It is well known that Prince has a great deal of material recorded both in music and video format that has never seen the light of day. What possible reason would Prince have for holding on 2 such material and deprive his "FANS" of this work?

Any ideas?

much debated topic. wish we truly knew why. only reason I can think of his is the perfectionist side of him?

He likes to see us like this

Not enough cowbell. He has to add more cowbell before releasing it.

AsianBomb777 said:

lol.....

why do WE hold on to so much of his unreleased material?

Anx said:

Because no record company could ever keep up with the amount of stuff he writes. To think that he shelved the Black Album makes me think he still must have some gems that nobody has ever heard.

AsianBomb777 said:

Really though, he's not "holding onto" it, he's regularly released A LOT of material (compared to his peers in the pop music biz)..... Does he have an obligation to release every single thing he records?

If you write a book, if you decide to scrap a chapter, a character, an ending, even a sequel, are you obliged to make those unused parts available to your audience?

We only have the unreleased material we do (and there is A LOT circulating widely), because it was STOLEN, or used without permission.

He doesn't owe us this music that is unreleased, no matter how much we all wanna hear it..... If he did release it, would that be the end of it?.... What if he released Moonbeam Levels, but it was a different mix or edit to the one we know and love.... Would we want the version we know in pristine quality?... Would we want EVERY version or edit made? (I remember this kinda thing happening when stuff like 'Crucial' was released on 'Crystal Ball' and it differed to the circulating versions).

He CAN profit from this stuff, but is it worth the effort?.... A 2CD set of unreleased stuff might do well commercially, but Prince has enough stuff to fill dozens of these sets..... These aren't gonna sell outside the hardcore fanbase.

We all know Prince concentrates on the now, he's always into what he's doing right now.... so his mind doesn't seem to be on the stuff that didn't make the cut on an album that's 20 years old.


And, yeah!.....

NouveauDance said:

Nice response. Thanks.

I’m sure he doesn’t consider a lot of it “worthy” enough to release. I am sure he doesn’t want everything released…we don’t show everyone everything we do, we only the best pieces. He did say he has some amazing jazz pieces and some other great stuff…so I feel ya. What is going to happen when he dies? We Tupac died you knew his mom or Death Row was going to continue releasing stuff but P isn’t affiliated with anyone (that we know of)…I always thought Mayte was going to be the one that would continue NPG.

Good question…

Graycap23 said:

Have you asked Prince what reason(s) he has? If so, what are they?

If not, why haven't you asked him this question?

It obviously has SOME value or merit for him to have a 2nd vault built.

I say hold NUDE listening parties (so none can sneak recorders in) and let us listen to some of this stuff.

origmnd said:

He has to be nude too

RodeoSchro said:

I'm asking U guys that question.

The man is a genius. For all we know and i belive he makes music morning,noon and night.That dosen't mean he wants the world in his private thoughts. He said himself on the rave dvd "when i want new music i just make it". althought a couple of dvds and a vault collection wouldn't hurt us. only keep me broke i love baby with a passion, he can have all my money

Alot of the Vault is hype IMO. Add's intrigue & all. Also alot of that material is prolly not pg-13. He's "Happy Feet" Prince now remember. That's why we'll never see Lovesexy Eueope ever released in our lifetime. It's a shame because the haters would finally get a chance to see what we all know, the baddest mo-fo on the planet then & now..

Farfunknugin said:

does it really matter to your enjoyment of Princes music, if the haters love him or not?...i say, no.

It's natural for prolific artists to hide or cling to boatloads of unreleased material. Sometimes not satisfied, they go back and change parts or do total remixes. Im sure Prince released songs over the past couple years that he sat on since the 80s and remodeled them for today's styles. Other songs may be intended for certain occasions or maybe a concept album that hasnt reached development yet.

It's his, in a way I don't blame him too many sharks out here.

He's got a Howard Hughesian thing going on.

question is...who loves and RESPECTS him enough to honor his requests and see that his musical legacy is given the proper justice?

i don't think he's found them yet(or maybe he has but just isn't saying)

NouveauDance said:

He most definately does live in "the now"... That's what has made every album release so beautifully suspenseful. If he didn't live in "the now", U wouldn't have had 'Around The World in a Day' after 'Purple Rain', or 'Parade' after that, etc.
[Edited 11/16/06 12:35pm]

Farfunknugin said:

Why do you think it's hype?.... We have several hundred unreleased tracks in wide circulation. Add to this the hundreds that aren't, but are known to exist, all the alternate versions, plus all the stuff we DON'T know about (info. after '96 gets sketchy).... add to that the fact that he records all his live shows, audio, video, unreleased promo videos and stuff..... That's not hype, that's fact.

Graycap23 said:

I don't know! cause he's a perfectionist and these songs just don't cut it for him? Cause some/many of them are to dirtay for him these days? (boo hiss)
Cause he's moved on?
Cause he's too busy?
Cause he don't wanna?

I want to hear why YOU think he don't gray?

Shorty said:

Just my 2 pennies: Someone stated in a previous post that Prince lives in the moment. That's a fairly accurate statement. Once he moves forward onto another musical project, he sort of let's the old tracks die. Occasionally he does resurrect a track, but a lot of those old songs are not complete and never will be.

What puzzles me is the amount of material that he actually has COMPLETED. I get the feeling that Prince (in a musical sense) will be alive and kicking YEARS after he leaves this Earth. Whom ever he leaves in charge of his Estate, will be one busy person.

he said in a interview in 1998 that he has 1000 or more completed, doesnt like to talk about it bcuz it makes him feel old.

If only a petition or something would have any clout...

I'd happily pay $25 per disc of pristine unreleased material.

Graycap23 said:

I can't say I feel deprived by him not releasing all of his material because I tend not to miss what I don't have if it isn't a necessity.

I suppose he records some things to share and earn a living from. Other material he records for his own enjoyment. Since he prefers living in the now, once he's done with something, I think he seldom has the urge to revisit it.

Because..

when he dies he can put out new albums for 200+ years!!!!!

1 new album a year with 10 years on each one.

I bet he has artwork, photos,etc all ready to go

Our grand kids - grand kids will be hearing new Prince music.