As I've been dreaming of Prince box-sets like the Columbia/Legacy Miles Davis box-sets, grouped by era, I've been thinking about the different groupings of albums. How would you group them?

I would mostly group them by 'band':

1 > For You - 1999

2 > Purple Rain - Parade

3 > Sign "O" The Times - Lovesexy

4 > Batman - GB

5 > D&P -

6 > The Hits (new tracks) - Chaos & Disorder (and The Vault)

7 > Emancipation - High (NPGMC tracks)

8 > TRC onwards

By my reckoning, he's had 8 eras. How would you group his work differently?
[This message was edited Wed Apr 2 8:36:11 PST 2003 by booyah]

The only changes I would make are:

1999 and PR grouped together
ATWIAD, Parade and SOTT grouped together

chickengrease said:

I thought about ending the first era with Controversy, and starting the next with 1999.

I wouldn't put SOTT with the Revolution era, though - it was the start of a whole new time for him.

booyah said:

I just think that those 3 albums represent his most experimental period. Members of the Revolution appear on a good portion of the songs.

chickengrease said:

Sign 'O' The Times is a definitive non-Revolution statement by Prince. Of course, it features their influence...

Anji said:

No doubt about that. But as far as a box series is concerned, I don't think The Revolution would be the selling point in grouping PR, ATWIAD and Parade together. In my opinion, anyone buying it who didn't know Prince's entire catalog wouldn't be prepared for Lovesexy with booyah's sequence.

I would break it down in2 3 eras:

The Sexy Era :Horny:
The "What's His Name Again?" Era
The Spritual Era

What do u think?

chickengrease said:

How would you place Lovesexy? A set of The Black Album and Lovesexy together? The Black Album should probably go here, although it wasn't released until 1994.

The Black Album / Lovesexy would make an interesting 2CD set, reminiscent of the theme in the Lovesexy live shows - dark sin and lust followed by redemption and joy.

Of course, the box-set with outtakes would convolute that theme a little if Madhouse work was included - maybe that would be a separate set...

Kailu said:

I think youz got a purty avatar

chickengrease said:

Thank U... My mom saw it thought it was me.

booyah said:

I definitely think those two should be put together in a 2CD set and grouped with Batman and Graffiti Bridge. I think that sums of the Pre- NPG theme he started. Prince's instrumentals should be an entirely different box. Madhouse's 8 and 16 will fit on one disc. I'd like to see The Flesh sessions in there somewhere.

I love thinking about what's possible here.

If only WB and Prince would work out a deal, I would happily take a cut in pay to work on this for a few years to produce something truly wonderful.

I really hope that I live to see comprehensive collections of Prince's recordings.

1997 - 2000 - The Shite Period.

booyah said:

I would group it as such:

1. For You-Controversy
2. 1999-Purple Rain
3. ATWIAD-Lovesexy
4. Batman-GB
5. D&P-
6. Hits-Emancipation
7. CB-NPS
8. Rave-NPGMC
9. TRC

1 > Early Demos, For You, Prince

2 > Rebels, Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999

3 > Purple Rain, ATWIAD, Parade, Dream Factory

4 > Camille/Crystal Ball/SOTT, Black Album, Lovesexy

5 > Rave, Batman, Graffiti Bridge

6 > Diamonds And Pearls,

7 > Come, The Gold Experience, Chaos & Disorder

8 > The Truth, Emancipation, Rave, High

9 > TRC, ONA, Xenophobia onwards...

.

at first I thought this thread was called the different "ears" of Prince...

BorisFishpaw said:

1 through 4 will do just fine 4 me...

Do you think these box-sets with outtakes are things Prince would consider, if he saw enough financial incentive?

He would need to be willing to let others do the work on it (ie. restrain himself from overdubbing, and editing out past band members he doesn't get on with now), and he would need to be in some kind of agreement with WB.

I've seen a few people drooling at the thought - there's so much potential here, and I'm sure even Prince can see that these sets, if released over time, could make money. Look at the recent 20-CD Miles Davis Live At Montreaux set, selling for $200.

If the NPGMC costs $100, maybe he could just offer a large box-set for $100 instead???

Prince has too much ego over his work.

I can't see him ever letting anyone have control over his stuff.

Thing is, he's probably too close to it to have a clear view of things - he fucks things up - 1999: The New Master, The Christ, yadda, yadda.