I have lost count over the years as to how many unreleased tracks we have. In all honesty & as much as I love them [especially the last few sets] I can't say that any album released would have benefitted from the tracks left off.

P.Rain - 9 tracks of utter perfection

Dirty Mind - 8 tracks ofutter perfection!

SOTT - we could configure it a million time sover BUT WB pressure was great..the set is perfect

Parade - we could easily add / chop & change...BUT the released version is stunning

LoveSexy - come on - we aint touching that!

etc

The list goes on. I wouldn't change a thing!

[Edited 12/12/17 9:18am]

Parade is my favorite Prince album, please don't touch it. It too is pure perfection

Well.. even Around The World In A Day and Parade (either one is my favorite depending on the day you ask me) have tracks I could do without. So... I may change the tracks and feel it is a better overall record, but that would cut somebody else's favorite.

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In the end, this is how Prince wanted it released so that's how it is. (apart from SOTT, the triple album Crystal Ball would have been so much better if it had been released instead)

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So... Prince's choice was his choice. That's how he presented his artistic vision. And it was great (for the most part), but I am a different person with different experiences and tastes, my choice would have been different. And probably interesting for a much smaller subset of people.

(I would have never released the song Purple Rain, for instance)

I think he could have improved:

Controversy (Tick Tick Bang, Lisa, Feel U up, Irresistible Bitch > Ronnie, Anna Stesia)

ATWIAD (Girl, Hello, SAIMH, Wonderful Ass, We can Fuck, and most of the Family album > temptation, the ladder, and tamborine)

Lovesexy: (so many songs from 86-88 > Glam Slam, Dance On, I wish u heaven)

I always swap Love Bizzare for Christopher Tracy's Parade.

I think he did a great job. The only track I really wish he could have found a place for is Moonbeam Levels - but I totally understand why he swapped that out for Free on 1999.

Oh - and I still think Kiss sounds horribly out of place on Parade (even Prince thought so), but I don't know what I'd replace it with.

LoveSexy 'imo' =

**the proverbial beginning of the end**

Pretty much, yes.

wouldnt change anything ...just add more

Hmmm, it's a great question. Not sure i would change any albums, but there are definitely some fantastic unreleased albums worth of material to be made from the bootlegs we know (configured by Prince or otherwise). I would like to hear the original Rave album for instance.

Genesia said:

I think he did a great job. The only track I really wish he could have found a place for is Moonbeam Levels - but I totally understand why he swapped that out for Free on 1999.

Oh - and I still think Kiss sounds horribly out of place on Parade (even Prince thought so), but I don't know what I'd replace it with.

so do i, i've always thought In All My Dreams would've fitted on Parade

Even a real fan splitter like Diamonds & Pearls IMHO was tracked perfectly...dare I say it...even............Jughead!...yes I went there! Look at the tracks left off ie Something Funky This House Comes, School Yard etc..non would have added any more to the album?

1999, Purple Rain, ATWIAD, Parade, SOTT and Come could have been much better albums with some songs added.

Genesia said:

I think he did a great job. The only track I really wish he could have found a place for is Moonbeam Levels - but I totally understand why he swapped that out for Free on 1999.

Oh - and I still think Kiss sounds horribly out of place on Parade (even Prince thought so), but I don't know what I'd replace it with.

great point re Kiss...but having it as the lead single & that video probably drove a lot of interest in the album. Actually , Parade could probably have had some incredible songs added - you know the ones!..BUT it still stand up IMHO.

How about this..Days of Wild...should it have stayed on the Gold Experience or did he make the right choice to cut it?

I do not like the song Glam Slam, it's a corny and weak song and slows down the album. I feel the same about "You Got The Look," it does not match the quality of the other songs on the album.

CoCo Boys would have been a better choice than YGTL (just off the top of my head).

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

How about this..Days of Wild...should it have stayed on the Gold Experience or did he make the right choice to cut it?

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Stayed. I don't love the song, but it does encapsulate the era, more than Now, We March, Shy, or 319.

Mintchip said:

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

How about this..Days of Wild...should it have stayed on the Gold Experience or did he make the right choice to cut it?

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Stayed. I don't love the song, but it does encapsulate the era, more than Now, We March, Shy, or 319.

NOW was the reason he left it off, he said DOW was too similar so he had to pick one. I would have tracked them together for a powerfunk double whammy!

rapper said:

I do not like the song Glam Slam, it's a corny and weak song and slows down the album. I feel the same about "You Got The Look," it does not match the quality of the other songs on the album.

CoCo Boys would have been a better choice than YGTL (just off the top of my head).

Noooooooooooo! I adore Glam Slam...play it extra loud..bit like Life Could be so Nice..a big cluster of sound & melody IMHO. Thankumamn!

Mintchip said:

I think he could have improved:

Controversy (Tick Tick Bang, Lisa, Feel U up, Irresistible Bitch > Ronnie, Anna Stesia)

ATWIAD (Girl, Hello, SAIMH, Wonderful Ass, We can Fuck, and most of the Family album > temptation, the ladder, and tamborine)

Lovesexy: (so many songs from 86-88 > Glam Slam, Dance On, I wish u heaven)

I always swap Love Bizzare for Christopher Tracy's Parade.

Got to disagree!

Annie Christian is my favourite song on Controversy, I Wish U Heaven is my favourite song on Lovesexy (well, it shares that spot with Annastesia), and Christopher Tracy's Parade is my favourite opening to a Prince album.

Sign o the Times, as incredible an album as it is could have been even greater. Trade Slow Love, You Got the Look, and It's Going to be a Beautiful Night, with Shockadelica, Rebirth of the Flesh, and Crystal Ball (or many other outtakes actually), and I think the album would be much stronger. Though that isn't a knock on the quality of Sign o the Times, it's a testament to the quality of the material during that period.


For the most part, I agree that Prince's classic albums were spot on. However I don't think it's safe to say that it's because the outtakes weren't as strong. Songs like Lust U Always, Purple Music, Extraloveable, All My Dreams, Others Here With Us, In a Large Room with No Light, Power Fantastic, and many others, don't necessarily belong on or make a better fit on any of his classic albums, but belong on hypothetical classic albums that never were.

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

How about this..Days of Wild...should it have stayed on the Gold Experience or did he make the right choice to cut it?

I've always loved DOW live but find the studio version to be lacking in something.

"Lovesexy" is pure perfection. Untouchable.


"SOTT" is near perfection, but to some extent I would prefer "The Ball/Joy In Repetition" instead of "It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night".


The only thing I would change of "Parade" is a less frantic arrangement of "Life Can Be So Nice", as it is is somewhat too chaotic.
Possible additions to the album could be "OldFriends 4 Sale" and "Neon Telephone", but I don't know what they could add to the overall flow of the whole.

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

How about this..Days of Wild...should it have stayed on the Gold Experience or did he make the right choice to cut it?

I was disappointed when I saw the final tracklist for TGE "Days Of Wild" is such a great song! I couldn't believe that he would remove it.

"Graffiti Bridge" to me is the only classic album of the gold run that could be really better than what it is.

a) Put the associated tracks (and collaborative tracks like "The Latest Fashion" and "Graffiti Bridge") in a 2nd CD and let alone a proper P album

b) Take away "Tick Tick Bang" and bring in "The Grand Progression" and "God Is Alive"

c) Let alone "Joy In Repetition" not screwing his beginning in a segue with WCF

d) Use the entire "New Power Generation (Pt.1 + Pt.2)" as the closing track, avoiding the recycling of the end of "Positivity"

e) Use the full lenght version (or maybe an edit of it) of "Thieves In The Temple"

So a better tracklist (to me) could be:

1) Can't Stop This Feeling I Got

2) Thieves In The Temple (Full Lenght Version or Edit of FLV)

3) The Question Of U

4) Elephants & Flowers

5) The Grand Progression

6) We Can Funk

7) Joy In Repetition

8) God Is Alive

9) Still Would Stand On Time

10) New Power Generation (Pt.1 + Pt. 2)

SoulAlive said:

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

How about this..Days of Wild...should it have stayed on the Gold Experience or did he make the right choice to cut it?

I was disappointed when I saw the final tracklist for TGE "Days Of Wild" is such a great song! I couldn't believe that he would remove it.

Yes, same for me. I must have worn out my VHS of The Beautiful Experience watching Days Of Wild then to get TGE and it not be on there was a big disappointment. As it's been said many of times on here; We March should never have made the cut ahead of DOW.

dodger said:

SoulAlive said:

I was disappointed when I saw the final tracklist for TGE "Days Of Wild" is such a great song! I couldn't believe that he would remove it.

Yes, same for me. I must have worn out my VHS of The Beautiful Experience watching Days Of Wild then to get TGE and it not be on there was a big disappointment. As it's been said many of times on here; We March should never have made the cut ahead of DOW.

I agree, though I believe he left it off TGE because it sounded better live.

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

rapper said:

I do not like the song Glam Slam, it's a corny and weak song and slows down the album. I feel the same about "You Got The Look," it does not match the quality of the other songs on the album.

CoCo Boys would have been a better choice than YGTL (just off the top of my head).

Noooooooooooo! I adore Glam Slam...play it extra loud..bit like Life Could be so Nice..a big cluster of sound & melody IMHO. Thankumamn!

I totally understand, it just sounds very dated compared to the rest of the album to me.

Let's re-write history!

YAY

Don't be shy, let's make our own tracklist configuration for every album.