good care of all that music then? Who can make sure it will be released in proper dosis as to not flood the market (this must surely be spread out for years to come)? Will we ever see all the good stuff from the past on officially released high quality DVD's? It may become Mani's responsability if they're still together since he still has no son/daughter that I know of. It would be a damn outrage if all these things will not be handled the way they deserve.

BombFunk said:

Once Prince dies, he has asked me to take over his vault and musical legacy.

I hear you but I've said this many times. We will probably only see this stuff after Prince passes away. I would not put it pass WB to already have sunk some money into remastering. They are just holding on to the golden goose until he passes away and all of a sudden you will see a lot more stuff come out.

It's absolutely insane to go to a record store or book store and find ton's of sheet music, books and other items on marginal talents and NOTHING on Prince. You can't even buy a Prince poster from a store. These things may not be important to Prince, but I'm sure some of his fans would disagree.

shesjustababy82 said:

i bet he has it in his will that all tapes in the vault be destroyed when he dies. now if his is really married to Mani she could get control.

but i agree... he is a putz for not taking major steps to really get things right. Maybe he is wating until the next medium is ready and going all the way... i could see with blu-ray: with remixes, alternates, outtakes, videos, and concerts.

Just a thought but...

it appears that Prince did have some involvement with WB over the "Ultimate Prince" collection. Having these for sale at exactly the same time was insane so somebody made the decision to delay UP (= good idea).

Prince previously came close to collaborating with WB back in 2001 (I think) when Warners wanted to do another collection called "A Celebration". Prince was going to give them "Underneath the Cream" but eventually changed his mind AND cancelled the remaining concerts on what was being called the "Celebration tour" as this would support the project. Instead WB released "Very Best Of.."

I think Prince is very aware of the need to remaster and save his legacy HOWEVER I also think that Prince wants to negotiate with WB from a position of greater power. The ONLY way to do that is to raise his "stock". The only way to do that is to start selling more units again...hence Musicology and 3121.

If Prince can demonstrate he is a viable commercial power again and show that there is demand for his "product" then his negotiations with WB can be more fruitful to Prince.

At the end of the day it is really about $$$$$ and both parties want to maximise their slice of the pie.

also there may very will be legal issues over much of the vault stuff. the fact is if prince charged WB for the studio time to record them then WB may well have a leagl calim to the masters or at least a CUT of their sales.

He probably won't remaster anything that is not in alignment with his religion. He doesnt want some of the older material to be his legacy, you know-how he is remembered. You guys do understand this, right ?

ndigo said:

I understand but think that will be a shame. You could argue that knowing where you come from allows you to understand better where you are going...oh okay that's just wishful thinking then! Damn!

jaypotton said:

But on the flip side of this, some of Prince's songs and performances were quite vulgar, and this colored his carveout of music history. No matter how strong his desire, he can't erase that, but he probably doesn't want to perpetuate this via the back catalogs. He can still edit, and put together some good, clean material that will hopefully capture people's interest....

ndigo said:

yet he still cashes the checks... and what is the big deal? "mother-fucker" is still the same word no matter how clear it is

KrystleEyes said:

OMG THAT WAS FVCKIN HUH-LURIOUS!

I agree they should remaster the back catalogue.

Maybe Prince thinks of it as "old" music and he wants to move on etc - as he has said from time to time. It all comes down to him and WB polaying nicely I think.

As for the "vulgar" stuff - there are millions of copies already out there so what difference does it make?

Imagine an NPG army running around knocking on doors in search of all the Prince albums ever pressed!

"Oh this is a copy of The Rainbow Children, you are allowed to keep this one"

Cliffy74 said:

I have a copy of NEWS they can have without much bartering.

MajesticOne89 said:

yes.. truely i feel the same...

I love my Prince CDs (I didn't exist in the vinyl generation), but gottdamm, those suckers need remastered. Hopefully, we won't have to wait forever.