1994 Should've been a musical peak for Prince, as many believe by Lovesexy he already passed that mark...

I think admist all of the WB falling out, TGE being prostponed and the Slave feeling Prince portrayed WB, 1994 was a huge missed opportunity because he made some amazing music.

With all the great songs he recorded from that era, The Undertaker, Exodus, TGE, Come material... If you could configure one disk to sum it all up, I think it would've remained as some of Prince's best work. So many great songs from that late 93 to late 94 era.

What would your playlist be?

Just a few of my favorite tracks from that era...

-Endorphonmachine

-Shhh

-Get Wild

-Count The Days

-Billy Jack Bitch

-Eye Hate U

-Gold

-Space

-Acknowledge Me

-Hallucination Rain

-Days of Wild

So many great songs, side projects, with Come, 1800 New Funk, Exodus, TGE, I wish it was just all focused into one album, wouldve been amazing.

feeluupp said:

1994 Should've been a musical peak for Prince, as many believe by Lovesexy he already passed that mark...

I think admist all of the WB falling out, TGE being prostponed and the Slave feeling Prince portrayed WB, 1994 was a huge missed opportunity because he made some amazing music.

With all the great songs he recorded from that era, The Undertaker, Exodus, TGE, Come material... If you could configure one disk to sum it all up, I think it would've remained as some of Prince's best work. So many great songs from that late 93 to late 94 era.

What would your playlist be?

Too many for one disc. The 3 disc fan made boot, 'The Dawn' sums it up pretty well though.

Interactive

Endorphinmachine

Space

Pheremone

Acknowledge Me

Ripopgodazippa

319

Shhh

Calhoun Square

Eye Hate U

Dark

What's My Name

Loose

Race

Come

etc.

I completely agree with you I just listend to the Exodus album for the first time yesterday and I is fucking insanely good. The Exodus Has Begun had me dancing the whole time. This is one of his best dance tracks. And Cherry, Cherry is so retro and well crafted. It sounded like a song from the 50's and I love the creepy lyrics. If you took Orgasm and Loose off of Come and added these two songs it would rival anything that came from Prince's golden era.

aaroncanderson said:

I completely agree with you I just listend to the Exodus album for the first time yesterday and I is fucking insanely good. The Exodus Has Begun had me dancing the whole time. This is one of his best dance tracks. And Cherry, Cherry is so retro and well crafted. It sounded like a song from the 50's and I love the creepy lyrics. If you took Orgasm and Loose off of Come and added these two songs it would rival anything that came from Prince's golden era.

The Exodus Has Begun is mofo P-Funk masterpiece.

At last, some love for Cherry Cherry ! Most of the time, Prince fans don't get his rockabilly/retro 50's obsession (Delirious, Compassion, Horny Toad, most of Chaos and Disorder).

Naah, they wouldn't fit. The whole Exodus album is untouchable, segues and all, in the released order.

That period was for sure one of Prince's best stretches, from both creativity and productivity standpoints. And the NPG band was TIGHT and so funky. It was so fun and exciting to be following his moves during those years and seeing many of his performances and events at Glam Slam L.A. Hard to believe it soon fizzled into the latter half of the 1990s with Emancipation and Rave.

^^I agree,that era was amazing! 1993-95...Prince seemed really energized and inspired,despite the problems he was having with Warners.Alot of great music was recorded during that period.

goldest era

But here's the conundrum... "The era was amazing..."

That era never really happened.

We got unfinished albums that had a lot more potential, contract disputes where contract filler albums like COME were released, cancelled projects like Undertaker, delay of TGE which ultimately lost it's momentum for the time... It's really sad cause like everyone said, after his artistic genius in the 80's, that late 93-late 94 era was probably his best.

feeluupp said:

1994 Should've been a musical peak for Prince, as many believe by Lovesexy he already passed that mark...

I think admist all of the WB falling out, TGE being prostponed and the Slave feeling Prince portrayed WB, 1994 was a huge missed opportunity because he made some amazing music.

With all the great songs he recorded from that era, The Undertaker, Exodus, TGE, Come material... If you could configure one disk to sum it all up, I think it would've remained as some of Prince's best work. So many great songs from that late 93 to late 94 era.

What would your playlist be?

I really don't see any possible comparison between 1984 and 1994. However I believe WB made a very wrong choice when they chose to release Come and postpone TGE. TGE had Diamonds And Pearls potential while Come was more of an arthouse record.

Do not forget to mention the many Park performances during that time.

See http://www.princevault.co...90%29#1994 and below.

.

[Edited 5/14/15 22:14pm]

databank said:

I really don't see any possible comparison between 1984 and 1994. However I believe WB made a very wrong choice when they chose to release Come and postpone TGE. TGE had Diamonds And Pearls potential while Come was more of an arthouse record.

I agree.

SoulAlive said:

.

[Edited 5/14/15 22:14pm]

Very good point

I remember reading in the Vibe article that TGE/Come were supposed to be released together, and IIRC that was going to be the "model" for future releases too. One album from Prince, one from (probably to ease out of his WB contract instead of storming out).

.

Obviously none of that happened, but I do love the concept of dual releases -- very Prince, very Gemini. We finally got a taste of it 20 years later with AOA/PE.

feeluupp said:

But here's the conundrum... "The era was amazing..."

That era never really happened.

We got unfinished albums that had a lot more potential, contract disputes where contract filler albums like COME were released, cancelled projects like Undertaker, delay of TGE which ultimately lost it's momentum for the time... It's really sad cause like everyone said, after his artistic genius in the 80's, that late 93-late 94 era was probably his best.

I don't think of Come as contract filler, but I will admit it was the first album where my interest "dipped" a little bit. The tone of the album is dark overall, and its presentation theme of Prince Is Dead maybe didn't help. The songs are great though, maybe even better with time.

Se7en said:

I remember reading in the Vibe article that TGE/Come were supposed to be released together, and IIRC that was going to be the "model" for future releases too. One album from Prince, one from (probably to ease out of his WB contract instead of storming out).

.

Obviously none of that happened, but I do love the concept of dual releases -- very Prince, very Gemini. We finally got a taste of it 20 years later with AOA/PE.

U oughta read Scififilmnerd's amazing articles on the topic.

As far as I know it was never supposed to be a model, just a one time thing.

Prince had already released 'twin' albums through his side-projects, starting with Controversy and The Time, and it went on all throughout the years up until AOA and Plec (PE is Planet Earth), so it's by no means a new phenomenon.

Though it most likely would have gone through some changes, the version prince offered to WB alongside Come (which itself was toyed with again before release) was as such:

.

NPG Operator

Interactive (there were 2 configs, one with the short and one with the long version, but likely an unreleased mix with the NPG Operator interlude maintained, though)

NPG Operator

Days Of Wild (promo tape version)

NPG Operator

The Most Beautiful Girl In The World (unsure if single version or final album version at this point)

NPG Operator

Now

Acknowledge Me

Ripopgodazippa

NPG Operator

319

NPG Operator

Shy

Billy Jack Bitch

I Hate U

NPG Operator

Gold

.

This 11 tracks config lacked P. Control, Endorphinmachine, Shhh, We March and Dolphin but had Interactive, Days Of Wild, Acknowledge Me and Ripopgodazippa instead. With TMBGITW as its lead single, the album would have had a strong push from the beginning. All the songs were accessible and had some single potential save maybe Shy and Interactive. A good move would have been to add Love Sign to the tracklist at the last minute: the song had not been released as a single but in July 984 it had had a lot of radio airplay and the video had had a lot TV airing/ it would have added another familiar, popular track to the album.

databank said:

Se7en said:

I remember reading in the Vibe article that TGE/Come were supposed to be released together, and IIRC that was going to be the "model" for future releases too. One album from Prince, one from (probably to ease out of his WB contract instead of storming out).

.

Obviously none of that happened, but I do love the concept of dual releases -- very Prince, very Gemini. We finally got a taste of it 20 years later with AOA/PE.

U oughta read Scififilmnerd's amazing articles on the topic.

As far as I know it was never supposed to be a model, just a one time thing.

Prince had already released 'twin' albums through his side-projects, starting with Controversy and The Time, and it went on all throughout the years up until AOA and Plec (PE is Planet Earth), so it's by no means a new phenomenon.

Never thought about the side projects like that but it makes sense, especially with the more high-profile ones like The Time and Sheila E. But having him release 2 albums of his own at the same time, that's new with AOA/Plec.

Se7en said:

databank said:

U oughta read Scififilmnerd's amazing articles on the topic.

As far as I know it was never supposed to be a model, just a one time thing.

Prince had already released 'twin' albums through his side-projects, starting with Controversy and The Time, and it went on all throughout the years up until AOA and Plec (PE is Planet Earth), so it's by no means a new phenomenon.

Never thought about the side projects like that but it makes sense, especially with the more high-profile ones like The Time and Sheila E. But having him release 2 albums of his own at the same time, that's new with AOA/Plec.

In a way yes, but not completely: there were TCI, The Slaughterhouse and C-Note in 2004 (but they were almost entirely made of previously available material), then again CB/TT in 98, ONA Live and ONA Aftershow in 02, and LF/MPLS in 09, but they were packaged and sold together. But yeah 2 totally separate albums of new material, sold separately, it was indeed a first.

databank said:

Though it most likely would have gone through some changes, the version prince offered to WB alongside Come (which itself was toyed with again before release) was as such:

.

NPG Operator

Interactive (there were 2 configs, one with the short and one with the long version, but likely an unreleased mix with the NPG Operator interlude maintained, though)

NPG Operator

Days Of Wild (promo tape version)

NPG Operator

The Most Beautiful Girl In The World (unsure if single version or final album version at this point)

NPG Operator

Now

Acknowledge Me

Ripopgodazippa

NPG Operator

319

NPG Operator

Shy

Billy Jack Bitch

I Hate U

NPG Operator

Gold

.

This 11 tracks config lacked P. Control, Endorphinmachine, Shhh, We March and Dolphin but had Interactive, Days Of Wild, Acknowledge Me and Ripopgodazippa instead. With TMBGITW as its lead single, the album would have had a strong push from the beginning. All the songs were accessible and had some single potential save maybe Shy and Interactive. A good move would have been to add Love Sign to the tracklist at the last minute: the song had not been released as a single but in July 984 it had had a lot of radio airplay and the video had had a lot TV airing/ it would have added another familiar, popular track to the album.

I wish Prince had released TGE in the summer of '94 when it still had songs like "Days Of Wild" and "Interactive" on it.

feeluupp said:

But here's the conundrum... "The era was amazing..."

That era never really happened.

We got unfinished albums that had a lot more potential, contract disputes where contract filler albums like COME were released, cancelled projects like Undertaker, delay of TGE which ultimately lost it's momentum for the time... It's really sad cause like everyone said, after his artistic genius in the 80's, that late 93-late 94 era was probably his best.

Come is an amazing album. At the time it was released, it may have been nothing more than contract filler from Prince's perspective. But when considered in the context of his 90s discography, Come and TGE are probably his strongest work.

aaroncanderson said:

I hate Days of Wild and Interactive.

seriously?

wowow imo those 2 songs are both sooooooo funkyyyyyyyy....!

thedance said:

aaroncanderson said:

I hate Days of Wild and Interactive.

seriously?

wowow imo those 2 songs are both sooooooo funkyyyyyyyy....!

I don't like "Interactive" much either, but don't know how anyone can hate DOW. That's one of his funkiest songs, with arguably the most convincing rap of his career.

But with Come, Exodus, Gold, Undertaker, Child of the Sun, outtakes, shows, I'd say 94-95 was pretty darn good, even if it was no 1984.

I agree Charismadove:


Prince was so prolific during 1993-95,

The Dawn (boot, 3cd) proves this.


Excellent, this era was incredibly strong, too bad it was somehow overshadowed by the "war with Warner", and the silly -namechange.

Come - Exodus - The Gold Experience.....


wow, this trio is brilliant... incredible music...

[Edited 5/17/15 13:28pm]

CharismaDove said:

thedance said:

seriously?

wowow imo those 2 songs are both sooooooo funkyyyyyyyy....!

I don't like "Interactive" much either, but I don't know how anyone can hate DOW. That's one of his funkiest songs, with arguably the most convincing rap of his career.

I agree."Days Of Wild" is the most impressive,most convincing rap song of Prince's entire career.If he had released it on the album,the hip-hop community would have been really impressed.I'm sure of that.