If I put the following in a playlist I have a great new Prince record! Shame the three discs couldn't just be one with these standouts. Just my (humble) opinion as a longtime Prince fan, but a single disc with the following songs would have made a much more intense impact on me:

Colonized Mind
Wall of Berlin
$
Dreamer
(There'll Never B) Another Like Me
Valentina
Better With Time
Ol' Skool Company

curious if anyone else tries this and agrees, in no particular order ... just feels a lot better to me. I'd gladly pay $11.98 for just the above.

smak
[Edited 3/29/09 0:20am]
[Edited 3/29/09 0:35am]

No, that list doesn't work for me at all. There's too much missing from MPLSoUND and I tend to think "Another Like Me" is one of the weaker tracks on there.

If I had to cut it down to one CD, I'd take MPLSoUND, minus Another Like Me, plus The Morning After, Colonized Mind, $ and Dreamer.

smak said:

So are you not happy making your own list? Would you prefer not to have had the other tracks at all? There isn't much filler at all on the two albums. No Incense and Candles, We March, Life o the Party etc.

If i had to make a 1-disc edition, these would be the tracks (subject to a lot of change though, this would be my list today!):

From the Lotus/Back to the Lotus (a cool mix of the 2)
Boom
Dance4me
Colonized Mind
Feel Better
Valentina
Wall of Berlin
Here
$
Ol'Skool Company
Dreamer
Elixir
No more Candy 4u

Nikkie said:

Oh darn... i forgot U're gonna C me and Crimson & Clover, two of my favourites. And Better with Time actually is beautiful.

I'm starting to feel Chocolate Box...

See, i can't make up my mind, this is useless!

blacksweat said:

---

Well yeah, I can make the playlist and be happy. I just thought it might be fun to see what other folks thought about my choices and hear some others. It's not that I would prefer not to have the other songs. I just really think he'd have a stronger record without them. A 3-CD set for $12 is incredible from an artist of Prince's caliber. However, I'm finding it hard to resist imagining how much MORE incredible it might be with a stronger collection of songs. I just feel like this is really one GOOD record with a protege album slipped in the back door (I have not heard "Elixer" yet, and hope it may somehow surprise me - in a GOOD way).

I've been a longtime admirer of Prince's music and talent. I've watched his fan base evolve tremendously along with his music and his views. Honestly, I stopped buying the albums because I couldn't get into the songs like I used to. My last one was around 2001 ("Rave Un2 ..." was the final one in a hardcore 'had to have it all' spree that went back to the start of his career). I bought the released, unreleased, side projects, ultra rare - grabbed it all (vinyl and CD). I really spent a lot of coin chasing down everything - simply because I couldn't get enough. I don't regret a single purchase either because I loved the music. I listened to it all too.

My interest became spotty after 2001 because he changed a lot. I'm all for an artist's growth and evolving. I guess it just went a direction I had trouble relating to. "Musicology" felt like a cool 'return to form' and I picked that up and really dug it. We were front row at the show here in town and my wife got pulled up on stage. It was a blast - moreso because I really missed driving miles to see a rare exclusive aftershow or concert that didn't come through our town. Same vibe with "3121," but there were a lot of releases in between that I just never could wrap my head around. I started getting excited when songs leaked from this project late last year. I guess I hoped there would be more that I could get into. Hey, to each their own. My taste must not be indicative of the norm I guess, but I felt like I really had a solid background considering the history. Maybe I've been around long enough to make a qualified assessment? Maybe not. Just wondering if more folks agree. I guess stacked up against his work since 2001 there's sure to be more here that would appeal to someone. The bar (for creativity and sheer musical power) for me was set back in the 80's though, and even if the music is something new or fresh I'm always looking for more grooves like "Valentina" & "Dreamer." As much as folks might consider my line of thinking as negative, I really just miss the days of running out to the store in anticipation of throwing that record that was just one slammin' tune after another. I really miss that. I do feel there's a lot of fluff here. Thanks for sharing thoughts though. I'm having some fun returning to these forums, contributing and reading up. Don't see many familiar names though .

smak

I couldn't make a single disc with every song I like. I'd just lose 77 Beverly Park from Lotusflow3r and Chocolate Box from MPLSound. There's even 3 or 4 I like on Bria's album.

And even the two I'd drop from the Prince discs aren't bad. Basically, I'm loving this set.
[Edited 3/29/09 13:16pm]

smak said:

Fair play Smak and each to their own. I've been a fan for 22 years and I haven't looked back, or been put off. I've been and seen everything. I got burned and let down from the previous clubs and promised releases etc. Yet I am as hardcore today, as the first time I played Sign 'o' the Times in '87.

As for the names on the org. Well mine has changed many times over the years. Changing email addresses and forgetting passwords must be the norm for many people on here.

smak said:

The problem is that your idea of what constitutes a better, single album isn't going to be the same as what other fans might want. This is the same problem that crops up when people talk about cutting down SOTT or Emancipation. Every fan has their own personal idea of the "perfect" version.

I went all upbeat. Here's my single disc:

(side one)

From the Lotus
Boom
Crimson and Clover
Colonized Mind
There'll Never Be Another
Feel Good
Ol' Skool Company

(side two)

Valentina
Chocolate Box
Dance 4 Me
No More Candy
Wall of Berlin
$
Dreamer
...Back to the Lotus

Now thats a killer album!!!
[Edited 3/31/09 7:27am]

Lotusflow3r minus Feel Good/Better/Etc..

+
U're gonna C Me
Here

I'm leaning this sort of compilation:

From the Lotus. . .
Boom
Crimson and Clover
The Morning After
4EVER
Colonized Mind
Wall of Berlin
$
U’re Gonna C Me
Here
Better with Time
No More Candy 4 U
Dreamer
. . . Back to the Lotus

Need to work on the sequencing.

Overall the set is in the same range of what he's been doing since 1996. Little bit of this, little bit of that. This isnt all that far off from Planet Earth.

I still think the high point of this post Gold era are the non-offensive bits of TRC and some of the songs of the High/Chocolate Invasion/Slaughterhouse sessions (Silicon, My Medallion, Y should I do that, and When we will be paid all sounded as if he was going somewhere interesting).
[Edited 3/31/09 8:39am]

I know that I am considered a ‘hater’ on this site (which is not true in reality) … BUT ...With a lot of Prince releases for the last 15 years for me it always feels like a missed opportunity ….. This is another project that falls into that mix (it was supposed to be ‘retro-Prince' sounding… but it’s kind of half way there for me)

Here’s what I think would have worked better….. (A single album)


From the Lotus – (it’s not the greatest instrument … but it sets the vibe ok)

Boom – (nice verses to the song… even if it is a little 'Darling Nikki' sounding ... but where’s the killer chorus or hook… just saying “boom” seems a little half arsed. The song needs more developing for me)

Dance 4 Me – (would have been better with some live bass in there… not crazy enough musically …. Maybe an Eric Leeds ‘Housequake’ style horn riff)

4Ever – (Prince has been recording these ‘Broadway musical style’ songs for years …. I guess I can live with one more)

Colonized Mind – (sounds cool)

Feel better Feel Good – (Not a huge fan of the song, but it’s ‘ok’ …. But how cool would it have been if he had bothered to write and play a super cool bass line for it, instead of just playing a non-descript keyboard bass ….(with an ‘Irresistible Bitch’ or ‘Lets Work’ style bass going on it would have taken off musically)

Better With Time – (sounds a little ‘limp’ to me, I kind of think it would have been better if it had more of a Mavis Staples ‘Time Waits For No One’ vibe … the keys on the Mavis tune have that classic Prince sound ...the idea of this record was to sound like Prince ... not run-of-the-mill R&B.

Ol' Skool Company – (sounds cool …. Although again it misses a cool live bass line … The Black album was full of great bass lines, mixing live instruments with programmed Linn Drum was what made it so cool)

$ - (sounds cool)

Dreamer – (it’s ok …but just so it did not sound like a total 100% Hendrix steal I would have preferred to hear something ‘Prince Sounding’ in the mix .... It’s been compared to the 86 outtake ‘Witness’ … I wish it had incorporated some more of that vibe …. A few horn stabs and female vocals. …otherwise I may as well put on a ‘Band Of Gypsies’ album and hear the real thing.

Back to the Lotus – (works ok)
[Edited 3/31/09 10:17am]

MPLSound is what i call a "hit"- record.
It´s fresh, organic, funky and sexy.

Nuff said.