if u trim the fat off all his post 80's cds and make them 45minutes each ..wont they all be considered great albums ???

No need to trim the so-called fat. They're all great albums.

"great" is highly subjective, but I could see how addition by subtraction would have helped several of his post-80's albums.

There were a few that needed no trimming, and maybe 1 or 2 where trimming would not have helped.

namepeace said:

"great" is highly subjective, but I could see how addition by subtraction would have helped several of his post-80's albums.

There were a few that needed no trimming, and maybe 1 or 2 where trimming would not have helped.

do u agree they could be 45 minute great albums ..like his 80's whch were 30-45 minutes?

luvsexy4all said:

namepeace said:

"great" is highly subjective, but I could see how addition by subtraction would have helped several of his post-80's albums.

There were a few that needed no trimming, and maybe 1 or 2 where trimming would not have helped.

do u agree they could be 45 minute great albums ..like his 80's whch were 30-45 minutes?

I think some, like and Emancipation, could have been.

Prince had an amazing musical career over FIVE decades - please don't be stuck in the 80s!!!!

No apostrophe required.

Sometime around Emancipation, I started splicing albums together to get one good CD I liked that I could listen to from start to finish (or in Emancipation and Crystal Ball's case, trimming it down to one CD), leading to stuff in my collection like "New Power Come", "the Chocolate Slaughterhouse", "LotusSound" and "Hit&Runs" and "3121-10" so I'd say yes.

But I also liked the increased output and being able to pick and choose from so much, which was the great thing about Emacipation and Crystal Ball, like them or not. AoA, minus the opening track, was the last thing in some time that I could listen to from start to finish. Rainbow Children, Musicology and 3121 were fairly consistent at least (minus Wedding Feast) and your mileage varied depending on your taste.

I didn't care too much and got used to it (3 great songs, 4 or 5 OK ones, 2 or 3 turds) because I just wanted the volume and the quantity. Like, I could even mix in stuff like "Glass Cutter", "P.F.U.N.K" and other downloads and one offs into other albums and trim out the fat to my liking.

jasopig said:

No need to trim the so-called fat. They're all great albums.

Amen to that.

luvsexy4all said:

if u trim the fat off all his post 80's cds and make them 45minutes each ..wont they all be considered great albums ???

Many were actually LP length or only slightly longer. Prince didn't abuse the CD format that much.

On the other hand, if CD had been the main format in 1978, you can bet most of his 80's albums would have been 70 minutes long.

I don't think albums length has much to do with Prince's perceived artistic decline: his shorter records didn't get much more (or less) praise than his longer records.

Prince was in the zeitgeist in the 80's. No, never mind that, Prince was the zeitgeist in the 80's.

There isn't a thing he could possibly have done to maintain such a status his whole life.

Artistically speaking, his career as a whole remain quite extraordinary.

We'd never agree on a tracklist. I have a 9 track version of Diamonds & Pearls that I pretty much exclusively listen to but i've seen other peoples similar tracklists and they're full of all the songs I left off!

There are few Prince albums post 1989 that I often listen to without wanting to skip a few tracks, Rainbow Children, Lotusflow3r and Art Official Age probably come closest though. Come and Gold Experience a bit as well but they're kind of messed up in terms of alternate versions that I think are better knocking around on bootlegs.

[Edited 5/30/18 5:41am]

Yeah, what if Emancipation would have been a single.. no, wait.

But yes, I'm all in favor of the 9-song approx 45 min vinyl format surely.

Imagine all the segues out of all Prince albums, a fresh breath! Next, all not-so-strong tracks overboard.
Indeed that would catapult a few albums into the great-category, but some would still remain poor even then imo.

herb4 said:

Sometime around Emancipation, I started splicing albums together to get one good CD I liked that I could listen to from start to finish (or in Emancipation and Crystal Ball's case, trimming it down to one CD), leading to stuff in my collection like "New Power Come", "the Chocolate Slaughterhouse", "LotusSound" and "Hit&Runs" and "3121-10" so I'd say yes.

But I also liked the increased output and being able to pick and choose from so much, which was the great thing about Emacipation and Crystal Ball, like them or not. AoA, minus the opening track, was the last thing in some time that I could listen to from start to finish. Rainbow Children, Musicology and 3121 were fairly consistent at least (minus Wedding Feast) and your mileage varied depending on your taste.

I didn't care too much and got used to it (3 great songs, 4 or 5 OK ones, 2 or 3 turds) because I just wanted the volume and the quantity. Like, I could even mix in stuff like "Glass Cutter", "P.F.U.N.K" and other downloads and one offs into other albums and trim out the fat to my liking.

Me too. Plus, as jaawwnn points out, "We'd never agree on a tracklist."

To the OP, are there any songs on 80's albums that you'd like to sub out with a different song?

herb4 said:

But I also liked the increased output and being able to pick and choose from so much, which was the great thing about Emacipation and Crystal Ball, like them or not. AoA, minus the opening track, was the last thing in some time that I could listen to from start to finish. Rainbow Children, Musicology and 3121 were fairly consistent at least (minus Wedding Feast) and your mileage varied depending on your taste.

I didn't care too much and got used to it (3 great songs, 4 or 5 OK ones, 2 or 3 turds) because I just wanted the volume and the quantity. Like, I could even mix in stuff like "Glass Cutter", "P.F.U.N.K" and other downloads and one offs into other albums and trim out the fat to my liking.

True, there was something to the "a la carte" approach, especially that stretch from the late 90's-early 00's, when the timing and number of releases was unpredictable. But you could always find outstanding songs ("moments") on every release, and blending the different releases together is probably closer to how Prince wanted his fans to contextualize his music.

my point was that he had great stuff post 80's ...where he has been ignored worldwide.. it seems

darkroman said:

Prince had an amazing musical career over FIVE decades - please don't be stuck in the 80s!!!!

No apostrophe required.

im not stuck there..tryin to make people see they shouldnt either

jasopig said:

Like lots of what's been mentioned. Deliverance EP also comes to mind.

luvsexy4all said:

my point was that he had great stuff post 80's ...where he has been ignored worldwide.. it seems

YES. Great stuff!

luvsexy4all said:

darkroman said:

Prince had an amazing musical career over FIVE decades - please don't be stuck in the 80s!!!!

No apostrophe required.

im not stuck there..tryin to make people see they shouldnt either

(Proper) grammar policing aside, nobody here is, or should be, stuck in the 1980s.

Thinking the 80s is his best era is not the same is thinking that the 80s is his only good era.

namepeace said:

herb4 said:

But I also liked the increased output and being able to pick and choose from so much, which was the great thing about Emacipation and Crystal Ball, like them or not. AoA, minus the opening track, was the last thing in some time that I could listen to from start to finish. Rainbow Children, Musicology and 3121 were fairly consistent at least (minus Wedding Feast) and your mileage varied depending on your taste.

I didn't care too much and got used to it (3 great songs, 4 or 5 OK ones, 2 or 3 turds) because I just wanted the volume and the quantity. Like, I could even mix in stuff like "Glass Cutter", "P.F.U.N.K" and other downloads and one offs into other albums and trim out the fat to my liking.

True, there was something to the "a la carte" approach, especially that stretch from the late 90's-early 00's, when the timing and number of releases was unpredictable. But you could always find outstanding songs ("moments") on every release, and blending the different releases together is probably closer to how Prince wanted his fans to contextualize his music.

I LOVED the "a la carte: approach after the name change. It was like eating at a tapas restaurant.

Good thread, i do agree a lot of them would be considered great albums

Graffiti Bridge and Diamonds & Pearls should be one record. Cut down the crap.

If i were to combine those:

Joy in Repitition

Thieves in the temple

The Question of U

Diamonds and Pearls

Money Don't Matter 2night

Cream

Gett Off

Throw in a few others and you have one of his best records.

Emancipation, i would cut down to a dozen songs. I know some people will disagree with which songs should make it, but i am sure we can come up with a general consensous.

luvsexy4all said:

CAL3 said:

luvsexy4all said:

if u trim the fat off all his post 80's cds and make them 45minutes each ..wont they all be considered great albums ???

. Are you shitting me?? . All?? . All great??? . Please. Once you cut the fat off MUSICOLOGY you’re left with ONE song! . One song does not a great album make. . And that’s just ONE example.

Please don't troll like that

Making exaggerated, extravagant statements like that calls for outraged replies and ends-up in flaming. That's trolling.

You can, instead, state your opinion about Musicology in a reasonable manner.

CAL3 said:

luvsexy4all said:

if u trim the fat off all his post 80's cds and make them 45minutes each ..wont they all be considered great albums ???

. Are you shitting me?? . All?? . All great??? . Please. Once you cut the fat off MUSICOLOGY you’re left with ONE song! . One song does not a great album make. . And that’s just ONE example.

It is like... opinions are subjective and people like different things! What a concept.......

CAL3 said:

luvsexy4all said:

if u trim the fat off all his post 80's cds and make them 45minutes each ..wont they all be considered great albums ???

. Are you shitting me?? . All?? . All great??? . Please. Once you cut the fat off MUSICOLOGY you’re left with ONE song! . One song does not a great album make. . And that’s just ONE example.

u not a fan....take out ...life of the party / marrying kind /if eye your man / cinamon girl and u have a great album

If you're asking this question from a purely sales point of view then I would say yes. If he trimmed some of the releases down he may have sold more. Like it or not, under WB the cream rose to the top and got released. There are many good outtakes that could have bloated out many of his WB releases, but they would have probably hurt sales. I would even say that 1999 would have sold more if it was trimmed down. Certainly if some of the longer songs were edited down somewhat*

I mean, would PR have sold as many copies as it did if it was an hour long with extra songs? I don't think it would. the fact that it is short and only has 9 songs is what makes it so brilliant. After first listen you are left wanting more and that, I guess, was the secret. The long albums and the very long albums, after a complete listening session a fatigue can set in and the desire to go straight back to listening to it all again isn't there*.

Forget trimming Emancipation down to one CD. Trim it down to 9 songs and only 40 minutes.

*I'm talking from a casual listner point of view, not an uber fan's obsessive need to hear more and more.

luvsexy4all said:

CAL3 said:

luvsexy4all said: . Are you shitting me?? . All?? . All great??? . Please. Once you cut the fat off MUSICOLOGY you’re left with ONE song! . One song does not a great album make. . And that’s just ONE example.

u not a fan....take out ...life of the party / marrying kind /if eye your man / cinamon girl and u have a great album

That's a little harsh don'tcha think?

For my , reasonable minds can disagree on this one. On the whole, Musicology is a good album. But I don't know whether any editing would make it a "great" album by Prince standards.

We agree if you take a few songs off it would be a better album but we disagree on the songs that need to go. I'd let "A Million Days" and "On the Couch" go before "Marrying Kind" and "Man in Ur Life."

namepeace said: