I was listening to "Condition of the Heart" today and it seems quite out of place on ATWIAD. It is reminiscent of post 1999 material yet not par for Purple Rain. Is it a early song out of it's element? Just wondering!
[Edited 1/29/10 20:07pm]

I love the song, hate the minute long outro that (due to poor mastering) sounds almost silent.

It's not out of place it's perfect in it's spot, according to 80s album-sequencing rules (intro/single/slow jam/single/side 2). The lyrics continue the aloof tone set in "Paisley Park".

billymeade said:

U R Correct! There is a methodical recipe 2 the 80s' pop album! Thanks 4 the insight!

It actually fits perfectly with the new sounds Prince was exploring at that time. It was a total 180 from his previous work on Purple Rain, 1999, etc. Nothing on that album would have fit on any previous Prince album. It was the first time Prince's music became non-interchangeable with his previous work to that point.

It was recorded October 9, 10 and 11th, 1984 at Sunset Sound. It was just about 1 month to the day before the Purple Rain Tour started in Detroit. Side note: The day before, on October 8, he recorded "Yes", which ended up on The Family's album. A few days later, he recorded the 12" of "I Would Die 4 U" with The Revolution and members of Sheila E.'s band. So it was recorded squarely in the middle of everything Purple Rain in the world.

You could no more put "Condition of the Heart" on 1999 than you could put "DMSR" on Around The World In A Day.

That's the amazing thing, ernest.

I've always been blown away by the fact that he recorded all of ATWIAD (except for what...two songs?) PRIOR to starting the PR tour!!!

Amazing!

Nonsense: Around The World is a perfect album and "Condition" fits in very well.

imo.

billymeade said:

http://www.turnmeup.org/
[Edited 1/30/10 3:19am]

mestizo5000 said:

2 add 2 what everyone else has already spoken in truth except the person who thinks the song is 2 long... It was supposed to be a type of music script for the making of the movie Under the Cherry Moon

My take on Condition of the Heart:

It was around the release of ATWIAD that I began to notice Prince had these weird little "experimental songs" that popped up every now and then (and more increasingly on post ATWIAD releases). Not to dismiss or lessen the value of these "experimental songs" but it seemed like Prince felt if he was going to have filler in between the killer songs they may as well challenge the listener. As his musical sophistication in composition and arranging grew it was only natural that he would want to challenge the conventions and break new ground, and for me CONDITION OF THE HEART is such an example. Musically the 2 minute intro is almost classical, and the haunting melody of the main song stirs all the emotions the title requires, but the vocal delivery seems a little bit tongue in cheek in part. As if Prince is challenging you to take on what you expect from an r&b ballad. and just when you think he has lost he pulls out the bridge and those powerful "oooooh oooooh's". Funny, as i listen to it now it seems less quirky than i remember thinking it was way back when. And maybe that is the beauty of the so called "experimental songs" that you are almost quick to write them off, and then after a few listens you discover the beauty within.

Swa
[Edited 1/30/10 19:42pm]
[Edited 1/30/10 19:42pm]

mestizo5000 said:

No that song belongs on ATWIAD. that was the whole point of that album. It wasnt suppose to be Purple Rain II. ATWIAD "is" different - supposed to B

facedown7 said:

I could actually see that song ending up on Gold Experience--but that's just my opinion.

poetcorner61 said:

Maybe, but seems it would throw that CD off.

Beautiful song.

Condition of the Heart is a little slice of heaven.

Great song; can't imagine it on any other album. It's sorta definitive in that way. I think of it as one of Prince's loveliest piano songs.

poetcorner61 said:

Condition of the Heart would blow that album out the water

facedown7 said:

It totally would. ATWIAD is about space, and being quiet at certain points in a song. Even Prince mentioned that, and referenced Joni Mitchell's The Hissing of Summer Lawns as an influence, and how Joni knew about space and silence in music. ATWIAD reflects that. Gold is a very "thick" album. "Condition of the Heart" would not have fit on there; not in its present form (or any form).