Mountains, baby. One of Prince's best songs ever. Why does no one ever talk about it? I'm a songwriter and this thing blows my mind it's so beautiful. Wooo!!!!

i dont think ill ever understand. The first time I heard the song, I thought it was perfection. Then it was released as a single after kiss and bombed. Really weird. Maybe my taste is different from many others, or maybe the song didnt "fit" into the Parade album, and made less of an impact. Maybe if it was a first release rather than Kiss it would have been a bigger hit, who knows. All I know is that Mountains still sounds awe inspiring to me and is a classic in my book.

Best.Prince.Extended.Ever.

That is all.

oh yes it's beautiful,
one of those pearls,

from time to time someone discovers it,
rest assured.

Genesia said:

Preach!!!!!

Genesia said:

1 of my fav extended versions, no doubt. I still have the original 12"... along with every other 12" he released.

I can't say it's the best though, 'cause there were 2 many other phat extended jams. I'd definitely put it in my top 4.

Peace!

G.

Genesia said:

I have to agree with you here. Wicked hornz in the extended.

Love it!





and there was actually another thread on it not too long ago.
[Edited 4/3/07 9:09am]

It gets praised here all the time. Great cut.

dantes731 said:

so is yer avatar

ya, I love that song too..I think alot of people have said that here on the org, if I remember correctly

I see it as a prize to the real fans who take the time to listen to the whole cd, and learn it. Most people just heard "Kiss" from- Parade. They do not know the pleasures of, Sometimes it snows in April,Christopher Tracy's Parade,Girls and Boys,Anotherloverholenyohead,Mountains,Do U lie? I always take these songs as my gift for truly listening to the whole cd.

dseann said:

Excellent point on the horns. Wicked mind-blowing on the long version. By the way, if you've never listened to "Alexa de Paris" in a marble and glass garden room with a fountain in the middle, you're sooooo missing out. Hello, childhood. Goodbye...

dantes731 said:

theres a thread on this song every other day.

Mountains has 2 B a song that just makes U smile. It's wonderful - happy, bouncy, camp, joyous and smells of summers long gone! (Wow, pretty deep)

Mountains is a good song, but....























The 10-minute long, 12-inch version is one of Prince most brilliant moments ever!

Or should i say a string of moments? I mean: the way he surprises 'the listener' with creative musical idea's in the arrangement is pure brilliance.

Its a musical gem on itselve and in retrospect the long version seems to have a lot of influence on some of the longer, more complex songs on the Black album and the Lovesexy album.

Riverpoet31 said:

Did I not say, "Best.Prince.Extended.Ever."??

I already posted a variation of this, but just in case you couldn't find it, here goes:


The track “Mountains” was originally an untitled song recorded by Wendy and Lisa at Advision studios in London while Prince was in France filming UTCM. It was presented to him and recorded with the full band on Saturday, November 30, 1985 at the Washingon Avenue Warehouse in Minneapolis. While most of the band had been in the studio together, it was actually Matt Bliss’ 1st session with Prince and the Revolution.

“One track that I will never forget is of course "Mountains", because that was my audition,” Matt recalls. “And that was my first introduction to not only working with Prince, but being creative with him in a recording situation. When we had first written the parts to the middle part in there that was my first day up there and sitting down, meet all the rest of the band and take a break, myself and Eric and Wendy and Lisa and Prince sat down together and developed these songs, I mean developed the horn part in "Mountains", that was something that sort of sticks out in my mind as another milestone.”

Additional work was done on the track in Minneapolis and it was shelved until Friday, March 28 1986, when it was edited for the 7 inch and 12 inch mixes for release (the 2nd released from PARADE). Some additional horns were overdubbed for the song on April 1, and more mixing and editing followed on April 6, 22, and 27th.

It was eventually released on May 7 1986 (single release) and the 12 inch was released on May 21.

For those of you curious about the title and the meaning, you may want to look up the following Bible verse: Matthew 21:21

In answer Jesus said to them: "Truly I say to YOU, If only You have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what I did to the fig tree, but also if YOU say to this mountain,'Be lifted up and cast into the sea,' it will happen.

This information is from the book “The Prince Studio Sessions”.

dantes731 said:

[quote]Then it was released as a single after kiss and bombed.

if i'm not mistaken, Mountains was a Top 10 hit for Prince. that's far from a bomb. great song indeed

Just from the intro alone, u know its gonna be the sh*t!

I always loved this song, and thanks to DJ Jedi I heard the 12" version for the first time on Emancipation Radio and what can I say it's a freaking masterpiece!

Love the song not the video!

ahhh.. this is the song that made me take notice in Prince. a year later, SOTT album i was a hardcore fan

datdude said:

As I recall from Billboard at the time, it peaked at number 23. Anotherloverholenyohead, released shortly after, hit an even more dismal 63 or so.

Prince was just changing styles too quick for the mass market to keep up at that point.
[Edited 4/3/07 22:41pm]

jtfolden said:

yep, unless it hit the top ten in New Zealand or something.. Number 23 in the US is poor after the preceding song (Kiss) was number one smash. heres my source.. http://en.wikipedia.org/w...%28song%29

But as we all know chart positions dont dictate the greatness of a song.. Kylie Minogue, Backstreet Boys, Boyzone have had heaps of number ones..

madhouseman said:

Hi Madhouseman, where did you get the book "Prince Studio Sessions"? Ive looked for it on Amazon and Google and cant find it?? Would like to buy a copy...

vinx98 said:

The book isn't done yet. It is still in the process of being written, but one day, hopefully in the next year or two...

Again, the big question is, would anyone buy something like that?

YES!! I would certainly buy it! I bought a book once about the Beatles studio sessions about the history of each track they made, who was involved, how long it took, whether it was a demo, outtake, how many takes were needed, what instruments were on each song, who mixed it, cut it, engerneered it, etc... It was a real education and very interesting to boot!


bring it on!



PS - out of curiosity, if the book isnt out yet, how did you get that info??

madhouseman said:

PaisleyPark5083 said:

Absolutely