It's possible I'm a bit too young - I'd have only been 14/15 at the time it was due to be released - but I wondered how people felt the Undertaker album would have went down had it been released as planned?

Because I'm thinking - here's a guy losing out in the PR stakes big time due to the name change and very few people understanding it, and the biggest song being pushed is The Most Beautiful Girl in the World around that time, which doesn't appeal to certain music fans at all.

Given the raw, live feel of the album, the classy guitar play on show, and the nature of how he was giving it away in a magazine that was still somewhat relevant then, would The Undertaker have went down better with casual listeners and retained a bit of the credibility Prince has lost since the whole name change?

Or would it have been lost in the fold amongst everything else he was doing at the time?

If it was released as intended with guitar player magazine I think it would have helped cement (earlier) Prince as the guitar legend that he is. I feel it took a lot longer for that perception to take hold with the mass public because during that period of time his music wasn't played much on rock stations.

Only die-hard Prince fans would have noticed it.

NoVideo said:

Only die-hard Prince fans would have noticed it.

Exactly.. So it's Already made the impact it's going to! The Album and Video are well recieved here.. I never understand why we have to wonder/worry what the general music consumer thinks.

And I'm not sure of the OP's idea on The Most Beautiful Girl In The World? It was one his Biggest hits ever and if I remember correctly his first #1 in the UK. It was a huge sucess for Prince. He did it himself independently and under his new name.

It would have made an impact for fans of musicianship who at the time wrote Prince off because of his image and who were unaware of his guitar skills and musical range. These are the kind of people who would not buy his pop albums but would buy the magazine. I've used the set to convince many of this type of music fan that Prince was more than the pop idol they saw in videos. It's right up there with the While My Guitar Gently Weeps performance from R&RHOF for getting the attention of this type of music fan. Usually these are also the type of people who have zero interest in "hits", so that would not have been an issue either.

lezama said:

If it was released as intended with guitar player magazine I think it would have helped cement (earlier) Prince as the guitar legend that he is. I feel it took a lot longer for that perception to take hold with the mass public because during that period of time his music wasn't played much on rock stations.

lezama said it perfectly!!

Pentacle said:

I don't get the love for this album. It's even more boring than Kamasutra.

Wow! ...just, Wow!

You trolling or serious?

I thought I was pretty aware of all things Prince back in that day, and I was really unaware of this project until well after it was canned. Here in U.S. we did not have easy access to the video either.

I like the album, and at one time owned a legit CD of this project. Sold it off many years ago for a ton of money. That said, I dont think it was amazing enough to make any impact. There are plent of tracks throughout his other albums that are way better than any material on Undertaker, and they have all be largely ignored by the mainstream

Poor Goo

poor goo-oo

wa da lan

"she don't wanna...eat...trix"

I'd buy it today if he released it. Playing Poor Goo on radio would blow away most of the drivel that they play on rock radio, anyway.

Maybe one day, the album will see the light!

i don't have t his or haven't heard it, can someone post a tracklist? i think it'd be interesting to see indiv. "singles"

datdude said:

i don't have t his or haven't heard it, can someone post a tracklist? i think it'd be interesting to see indiv. "singles"

1. "The Ride" – 10:54
2. "Poor Goo" – 4:26
3. "Honky Tonk Women" – 3:00
4. "Bambi" – 4:49
5. "Zannalee (Prelude)" - 0:44
6. "The Undertaker" – 9:50
7. "Dolphin" – 3:40

thanks so much for posting that. so i guess i need to hear The Ride and The Undertaker to see what I think. HTW is a cover and the others are songs we'd heard (or would soon hear). What was Glass Cutter on? I've heard that title and assumed it was on The Undertaker too

datdude said:

i don't have t his or haven't heard it, can someone post a tracklist?

.

Visiting Princevault is such a chore, right?

Pentacle said:

I don't get the love for this album. It's even more boring than Kamasutra.

Wow! ...just, Wow!

You trolling or serious?

I'm very serious. I love The Ride and The Undertaker in almost all other live (full band) incarnations, and Zannalee and Dolphin in their studio incarnations, but here it's absolute meeeeeh. It's like a 45 minute soundcheck - of tuning the instruments and noodling.

I would argue that those championing Poor Goo are trolling....

no

i finally heard this album recently ... had been praised so much on the org .. turns out WB was right .. undertaker is rubbish and should never have seen the light of day .. the guitar playing is some of P's worse and the songs are crap .. i really like the live undertaker with horns version .. much much better .. poor goo is just stupid .. and the rest sounds half assed

SuperSoulFighter said:

So much unfinished stuff from this period that ended up not being put together well...

All the stuff he could've released into one album in 94 ended up being a condensed version of Come... So much potential from 93-94 era but I guess the WB fued got the better.

TrevorAyer said:

undertaker is rubbish and should never have seen the light of day .. the guitar playing is some of P's worse and the songs are crap ..

Right....

Found it!!!1!!

udo said:

Found it!!!1!!

Surely you're not saying that you were unaware of this disc?!? That can't be possible...

The plan was to give it away with a Guitar mag. Would it have had an impact...

On the charts no. Honky Tonk Woman would have been the only possible single. Brit pop was big at the time. It may have drawn some focus to his musicianship.

On Prince's reputation? Yes. Because people who play guitar would have been exposed to a completely different "Prince". Not the crooning prettyboy from TMBGITW. People who assumed Prince was all ballads thing would hear him stripped down (other than his pedal board).

Its not a "great album". There is nothing massively commercial or catchy, there is no superb songwriting. It's alternate versions and a cover recorded in the form of a soundcheck/rehersal. But because it was never actually released it's a marvelous curiosity. It's a stripped down wahwah drenched straight rock album. Michael B is incredible throughout, Sonny has a fairly easy job and Prince seems to avoid his usual colourful touches and we hear some lower octave soloing. Which is in part (to me) what makes it such an interesting listen.

sovembol said:

NoVideo said:

Only die-hard Prince fans would have noticed it.

Exactly.. So it's Already made the impact it's going to! The Album and Video are well recieved here.. I never understand why we have to wonder/worry what the general music consumer thinks.

And I'm not sure of the OP's idea on The Most Beautiful Girl In The World? It was one his Biggest hits ever and if I remember correctly his first #1 in the UK. It was a huge sucess for Prince. He did it himself independently and under his new name.

First and only number 1 in the UK.

alxndrstff said:

It's possible I'm a bit too young - I'd have only been 14/15 at the time it was due to be released - but I wondered how people felt the Undertaker album would have went down had it been released as planned?

Because I'm thinking - here's a guy losing out in the PR stakes big time due to the name change and very few people understanding it, and the biggest song being pushed is The Most Beautiful Girl in the World around that time, which doesn't appeal to certain music fans at all.

Given the raw, live feel of the album, the classy guitar play on show, and the nature of how he was giving it away in a magazine that was still somewhat relevant then, would The Undertaker have went down better with casual listeners and retained a bit of the credibility Prince has lost since the whole name change?

Or would it have been lost in the fold amongst everything else he was doing at the time?

It all depends on how you personally define "impact".

First of all, while I did not like The Most Beautiful Girl In The World, it was a huge hit, especially in the UK. It was his last great hit to this date and reached the top of the charts and Prince was all over the radio back then, so while we may dislike TMBGITW, it was still an undeniabale success (I did like the Mustang Mix version though....absolutely loved it).

-

.

You are making some very valid points as far as the raw feeling of that album goes. You are absolutely right that The Undertaker album, especially released as a free giveaway with a respected guitar magazine, would´ve helped cement Prince´s reputation as a serious musician in general and as a guitar player in general.

Most of my non-Prince-fan fans went absolutely nuts when they first heard that album in my car back then, and I´m talking about real music afficionados here who didn´t even know it was Prince. So, yes, it would have helped to make him more respected than he already was and maybe refreshed the memories of those who started to doubt him.

It also helped that it was, unlike 3rd Eye Girl, a gimmick-free project. Just Prince and Sonny and Michael, his tightest band to this day (and yes, I´m a huge Revolution fan but let´s not go there now).

.

.

Commercially and as far as WB´s interests go, this would probably not have made a huge impact but then again, why not? It could´ve helped him to win new fans or at least made even more people interested in his live shows. ( Some shows of the 1995 Ultimate Live Experience tour were not that successful due to the lack of classic Prince material being played, and due to lack of promotion).

Also, this was during a time when Prince was rather fan friendly and before he started sueing his dedicated fanbase left and right, and when even the most skeptical Prince haters were still fans, so yes, I believe releasing this album as a free giveaway would´ve shed a very positive light on Prince in the long run, albeit not necessarily in a commercial sense in that very moment.

You are also right about some critics ridiculing him during the time right after the name change and maybe a release like this could´ve silenced at least some of those critics.

.

.

I think the choice of songs, while I personally was not that fond of some song choices back then, was quite good....a Rolling Stones cover, a long version of the bluesy Undertaker, the hard and no frills take on Bambi, and the psychedelic feel of it all were quite amazing back then.

I still own the original VHS tape that was sold and distributed by WB back then but I have no idea how successful it was in terms of sales.

.

I think an interview or some sort of liner notes also would´ve helped. I mean, it is pretty cool and amazing that this was recorded in one take after 3 a.m and it was all a very spontaneous thing. Which, again, just goes to show you how tight Prince, Sonny and Michael were back then.

Let´s also not forget about Morris Hayes and Tommy B. (who were not part of this session, but still....).

The storyline was a bit silly but hey, we never expected great storylines after all those previously released short films with questionable plots.

This project was, in my opinion, a wasted opportunity on WB´s behalf. It´s a good thing that they released the VHS tape and I understand why they blocked it but in terms of public relations, this would´ve been a smart idea.

Noodled24 said:

The plan was to give it away with a Guitar mag. Would it have had an impact...

On the charts no. Honky Tonk Woman would have been the only possible single. Brit pop was big at the time. It may have drawn some focus to his musicianship.

On Prince's reputation? Yes. Because people who play guitar would have been exposed to a completely different "Prince". Not the crooning prettyboy from TMBGITW. People who assumed Prince was all ballads thing would hear him stripped down (other than his pedal board).

Its not a "great album". There is nothing massively commercial or catchy, there is no superb songwriting. It's alternate versions and a cover recorded in the form of a soundcheck/rehersal. But because it was never actually released it's a marvelous curiosity. It's a stripped down wahwah drenched straight rock album. Michael B is incredible throughout, Sonny has a fairly easy job and Prince seems to avoid his usual colourful touches and we hear some lower octave soloing. Which is in part (to me) what makes it such an interesting listen.

Great post, you summed it up nicely. Exactly how I feel about it.