This is getting strong reviews

4/5 by Rolling Stone

9.5/10 by Pitchfork

Love the album,awesome vocals on Baby u're a trip!

daniorU said:

Love the album,awesome vocals on Baby u're a trip!

ORIGINALS

The FLAC's have been leaked.
I like the album, but still a shame that it flows like a 90's outtake bootleg.
Love the songs but would have rather seen most of these tracks on remasters of the original albums.
Still beter then nothing.

It's hard to know if this is the newness of it, but listening to it, Originals feels like an essential Prince release. It both chronicles his omnipresence in the 80s through its diverse soundscapes and explores the different avenues of his psyche that his patheon of collaborators unearthed in him. We get many sides of Prince here, delivered in a highly replayable package. I won't comment on individual tracks much until I let them sink in more, but it's a stunning reminder of his titanic prowess in the 80s.

FragileUndertow said:

OMG... Holly Rock is the jam ! :music:

dodger said:

First observations... You're My Love is quite bizarrely brilliant. . Gigolos Get Lonely Too is pure ear candy to me. . Wouldn't You Love To Love Me is of course not great quality but I'm still glad to have it.

I agree, couldn't even remember the Kenny Rogers version & Gigolos get lonely, never cared for The Time version, but I love both these versions !

I thought the sound on Love....Thy will be done was a bit average, but I was listening to it in may car.

Wouldn't you love me was a nice surprise, but the sound quality was quite ordinary.

All in all an absolutely fantastic release.

TheKid94 said:

Jungle Love - Pretty much the same as the released version. It’s obvious, like Sex Shooter, it’s inclusion is solely based on its presence in Purple Rain.

Or maybe it was included because it's one of the most well-known Prince-penned songs performed by another artist?

Am loving most of these versions, even the ones ive had as LQ demos, have a new lease of life on this album. The only, and actually major disappointment, is the awful versoin of Wouldnt You Love To Love Me. A poor version and shit sound quality. Since the album was announced i was delighted that we would be getting to hear the 87 version in decent quality but this sounds like a throwaway rock version, like something done during the rebels sessions or something. Why would they choose this one over the joyous 87 version that actually sounds like the Taja Seville version?

Love this release, a step in the right direction. 90% uncirculating material and pretty good quality.

I'm happy.

I love the version of "Wouldn't You Love to Love Me?" on offer here. I am most partial to the late 70s circulating version, but this one is super nice as well!

It would have been nice if they could have actually put Prince's "Original" solo demos on there instead of some of these "Frankenstein" versions ("Manic Monday" (Brenda and Jill background vox), "Holly Rock" (suffers the most of it, too much to list), "Baby, You're A Trip" (Jill's background vox), "Dear Michaelangelo" (Eddie M. instead of original synth lines from the demo), "Nothing Compares 2 U" (already discussed...)

A shitty release that still gives bootleggers a chance to profit off of the real demo versions when some potential backstabber tries to sell these to them... Sad that this is what we have to look forward to for the rest of our "Prince fan" days...
The less said about this crap the sooner it'll fade away...

Neversin.

Neversin said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

KCOOL! Welcome back!

dustoff said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

KCOOL! Welcome back!

You mean ChocolateBox3121

Kares said:

YES!

Finally, this is the real deal. After all the cassette-sourced posthumous releases, this one is genuinely from The Vault.
.

Gorgeous, clean sound with the depths, real colours, textures and flavours of those analog synths. This is how 'Love & Sex', 'Computer Blue', 'Wonderful Ass' and the other PR-outtakes should've been released, instead of the sonic mess we got of those masterpieces...
.
I'm really loving this. Yes, 'Wouldn't You Love To Love Me' sounds bad, but still, it is sourced from the master, it was just recorded poorly. It is what it is. And the poor quality of 'Nothing Compares 2 U' is no surprise, it's the only partially-cassette sourced master on this collection, while the other 14 songs are truly from the vault, so I'm not complaining.
.

This is an album that does justice to Prince. Those with ears for great musicianship will be thrilled to hear the details, the nuances of the different parts. His playing on all instruments (but especially on guitar) is soulful, meaningful and delivered with masterful precision. His vocal performances are breathtaking. All this from a guy in his early 20s...

.
'Noon Rendezvous' is absolutely sublime. 'Baby, You're A Trip' takes you to church and will make you tear up.

.

[Edited 6/6/19 23:14pm]

Are we sure everything is from the vault and not like NOthing Compares 2 U?

Neversin posted this on a nother board:

-----
Pathetic that these idiots running the show are clueless as to which tracks belong on the demos and just punch up all the tracks that were recorded for the released versions and release them as is on this album...

Neversin.
-----

[Edited 6/7/19 2:15am]

luv4u said:

dustoff said:

KCOOL! Welcome back!

You mean ChocolateBox3121

I stand corrected

Neversin said:

It would have been nice if they could have actually put Prince's "Original" solo demos on there instead of some of these "Frankenstein" versions ("Manic Monday" (Brenda and Jill background vox), "Holly Rock" (suffers the most of it, too much to list), "Baby, You're A Trip" (Jill's background vox), "Dear Michaelangelo" (Eddie M. instead of original synth lines from the demo), "Nothing Compares 2 U" (already discussed...)

A shitty release that still gives bootleggers a chance to profit off of the real demo versions when some potential backstabber tries to sell these to them... Sad that this is what we have to look forward to for the rest of our "Prince fan" days...
The less said about this crap the sooner it'll fade away...

Neversin.

I always appreciate your insights Neversin, thanks for posting.

I have to say though, that you're in quite a different position to most of us here, let alone the average music listener at large. If you or other elite collectors have some of these tracks, such as Manic Monday in the form of Prince's original demo, without the backing tracks of others, then you are indeed in a very privileged and unique position to voice your complaints. Even if you haven't heard these things, you seem to have a lot of insider knowledge, which we don't have either.

For the 99.9999% of the rest of us though, we have no comparison to make, so can only judge it on the merits of what is presented to us. And coming from that point of view, I love this release and am very happy with it. We're never going to get access to everything and are at the mercy of what the estate choose to release to us and it's days like today that I'm happy to be able to revel in my blissful ignorance of what might have been and just lay back and listen to Prince singing some songs to me.

To the subject of the 'real' demo versions. Are you saying that you have these, or that you know these to exist within collectors circles? Or is it assumption based on speaking to others? Or you just know for sure that they exist somewhere in the vault?

JorisE73 said:

Kares said:

YES!

Finally, this is the real deal. After all the cassette-sourced posthumous releases, this one is genuinely from The Vault.
.

Gorgeous, clean sound with the depths, real colours, textures and flavours of those analog synths. This is how 'Love & Sex', 'Computer Blue', 'Wonderful Ass' and the other PR-outtakes should've been released, instead of the sonic mess we got of those masterpieces...
.
I'm really loving this. Yes, 'Wouldn't You Love To Love Me' sounds bad, but still, it is sourced from the master, it was just recorded poorly. It is what it is. And the poor quality of 'Nothing Compares 2 U' is no surprise, it's the only partially-cassette sourced master on this collection, while the other 14 songs are truly from the vault, so I'm not complaining.
.

This is an album that does justice to Prince. Those with ears for great musicianship will be thrilled to hear the details, the nuances of the different parts. His playing on all instruments (but especially on guitar) is soulful, meaningful and delivered with masterful precision. His vocal performances are breathtaking. All this from a guy in his early 20s...

.
'Noon Rendezvous' is absolutely sublime. 'Baby, You're A Trip' takes you to church and will make you tear up.

.

[Edited 6/6/19 23:14pm]

Are we sure everything is from the vault and not like NOthing Compares 2 U?

.
I am sure.

dustoff said:

TheKid94 said:

Jungle Love - Pretty much the same as the released version. It’s obvious, like Sex Shooter, it’s inclusion is solely based on its presence in Purple Rain.

Or maybe it was included because it's one of the most well-known Prince-penned songs performed by another artist?

.

One of the recent Michael Howe interviews suggests Jay-Z wanted this track.

JorisE73 said:

Neversin posted this on a nother board:

-----
Pathetic that these idiots running the show are clueless as to which tracks belong on the demos and just punch up all the tracks that were recorded for the released versions and release them as is on this album...

Neversin.
-----

[Edited 6/7/19 2:15am]

The album is called Originals, not demos. That would imply that they were Prince's original version of what was released, not his inital demo. I'm not sure why Neversin would expect the original demo version in the first place.

Neversin said:

It would have been nice if they could have actually put Prince's "Original" solo demos on there instead of some of these "Frankenstein" versions ("Manic Monday" (Brenda and Jill background vox), "Holly Rock" (suffers the most of it, too much to list), "Baby, You're A Trip" (Jill's background vox), "Dear Michaelangelo" (Eddie M. instead of original synth lines from the demo), "Nothing Compares 2 U" (already discussed...)

A shitty release that still gives bootleggers a chance to profit off of the real demo versions when some potential backstabber tries to sell these to them... Sad that this is what we have to look forward to for the rest of our "Prince fan" days...
The less said about this crap the sooner it'll fade away...

Neversin.

Prince's demos will have BVs on them, they aer an intergral part of the song. What you're describing is an unfinished version and incomplete version, which may be of some interest but won't be a fair representattion of the song Prince was laying down.

Quit your moaning, you're worse than our lass.

Kares said:

JorisE73 said:

Are we sure everything is from the vault and not like NOthing Compares 2 U?

.
I am sure.

Is this based purely on what you're hearing on the release itself, or from other sources? I certainly trust your ears over mine, especially after your inital assesment and being proven correct about the source of NC2U, I'm just wondering.

Neversin said:

It would have been nice if they could have actually put Prince's "Original" solo demos on there instead of some of these "Frankenstein" versions ("Manic Monday" (Brenda and Jill background vox), "Holly Rock" (suffers the most of it, too much to list), "Baby, You're A Trip" (Jill's background vox), "Dear Michaelangelo" (Eddie M. instead of original synth lines from the demo), "Nothing Compares 2 U" (already discussed...)

A shitty release that still gives bootleggers a chance to profit off of the real demo versions when some potential backstabber tries to sell these to them... Sad that this is what we have to look forward to for the rest of our "Prince fan" days...
The less said about this crap the sooner it'll fade away...

Neversin.

OK, this is what I feared. Somehow I naively hoped that they'd put the real NC2U on this album, and that no other track would be posthumously tinkered with... OK, now we know who we're dealing with I guess. The only possible half-excuse I could find for them was if they come clear and state in the liner notes that they've messed with some of the songs to make them more consumer-friendly, but I doubt this will be the case (let me know guys when you get the CD).

.

Haven't listened to it yet and not sure which versions are authentic or not but the case pleaded here by Neversin, who has proven year after year to be a reliable person when it comes to such things, is convincing to me, and anyway the mere presence of the certified fake NC2U is enough for us to assume any of the other tracks may have been messed with. Once trust is broken once...

.

The utter drama in all this, beyond the Estate butchering Prince's work for commercial purposes, is that, as with NC2U last year, the record will get nothing but rave reviews by the music press since no journalist suspects that some songs are fake. Hell, even those French fans didn't make any mention of it in their early reviews some days ago, so if even hardcore Prince fans can be fooled, the average journalist won't see anything.

.

If I get around finding the time to do it, I may drop a mail to each and every site and journalist who reviewed the thing to tell them what occured in hope of some reaction. If anyone here has the time to do it, I encourage you to do the same. A few reviewers might be pissed and publish/post something about it. Princevault also needs to mention it, I will contact them ASAP. I would really like to hear Duane on this, too, he's an authority of sorts onb those studio sessions, now, and his opinion could weight in.

.

I also strongly discourage anyone from purchasing or streaming this product. The more critical acclaim and the more money the Estate gets from this, the more fake mixes we'll see in the future. Just download the album illegally, it'll soon be easy to find. But the CD or LP second hand in some months if you really need to have it in physical format. Just don't encourage them to do it again.

.

To be honest, I'm really, really sad about this A vault full of gems and instead of releasing them as such, a bunch of sorcerer's apprentices feel they need to "upgrade" the recordings. Prince's legacy deserved better than this.