I played around with disc two to make it more comprehensive.

The Dance Electric (Wendy And Lisa version)

All Day, All Night

Love And Sex

Traffic Jam

Electric Intercourse

Our Destiny / Roadhouse Garden

Possessed

Wonderful Ass

Velvet Kitty Cat

Katrina's Paper Dolls

We Can Fuck

Father's Song.

The versions of The Dance Electric, All Day and Traffic Jam I added have sound quality compariable with the other songs on the set so they fit in perfectly. It's a brilliant collection.

I used that Neon Parks unused picture of Prince with massive eyes and the tear that came out a few years ago for the artwork.

I put computer blue on a b sides extended versions disc and ditched the edits.

206Michelle said:

I don´t like disc 2. I don´t like the whole remastered deluxe edition crap at all.

Gives me nothing.

Disc 1: the remastered disc isn´t what it could sound like. Already discussed in many threads.

Disc2: Seriously, the song collection is mostly about sex, sex and sex. So what? Also musically mediocre at best except Computer Blue and maybe Dance Electric.

Disc3: Why should i play this disc with mostly edited songs? Except I Would Die For U Extended is fabulous.

Disc4: The sound of the DVD is great, the picture is hurting my eyes. Yes i know, it could not be HD and it is from a video tape source but, yes i cannot watch this from A to Z.

I really hope the next release is a great compilation of unreleased song from 1994-2016.

Philly76 said:

I don´t like disc 2. I don´t like the whole remastered deluxe edition crap at all.

Gives me nothing.

Disc 1: the remastered disc isn´t what it could sound like. Already discussed in many threads.

Disc2: Seriously, the song collection is mostly about sex, sex and sex. So what? Also musically mediocre at best except Computer Blue and maybe Dance Electric.

Disc3: Why should i play this disc with mostly edited songs? Except I Would Die For U Extended is fabulous.

Disc4: The sound of the DVD is great, the picture is hurting my eyes. Yes i know, it could not be HD and it is from a video tape source but, yes i cannot watch this from A to Z.

I really hope the next release is a great compilation of unreleased song from 1994-2016.

I watched the DVD on a 4K TV and expected crap but honesltly it's heaps better than the official VHS release, the colours and details on his first suit look great, as do the close-ups...

Neversin.

Philly76 said:

Disc2: Seriously, the song collection is mostly about sex, sex and sex. So what? Also musically mediocre at best except Computer Blue and maybe Dance Electric.

Prince's entire catalogue is mostly about that.

The vault cd is very good.

but I don't think they actually looked in the vault to see what they could fit into this deluxe edition. I think these tapes were the first they found in the vault because they were put there in sight by prince when he listened to them again when they were first discussing a possible deluxe edition. don't think all of these were approved by prince, but that doesn't matter. glad to have them.

now it's time to actually start digging in the vault and come up with some surprises.

they didn't come from Princes vault, they came from Warner bros vault. This is all of warner Bros own doing. Princes team only remastered Purple Rain the original album. Then he gave it to them to release. They didn't because they wanted more. None of this would have been released if Prince was still alive.

I loved it from beginning to end and that's the first time I've been able to say that about a new Prince album in a lot of years. Now they need to give the same treatment to the 1982/1983 "1999" era which was when Prince was at his absolute best. And after that, do the "Controversy" era, and then the "Dirty Mind" era.

Doozer said:

The biggest surprise for me is hearing that most of the vocals from We Can Funk on Graffiti Bridge were sourced from the version included on this set. The whole "you can blow a candle off" part came directly from this version. As someone else said, I'm not sure how you can pull a song that was great 7 years later, add George Clinton to it and make it less interesting, but that's what happened. The rest of the Vault disc is simply the only reason to buy this set from a music standpoint, and it's worth every penny. The remaster disc is a coaster, and the b-sides/extended/edits disc offers nothing new.

Yeah I definitely agree, I was listening to the various versions of We Can Funk that are included on Work It 2.0 just now, and man it is a fascinating journey to see how that song developed over time. There's so many different versions, some with the synth drums and some with the live ones from this version, several with additional instruments like a Bernie Worrell-esque bass synth and a cuica, and a few where you have Garry Shider (I think) from P-Funk singing the second verse. There's even a 10 minute version which keeps the kind of melancholic sounding musical section from We Can Funk but doesn't have any of the really vulnerable Prince spoken word bits on it. I've always been partial to all the different versions of this track (unlike many here I like the 1986 and 1989 equally) and it's fascinating to be able to see where it all started here. There are many faults with this release but overall I'm super glad that it was put out, solely thanks to gems like this on disc 2.

Definitely the main reason to get this set and probably the only disc I will be frequently listening to.

All in all the effect of the songs together is very poignant and gives a good snapshot of that era.

I also felt it showed a bit more of Prince's shadow side with some songs with slightly spooky undertones and effects such as Possessed and We Can Fuck, but I think there is a good mixture of his versatility here, although there are some notable omissions!

The Dance Electric

I've always found this song rather repetitive although I liked the idealism of the lyrics. However, this is not the best version, where is that amazing guitar solo at the end? It seems to drag on and seems an odd choice as opening track.

I was surprised to see this included because it was given to Andre Cymone and his version was already remastered on 'AC' back in 2011. If they were going to include songs given to other artists why didn't they also go with G-Spot or All Day, All Night which were given to Jill Jones. I especially think leaving G-spot off this set was a big miss.

That aside, it may have been included because the lyrics were poignant in light of his passing, especially about it being 'almost time to go' and 'there isn't much time'.

Love and Sex

Classic Prince, love the positive, fun energy and general wackiness of it, that's what I loved about Prince! Very happy to hear this for the first time. Interesting to hear Prince doing his Morris Day persona at the end!

Computer Blue (Hallway)

A classic version, very glad it got released finally.

Electric intercourse (Studio)

A nice surprise, particularly as no-one, even the so called harcore collectors, seemed to know it even existed! I love both this and the bootleg/live version, i see them really as different songs. But the beat, the vocals the screams are just classic Prince! Happy about this too!

Our Destiny/Roadhouse Garden

Oddly the quality of this is lower than the rest / comparable with the bootleg leaked last year so wonder if this was actually sourced from a boot rather than a master? Or perhaps it just recorded on the hoof?

I actually like both songs but they probably should have been separated into separate tracks. I also love the live version of Roadhouse Garden, i almost see it as a different song but it is a touching, atmospheric song.

Possessed

Oddly, the listing stated this was the 1983 version but I believe the 1983 version is the slowed down version we all know and love. This sounds like it was done in '84 on top of the Instrumental. The way he reads out the letters is rather spooky and menacing! The jury is still out on whether this is the best one as I love the slower version with its raw passion but again I almost see it as a different song although I can see that this version does 'fit' the Purple Rain album better. Interesting to hear a previously unheard version!

Wonderful Ass

The most wonderful version of a most wonderful song. Love these kind of fun songs he did with Wendy and Lisa. Have always loved it, great to see it finally released.

Velvet Kitty Kat

Love this but it sounds like it's also been bootleg sourced due to the 'hiss' and the similarity with the quality of the version circulating last year. I do agree though that this was probably a song he just did for fun and not intended for serious release but it's good it was included to provide us with a cross section of the vault and his differing styles.

Katrina's Paper Dolls

A lovely surprise, quality is amazing, almost like you're in the room, I love his vocals and the lyrics, which also seem timely and comment on the price of fame "there's no way to tell who's real and who's not". Also, as someone pointed out here, the backing sounds the same as used in Wet Dream Cousin (albeit slowed down). Even though I believe this was intended for Vanity or Appolonia it is surprisingly deep considering the usual content of their albums and perhaps it was too candid and personal for them or for him to release in his lifetime?

We Can Fuck

I wasn't sure what to expect here but I was totally blown away. What strikes me is that the track was pretty much fully completed back then, i always assumed it was massively added to later. Love the sense of urgency of the synths, the raw sheer passion and the section from 6:15 onwards is just mindblowing! I absolutely love the talking section, the surprisingly raw passion 'fuck me again' and was amused to hear the lustful almost puppy like scream! That bell like melody at 8:24 is really special and the swooshing sound effects remind me of Moonbeam Levels. In fact the whole track has a slight '1999' era vibe to it to me. The backward masking vocal effects are spooky, it's almost as if he'd been watching Poltergeist as it sounds like the effect of disembodied voices from the dead. Impressive effect. All in all, classic Prince and this could in fact go down as one his greatest ever tracks.

Father's song

Very touching and poignant, feels like you are in the room with him. However, this does sound to me like a private demo which was later overdubbed and not a finished song, especially with the bleed of the synths. i'm not sure he would have released this in that form. But it is moving and i can see why it was included and rounds off the CD nicely.

All in all a touching disc, that gives a snapshot of the sheer vibrancy, energy and creativity of that era. in most cases, the sound quality is also impressive and makes the songs come alive and feel fresh. My only bugbear is that G-Spot, Traffic Jam and All Day, All Night weren't included and that an inferior version of The Dance Electric was! Other than that thumbs up but that said I hugely doubt Prince would have sanctioned release of these considering the content, but glad to hear more of the vault!

[Edited 6/24/17 13:38pm]

RaspBerryGirlFriend said:

Doozer said:

The biggest surprise for me is hearing that most of the vocals from We Can Funk on Graffiti Bridge were sourced from the version included on this set. The whole "you can blow a candle off" part came directly from this version. As someone else said, I'm not sure how you can pull a song that was great 7 years later, add George Clinton to it and make it less interesting, but that's what happened. The rest of the Vault disc is simply the only reason to buy this set from a music standpoint, and it's worth every penny. The remaster disc is a coaster, and the b-sides/extended/edits disc offers nothing new.

Yeah I definitely agree, I was listening to the various versions of We Can Funk that are included on Work It 2.0 just now, and man it is a fascinating journey to see how that song developed over time. There's so many different versions, some with the synth drums and some with the live ones from this version, several with additional instruments like a Bernie Worrell-esque bass synth and a cuica, and a few where you have Garry Shider (I think) from P-Funk singing the second verse. There's even a 10 minute version which keeps the kind of melancholic sounding musical section from We Can Funk but doesn't have any of the really vulnerable Prince spoken word bits on it. I've always been partial to all the different versions of this track (unlike many here I like the 1986 and 1989 equally) and it's fascinating to be able to see where it all started here. There are many faults with this release but overall I'm super glad that it was put out, solely thanks to gems like this on disc 2.

Yes, I was surprised by how much of it found its way onto the GB version. So much so that I'm still struggling to shake the image of George urinating into a cup whenever I listen to it. I had no idea that Gary Shider featured on one of the versions. I think that I've heard them all, but I'm not sure.

As a rule, the initial creative impulse nearly always yields the best work in my view (not something that Prince readily acknowledged). The thing is, if you're starting with something that's virtually perfect, you can only ever subtract from it. It's odd to think of the young Prince censoring himself, but I can only think that it was the explicit lyrics that led him to shelve it – musically and conceptually, it's clearly the definitive version. The lyrics sound remarkably blunt even by today's standards.

fen said:

RaspBerryGirlFriend said:

Yeah I definitely agree, I was listening to the various versions of We Can Funk that are included on Work It 2.0 just now, and man it is a fascinating journey to see how that song developed over time. There's so many different versions, some with the synth drums and some with the live ones from this version, several with additional instruments like a Bernie Worrell-esque bass synth and a cuica, and a few where you have Garry Shider (I think) from P-Funk singing the second verse. There's even a 10 minute version which keeps the kind of melancholic sounding musical section from We Can Funk but doesn't have any of the really vulnerable Prince spoken word bits on it. I've always been partial to all the different versions of this track (unlike many here I like the 1986 and 1989 equally) and it's fascinating to be able to see where it all started here. There are many faults with this release but overall I'm super glad that it was put out, solely thanks to gems like this on disc 2.

Yes, I was surprised by how much of it found its way onto the GB version. So much so that I'm still struggling to shake the image of George urinating into a cup whenever I listen to it. I had no idea that Gary Shider featured on one of the versions. I think that I've heard them all, but I'm not sure.

As a rule, the initial creative impulse nearly always yields the best work in my view (not something that Prince readily acknowledged). The thing is, if you're starting with something that's virtually perfect, you can only ever subtract from it. It's odd to think of the young Prince censoring himself, but I can only think that it was the explicit lyrics that led him to shelve it – musically and conceptually, it's clearly the definitive version. The lyrics sound remarkably blunt even by today's standards.

The version with whom I'm assuming is Gary Shider is listed as #8 on Work It 2.0. Not 100% sure it's him, I'm mostly going on the fact that the vocals sounds quite similar to the ones on Cosmic Slop, which right now is the only song with Gary singing that I can recall. Still, he's listed as providing backing vocals on the released version on Princevault so I think it's a safe bet that it is him.

I think I agree to an extent with your second paragraph, this incarnation of the song is clearly the definitive one (of the 1983/90 versions anyway, the 1986 one is another kettle of fish!). Prince clearly achieves all that he sets out to do with this track on this initial version, and there's no extraneous added elements to distract from the raw, freaky, and nasty atmosphere he creates (alongside the surprisingly vulnerability of the spoken section). Still, as much as the later versions smack of an artist who felt compelled to keep adding lines to his painting because he didn't think it was finished, I still enjoy hearing all the new elements that are added and all the little differences between each incarnation; it's almost like a fascinating historical journey to see how the song changes from version to version.

RaspBerryGirlFriend said:

RaspBerryGirlFriend said:

fen said:

Yes, I was surprised by how much of it found its way onto the GB version. So much so that I'm still struggling to shake the image of George urinating into a cup whenever I listen to it. I had no idea that Gary Shider featured on one of the versions. I think that I've heard them all, but I'm not sure.

As a rule, the initial creative impulse nearly always yields the best work in my view (not something that Prince readily acknowledged). The thing is, if you're starting with something that's virtually perfect, you can only ever subtract from it. It's odd to think of the young Prince censoring himself, but I can only think that it was the explicit lyrics that led him to shelve it – musically and conceptually, it's clearly the definitive version. The lyrics sound remarkably blunt even by today's standards.

The version with whom I'm assuming is Gary Shider is listed as #8 on Work It 2.0. Not 100% sure it's him, I'm mostly going on the fact that the vocals sounds quite similar to the ones on Cosmic Slop, which right now is the only song with Gary singing that I can recall. Still, he's listed as providing backing vocals on the released version on Princevault so I think it's a safe bet that it is him.

I think I agree to an extent with your second paragraph, this incarnation of the song is clearly the definitive one (of the 1983/90 versions anyway, the 1986 one is another kettle of fish!). Prince clearly achieves all that he sets out to do with this track on this initial version, and there's no extraneous added elements to distract from the raw, freaky, and nasty atmosphere he creates (alongside the surprisingly vulnerability of the spoken section). Still, as much as the later versions smack of an artist who felt compelled to keep adding lines to his painting because he didn't think it was finished, I still enjoy hearing all the new elements that are added and all the little differences between each incarnation; it's almost like a fascinating historical journey to see how the song changes from version to version.

Thank you, I'll listen to that version again. I'm a huge P-Funk fan, so knowing that can only increase my enjoyment of the track. I like every version that I've heard as well – it's always been a favourite.

Ferret said:

Anybody else got the unresistable urge to play Darling Nikki after listening to Computer Blue ("Hallway Speech")? Or is it just me?

My ears totally did that to me too.

TheEnglishGent said:

Philly76 said:

Disc2: Seriously, the song collection is mostly about sex, sex and sex. So what? Also musically mediocre at best except Computer Blue and maybe Dance Electric.

Prince's entire catalogue is mostly about that.

IKR? Seriously, if you don't like songs about fucking get another guy....

Philly76 said:

I don´t like disc 2. I don´t like the whole remastered deluxe edition crap at all.

Gives me nothing.

Disc 1: the remastered disc isn´t what it could sound like. Already discussed in many threads.

Disc2: Seriously, the song collection is mostly about sex, sex and sex. So what? Also musically mediocre at best except Computer Blue and maybe Dance Electric.

Disc3: Why should i play this disc with mostly edited songs? Except I Would Die For U Extended is fabulous.

Disc4: The sound of the DVD is great, the picture is hurting my eyes. Yes i know, it could not be HD and it is from a video tape source but, yes i cannot watch this from A to Z.

I really hope the next release is a great compilation of unreleased song from 1994-2016.

RE: Disc 2 - If you are so put off by sex, why are you even a Prince fan? There is no pleasing some people and please explain for me the sex in Katrina's paper dolls and Fathers song?

.

We have a few of these trolls who either just hate Prince or are just born whingers who bitch and moan about everything. Perhaps we can put them in their own thread and warn the rest of us positive people about going into them.

.

Pearls b 4 the swine!

JUST got mine. I've heard exactly ONE song from it so far: The Dance Electric. And I don't like the mix. Sounds kinda halfway done, or like the mix engineer didn't really understand the track. The vocals are low in the mix, and there's a lot of key stuff missing (like the GUITAR SOLO!!!), and this mix doesn't match the one he did on the original Andre Cymone single. Was Prince actually involved with this mix, or was this all done posthumously? A disappointment for this song. I was looking forward to having a nice, crystal clear copy of Prince's version of this song, but what's already available on YouTube exceeds this version (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgon_BQWxHg). Damn shame. This one is a miss. My fingers are crossed for the rest of it.

TheFreakerFantastic said:

Doozer said:

The biggest surprise for me is hearing that most of the vocals from We Can Funk on Graffiti Bridge were sourced from the version included on this set. The whole "you can blow a candle off" part came directly from this version. As someone else said, I'm not sure how you can pull a song that was great 7 years later, add George Clinton to it and make it less interesting, but that's what happened. The rest of the Vault disc is simply the only reason to buy this set from a music standpoint, and it's worth every penny. The remaster disc is a coaster, and the b-sides/extended/edits disc offers nothing new.

It's not that surprising when you consider that "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got" for example was originally recorded in 1982, and then re-worked a lot in 1986.

"The Question Of U" is from 1985 and "Joy In Repetition" is from 1986. And "Tick, Tick, Bang" dates back to 1981.

Only thing I'm a little confused about is Wonderful Ass... I mean it sounds almost exactly as the Box O' Chocolates boot, in terms of sound quality...

TheFreakerFantastic said: