Prince is so prolific, yet it is clear that since the early days he did loads of “filler” material, with some albums (like Purple Rain, dirty mind, parade, lovesexy, etc exceptions in this case). Emancipation was 90% filler, but that’s not my point here.

I think if Prince tried this experiement, it might be difficult for him (as he likes to get stuff out there as soon as he makes it), but this is my plan and I think in the long run it will do him good and also improve his music.

Let’s take the last 4 years for example starting with Musicology and going up to Lotus. From all those records he has the basis for perhaps one of the greatest Prince albums ever. I think Prince can wait 3-4 years and produce music, but NOT release it until he has an AMAZING collection as below. In addition, in that time he could release music from the "vault" to keep his loyal fans satisfied.

Can you imagine this album?? Fans, critics, non-fans, would love it – it would be considered one of the all time great albums. Also, with the correct marketing and promotion, it could sell thousands of copies (not just for one week).

It would be an album that fans and prince himself would be proud of for years to come (like Im sure he is proud of PR and SOTT), and it also includes a good mix of funk, rock, ballads, hit songs, some of his political rantings, and his JW bullshit as well.

Dont get me wrong, these are not my personal favourites, just what seems by consensus to be what are considered strong songs, for example I hate the 1 U wanna C, but I still put it on here as people seemed to think its one of the better songs from PE.

ALBUM
Musicology
Call My Name
Reflection
Dear Mr. Man
3121
Black Sweat
Love
The Dance
The One U Wanna C
Future Baby Mama
Boom
Crimson and Clover
Colonized Mind
Feel Good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful
$
Dreamer
Ol' Skool Company
No More Candy 4 U
U're Gonna C Me

POSSIBLE CD BSIDES/SINGLES
What Do U Want Me 2 Do
Cinnamon Girl –
Te Amo Corazón
The Word
Somewhere Here on Earth
Chelsea Rodgers
Dance 4 Me

Meh. I think an album like this risks sounding too jumbled and all over the place. Cool idea though!

CerpinTaxt said:

I think PE and Musicology are also all over the place. At least the material is strong and people get a cross section of his sounds in one super CD.

I honestly don't think an album compiled from the past 3/4 releases would fair any better than they did individually.

U know what they say about opinions.....

Vinx, you seem to take it for granted that your personal taste equals strong material. Prince's music is diverse. Just because you don't like certain tracks doesn't make them "filler". I prefer Emancipation and Rainbow Children to your hybrid album from the past few years. The songs on Emancipation obviously aren't your thing. That's cool, but you should appreciate that there are few absolutes in music such as "weak", "strong", "filler". I'm a professional muso and I hear some of Prince's most sophisticated songwriting on Emancipation. That doesn't mean you or anyone else should like it. A lot of folks dismiss it because there's a synthetic edge to the production. I can understand that; but I happen to like it for its other qualities. On the other hand I find very little of musical interest on Dirty Mind, which you list among his most consistent albums. To each their own.
[Edited 5/5/09 9:23am]

I put together a playlist in tunes based on this theory.

An out and out funk pop album

3121
Lolita
Valentina
Dance 4 Me
Chocolate Box
Black Sweat
Love
Here
Ol Skool Company
No More Candy 4 U
FUNK

Romeoblu said:

I think this one could work out better as compilation than the earlier one. Still, I don't think any of these should or would replace an actual full album release.

Vinx, it's the same argument as saying Emancipation should have been a single disc. We all have differing opinions on what the best tracks are. I'd quite happily lose 7 of the tracks on your list. If they'd been on a single release, I'd have had plenty of 'filler'.

I'm sure every one of us could come up with a killer single CD. But it wouldn't be perfect for anyone else. I would rather have the many releases. One mans gold is another mans filler.

The beauty of recordable cd's. Just make your own.

I can definitely see another compilation of the recent past...My list wouldn't look exactly like yours although it would be close....

To English Gent and PlusSign, obviuosly you like Emancipation, maybe I was being tough when I said I thought 90% was filler, in fact the strong songs on that album are really strong IMHO, I think soul sanctuary is one of his greatest ever songs for example. And the list I gave is not necessarily my personal favourite. As I mentioned above, I dont like the 1 U wanna C for example, I also have little time for Black Sweat, yet I still put it on the list as there seems to be some consensus on the site on which are the stronger songs. OK I hate TRC, simply because it makes me feel like Im in an assembly of God church and it was the first time I felt sad when I heard Prince's new direction towards JW. Im kinda used to the JW part of his music now, but I will never forget how much I hated TRC when it came out. But I must stress this is MY OPINION, I am not pushing words or opinions onto anyone. Two albums I love are Chaos and Disorder and (most of) RAVE - which are records that people seem to not like much on this site - so I know how it feels when people put down music which you think it's cool, but opinion is opinion, we can all beg to differ.

vinx98 said:

Emancipation is ok, some great stuff, some mediocre and some weak. Just my opinion of course. I only referenced it because there's always talk about how it should have been one disc. But that one perfect disc would be different for everyone. I think Soul Sanctuary falls into the mediocre, for example.

I just thought that the one disc Emancipation thought, was very similar to your idea of making 1 disc from the recent crop. My only point is that it's pointless trying to pick the 'best' tracks from a selection of albums to make one killer disc. However you try to configure it, you'll find plenty of people that hate a good few selections. That is why it's actually far better that we get many releases.