TheFman said:

LaurenceNoonan said:

I love this album soooooool much. If I had to pick any Prince Album from the 90’s it would have to be “Come” But I honestly don’t get why it wasn’t as popular as “Diamonds and Pearls”, “[Love Symbol]” or the “Gold Experience” Is it because of the 1958 - 1993 or how dark the album was... I honestly don’t understand why ? [Edited 10/29/17 19:38pm]

I feel like I can only speak about this subjectively, for the most part.

I feel Come is not as good as the other albums you mentioned because its not as diverse as those albums... to me it lacks some type of balance.

Somehow for me Come feels like a short album , I mean sure some of the tracks are rather long but to me it doesnt feel musically as "filling" as the other's mentioned in OP.

Its quite a good atmosperic album , but for me I usually only feel like listening to certain tracks in sequence, usually I'll listen to Come,Space, Let It Go, occasionaly I'll listen to Dark, the rest of it I tend to skip.

I think from the Albums listed in the Op the best ones are Love Symbol, Gold Exprience,Diamonds and Pearls and then Come.

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

NorthC said:

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

That Prince thought of it as a throwaway is just lazy regurgitation of what someone said at the time. But Prince was an artist who cared about his art. He put his heart into everything he did. Besides, WB had input as to what songs THEY WANTED. It's been documented what songs they wanted on the album.

So people have to get over that "throwaway" bullshit.

He released it as Prince while stating that Prince was dead, he didn't put his biggest hit of the year on it and he went out of his way to tell everyone who was (and wasn't) listening that what really wanted was to release TGE as . So throwaway or not, we can safely say that the Come album was not the most important thing on his mind back then.

The tracks were important enough for him to have recorded various versions. The title track alone. Even going through all the work of arranging or incorporating amazing horns.

He felt strong enough about Pharamone to also record various versions of it and even have it be the opening theme to a BET program.

For Solo, he felt strongly about it to work with a playwright.

An album is a collection of tracks. I person like Prince does not start an albumb off by creating "throw-aways".

And most importantly, Was Prince really dead? Maybe he felt dead. Was Parade a throw-away?" He certainly distanced himself from it at a certain point. Saying Kiss was the only good track. But it's considered by myself and many others as one of his greatest.

All I am saying is, people are lazy when they regurgitate and create echo-chambers once something is said.

Harps said:

I don't believe it is underrated at all. if anything, given how much it is liked and lauded by fans, I believe it is actually overated. In my opinion it is mediocre material with only Space being good enough to be considered in his Top 30 songs - at a push!

I find the album to be a rushed, unfocused piece of work. Even the production is sloppy, if you really listen close you can hear microphone hisses as if he couldn't be bothered to perfect the album.

As on any Prince album there are flashes of genius - the horns on Come as an example but these are few and far between. Compared to other 90s releases I don't believe it comes close to D&P, Love Symbol, Emancipation or The Gold Experience. Hell, to be honest I even prefer Chaos and Disorder.

Just my humble opinion - what I love about Prince's music is that it divides even his most hardcore fans

[Edited 10/30/17 0:14am]

[Edited 10/30/17 0:15am]

And that's not even the best version of Space!

that contractually obligated term is a killer

NorthC said:

I feel U. Def. has one of the greatest moments in the 90's. Songs 'Come', 'Loose', 'Letitgo' 'Space' 'Pheremone' are highlights. Stands between LoveSymbol & TGE, when it comes to ranking his 90's output. His weakest works in 90's is Kamasutra & RU2TJF.

dodger said:

SimonCharles said:

Couple of things:

When the album was released in the UK I seem to remember Radio One promoting the launch heavily. Tracks from the album were played throughout the launch period/launch day. I also remember this being one of the last times I recall seeing billboard advertising for a Prince album - WB bought bus stop poster space.

I was always under the impression that the songs for Come and The Gold Experience were recorded simultaneously. The "letter" Mayte wrote to Controversy at the time suggested as much - all those songs with one word titles.

I can't remember too much promotion for 1-800-NEW-FUNK. In fact I remember being surprised that this album existed when I visited the Prince Store in Camden as they were taking it out of the delivery boxes.

All fun times to be a Prince fan.

*

With regards the album being underrated? I don't know about that. It does get a lot of love from Prince fans and contains some gems: Pheromone, Race, Dark, Solo, Papa - I even have a weakness for Loose. Anyhoo. I enjoy Come...although, I think I would have liked the other, heavier mix of the title track on the album...still, it takes all sorts.

Agree with Simon.

.

Even though P himself said Come was 'old' material and TGE was 'new/better' that was not entirely true. He was playing songs from both albums live at the time and The Beautiful Experience movie featured more tracks from Come than TGE.

.

He also reportledly wanted Come to be released by 'Prince' and TGE to be released by around the same time, which may have been a good bit of marketing.

.

Of course he could have given WB a couple more stronger tracks for Come (similarly with TGE if he used Days Of Wild and Acknowledge Me) but it's still a solid album IMO and it's not a clear case of 'contractual obligation,' like The Vault..Old Friends 4 Sale for example, like some say.

.

Was a great time to be a fan. He could have made an awesome double or tripe album from the batch of songs he had around this time.

I think we are conflating the packaging process with the creative process. In this era, they weren't always mutually inclusive.

There is little doubt Prince put his all into the creative process in making the songs of this period. He did that for nearly 4 decades. Though all his songs were not created equal, they were all reflections of his heart and soul.

But the process of packgaging those songs was a key point of dispute between the Artist and the label during this time as well. The songs were all made at the same time, but Prince clearly wanted to control how and when they would be released. It was a fight he had with WB for over a decade, it had just come to a head around this time. So Prince turned on the packaging of the songs, not the quality of the songs, as part of his larger dispute with WB.

That's why the term "throwaway album" has been used by fans. NOT because he didn't care about the songs that made up Come. But because he didn't CARE FOR how and when the album was put together. So, it's possible he made the strategic decision to undercut the label's promotion of Come while continuing to play and promote the songs individually.

In hindsight, this whole post- to pre-Emancipation period produced an impressive, ambitious volume of work obscured by the fight with his label, the Name Change, etc. In the short-term, it hurt his legacy and commercial success, but in the long-term, it increased his legend.

luvsexy4all said:

stpaisios said:

HOLY a lot of us are all online right now! Glad there are others awake still.

.

But also I love Come. I've been finding myself attracted to other albums from the 90's more lately - particularly Emancipation but Come is a masterpiece.

.

Seriously though how are this many people all online whoa. My browser has to be crazy right now right? Can I get an amen just so I know you people are actually in here???

[Edited 12/4/17 22:41pm]

For me, I like some of it but it just never quite held together as an album. It felt like more a bunch of unrelated, under-cooked experiments. You can totally tell that The Gold Experience held more of his attention at the time.

Prince seemed so down, so wrapped up in his "slave" / WB issues at the time, it really stunted his creative output and songwriting. Looking back now it is astounding that he thought there was an audience who would be interested in such half-assed, self-indulgent material.

Come and TGE were also the start of Prince's albums sounding very harsh and sterile in their mastering. There are a few great songs on there, and good songs that have better alternate versions, but it all sounds a bit hard on the ears.

26ten said:

ian said:

For me, I like some of it but it just never quite held together as an album. It felt like more a bunch of unrelated, under-cooked experiments. You can totally tell that The Gold Experience held more of his attention at the time.

Prince seemed so down, so wrapped up in his "slave" / WB issues at the time, it really stunted his creative output and songwriting. Looking back now it is astounding that he thought there was an audience who would be interested in such half-assed, self-indulgent material.

Come and TGE were also the start of Prince's albums sounding very harsh and sterile in their mastering. There are a few great songs on there, and good songs that have better alternate versions, but it all sounds a bit hard on the ears.

Would you feel the same way about it if he had put Strays of the World on it as the closing song? To me it feels incoherent because that song is missing and it would´ve added more of a theme to that album, especially with the phrase "Come!" at the end of the song. Wasn´t Strays of the World part of one of the several configurations at some point? I know that orger SciFiNerd once created a very long and in depth thread dedicated to the Come album and all its different versions.

the excellent trio

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

thedance said:

206Michelle said:

dodger said:

thedance said:

the excellent trio

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

100% Same for me. What a time to be a fan

Hi Dodger.... u are so right, I was -also- very thrilled being a Prince-fan, during this era..

and, I was in Den Bosch in Holland, watching the Gold conceret in (circa) march 1995..

A wonderful concert, (even most of the songs were completely new, played live).

we were a bus full, of danes.. and Holland the fans were like "a trip", known for the good spirit during the shows.. (later as a P-fan-country, Denmark was popular like this, as well - I believe).


I have great memories.. from back then.. this concert and these albums.. wow..