This album is bloomin' awesome!!!

.

But I said this 21 years ago.

.

EnDoRpHn said:

Any thoughts on why this isn't on Spotify?

According to a press release TGE, C&D and TBA do not fall under the standard WB contract. This was suspected for a long time but I believed it wasn't the case and now I look like a fool

stpaisios said:

FunkyStrange said:

stpaisios said:

Dinner with Dolores would made it a great single.

What do you mean? It was a single and a total failure...

I'd assume it wasn't really promoted. Prince did a few TV shows in the US and I remember the video received some airplay for a few weeks in France but with neither WB nor Prince putting their heart in a project that symbolized the end of a relationship that had been soiled by 3 years of open conflict and public bashing, I assume that WB didn't put so much energy in promoting it.

Honestly DWD was a missed opportunity: Brit pop was HUGE in Summer 1996 and if it hadn't been perceived by critics and media alike as a throwaway project, it could have been that Prince song that would please all those Blur/Oasis/Suede/Morrissey worshippers. I don't think the album as a whole could have conquered the masses, it was too much of a hit and miss ensemble, and it was a winter record being released in plain summer, but the single could have worked well. Released as a second single, I Like It There could then have pleased the other rock audience of the 90's: the grunge fans. There was something of a marketing strategy to attract "white" listeners that could have been put in place: I remember that in 93 Peach was very popular with certain rock fans who couldn't care less for the R&B side of P's music.

To me DWD and ILIT are among those songs that could have been hits if released in a better way or as proper singles, alongside Dolphin, Acknowledge Me, So Far So Pleased, Sleep Around, the Jason Nevins mix of TGRES and Dear Mr. Man. Lots of missed opportunities...

databank said:

jaypotton said:

NorthC said:

HALF OF THIS ALBUM IS AMAZING:

Dinner With Delores is my fave song - and I looooove the musicvideo

Best:

Chaos & Disorder
I Like It There
Dinner With Delores

The Same December
Zannalee
Had U

Imagine if Empty Room had been on this album..


The rest of the songs are just ok.... not that essential.....

When Chaos & Disorder first came out, I admit that I was not as open to it given how the word was that this was a forced released with purposely subpar songs on it so Prince could fulfill his contract with WB. I gave Chaos and Disorder a listen after Prince passed thinking I might appreciate it better, which has happened with Rave and some other relatively neglected releases. One listen and put it back into storage, as nothing clicked for me. After reading this thread, I got it out and really rocked to it! The first half is especially enjoyable. It just goes to show that Prince plays so many different styles of music that sometimes you just have to be in the right mood and approach it with an open mind. This will lead you to

See, that whole "contractual obligation" thing and the suggestion that the album was not up to par in Prince's eyes always seemed somewhat misleading to me. Clearly he liked Zannalee at one point--he played it for a few years before it's appearance on the album, including it in the Undertaker project, and showing the video before shows. The Same December got the video treatment as well. He didn't do anything with those songs after the album's release, but he pushed them before it. He didn't do much with any of the songs at the time of the album's release, but after some time passed he played Chaos and Disorder and I Like It There live fairly often after 2006, even releasing (via streams) versions of both songs with both the NPG and 3rdEyeGirl. So I don't think he disliked the songs themselves, or at least not all of them.

EddieC said:

See, that whole "contractual obligation" thing and the suggestion that the album was not up to par in Prince's eyes always seemed somewhat misleading to me. Clearly he liked Zannalee at one point--he played it for a few years before it's appearance on the album, including it in the Undertaker project, and showing the video before shows. The Same December got the video treatment as well. He didn't do anything with those songs after the album's release, but he pushed them before it. He didn't do much with any of the songs at the time of the album's release, but after some time passed he played Chaos and Disorder and I Like It There live fairly often after 2006, even releasing (via streams) versions of both songs with both the NPG and 3rdEyeGirl. So I don't think he disliked the songs themselves, or at least not all of them.

I agree. It's Prince's almost backward self-sabotage thing.

He clearly liked the songs.

sro100 said:

EddieC said:

See, that whole "contractual obligation" thing and the suggestion that the album was not up to par in Prince's eyes always seemed somewhat misleading to me. Clearly he liked Zannalee at one point--he played it for a few years before it's appearance on the album, including it in the Undertaker project, and showing the video before shows. The Same December got the video treatment as well. He didn't do anything with those songs after the album's release, but he pushed them before it. He didn't do much with any of the songs at the time of the album's release, but after some time passed he played Chaos and Disorder and I Like It There live fairly often after 2006, even releasing (via streams) versions of both songs with both the NPG and 3rdEyeGirl. So I don't think he disliked the songs themselves, or at least not all of them.

I agree. It's Prince's almost backward self-sabotage thing.

He clearly liked the songs.

The real problem with Prince was his success and status as a major star.

If he'd been an independant artist in the true sense of the term, he could have been releasing 6 albums a year without anyone expecting them to sell by the millions, and the general perception of his catalogue would be much different, with people being much less judgemental about most albums.

Prince's success was as much a curse as it was a blessing: it totally biaised public perceptions, and his fans' perceptions, about his work. Back in 2014, there were probably more threads discussing sales figures for AOA and Plec than threads discussing the music on those records. This doesn't happen to Bill Laswell, Chick Corea or John Zorn.

It also biaised Prince's own perceptions of his career: he was sometimes too busy thinking about his next career move, sales and revenue from streamin services and iTunes to do what he said he'd do when he got free from WB: just release the freaking music as he recorded it! If Prince hadn't had such extravagant financial needs and such a desire to be a major superstar, we would probably have had much more music than we did, and we'd probably have been much happier about it than we have.

If anything, Prince's post 1996 independence promised more releases and less stuff left in the vault, and it didn't happen. Not that I'm complaining, hell there's been a shitload of music released after 96, but I don't think the percentage of new recordings left in the vault changed much after 96.