Now Im sure we all love PARADE.

But if he didnt like those tracks, why didnt he use his countless vault tracks?

We know how many GREAT unreleased tracks there were at that period.

WHY wouldnt/didnt he use them?


Reminds me of the current situation with 3121.

origmnd said:

Probably because he wanted to keep creating for output and not rest on years old recordings for his new output.

I look at it as just one of those things I disagree with him on. He can look back and say "it could have been better". I can look at it and say "it's one of my faves man, thanks for making it."

OdysseyMiles said:

I/We think that now.

But then I was like "eh..this is it? lawd where isn the promise of 1999 and Purple Rain at?"


Only through time has it grown in affection. Because at that time it wasn't all that. There's a reason Prince was crying on the couch (DMSR The First Decade).

There's a reason a review blurb said "Prince returns to his senses" regarding SOTT

prince can just go on hating parade, cuz i love it.

Wendy and Lisa wrote mountains and sometimes it snows in April right? And David Z created the arrangement used for kiss?

DiamondGirl said:

There were also a lot of critics who dug Parade. It really does have a unified and cohesive sound. Very homogenic, if you ask me. I agree with Wendy Melvoin's obvservation of it. She stated that she felt it represented Prince as an artist the best because the music could not be easily categorized. Where other albums were a mix of this and that, Parade kinda blurred it all and you couldn't put your finger on what was pop or r&b or whatever. That floats my boat.

OdysseyMiles said:

Yes! Exactly!

origmnd said:

Just where did Prince say that he didnt have good material?...gotta source it baby

DiamondGirl said:

I don't feel like going to look anything up, but from what I've read, Prince has frequently used old songs on new albums. I think that some songs on Sign O' The Times were old, recorded with the Revolution. I remember reading that Wendy said that it was sad to hear those songs, knowing how hard they had worked on them, then he redid them with a new band for the album.

Look at the song Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic...I think that was song was recorded long before the actual album came out, right? When 2 R In Love was recorded for the Black Album, but showed up on Lovesexy. We Can Funk was recorded long before Graffiti Bridge. I'm sure there's other examples.

PurpleRein said:

It might have been an Ebony article...I dont say things for show so dont doubt its existence.

OdysseyMiles said:

I know a lot of critcs liked it. It was stated as a return to his DM sound. Not saying it was hated. I mean as a fan I wasn't feeling it too too much at the time. Only Kiss and Mountains and Anotherlover. I remeber scoffing at one reviwers claim that he had written his best ballad "Sometimes It Snows In April." I was "thats not a good slow jam" and whats this "Do U Lie" crap? LOL.I agree its unclassifiable, the music. Im talking about at that time though for fans. I was still waiting for him to return to 1999-like music

dustysgirl said:

Yes I know. Im just saying for thguis project it was obviously a new vibe with a new sound that was desired. Gone was the cold electric and now a more traditional uinstrument sound included.

DiamondGirl said:

Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm one of those who never wanted a return to anything. Just wanted to see what he was going to do next.

Wrong!



Considering that he had only recently changed his sound with the previous album, "Around The World In A Day", I'm sure most of his unreleased tracks at the time were probably jams that were too strong to fit in with the weak vibe of "Parade".

It's far from "Dirty Mind".



"Sometimes It Snows In April" is definately not a good slow jam. It's downright depressing. As far as "Do U Lie", DJs had a field day with that one and "Venus De Milo". They played snips of older songs like "Controversy", "1999", "When Doves Cry", etc. and then played snips of "Do U Lie" and "Venus De Milo". They would say...."what the hell happened...the man went from this...to THIS". People would call in to the stations and fall out laughing on the air. The trend carried over to the clubs also.



Exactly. I'm cool with funk or rock but when you start getting into classical and folk....hell to the naw!



Most people were and "Parade" got rid of a lot of fans for good.
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[Edited 4/7/06 15:35pm]

origmnd said:

Eh, another thread inviting speculation without offering any insight.

he is crazy as a loon. it's my favorite album

Well I love Parade so if the material on that is considered bad, then I can only imagine what the "good" material is. Hopefully at some point in my lifetime, we get to hear this material.

vainandy said:

I hear ya.

Artistically its pretty awesome, but its very hit and miss. Please, "under the cherry moon" is an awful song. And "venus de milo" is pointless too. I dig instrumental music, but that song misses.

"i wonder u" sounds like a shitty demo. But hey, thats prince for ya, soemtimes he wants to be taken seriously as a musician, then sometimes he actually wants a hit and yet still be taken seriously as a musician. Dont work both ways mr nelson.
[Edited 4/7/06 16:38pm]

origmnd said:

I would kind of compare it to your wardrobe. You buy clothes as you go and usually you like your newest stuff the best. Then occasionally you pull out an old outfit and think 'This is great, why did I ever stop wearing this?' so you start wearing that again.

Same with Prince, constantly recording and putting tracks in the vault. He's more into his newest, freshest tracks, but occasionally he pulls out an old vault track, reworks it and puts it alongside his newest stuff. That's how you get albums of mostly newer tracks with the occasional 'old' track recorded years before.

Prince is just constantly into the latest stuff. I love Parade since when it came out, it is really hard to believe Prince didn't think it was particularly strong, I tend to think he was saying that as an excuse to explain why it didn't sell particularly well after the huge success of Purple Rain and the relative success of ATWIAD - kind of like, 'oh yeah, it wasn't my best stuff at all' when in fact he worked hard on it. At the time he was probably still adjusting to the idea he wasn't going to sell Purple Rain type figures every album.

OdysseyMiles said:

i agree odyssey its my fav

DiamondGirl said:

Funny, because back in 1986 I thought Parade was, easily, the best, most mature album Prince had ever released. Even to this day, it's my second fave album and I find it so much better than PR (or any album that came before, really - only 1999 comes close).




That reference was referring to the movie, UTCM, it had no bearing on the music.

Meloh9 said:

Correct on both counts...

jtfolden said:

You came onboard with purple rain didnt ya?



Ya true, the movie. But he also knew the music wasnt too happening either evidently as his comment on lack of strong material was made.

PurpleRein said:

I remember this quote, as well.... It was something along the lines of "Apart from "Kiss" there's nothing on Parade that I'm especially proud of. I didn't have enough good material ready when I made it and I won't make that mistake again...The temptation is to go right back into the recording studio and make a killer record."

HOWEVER, I've always believed he was fronting with these statements. I think at that point in time he was trying to publicly distance himself from the perceived commercial failure of that album. If Parade had sold 3 million plus or Mountains and Anotherloverholenyohead had been top 10 or top 20 hits would he have still made those comments? Probably not...

The idea that he didn't have enough material rings false with me, as well, given the rather excellent b-sides and outtakes from those sessions.

DiamondGirl said:

Nope, Purple Rain (the album) really never impressed me (as a whole - though a few tracks are faves). I first took notice of Prince, as an artist worth watching, with 1999 and then ATWIAD & Parade pretty much cemented my attention.
[Edited 4/7/06 19:25pm]

OdysseyMiles said:

That hit the nail right on the head. Good call!

I loved Parade right away in '86 and still love it today. I still remember the moment "Anotherlover..." first came out of the speakers... Dayumn!! I think Prince thought the tunes were under-developed if I recall, but yeah, that may have been a front for poor sales/public acceptance. But I was right there with that record, and it still works for me!

I always have loved Parade and Parade-era B-sides.

To me, Prince demonstrated the sort of mature music he and his band could make. I see real growth into a pop star with Parade. Yes, Wendy & Lisa are to be credited for a lot of the great moments on that record, but it still bore Prince's stamp. A great album that complemented the movie really well. On its own, very cool.

Just needs a rock guitar solo.