I was listening to The Dream Factory today for the very first time and envisioning Prince and the Revolution touring and shooting videos for this album, WOW..... love "Movie Star" and "Crystal Ball".... so let me ask y'all which of these albums do you prefer. Prince and the Revolution "The Dream Factory" or Prince's "Sign "O" the Times" ??????????????? Oh and PLEASE POST PICS FROM THESE ERAS THIS IS ALSO AN APPRECIATION THREAD SO SHARE MEMORIES, THOUGHTS, LAMENTS..... ETC

PimpandCircumstance said:

I was listening to The Dream Factory today for the very first time and envisioning Prince and the Revolution touring and shooting videos for this album, WOW..... love "Movie Star" and "Crystal Ball".... so let me ask y'all which of these albums do you prefer. Prince and the Revolution "The Dream Factory" or Prince's "Sign "O" the Times" ??????????????? Oh and PLEASE POST PICS FROM THESE ERAS THIS IS ALSO AN APPRECIATION THREAD SO SHARE MEMORIES, THOUGHTS, LAMENTS..... ETC

I like them both, I also like Crystal Ball and Camille...

Sign is probably my favourite officially released album, but it's quite obviously a pick 'n' mix complilation of tracks with little or no flow.

As for Dream Factory, I don't find myself playing it much though as there is quite a large overlap, so I replaced many of the songs on the final configuration with same-era outtakes, and it probably gets more plays now that Sign O the Times.

PimpandCircumstance said:

I was listening to The Dream Factory today for the very first time and envisioning Prince and the Revolution touring and shooting videos for this album, WOW..... love "Movie Star" and "Crystal Ball".... so let me ask y'all which of these albums do you prefer. Prince and the Revolution "The Dream Factory" or Prince's "Sign "O" the Times" ??????????????? Oh and PLEASE POST PICS FROM THESE ERAS THIS IS ALSO AN APPRECIATION THREAD SO SHARE MEMORIES, THOUGHTS, LAMENTS..... ETC

SOTT is not the album Prince wanted, which is why his Promo of it a(Double album) was so short

I love SOTT

all/most of this music was written during and with the Revolution(DF era) so it's a bittersweet album for me always.

There are so many different Dactory Playlists (or at least 2) that it's hard to picture sometimes.

I can see a combination of the Parade/SOTT look if the Dream Factory was released, probably some more artistic videos, and probably the same or similar carnivalesque/cityscape backdrop.

Susannah was given artist direction of the album cover creation and it was supposedly done.

What I miss about the SOTT era and believe would have happened is Sheila E & Jill Jones probably would have meshed with the DF era and we would have still had the 'protege extensions' along with possibly Madhouse.

Here is my Dream Factory Playlist #1:

1. Power Fantastic intro

2. Power Fantastic

3. In A Large Room w/No Light

4. Teacher Teacher

5. Witness 4 the Prosecution (rock version)

6. Big Tall Wall

7. Data Bank

8. Ball

9. Joy In Repetition

10. Can't Stop This Feeling I Got

11. We Can Funk

12. Girl o my Dreams

13. Dream Factory

14. Visions

fan made cover, with 1 of the album playlists

erik319 said:

PimpandCircumstance said:

I was listening to The Dream Factory today for the very first time and envisioning Prince and the Revolution touring and shooting videos for this album, WOW..... love "Movie Star" and "Crystal Ball".... so let me ask y'all which of these albums do you prefer. Prince and the Revolution "The Dream Factory" or Prince's "Sign "O" the Times" ??????????????? Oh and PLEASE POST PICS FROM THESE ERAS THIS IS ALSO AN APPRECIATION THREAD SO SHARE MEMORIES, THOUGHTS, LAMENTS..... ETC

I like them both, I also like Crystal Ball and Camille...

Sign is probably my favourite officially released album, but it's quite obviously a pick 'n' mix complilation of tracks with little or no flow.

As for Dream Factory, I don't find myself playing it much though as there is quite a large overlap, so I replaced many of the songs on the final configuration with same-era outtakes, and it probably gets more plays now that Sign O the Times.

Is this the DF playlist you have?

I've always thought this picture feels like the Dream Factory music

Dream Factory
Recorded in late 1985 during an extremely prolific time, "Dream Factory" became the title track for Prince's next major project. The song was later released on 1998's Crystal Ball 3-CD set, but this alternate version is missing a few lyrics and has a new intro. The intro is representative of Prince's experimental nature and contains samples of other Dream Factory songs "Witness" and "A Place In Heaven" (played backwards). There is also an argument between Wendy and Lisa and a club owner about their age.

Dream Factory

{"A Place In Heaven" plays backwards in background}

Hi, can I see your ID?
Like, we're both 21, U know
And like, I don't have my ID on me
I left it at home and...
U are 2 young 2 be in here
No man, like U're really 2 old 2 care (Witness!)
Ah ha ha, welcome 2 Hollyrock!
U just in time
Got any dreams U ain't using?

This is what it's like in the Dream Factory, oh!

Hollyrock ain't all it seems (Lordy)
Don't get 2 serious, it's just a dream
Don't forget your friends, they're all U've got (Lordy)
Listen 2 the story of a man I am not

Party all night, hangin' out
In the streets more than I be at home
I take a pill 2 wipe away my doubts
But a pill can't cure my bein' alone
Vodka and 7 straight 2 my brain
Put me under false impressions, hide all my pain
Somebody help me, I'm losing control

This is what it's like in the Dream Factory, oh!

Everybody got the big dreams (Hey Lordy)
But nobody got the bucks
Love and trust will help U make it in a world (Everybody)
Where there ain't no love, ain't no love

Dig...
A man came up 2 me, smile in his eyes
He told me I was a saint
So I'm quittin' my friends much 2 their surprise
I can't live up 2 the picture that they paint
Ah somebody help me, I'm losing control (Ow!)

I guess I'm just a sucker in the Dream Factory, oh!

Lordy
La, la, la, la, la (Sucker)
Got 2 drive
(It's just a dream) {x3}
Look out

Do U wanna party?
Do want a pill?
How about a false impression?
(Thrills, spills, chills)

This is what it's like in the Dream Factory, oh!

Ow! Yeah
La, la, la, la, la
Don't forget your friends, they're all U've got
{looped vocals}
Guess I'm just a sucker in the Dream Factory, oh!
(Just a sucker, motherfucker!)

OldFriends4Sale said:

Is this the DF playlist you have?

Not far off. I just tried to reduce the overlaps with Crystal Ball/SOTT as much as possible, and yeah, to be honest, that's pretty much it. There's a much greater Wendy & Lisa influence, thanks to stuff like Wonderful Day, Teacher Teacher, etc... It flows really well. I've got the other 'official' configurations, should I wish to play them, but my playlist gets far more plays!

erik319 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Is this the DF playlist you have?

Not far off. I just tried to reduce the overlaps with Crystal Ball/SOTT as much as possible, and yeah, to be honest, that's pretty much it. There's a much greater Wendy & Lisa influence, thanks to stuff like Wonderful Day, Teacher Teacher, etc... It flows really well. I've got the other 'official' configurations, should I wish to play them, but my playlist gets far more plays!

lol cool. There are so many outtaks from this period that you could mix it up every month

OldFriends4Sale said:

erik319 said:

Not far off. I just tried to reduce the overlaps with Crystal Ball/SOTT as much as possible, and yeah, to be honest, that's pretty much it. There's a much greater Wendy & Lisa influence, thanks to stuff like Wonderful Day, Teacher Teacher, etc... It flows really well. I've got the other 'official' configurations, should I wish to play them, but my playlist gets far more plays!

lol cool. There are so many outtaks from this period that you could mix it up every month

hehe true. That era really was a prolific time for him, that material, even the stuff still languishing in the vaults is proper top-notch stuff

that whole era is crying out for a full 2 hour scorsese documentary, box sets the lot...

Here is my Dream Factory Playlist #1:

1. Visions

2. nevaeH nI ecalP A

3. Dream Factory

4. Train

5. Ballad of Dorothy Parker

6. It

7. Slow Love

8. Starfish & Coffee

9. interlude

10. I Could Never Take the Place...

11. Sign o the Times

12. Crystal Ball

13. A Place in Heave

14. Last Heart

15. Witness 4 the Prosecution

16. Movie Star

17. the Cross

18. All My Dreams

RicoN said:

that whole era is crying out for a full 2 hour scorsese documentary, box sets the lot...

Hell yes

Like others I replaced Sign tunes with Dream Factory era tunes and it gets as much play as Sign does...I consider it it's own album.

1. Visions

2. Dream Factory

3. Train

4. Ballad of Dorothy Parker

5. Strange Relationship (86)

6. In A Large Room With No Light

7. Sexual Suicide

8. Splash

9. Data Bank

10. Joy In Repetition (just cause it fits AND I friggin LOVE the song)

11. It's a Wonderful Day

12. A Place in Heaven

13. Witness 4 The Prosecution

14. Teacher Teacher

15. Power Fantastic

16. Movie Star

17. All My Dreams

I prefer

[img:$uid]http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/ad284/DerrianWilliams/prince_and_the_revolution_album_cover-3396.jpg[/img:$uid]

... with

[img:$uid]http://blogue.us/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Prince-Sign-o-the-Times-1988_gallery_popup.jpg[/img:$uid]

... in a close 2nd

I wasn't too up on the boots back when I first became a fan then when I found out it was like the 'flood gates' opened and I wanted everything, the un-released albums, the concert videos, the concert music and the un-released projects. It's like a damn drug ... LoL

[img:$uid]http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/39.gif[/img:$uid] ... I'm kinda puttin' myself out there ... LoL ... No, I'm not I don't OWN any un-officially released material ... [img:$uid]http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/3.gif[/img:$uid]

Poplife88 said:

Like others I replaced Sign tunes with Dream Factory era tunes and it gets as much play as Sign does...I consider it it's own album.

1. Visions

2. Dream Factory

3. Train

4. Ballad of Dorothy Parker

5. Strange Relationship (86)

6. In A Large Room With No Light

7. Sexual Suicide

8. Splash

9. Data Bank

10. Joy In Repetition (just cause it fits AND I friggin LOVE the song)

11. It's a Wonderful Day

12. A Place in Heaven

13. Witness 4 The Prosecution

14. Teacher Teacher

15. Power Fantastic

16. Movie Star

17. All My Dreams

U know Ball segues into Joy In Repetition

I have to go with SOTT although DF is right on its heels

OldFriends4Sale said:

Poplife88 said:

Like others I replaced Sign tunes with Dream Factory era tunes and it gets as much play as Sign does...I consider it it's own album.

1. Visions

2. Dream Factory

3. Train

4. Ballad of Dorothy Parker

5. Strange Relationship (86)

6. In A Large Room With No Light

7. Sexual Suicide

8. Splash

9. Data Bank

10. Joy In Repetition (just cause it fits AND I friggin LOVE the song)

11. It's a Wonderful Day

12. A Place in Heaven

13. Witness 4 The Prosecution

14. Teacher Teacher

15. Power Fantastic

16. Movie Star

17. All My Dreams

U know Ball segues into Joy In Repetition

Yep, but my copy of the ball is terrible...dig the song, but it just interrups the flow.

This is a hard question to answer, there are several configurations they go by with Dream Factory, mine is this one

[img:$uid]http://i50.tinypic.com/2w7ib6w.jpg[/img:$uid]

And I have to say its out standing, I like the more instrumental mix of Strange relationship and just love All my Dreams and A Place in Heaven. I love lyrics like "I will give you the brush and you can paint the side of the train" etc. Train and Witness are great too, and the version of Crystal Ball is a minute shorter here than on the released Crystal Ball set. Never been that big a fan of Movie Star, its alright. Otherwise excepting visions and the Place in Heaven backward club scene "I need to see some ID's, I'm 21 etc" . Last Heart is great too, but as we all know its on CB too. Overall I would rank sign just higher because of Adore, Prince apparently cut that song in October or November 1986. But only just. I think I gave Sign a 98 out of 100 in my albums thread, so I would give this about 95, as All of my Dreams and Witness for the Prosecution is on it. Visions is alright, but its just a piano piece.

Also this boot has 7 songs on it that are on sign, that are the same except the sitar opening to Strange Relationship. ICNTTPOYM, It, Dorothy Parker, Slow Love, Sign o the Times, The Cross are all on this. Missing are Big Tall Wall and Wendy.

PS Love the cover on this thing given 2 me by a kind friend (He knows who he is)

Crystal Ball.

Although I prefer "Sign 'O' The Times, here is my setlist from DF:

Here is my Remastered "Dream Factory" set list:

1) Visions (Lisa's piano track-hauntingly beautiful!)

2) Dream Factory (Intro)

3) Dream Factory

4) Train

5) The Ballad of Dorothy Parker

6) It

7) Strange Relationship

8) Slow Love

9) Starfish and Coffee

10) Interlude

11) I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man

12) Sign ‘O’ The Times

13) Crystal Ball

14) A Place In Heaven

15) Last Heart

16) Witness 4 The Prosecution

17) Movie Star

18) The Cross

19) All My Dreams

Jamzone333 said:

Although I prefer "Sign 'O' The Times, here is my setlist from DF:

Here is my Remastered "Dream Factory" set list:

1) Visions (Lisa's piano track-hauntingly beautiful!)

2) Dream Factory (Intro)

3) Dream Factory

Dream Factory intro is also a called nevaeH nI ecalP A

I don't dislike anything on DF, but I think the whimsy and free atmosphere of the era possibly leads to a more unfocused outcome on DF than say Parade (looking at the DF tracklists we know of). Although it's probably unfair to compare since DF as a double album would always be more sprawling, and it's whole is always seen through the lense of knowing the material from SOTT first.

To that end, I find SOTT more satisfying as a whole, but it's nitpicking really. I mean there's no Power Fantastic on SOTT, still Prince's most mature and majestic song.

Whatever the outcome - a retrospective, remastered, boxset extravaganza of the era allowing everyone to experience DF/Camille/CB/SOTT in full glory is LONG overdue, and that 1985/6 body of work is quite something, the post-PR exploration that was going results in some really invigorating, exciting and joyous music.

I don't know, tracks like "Teacher", "Last heart", "Train" etc. are kinda nice but not really that great. So the "Camille" album and the "Crystal Ball" triple LP with "It" being the only weaker track would be my favourite compilations. On the other hand I really would like to see all of these different configurations (DF/Camille/CB/SOTT) officially released someday.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Jamzone333 said:

Although I prefer "Sign 'O' The Times, here is my setlist from DF:

Here is my Remastered "Dream Factory" set list:

1) Visions (Lisa's piano track-hauntingly beautiful!)

2) Dream Factory (Intro)

3) Dream Factory

Dream Factory intro is also a called nevaeH nI ecalP A

Thanks for this information...

NouveauDance said:

I don't dislike anything on DF, but I think the whimsy and free atmosphere of the era possibly leads to a more unfocused outcome on DF than say Parade (looking at the DF tracklists we know of). Although it's probably unfair to compare since DF as a double album would always be more sprawling, and it's whole is always seen through the lense of knowing the material from SOTT first.

To that end, I find SOTT more satisfying as a whole, but it's nitpicking really. I mean there's no Power Fantastic on SOTT, still Prince's most mature and majestic song.

Whatever the outcome - a retrospective, remastered, boxset extravaganza of the era allowing everyone to experience DF/Camille/CB/SOTT in full glory is LONG overdue, and that 1985/6 body of work is quite something, the post-PR exploration that was going results in some really invigorating, exciting and joyous music.

You know what would have tied the final DF package together would be videos, and album artwork and the outfits for the era

Parade had a story line that tied it together well.

I can image the Bsides and long versions that would have come from DF

A lot of Dream Factory music makes me feel like a group of friends relating stories after returning home from experiencing life.

I love SOTT, but something about SOTT being the title has always felt 'misleading' because outside of the Cross nothing else really connects with that kind of Topic,

SOTT is definately a compilations album, sitting back you can make 2-3 different cohesive albums out of it

And I totally agree with you about Power Fantastic, glad that was not released on a "non-Revoution" album

funkomatic said:

I don't know, tracks like "Teacher", "Last heart", "Train" etc. are kinda nice but not really that great. So the "Camille" album and the "Crystal Ball" triple LP with "It" being the only weaker track would be my favourite compilations. On the other hand I really would like to see all of these different configurations (DF/Camille/CB/SOTT) officially released someday.

for me Teacher Teacher is very fun, dancible, has some kind of celebratory feel to it

Last Heart is a simple mellow jam

and Train I've grown to love, Train is pretty wonderful to me

It really rides it out, it builds, gives you electric guitar and classic Prince falsetto

I think the Susan Rogers list has a nice feel to it though

OldFriends4Sale said:

It

I think about IT baby all the time, all right
It feels so good IT must be a crime, all right
I wanna do IT baby every day, all right
In a bed, on the stairs, anywhere, all right

(Come on)

CHORUS:
I wanna do IT baby all the time, all right
Cuz when we do IT girl, IT's so divine, all right

I could be guilty 4 my honesty (All right)
But I've got 2 tell U what U mean 2 me, (All right) all right
With U, I swear I'm a maniac, all right
U see, IT ain't no joke, just a natural fact, all right (All right) (Come on)

CHORUS

(Doin' IT) IT {x3}
(Doin' IT)

(Come on) {x2}

I could be guilty 4 my honesty, all right
But I got 2, I got 2 tell U what U mean 2 me, yeah, all right

Yeah (Come on) Yeah, come on

I wanna do IT baby all the time, all right, yeah
Cuz when we do IT girl, IT's so divine, all right

With U, I swear I'm a maniac, all right, yeah (CHORUS)
U see, IT ain't no joke, just a natural fact, all right
All right

I wanna do U baby all the time, all right (Yeah ooh)
(U see, U make IT so good, IT's so divine, all right)
Cuz when U do IT girl, IT's so divine, all right

I'm gonna think about IT, I'm gonna think about IT, baby
All the time (Think about IT all the time)
Fuckin' on your mind now (Feels so good, must be a crime)

Doin' IT, doin' IT {x4}

(Come on) {x2}

(All right)
(IT feels so right, it must be a crime, all right)
(I wanna do IT, I wanna do IT, all right)
(All right)
(Cuz when we do IT, IT's so divine, all right)
(All right)
(Come on)

© 1987 Controversy Music - ASCAP

is that wendy or susannah and where's the pic from (please)

funkomatic said:

I don't know, tracks like "Teacher", "Last heart", "Train" etc. are kinda nice but not really that great. So the "Camille" album and the "Crystal Ball" triple LP with "It" being the only weaker track would be my favourite compilations. On the other hand I really would like to see all of these different configurations (DF/Camille/CB/SOTT) officially released someday.

[Edited 5/30/12 9:07am]

I think if you heard 'Train'mixed and mastered properly i would sound amazing. I think it's one of his most under-rated songs. Or perhaps my brain just imagines too much when I'm listening to it. nah... it would sound amazing!