Come, this is 1 of my fave 1990s Prince albums:

I would cut Solo - maybe include Lovesign,

then.... a masterpiece.

(I don't like Orgsm, but somehow it belongs on Come - becuz of the "shock effect").

Otherwise,

The Gold Experience album needs the original version of The Most Beautiful Girl, instead of the "band" version. Where is "Days Of Wild", Studio version?? (I this song/ version!!).

Chaos & Disorder - where are those strong songs: Empty Roon, The Ride, What's My Name??

Emancipation just needs another production, I believe most of us knows that.. I would cut Da Da Da, One Of Us (very bad version) and a few more.

- I don't know where to start or finish with the rest of the albums...

I consider this from time to time. I think "what if his ablums after the '80s followed the same time constraints that they did in the '80s when they were formatted for the length of a single LP?" (in other words, around 45 minutes or less)

GB - easy, remove everything by associated artists, maybe even a few of his own songs (title track, etc.) and replace them with his versions of them.

D&P - Stollin', Walk Don't Walk, Jughead and Push are all out of here. and some judicious trimming of Thunder, Daddy Pop and Live 4 Love wouldn't hurt my feelings either.

- this one would have probably ended up a double album anyway, but to bring it down to a single LP, the segues are gone, along with The Max, Blue Light, I wanna Melt With U, Damn U, Arrogance, The Flow, and 3 Chains O' Gold. and again, a few minutes could be shaved here and there from things like My Name Is Prince and The Sacrifice of Victor without really ruining them.

etc., etc.

Graffiti Bridge - Would have prefered the extended version of "Thieves in the Temple". Besides that song and "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got", I really don't have much use for this album.

Diamonds & Pearls - Would get rid of "Live 4 Love"

- Get rid of "The Flow" and the Segues....otherwise a PERFECT album!

Come - Put in the short version of the title track, add "Lovesign", and get rid of "Dark" and "Solo".

The Gold Experience - Would have added "Interactive", "Days of Wild" and "Acknowledge Me"...wouldn't cut one single song though!

mushmackalenta said:

I'v been revisting the 1990's out put the last few weeks and feel most of the albums were just too long. So I decided to try and edit them down. First was Graffiti Bridge, this was easy, just the Prince songs, but I included the extended thieves as it's great. Diamonds and Pearls, I cut jughead and live 4 love. I really like the album ending with insatiable. Symbol, I think this album benefits most of all from cutting it down. I took out Blue Light, The Flow, arrogance and 3 chains. TGE. I replaced p control with interactive, cut we march, and shy. Rave, cut hot wit u, everyday is a winding road and where ever u go but included beautiful strange.

Cutting P Control, We March and Shy? You can't be serious.

At the risk of sounding like a 'koolaid drinker', I'm fine with the albums as they are. The 90s was my favorite Prince period.

But I'll play along:

Graffiti Bridge becomes an EP: The Question Of U, Joy In Repetition, Thieves In The Temple (Extended), Still Would Stand All Time

Diamonds and Pearls: Drop - Daddy Pop, Walk Don't Walk, Jughead & Push. I also think some songs from The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale would've fit in nicely, too - like "5 Women", "Sarah", "It's About That Walk", etc..

Symbol: Drop - My Name Is Prince, The Max, The Continental, Damn U, The Flow, Arrogance, And God Created Woman

Come: Drop - Solo, Orgasm

The Gold Experience: Drop - Shhh, We March, Now, Billy Jack Bitch | Maybe Add - Hide The Bone, Days Of Wild, Da Bang, Love Sign

Chaos and Disorder: Wouldn't remove anything, but I would add "Empty Room"

Newpower Soul: Drop - Newpower Soul, Until U're In My Arms Again, Push It Up, Freaks On This Side, Funky Music | Add - Beautiful Strange, Madrid 2 Chicago, Breath [I know these songs weren't intended for this album, but they fit fine in my playlist, and make the album a lot better start-to-finish]

Rave: Drop - Undisputed, Everyday Is A Winding Road, I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore | Maybe throw in some NPGMC tracks to replace them (Songs that would fit include: When I Lay My Hands On U, Supercute, Underneath The Cream, etc..).

on newpowersoul, i'd just keep the following tracks and skip the rest...

14

17

23

28

33

38

41

45

BobGeorge72 said:

Graffiti Bridge - Would have prefered the extended version of "Thieves in the Temple". Besides that song and "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got", I really don't have much use for this album.

Diamonds & Pearls - Would get rid of "Live 4 Love"

- Get rid of "The Flow" and the Segues....otherwise a PERFECT album!

Come - Put in the short version of the title track, add "Lovesign", and get rid of "Dark" and "Solo".

The Gold Experience - Would have added "Interactive", "Days of Wild" and "Acknowledge Me"...wouldn't cut one single song though!

^

Ok BG72: How come U don't like The Q Of U, Joy In Repetition...

and do U really dislike "Dark", a genius, very strong Prince ballad..?

IstenSzek said:

CHAOS & DISORDER 01. Chaos & Disorder 02. I Like It There 03. Dinner With Delores 04. Same December 05. Calhoun Sq 06. Into The Light 07. I Will 08. Zanalee* 08. Da Bang 09. Empty Room 10. Had U * = the original more stripped down version

I hate seeing my favorite album be butchered - though I do like all of your replacement songs. I never thought of "Da Bang" working on C&D, though, I always saw it fitting better on The Gold Experience. I'll have to make a playlist with it and see if it works.

CrabalockerFishwife said:

IstenSzek said:

CrabalockerFishwife said:

I hate seeing my favorite album be butchered - though I do like all of your replacement songs. I never thought of "Da Bang" working on C&D, though, I always saw it fitting better on The Gold Experience. I'll have to make a playlist with it and see if it works.

Imo Chaos is a great album, in potential, but it has some flaws with a few very silly songs on there. If you replace them with more rock driven songs from the era, it makes for a very tight non stop rock disc with just enough quirk to keep it from being a bit to dull. Like this, it could stand proudly between all his other albums, instead of being (wrongly) ridiculed or overlooked by so many.

Yeah, I guess it would've been more successful with your tracklist, but I've always loved 'Right The Wrong' and 'I Rock, Therefore I Am' - no doubt those songs, and 'Dig U Better Dead' are the reason the album is ridiculed, but I still love them and wouldn't like the album as much without them.

GB: a mess, it's beyond redemption, just let the album rest in peace, lol

D&P: erase Jughead and Push, and maybe Daddy Pop if you feel angry

Come: add some of the B-Sides/Crystal Ball tracks of the era, and you'll get a lost classic

Emancipation: beyond redemption

Rave: there's a tight 10-tracks album buried under the filler and the uneven ballads Go find it

the rest of the 90s albums are perfect, in my opinion (LoveSymbol, TGE) , just ok (uneven, but they don't need editing, like C&D, or The Truth), or just crap that you don't need anymore (NPS, Kamasutra)

interesting idea...

I only HAVE an edited version of "Graffiti Bridge"... someone sent me all the Prince tracks except for "we are the NPG: Part 2"... but even then, the only songs I listen to a lot are "Joy in Repetition" and "The ? of U"... although I do really like "we are the NPG: Part 1"... catchy as hell

D&P... everyone's had their say on the matter regarding two NPG-specific tracks... I don't get where all the hate for "Live 4 Love" is coming from. Sure, it don't make a whole lotta sense, but the ending is probably one of my favorite guitar solos that he's ever done

- I like this album more than D&P because it's so much more fun and various. I pretty much like all of it except for "Arrogance" and "The Flow". In fact, I would have loved it if "Damn U" ended just before the clapping starts... it seguing into "Arrogance" ruins a perfectly beautiful song from having a strong enough.
And considering how many of the segues were taken out, "3 chains o 'gold" shouldn't be included because unless you know the album's history/story, it really makes no sense to still have it.
The first time I heard the album, it felt like the last Lord of the Rings movie where you didn't know where it was going to end... "3 chains o' gold" sounded like an ending, but then its like "oh wait, there's one more song"... so I dunno, in Prince's mind it made sense, but even I have trouble understanding the album in its final form. But aside from that, I love all of the songs, particularly everything after "Love 2 the 9's" and excluding the two tracks I mentioned

Come- I suppose I could do without "Orgasm" even though its a perfect ending for an album of that title.
But everything about the album, I'm over the moon for... one of my personal favorites.

The Gold Experience- in the beginning, one of my first and one of my favorites. But with repetition, certain tracks really don't do it for me anymore.
"We March," I respected the message, but I can't personally relate.
The segues could be done without, but I kinda need the one between " hate U" and "Gold"... as the previous song is so overcharged and emotional that I needed 30 seconds to calm down before moving on
" Control"... its hit or miss... sometimes I still like it, others I've just had enough

Emancipation- geesh... I haven't listened to it enough to really know which tracks are worth keeping around or not
Disc 1 seems great without really touching anything
Disc 2... I love up until after "Saviour"... I don't care much for the last two tracks for whatever reason
Disc 3... I don't know too much about cuz I'd only heard through maybe 3 times since I got the album... "Sleep around" and "Style" are good fun... "Slave" is GREAT and "The Human Body" kinda goes in the same vein of things. I think thats one of those love it/hate it tracks. It's strange, but I dunno... I kinda like it in its own weird way... "Da Da Da" was the only track I did not like at all... the fact that the title of the track aren't what I call legit lyrics kinda says it all...
"New World" I don't even remember all that well, lol... goes to show what I know, but I think I liked it... and "Facedown"... I dunno, I'm not sure if it was that version or one of the many versions, but I know I definitely didn't like the other versions... the sample track "dead like Elvis" just got on my last nerve... like, why the hell is that in there?

NewPower Soul... ehhhhhhh... it's kinda beyond help where I can't touch it with a 29.5 foot pole... the only great tracks there are "The One," "Come on" and "Wasted Kisses" but that last one, I dunno, its kinda eerie sometimes

Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic- I wasn't willing to accept all the trash-talk at first, but after hearing it a bunch of times, I've come to the conclusion that it really is as... not great... as everyone said it was... part of the reason I got it was cuz Prince was promoting it out the wazoo... and now that I'd said that, a lot of people can jump on the bandwagon of "yeah, he totally did"...
I've heard the remix album... and the remixes of the first two tracks were even better than what's on here... which is close to unlistenable... the production of the original "Rave" is just a teeth-clencher.
Aside from all the negative stuff about the record, I love everything else starting with "The Greatest Romance"... I'm sure I'm in the minority of those who love "Hot w/U", let alone this version over the remix... "So far so pleased" is a personal favorite, mainly cuz it has me thinking about the vibe of "Guitar" and "the one u wanna c"... "Strange but true" is something else I love as well... the two ballads are great, but might be a little too close together for my liking

and if any more changes, "Wherever u go" feels like a better album ending than "Prettyman," which kinda came out of nowhere the first time I heard the record

thedance said:

BobGeorge72 said:

Graffiti Bridge - Would have prefered the extended version of "Thieves in the Temple". Besides that song and "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got", I really don't have much use for this album.

Diamonds & Pearls - Would get rid of "Live 4 Love"

- Get rid of "The Flow" and the Segues....otherwise a PERFECT album!

Come - Put in the short version of the title track, add "Lovesign", and get rid of "Dark" and "Solo".

The Gold Experience - Would have added "Interactive", "Days of Wild" and "Acknowledge Me"...wouldn't cut one single song though!

^

Ok BG72: How come U don't like The Q Of U, Joy In Repetition...

and do U really dislike "Dark", a genius, very strong Prince ballad..?

Maybe I need to give "Dark" another listen.....as for the other songs on GB...I don't know...just have a hard time listening to that whole album...maybe it deserves another shot as well

Graffiti Bridge - Leave the same, it's too much of a mess...

Diamonds and Pearls - Drop Jughead, Insatiable and Thunder, put up Horny Pony and Violet the Organ Grinder.

- Drop Damn U, And God Created Woman and 3 Chains o' Gold and The Flow, and add some segues, so we can follow the story...

Come - Drop Dark, substitute with So Dark, drop Orgasm and put Poem.

(Contrary to many people here... I absolutely adore Solo... It sounds so much like a Björk-like experimental track, people don't like experimental music very often because it's "weird", but then, I love weirdness.)

The Gold Experience - Drop Most Beautiful Girl and Shhh, add Interactive, Ripopgodazippa, Poom Poom and Days of Wild. drop Endorphinmachine and use the original version Endorphin Machine.

Chaos and Disorder - Cut Dig U Better Dead, add Empty Room, substitute Chaos and Disorder with the version without Rosie.

Emancipation - Again, too much of a mess.

Rave un2 - Add Beautiful Strange

[Edited 2/10/12 2:46am]

CHAOS & DISORDER:

The only change I made to C&D was that I added Damed If I Do from Emancipation.

I like this sequence better. i thought there needed to be a good song in between I Like it There and Dinner with Delores. I find this mix is good to run to.

01. Chaos and Disorder

02 I Like It There

03. Damned If I Do

04. Dinner with Delores

05. The Same December

06. Right the Wrong

07. Zannalee

08. Rock, Therefore I Am

09. Into the Light

10. I Will

11. Dig U Better Dead

12. Had U

I would remove "The Sacrifice Of Victor" from Love Symbol.It's a noisy,chaotic song that goes nowhere.Plus,I think "Three Chains O' Gold" should be the great big finale.....the big "final song".No other song was needed after that.

I was considering removing "Eye Wanna Melt With U" from the album as well.I like it,but it sounds like 'filler' compared to the stronger tracks on the album.I'll let it stay

I would remove the horrible "Eye Rock,Therefore I Am" from Chaos and Disorder,replacing it with "Da Bang".

I would remove the absurd "Jughead" from Diamonds and Pearls.I would add the excellent "Open Book" to this album.

I would remove "We March" and "P.Control" and "Shhh" from the Gold Experience.

I would add "Hide The Bone" (possible opening track),"Days Of Wild","Acknowledge Me" and "Ripopgodazippa" to the album.

I removed "Shhh" because it was already done by Tevin Campbell and I think it was silly for a grown man to be talking about "I wanna do you after school like some homework"

as for Emancipation,I wouldn't even know where to begin but there's a fantastic 16-song album buried in there.When I have more time,I'll work on that one.

I would remove "Solo" from Come,replacing it with a really good ballad like "Goodbye".

IstenSzek said:

If you replace them with more rock driven songs from the era, it makes for a very tight non stop rock disc with just enough quirk to keep it from being a bit to dull.

Yes, but, if you do this, would you still have a Prince album? Based on every album Prince has created, history seems to show us that Prince is incapable of and does not desire to produce an album that is all one type of genre. Thus, if you remove "I Funk Therefore I Am" from Chaos and Disorder, do you actually have a Prince album?

*

And, I'm not raising this question just of you; I raise this question of myself. We all engage in this modifying of Prince's albums to fit our own aesthetic tastes, but I've noticed that I rarely cut and mostly add songs to albums. Of course adding the early 80s B-sides to a particular album is easy. But, even during the 90s and 00s, I simply take songs that are not part of an album release, like "F.U.N.K.," and add them to the album that was released just before it or just after it, depending on which album the single is most similar, either by theme or sound. And the most modifying I have done was with Come and The Gold Experience, trying to fit the songs thematically as well as by sound. Yet, even when seeking a thematic grouping, I've always thought that editing a Prince album to one genre or sound would be anti-Prince or anti the reason I became a Prince fan. Even though I think "Shy" is a lesser or weaker tune, I want "Interactive," "Shy," "Days 'O' Wild," and "Rippopgodazippa" all on the same album for the musical roller-coaster ride that is Prince. Most artists are boring to me because most of their songs sound the same.