Prince has a TRILLION hits and he's even said it himself but alot of his truly GREAT music is overshadowed by another song on the album.

I'd like to hear your opinions of:

1. Which song(s) are overshadowed/underrated?

2. What album (or if it is unreleased, what do u THINK it should be on?) is it on?

3. What song do u feel it is overshadowed by? (WHY?)

4. Do u think the said song deserved to be a single (or, if it is a single...a HIT?)? Or remain an album track as a "hidden treasure"?

5. What song do u prefer? The overshadowed or overshadower?

Here's mine:

1. Do It All Night

2. Dirty Mind

3. When You Were Mine- They are both sort of "peppy" (terrible word choice) songs and very great! But I think that When You Were Mine steals the spotlight from its funkier cousin.

4. REMAIN AN ALBUM TRACK-(THE ENTIRE ALBUM IS AMAZING)

5. Do It All Night

Interactive should've been a single.

The Continental too - I remember my first copy of coming with a sticker saying" contains the singles..." and it included the track, I was bummed when it wasn't.

Sorry not to follow your 1-5 idea, just wanted to put those two out there.

1. Which song(s) are overshadowed/underrated?

Laydown or 3 Chains'

2. What album (or if it is unreleased, what do u THINK it should be on?) is it on?

20Ten and

3. What song do u feel it is overshadowed by? (WHY?)

77 tracks of nothing, The Morning Papers (that one was awful)

4. Do u think the said song deserved to be a single (or, if it is a single...a HIT?)? Or remain an album track as a "hidden treasure"?

Laydown, not a hit, per se but it would do well as a single. 3 Chains would flop miserably, but it's one of his best songs and yes, his best solo ever.

5. What song do u prefer? The overshadowed or overshadower?

The overshadowed, almost always.

Very interesting post, but I'll also express my opinion in general, not following the suggested 5 points.

I think in the mid 90's, during the confusing period that led to Come and The Gold Experience, several tracks remained unpublished or were published in a way that not many could take notice. Particularly the beautiful Don't Talk To Strangers, which I consider one of the best ballads done by Prince (surely one of his best lyrics too), but also Interactive, Days Of Wild, and Acknowledge Me.

Sign Era

1. Underrated: La,la,la,he,he,he

2. Should have been on sign

3. U've got the look is not so funny

4. It could have been a single

5. La,la,la...what do u think?

Moonbeam Levels should absolutely have been a B-side (at the very least).

NouveauDance said:

Interactive should've been a single.

The Continental too - I remember my first copy of coming with a sticker saying" contains the singles..." and it included the track, I was bummed when it wasn't.

Sorry not to follow your 1-5 idea, just wanted to put those two out there.

Completely agree with Interactive - especially as there was that performance on French(?) TV. Failing that, then Endorphinmachine would've made a great lead single off TGE.

Also I think that Strange But True would've made a much more interesting choice of single off Rave than plastic shit like Hot Wit U

(I'm probably being predictable with these first two but..)

1 + 2 Erotic City and 17 days would have made great singles.

3. Dance 4 Me - I think Prince made a big mistake not releasing Dance 4 Me as a single over Chocolate Box. The latter wasn't bad, but not really strong enough as the first single. 'tis funky as hell.

4. Crystal Ball - Probably not a good choice for a single but imho one of Prince's most underrated songs. It blows me away everytime I hear it.

5. Sleep Around - There was a lot of complaints about Emancipation, bad production etc. However I think there is a crap load of amazing songs on that album. Sleep Around would have made a great lead off single, over the dull cover of Bethcha By Golly Wow.

6. Joy In Repetition - Definitely not underrated. It seems like this song is hailed as a Prince classic... so why the hell did prince not release this as a single?

I could go on.....

NouveauDance said:

Interactive should've been a single.

The Continental too - I remember my first copy of coming with a sticker saying" contains the singles..." and it included the track, I was bummed when it wasn't.

Sorry not to follow your 1-5 idea, just wanted to put those two out there.

If Prince has removed those horrible Kirsty Alley bits, there would probably be room for Interactive!

Thewreckastow said:

1. Which song(s) are overshadowed/underrated?

2. What album (or if it is unreleased, what do u THINK it should be on?) is it on?

3. What song do u feel it is overshadowed by? (WHY?)

4. Do u think the said song deserved to be a single (or, if it is a single...a HIT?)? Or remain an album track as a "hidden treasure"?

5. What song do u prefer? The overshadowed or overshadower?

I'll start with 20ten, the most recent.

Walk in sand is underrated because it's overshadowed by the previous two great tracks, Act of God and Lavaux. Those songs seemed to be quite popular amongst likers of 20ten and like me, I presume when listening in sequence, they get repeated plays, delaying Walk in Sand.

It's also slightly overshadowed by Sea of Everything because the mix from Walk in Sand into SoE makes in almost like one song. Together they feel like a track in itself.

Future soul song is also overshadowed by the more upbeat Compassion and Beginning Endlessly. Therefore a little lost in between those and the following funky Sticky like glue. Perhaps Lay it down should have replaced FSS's position. FSS after SoE would have made a trio of ballads. Hot summer could have been added as the album finale and Everybody loves me could have been hidden.

I can't really choose which I prefer. They're all good. I think Walk in Sand would have been and maybe is the right single because of the lyrics and summer feel & accompanying video, though probably Lavaux or Laydown would have been appropriate too.

C-Note

Continental

Erotic City

Dance 4 Me

Interactive

Computer Blue