thedance said:

Pentacle said:

I'd say: Someting in the water (does not compute)... In the unrealized one the piano solo is outstanding... Prince did it during the LOL tour live!

I prefer the original 1981(?) version of "Feel U Up"...it's very stripped down and funky.The released version isn't nearly as good.

KingSausage said:

Pentacle said:

Yes, and now he's singing inane lyrics with the same passion. That's what makes the whole song -one of his greatest- completely ridiculous ...

And do the people who think the original Tick, Tick Bang also think the original Feel U Up, Irresistible Bitch, and U are better? Because then there's something wrong with you...

He didn't fuck up any of those songs as badly as he did Tick Tick Bang. Look, I'd rather get ticks all over my balls than listen to the GB version of Tick Tick Bang. But the original version is goddamn sweet.

Well, I gotta disagree. But then I love the whole GB album. Though yes, the 1986 Can't Stop is much better.

'86 We Can Funk and '83/1990 We Can Funk: both brilliant.

Farfunknugin said:

RODSERLING said:

Never heard the original version, but I really love the official version. i don't understand the complaints about this one.

X2. He didn't butcher this one he altered it. That said the original sparse piano version is better imo.

Yep. The original version I heard was on a late-80s leak of the Black Album, before its official release when he was trying to get out of the WB deal. That original version was chilling- the tape feedback added something to it, and the verses about the drug use of its friends made it a killer song.

When he released it later on that Vault CD, it was...meh. For me, it lost its rawness. I respect his decision to remove the verses and jazz it up a bit, but it just didn't click for me.

Another song was Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic. When that release was announced, I thought we were getting something similar to the Guitar God version on Small Club. Instead...just not the same song. It really became my least favorite song on that CD. Ah well...at least we still have Small Club.

stillwaiting said:

I wouldn't count remakes like Tick Tick Bang, Large Room With No Light, Extra Lovable...all were at least 8 years old at the time, the last two over 25 years old.

Endorphinmachine is probably the biggest crime. In fact, most of the Gold Experience is overproduced. It would have been interesting to see what the album would have looked like had he not been fighting with Warners. Interactive, though not a perfect song, is better than We March. The interludes talking over the music was a huge crime. As bad as interludes are, they should never go over the music like in BJB...Jam & Lewis went crazy with interludes, and Prince likes to copy trends...so it is what it is.

Endorphinmachine...that's a tough one. I love the version that came on the Prince video game disc and is later heard on The Dawn, but I also love that "go to 11" version on TGE.

There's a few people on here mistaken about what came first... probably because of what they personally heard first. Like "Rave into the Joy Fantastic" for example. That was around before the rock live version from the aftershow.

So, in those cases, the people actually like how he tinkered with it, after it was mixed up originally and sequenced as proposed parts of an album.

"We Can Funk" is another example.

But so far I think one of the most fucked up one's is "Data Bank".

I listened to that so much on bootleg vinyl in 1988-89.

I was so disappointed in how it sounded on the released version. It was destroyed.

I've got two to contribute.

.

First, and I can't believe nobody has mentioned this yet...but there's Computer Blue. I understand the reasons for cutting it down, but it was a poor choice, as the entire version is so much more of a story and actually fleshes out the Kid character in my opinion.

.

The other one is the latest fashion...an obvious re-doing from My Summertime Thang, which is superior in every way.

[Edited 9/22/14 14:00pm]

novabrkr said:

Come on people, youre all forgetting the mother of all butcherings: 1999 The New Master.

Rebeljuice said:

shredher said:

I'd say: Someting in the water (does not compute)... In the unrealized one the piano solo is outstanding... Prince did it during the LOL tour live!

He's done that song in so many different ways, I think it's possibly the only one that has worked in all of them!

Rebeljuice said:

Yes the 1999 NEW MASTER , no comment , my bad i just did sorry

"Girl O' My Dreams" was so good on bootleg, and then it comes out on the TC Ellis album all fucked up...

I wish a crystal clear version of the Glam Slam Ulysses soundtrack popped up.. all of those songslater used for Come were so raw and urgent (Race, Come, Dark, Endorphinemachine, Space and a cpl others). They remind me of the demo feel of Dirty Mind.

I would also realy nominate the song Come, from the raw dirty guitar sound in Glam Slam Ulysses to it being entirely fucked with too much.

Also the song "Sadomasochisticgroove" when it popped up as a small clip had this real sinister funk groove to it, which was stripped away for its incarnation in NPGMC.

Don't forget the early versions of most of the Diamonds & Pearls tracks . . . totally fucked up upon release (Live 4 Love, Daddy Pop, Cream)... as well as "The Flow" which had great music despite the rap of Tony M. it was somehow made worse on the Symbol album.

novabrkr said:

Just because of the intro? It's hardly that long. I wouldn't consider that "butchering".

The Linn sound was out by the time he did GB, so I can understand the need to update it. I'm not sure why he included the party chatter sequence from Lovesexy though.

I thought the party chatter was originally from the "The Ball" to "Joy In Repetition" sequence from the Crystal Ball album, so was actually part of Joy In Repetition before it became part of "Eye No" (which would make sense considering "Eye No" is a straight remake of "The Ball".

I really fail to see how he "totally fucked up" the D&P tracks that circulate as early versions. There were big improvements done to the mixes and the vocal performances are a whole lot better on the album (on "Live 4 Love" in particular).

novabrkr said:

I really fail to see how he "totally fucked up" the D&P tracks that circulate as early versions. There were big improvements done to the mixes and the vocal performances are a whole lot better on the album (on "Live 4 Love" in particular).

so says you . . .

littlebandit said:

novabrkr said:

I really fail to see how he "totally fucked up" the D&P tracks that circulate as early versions. There were big improvements done to the mixes and the vocal performances are a whole lot better on the album (on "Live 4 Love" in particular).

so says you . . .

You're the first person on this board I can recall having this type of a view on these tracks.

The D&P demo versions have often been cited as rare examples of offering an idea what Prince's stuff might sound during the tracking process. Most of the outtake material, as we know, presents the song in a more or less finished form (many of them have been even mastered).

If you compare the sketchy, almost whispered demo vocals on "Live 4 Love" to the ones on the released version it seems almost absurd to say that he "totally fucked up" the released version.

How about If I Love You Tonight...

Every version was worse than the previous one, and it is not a good song to begin with.

... If I Luv U 2Night, vocals by Mayte was worst.

xpertluva said:

Zannalee comes to mind.

This gets my vote. The original version without the "midwestern cop" overdub is soooo much better!

novabrkr said:

littlebandit said:

so says you . . .

You're the first person on this board I can recall having this type of a view on these tracks.

The D&P demo versions have often been cited as rare examples of offering an idea what Prince's stuff might sound during the tracking process. Most of the outtake material, as we know, presents the song in a more or less finished form (many of them have been even mastered).

If you compare the sketchy, almost whispered demo vocals on "Live 4 Love" to the ones on the released version it seems almost absurd to say that he "totally fucked up" the released version.

diamonds & pearls is overproduced. wtf you on about?

dont contest me... I like the raw tracks... I like the fresh energy invsted into the demos. The finished tracks suck ass.

stesa said:

How about If I Love You Tonight...

Every version was worse than the previous one, and it is not a good song to begin with.

... If I Luv U 2Night, vocals by Mayte was worst.

says you...

but yeah, later versions prove that production can be defining

[Edited 9/24/14 16:29pm]

Rebeljuice said:

novabrkr said:

I really fail to see how he "totally fucked up" the D&P tracks that circulate as early versions. There were big improvements done to the mixes and the vocal performances are a whole lot better on the album (on "Live 4 Love" in particular).

Live 4 Love demo version is SO much better than the album version. The music and vocals seem to have more inspiration behind them. I like both versions, but much prefer the demo.

unkleg said:

Days of Wild on Crystal Ball...hooker, witch or ho...you in the red dress...just sad

Que?