KingSausage said:

rdhull said:

Nobody s shocked . We've heard it all though. You guys think the sound sucks, but will buy and play it.

Absolutely I will buy it. The deluxe set has other discs that I want, and I want to support the release of future Prince sets. If the remaster sounds as bad as those waveforms imply, I'll play it once or twice and then toss it in my closet next to the crappy remaster of Exile on Main Street and other botched classics.

I wouldnt go by wave forms. Thats why i said go by your ears. Some of that shit is undeectable and wont damper any enjoyment of the listening. Come on now, mot of yall know better than this.

IstenSzek said:

The original cd sounds fine? What kind of backwards days we living in? U just fine with all those original 80s Warner and MCA sets? Oh ok

rdhull said:

Definitely not. It pales in comparison to other releases. The 1994 Virgin remaster is way better.

paisleypark4 said:

The original Purple Rain CD is one of the better sounding classic Prince CDs. Much better than SOTT, for example.

rdhull said:

I'll listen for sure. When it comes to waveforms it's trust but verify. That being said, I'm rarely ever satisfied with an album whose waveforms look like this, especially when I'm very accustomed to more dynamic, better mastered versions of the material.

KingSausage said:

Further, I'm still waiting to hear how the vinyl sounds. Is it a straight transfer of the digital remaster? Are the dynamics less than total horseshit? Etc.

I was told only the 1st album/original lp was going to be on vinyl... am I wrong?

paisleypark4 said:

IstenSzek said:

i'm disappointed with the album proper remaster on the first few listens,
but i'm not distraught since the original cd sounds good enough i guess.

let's just hope that once they start tinkering with the other 80s albums,
and 'sign o the times' in particular, someone else is at the helm. (didn't
bernie grundman do this remaster so what the heck gives?)

this release was all about the unreleased tracks for me and most of them
sound good enough. i've never considered this release to be anything at
all beyond a means of padding out my 'excellent soundquality outtakes'
collection a bit.

meanwhile i've got my eyes fixed on the distant horizon, awaiting tyka
and the other sibs to come walking into the dawn with the remasters to
his vintage albums under their arms (and a horsedrawn carriage with a
shitload of outtakes).

anyway. back to 'possessed'

The original cd sounds fine? What kind of backwards days we living in? U just fine with all those original 80s Warner and MCA sets? Oh ok

gurrrrl, calm down please. did i say that? i was talking about purple rain sounding fine
the way it was. it was his only 80s album that sounded ok. not spectacular but good
enough. especially compared to others. and then i said that it's a shame this one has
loudness war written all over it and i'm hoping future remasters will not. but you could
already read that in my first reply so i'm kind of baffled with your response.

SchlomoThaHomo said:

Thanks for your review! Co-sign 100%

IstenSzek said:

paisleypark4 said:

IstenSzek said: The original cd sounds fine? What kind of backwards days we living in? U just fine with all those original 80s Warner and MCA sets? Oh ok

gurrrrl, calm down please. did i say that? i was talking about purple rain sounding fine
the way it was. it was his only 80s album that sounded ok. not spectacular but good
enough. especially compared to others. and then i said that it's a shame this one has
loudness war written all over it and i'm hoping future remasters will not. but you could
already read that in my first reply so i'm kind of baffled with your response.

I'm kinda being shady and sarcastic but seriously, all those albums needed some work. Playing them on TouchTunes in the bar ...is embarassing when the bartender has to turn up the volume on Prince classic tracks because they are so low compared to other tunes. I haven't heard it myself yet but time is a-comin'. Too busy listening to the new tracks. Some may not like loudness war....i.e. Crystal Ball...but now I fully appreciate the crystal clear sound on those former boots.

Just 2 more days! I'm suppose to getting the deluxe cd,remastered vinyl,and the picture disc vinyl.ill probably keep the picture disc vinyl sealed. I'm looking forward to hanging the poster up on my wall.i keep checking my email for Amazon shipping confirmation
[Edited 6/21/17 12:46pm]

[Edited 6/21/17 12:47pm]

djThunderfunk said:

Really? Why did you have to go and say that? Seriously cannot wait till Friday...

paisleypark4 said:

IstenSzek said:

gurrrrl, calm down please. did i say that? i was talking about purple rain sounding fine
the way it was. it was his only 80s album that sounded ok. not spectacular but good
enough. especially compared to others. and then i said that it's a shame this one has
loudness war written all over it and i'm hoping future remasters will not. but you could
already read that in my first reply so i'm kind of baffled with your response.

I'm kinda being shady and sarcastic but seriously, all those albums needed some work. Playing them on TouchTunes in the bar ...is embarassing when the bartender has to turn up the volume on Prince classic tracks because they are so low compared to other tunes. I haven't heard it myself yet but time is a-comin'. Too busy listening to the new tracks. Some may not like loudness war....i.e. Crystal Ball...but now I fully appreciate the crystal clear sound on those former boots.

oh don't get me wrong, i completely agree with you on the bolded bits

and it's good to have prince tunes you can add to a mix without them being
so soft that you can't hardly hear them

crystal ball was fine with me. it's just that some of THIS remaster hurt my
ears listening to it this afternoon. but perhaps i should sit down and listen to
it all again, a bit less loud

KingSausage said:

paisleypark4 said:

The original cd sounds fine? What kind of backwards days we living in? U just fine with all those original 80s Warner and MCA sets? Oh ok

The original Purple Rain CD is one of the better sounding classic Prince CDs. Much better than SOTT, for example.

The Sign CD is not level at all, some songs are so low and then some normal, its almost like he had different engineers in there doing the mastering of the cd

lastdecember said:

It's awful.

KlyphIsBackAgain said:

mdmeridius said:

Could someone please explain to me what "too hot" means?

Recorded too loudly, which causes distortion. Can also mean too much high end/treble.

fen said:

“We Can Fuck” is every bit as good as I’d hoped. The way that he builds and sustains the drama during the middle section is masterful. “Love and Sex” is great, “Possessed” is interesting. I actually became quite choked – I miss the little genius more than ever listening to this stuff. x

So, "We Can Ffff" holds one's attention for the whole 10 minutes, hunh? I'm impressed. Can't wait til Friday!

luvgirl said:

djThunderfunk said:

Wow! Did not expect to be this blown away by Wonderful Ass.

Really? Why did you have to go and say that? Seriously cannot wait till Friday...

I've been so satisfied with what's out there (maybe the Box O Chocolates version?) that I wasn't expecting much, but this grabbed me by the earballs it's so good!

We can fuck made me go Joe cocker all over the room.

lastdecember said:

KingSausage said:

paisleypark4 said: The original Purple Rain CD is one of the better sounding classic Prince CDs. Much better than SOTT, for example.

The Sign CD is not level at all, some songs are so low and then some normal, its almost like he had different engineers in there doing the mastering of the cd

The vinyl isn't "level" either and most LOVE that album on vinyl. I think it was on purpose, for dynamics, peaks and valleys and all that...

For those complaning about the cardboard digipack... For collectors, this is a cool item to put your Purple Rain cd's here:

feeluupp said:

For those complaning about the cardboard digipack... For collectors, this is a cool item to put your Purple Rain cd's here:

That box is intended (but not official) for the Japanese SHM-CD's with excellent true to original release packaging.

kremlinshadow said:

feeluupp said:

For those complaning about the cardboard digipack... For collectors, this is a cool item to put your Purple Rain cd's here:

That box is intended (but not official) for the Japanese SHM-CD's with excellent true to original release packaging.

Right, these are not official. They are selling these as well as 1999 and SOTT boxes on eBAY...

KingSausage said:

The brickwalling isn't ideal, but doesn't bother me as much as some. The best I've heard the album sound was the HD Tracks FLACS.

SchlomoThaHomo said:

I wasn't sure where to post this:


Track by track first impressions:

The Dance Electric - BEAST! I could dance to that groove all day. The quality is not perfect but quite enjoyable. Spiritually inspired Prince is my favorite Prince. It wasn't until after he passed that I noticed how much death was a theme in his music.

Love And Sex - Classic Revolution tune. Those vocals! I love how they all count it off, instead of just him. The coughing sound from the '84 live version of Possessed found a place on this studio recording. "Love and sex in the upper room." The 'let's all fuck before we die' message is so Prince. I love that it doesn't remind me of any other Prince tunes. Classic! And the sound quality is great!

Computer Blue (Hallway Speech) - Sound quality is nice! I noticed a bit of drop out, shortly after the Father's Song part starts, so it seems like maybe it's not perfect. Could be my temporary listening set up though. But it's good enough to still be highly enjoyable. Ugh...missing Prince now. Could this be THE quintessential Revolution song? I used to think it was America. Maybe not.

Electric Intercourse - Essential inclusion. Love that it's a version nobody knew. Sound is great. Still think it sounds demo-ish, not in a bad way though.

Our Destiny/Roadhouse Garden - Our Destiny sound is still abysmal. The symbol crashes actually make me wince. Shouldn't have been included. I'll have iTunes start it with Roadhouse, and just forget Our Destiny exists. Roadhouse isn't perfect but at least it doesn't incite a negative physical response.

Possessed - AHHHH! So glad it's this version. I love how it's almost lightweight and spare, with the falsetto vocal, and the beat hinting at something funky about to bubble over, constrasted with the live version that seems to be more of a straightforward funk jam. The synth horn arpeggiation breakdown is everything!! And when the kick joins in at the end?? Dead! Love the bridge! "Have U ever had the feeling that someone was tearing U up into little bitty pieces, and contemplating selling U for a jigsaw puzzle?" Okay, surely it can't get any better than this.

Wonderful Ass - This is maybe my favorite previously unreleased song of all time. So it's great to have it sounding so great. But I thought this wasn't supposed to be the '86 revamp? Sounds the same to me on first listen.

Velvet Kitty Cat - Inferior sound. I swear I hear tape hiss. I mean it's novelty number, so I guess it doesn't matter as much to me. Still not as bad as Our Destiny.

Katrina's Paper Dolls - The only song I've never even heard a lick of. Sounds like it belongs with Velvet Kitty Kat. Maybe from the same tape, too? Sounds like a Prince protege song. Very grateful to have it. It's cute! I thought it was going to be darker from previous descriptions. But it's bouncy and light.

We Can Fuck - Whoa! It sounds so different! I didn't realize he was using finger cymbals already back then. "I know the smell of desire, and honey, it's all over U." NICE! Sounds like his drumming. OMG....the breakdown. It's taking me back to the first time I heard the end of Do Me Baby. Like I'm listening in on something I shouldn't be. AHHH...this dialogue is classic. ESSENTIAL. I feel like he did take the song further, eventually, and it became more realized as a song over the years. But the officially released version is missing such an important part!! So glad to have it now!

Father's Song - Perfect ending. It provides a great moment to reflect on what his music and life meant to you. Especially coming immediately after such a vulnerable, yet perverse moment like the latter half of We Can Fuck. What a force he was.

Beautiful description, i can't wait to have it in my hands.

Just got mine. Came a day earlier than promised.
Went straight to disc 2
Happy.
Thanks Prince❤
[Edited 6/21/17 15:04pm]

JudasLChrist said:

The booklet looks amazing! Very nice package!

Actually the booklet looks like shit. Most CDs booklets do, but this one...
Half an inch more and the words would have been cut.
What a bad, bad art direction.
The silver finishing of the sleeve is nice, though. At first I thought "here's some shitty grey gradient if I ever saw one". Sometimes it's nice to be proven wrong.

Wonderful Ass is great, full of details but I'm not a fan of the EQ. There's a HQ bootleg circulating with a better mid-range frequencies. But hey, this one is really tricky to get the hi-hat just right.

Possessed is excellent. Never heard that version before.

Love and Sex is a prototype that evolved in "Rebirth Of The Flesh", and even bears a je-ne-sais-quoi of Lovesexy on its sleeve. Always fun to hear him unabashed.

Well, they had to put it out, and they had to find a price range suited for casual nostalgic fans.
Now get off your butt, WB, and give us a hundred dollars box next.
A booklet worth of royalty. An understanding of sequencing. Compressors that don't pump.
I'll wait.

BoraBora said:

OK. As I wrote on the other thread, the inclusion of this version of "Wonderful Ass" confused me so I checked a thing.

I got somewhere a CD bootleg titled "Princesex" that contains a longer version of WA (lenght 9:50, as confirmed on Discogs), and to my knowledge that was indicated as the original 1983 version.

I don't listen to it from a lot and I can't remember well, but from what I remember it was more stripped.

Now here we have what we indicated for all this time as the 1986 version included on a 1983/1984 tracks selection.

So we can assume that the so called "1986 version" is simply an 1983/1984 version revamped as it was in 1986 for inclusion in some project (like JIR from 1986 included without variations on GB in 1990, for example). Am I wrong?!?!?

On a side note, someone here remember or have access to the "Princesex" 9:50 version I'm talkin' about to confirm is different?!?!?

On the back of PrinceSex, Wonderful Ass is credited as "1983". It is 9:50. It does sound "stripped down", at least for the first few minutes with no vocals till 3:10, and then the actual "lyrics" don't start for almost another minute, but once the actual "song" kicks in (past the long intro) I think it's the same sessions, maybe a different mix, certainly more intro at the beginning. Honestly the sound on that boot is so shitty compared to this new version that this alone could account for why I'm hearing so much more in the new release than here, but I do think these are different mixes of the same sessions.

This version is also on The Work, Disc 25 Track 04 (according to the copy in my iTunes which appears to be a corruptedfile) and is timed at 10:04 & listed as Version 2. Other than my The Work track being a corrupted file and not playing correctly, it otherwise sonically sounds better than the one on PrinceSex.

Regardless, it's definitely a "different" version, even if only a different mix of the same session. Who knows if the "1983" credit on the bootleg is accurate? If so, then this track probably does belong with this set. I'm happy it is, just the same.

KingSausage said:

paisleypark4 said:

The original cd sounds fine? What kind of backwards days we living in? U just fine with all those original 80s Warner and MCA sets? Oh ok

The original Purple Rain CD is one of the better sounding classic Prince CDs. Much better than SOTT, for example.

Still sucks when A/B'ed to an original 1984 vinyl.
But yeah, SOTT is the last straw. What a massacre.

The thing with these eighties recordings, is that there's no other way to go but analogic from start to finish. Those damn transients, the Oberheims, even the DX7 doesn't sound corny.
Who knows, maybe the 180 g. vinyl of PR is actually mastered from analogic, but I doubt it.
I sure hope a hero from Rhino will someday take on the daunting task of giving Prince's music the 3D and technicolor back, the musicality it should never have lost.

If you're satisified with anything digital when it comes to eighties Prince, I sure wish you go on a hunt for the original harmonics.

Oh, and let me stress this once again (as I do it every year).
Most of you go deaf, and so am I.
So make sure you compensate your dead and gone 18kHz by EQuing properly your audio signal.
In yo forties, and still get hurt by the 15.000? Your eardrums are in good shape.

bonatoc said:

Well, they had to put it out, and they had to find a price range suited for casual nostalgic fans.
Now get off your butt, WB, and give us a hundred dollars box next.
A booklet worth of royalty. An understanding of sequencing. Compressors that don't pump.
I'll wait.

I'll buy THAT one, too!!

bonatoc said:

JudasLChrist said:

The booklet looks amazing! Very nice package!

Actually the booklet looks like shit. Most CDs booklets do, but this one...
Half an inch more and the words would have been cut.
What a bad, bad art direction.
The silver finishing of the sleeve is nice, though. At first I thought "here's some shitty grey gradient if I ever saw one". Sometimes it's nice to be proven wrong.

Wonderful Ass is great, full of details but I'm not a fan of the EQ. There's a HQ bootleg circulating with a better mid-range frequencies. But hey, this one is really tricky to get the hi-hat just right.

Possessed is excellent. Never heard that version before.

Love and Sex is a prototype that evolved in "Rebirth Of The Flesh", and even bears a je-ne-sais-quoi of Lovesexy on its sleeve. Always fun to hear him unabashed.

Well, they had to put it out, and they had to find a price range suited for casual nostalgic fans.
Now get off your butt, WB, and give us a hundred dollars box next.
A booklet worth of royalty. An understanding of sequencing. Compressors that don't pump.
I'll wait.

I agree, the booklet and photos were very underwhelming... For this to be the deluxe edition of his most iconic album, I was hoping more unseen pics, especially from the film...