and damnit, no it doesn't really fit on this collection, and we've known it since forever,
in both martika's version and prince's demo (although the quality here is improved) -
but this song does stand out as something very, very special indeed. it's one of those
unique songs in his catalogue that don't really fit a time or an era and don't sound at
all like prince at first listen but upon further listening could in fact only be by him. it's
a magical tune. i sometimes forget that, since there's so many good prince tunes and
so many stone cold classics. but 'love.....thy will be done' is really quite astounding if
you sit down and listen to it with 'new' ears again and really let it soke in for what it is.

BartVanHemelen said:

SchlomoThaHomo said:

Wouldn't You Love To Love Me - FUCK! You know I never really cared for this song, and often wondered what he saw in it to keep pulling it out over the years. But this version is THE SHIT. Yes, the quality isn't the best, but it's so good it doesn't really matter. It makes me want an 80s pop/rock Prince album with songs like this, Do Yourself A Favor, Yah U Know, etc. I wonder if he ever considered it for Controversy?

.

I can never figure out if he worked on it so much because he didn't like it and kept trying to make it work, or REALLY liked it and was determined to make it a hit.

.

[Edited 6/7/19 7:41am]

My Review:

In summary: A Critical 'Must-Own' for Any Fan.

1) Sex Shooter: Love this early, more raw version than the Apollonia 6 version. It's more urgent, more punk. The Minneapolis Sound on steroids. Love how it's short and compact. Comes out...errr... 'pissed', makes a bold statement, then leaves in a fury.

**** out of *****

2) Jungle Love: Agree with the reviewer above. Sounds like Prince loved recording 'Tricky'-esque, The Time guide vocals. Love his laugh and saying, "That's good enough!" at the beginning. Prince was a MASTER vocal mimic. Amazing how he could sound like his protégés effortlessly. This is a great example...I just hope Jesse is getting some $$ for this one. He deserves it.

**** out of *****

3) Manic Monday: What a pop masterpiece! Love this lighter, softer psychedelic version. But as good as it is, I prefer The Bangles version which is punchier and poppier. Love the languid acoustic guitars and what sounds like an acoustic piano. Prince wrote this song in a dream and recorded the song the day after a marathon recording session after only a few hours of sleep...he sounds sleepy...buy happy...

**** 1/2 out of *****

4) Noon Rendezvous: Just Prince, his amazing voice, a piano, and a drum machine. BLISS. The song was always a bit overlooked on the Sheila E album...but here, with Prince's crystal clear falsetto the tune takes on a new sense of melancholy and longing.

**** 1/2 out of *****

5) Make Up: FANTASTIC!!! Prince at his most weird and manic!! The sound of Controversy/1999 in all it's glory. Prince at his most experimental. That this was conceived and recorded in 1981 is incredible. Way ahead of it's time. Not even the most radical sound-scappers of the era where here yet. A flat-out masterpiece. Beautifully rich and full sounding too.

***** out of *****

6) 100 MPH: A fun, catchy funk tune. At this time Prince could seemingly cough out tunes like this while making pancakes. Nothing ground-breaking but ear-wormy and catchy. And the guitar work is AWESOME!

*** 1/2 out of *****

7) You're My Love: LOL, THIS SONG!!! Prince wearing a cravat and crushed velvet lounge suit in some Holiday Inn Lounge near some airport overpass circa 1982. Prince singing in this style shows that he really was trying to 'help' Kenny Rodgers get a hit. Does anyone know why he did this? Was he some sort of mega fan of "Islands In The Stream", or something? The song is cheesy, sure, but it's well constructed...and very well performed!

*** 1/3 out of *****

8) Holly Rock: Prince FUNKS OUT! to some sort of embryotic group chant mega-rap jam! A weird song, truthfully. For the first time it sort of sounds like Prince was chasing a new, emerging sound he wasn't the forefather of? It's fun, though, and energetically performed...but a bit boring, truthfully.

** 1/2 out of *****

9) Baby You're A Trip: Prince's "Torch Singer Mode". Sort of 1982-83's Black soul version of You're My Love? A bit lounge-y, a bit cheesy, but nice and extremely bright in it's recording. You can hear every instrument, subtle phrasing, and voice super well. A pleasant song for sure...but no amazing.

*** out of *****

10) The Glamorous Life: Arrangement-wise, a near identical earlier version of the eventual song that came out on Sheila's debut album. A masterpiece of FUNK and GROOVE but not nearly as fun, urgent, and exciting as Sheila's version, if I'm being honest. I think it's the lack of percussion. Still, what a song and it's really nice to hear Prince's early version of it.

**** out of *****

11) Gigolos Get Lonely Too: Tricky returns! When Prince sings anything, for the most part, he really elevates it. Such a rich, tonally vibrant voice. Nice, simple, funny little ballad. How does one "make love without taking off their clothes", though?

*** out of *****

12) Love...Thy Will Be Done: WOW!!!! To own this!!! What a treat!! Worth the "Price of Admission" JUST FOR THIS SONG!! Totally gorgeous, gospel-infused rolling and lilting soundscapes colliding into one another, like gentle waves cascading and retreating on a peaceful beach at dusk. CRYSTAL CLEAR RECORDING TOO!! You can really hear the background harmonies as the song builds to a wonderful crescendo.

***** out of *****

13) Dear Michelangelo: Simple, sort of funky song. Sort of psychedelic too. Definitely sounds like something Prince would have worked on during the Around The World In A Day Era. But not a great Prince song.

** 1/2 out of *****

14) Wouldn't You Love To Love Me: No song during Prince's long career teased and agonized Prince more than this one. He was always tinkering on it. Pulling it out of The Vault and re-recording it. Prince almost never did that. It was recorded in 1977-78, in 1981 (this particular one), then again in 1982, and again in 1986. I love this funk-rock version, though. WITH LIVE DRUMS!! Which are totally Prince from Snare Hit #1. A bit muddy sounding, for sure, but you can really hear the wonderful promises of this song...and why Prince really loved it, obviously.

**** 1/2 out of *****

15) Nothing Compares 2 U: A really wonderful treasure to own and hear...but a shadow of Sinead's EPIC version. A classic song, regardless.

**** out of *****

THE WHOLE ALBUM:

**** out of *****

[Edited 6/7/19 7:44am]

SchlomoThaHomo said:

My intial thought is, "YES!" I woke up early and gave it a proper 'spin' in headphones and it brought many smiles, funk faces, and a couple moments of dancing around the kitchen while making breakfast.

Sex Shooter - Totally fun to hear him singing this. "No girl's body can compete with mine..." I know it was meant from a female's perspective, but it's still amusing to hear him say such things.

Jungle Love - This brought the first smile. You can hear how much fun he was having while recording it. Some giggles here and there, reminding me of him and Morris goofing off in Tricky. His vocal has a more of a James Brown flavor than Morris.

Manic Monday - I love the mix on this! The acoustic guitar flourishes are wonderful, as well as the background vocals. Prince's vocal is not what I was expecting, but it's really cool. He sounds a bit sleepy, which sort of fits with the protagonist just waking up.

Noon Rendezvous - LOVE THIS. There's a certain cinematic quality to this. Maybe it's the arrangement. I can close my eyes and see a love scene. I only ever liked the fan favorite rehearsal version of this, but this version gave me a new appreciation for the studio version.

Make Up - Bizarre, but in the best way possible. Experimental, fun, and a total genderfuck moment hearing his male voice express these female desires and perspectives.

100 MPH - One of my favorite grooves of his. It was slightly jarring to hear this unknown version. I didn't want to like it because I'm used to the one we all know already. And as someone mentioned before, the vocal sounds a little muddy, but I can't figure out of it's a vocal effect during the recording process or if it's poor tape quality or what. I don't really understand why all of the musical elements would all sound fine on a tape, and not the vocal, but I don't know a lot about the recording process.

You're My Love - SHOWSTOPPER GOBSMACK MOMENT. I love hearing him crooning like this in that lower register. It's not one of the best or most interesting things he ever wrote, but then he goes and sells it like that with the vocal! Wow. It's like he's giving you a little James Ingram, a little Peabo Bryson, and touch of Al Jarreau.

Holly Rock - Total jam. He sounds like he's having a blast. I love the little teeth-sucking sounds he makes before the refrain. So much attitude. "Who gon' fuck with that?" That breakdown towards the end is killer, too. "My Toy Box! I'm not bullshittin'!"

Baby You're A Trip - Another favorite outtake, and so tremendous hearing it sound like this. One of the best vocals he's ever done. That coda at the end is such a moment. It's cool to hear him and Jill singing it, though if I had a choice, I would rather it just be Prince. His vocal layering is just the best.

The Glamorous Life - Pleasant enough. Is that him whistling the lead line somewhere in the mix? Definitely cool to have, but Sheila elevated it for sure.

Gigolos Get Lonely Too - An R&B classic as far as I'm concerned. There really wasn't a way this version wasn't going to be better than The Time's. It just has too much Prince swag for that not to happen. Though if he kept it for himself, I would imagine he would have gone over the top with the vocal...ya know, with the Prince howls and such. He keeps it pretty tasteful here. I love the scatting during the solo, too.

Love... Thy Will Be Done - A top song for me in his catalogue. It's amazing to hear it in this quality, especially the 'choir' moments at the end. It definitely does sound out of place on this compilation, and they perhaps should have waited, and put it with songs from a similar era, but I'm still glad to have it. Martika's version is still my favorite though.

Dear Michaelangelo - Always a favorite of mine. Such a quirky and interesting song. I was disappointed to not hear the intro from Sheila's version. The opening keyboard chords, and slow-unravel of the first verse into the first chorus is my absolute favorite part of the song, and it's not on this version. But I still love it. It will just take some getting used to.

Wouldn't You Love To Love Me - FUCK! You know I never really cared for this song, and often wondered what he saw in it to keep pulling it out over the years. But this version is THE SHIT. Yes, the quality isn't the best, but it's so good it doesn't really matter. It makes me want an 80s pop/rock Prince album with songs like this, Do Yourself A Favor, Yah U Know, etc. I wonder if he ever considered it for Controversy?

Nothing Compares 2 U - I like this version. It's fitting and necessary on this compilation. It is one of those songs I've maybe heard too much though, and I'm not sure this version is the best one out there. But it's definitely important to have.

I'm very happy with the content and quality of the sound on this release, and it's just a great listen PERIOD. No it isn't perfect, and we all have our favorites that we would have liked to see represented here instead of (fill in the blank), but it's such a step up from the other posthumous releases. I would welcome more volumes of this type of compilation without a doubt, and hopefully not only one per year. Just keep that vault door open damn it!

Agree with this virtually word for word, except the Dear Michaelangelo points; I've never really liked it. .

.

You're My Love and Gigolos Get Lonely Too are the stand-outs for me at the moment. Love his vocals on these.

.

Great to hear his humour and exuberance on Holly Rock and Jungle Love.

Is it me or is "Michaelangelo" meant to be Prince?

soladeo1 said:

My Review:

In summary: A Critical 'Must-Own' for Any Fan.

1) Sex Shooter: Love this early, more raw version than the Apollonia 6 version. It's more urgent, more punk. The Minneapolis Sound on steroids. Love how it's short and compact. Comes out...errr... 'pissed', makes a bold statement, then leaves in a fury.

**** out of *****

2) Jungle Love: Agree with the reviewer above. Sounds like Prince loved recording 'Tricky'-esque, The Time guide vocals. Love his laugh and saying, "That's good enough!" at the beginning. Prince was a MASTER vocal mimic. Amazing how he could sound like his protégés effortlessly. This is a great example...I just hope Jesse is getting some $$ for this one. He deserves it.

**** out of *****

3) Manic Monday: What a pop masterpiece! Love this lighter, softer psychedelic version. But as good as it is, I prefer The Bangles version which is punchier and poppier. Love the languid acoustic guitars and what sounds like an acoustic piano. Prince wrote this song in a dream and recorded the song the day after a marathon recording session after only a few hours of sleep...he sounds sleepy...buy happy...

**** 1/2 out of *****

4) Noon Rendezvous: Just Prince, his amazing voice, a piano, and a drum machine. BLISS. The song was always a bit overlooked on the Sheila E album...but here, with Prince's crystal clear falsetto the tune takes on a new sense of melancholy and longing.

**** 1/2 out of *****

5) Make Up: FANTASTIC!!! Prince at his most weird and manic!! The sound of Controversy/1999 in all it's glory. Prince at his most experimental. That this was conceived and recorded in 1981 is incredible. Way ahead of it's time. Not even the most radical sound-scappers of the era where here yet. A flat-out masterpiece. Beautifully rich and full sounding too.

***** out of *****

6) 100 MPH: A fun, catchy funk tune. At this time Prince could seemingly cough out tunes like this while making pancakes. Nothing ground-breaking but ear-wormy and catchy. And the guitar work is AWESOME!

*** 1/2 out of *****

7) You're My Love: LOL, THIS SONG!!! Prince wearing a cravat and crushed velvet lounge suit in some Holiday Inn Lounge near some airport overpass circa 1982. Prince singing in this style shows that he really was trying to 'help' Kenny Rodgers get a hit. Does anyone know why he did this? Was he some sort of mega fan of "Islands In The Stream", or something? The song is cheesy, sure, but it's well constructed...and very well performed!

*** 1/3 out of *****

8) Holly Rock: Prince FUNKS OUT! to some sort of embryotic group chant mega-rap jam! A weird song, truthfully. For the first time it sort of sounds like Prince was chasing a new, emerging sound he wasn't the forefather of? It's fun, though, and energetically performed...but a bit boring, truthfully.

** 1/2 out of *****

9) Baby You're A Trip: Prince's "Torch Singer Mode". Sort of 1982-83's Black soul version of You're My Love? A bit lounge-y, a bit cheesy, but nice and extremely bright in it's recording. You can hear every instrument, subtle phrasing, and voice super well. A pleasant song for sure...but no amazing.

*** out of *****

10) The Glamorous Life: Arrangement-wise, a near identical earlier version of the eventual song that came out on Sheila's debut album. A masterpiece of FUNK and GROOVE but not nearly as fun, urgent, and exciting as Sheila's version, if I'm being honest. I think it's the lack of percussion. Still, what a song and it's really nice to hear Prince's early version of it.

**** out of *****

11) Gigolos Get Lonely Too: Tricky returns! When Prince sings anything, for the most part, he really elevates it. Such a rich, tonally vibrant voice. Nice, simple, funny little ballad. How does one "make love without taking off their clothes", though?

*** out of *****

12) Love...Thy Will Be Done: WOW!!!! To own this!!! What a treat!! Worth the "Price of Admission" JUST FOR THIS SONG!! Totally gorgeous, gospel-infused rolling and lilting soundscapes colliding into one another, like gentle waves cascading and retreating on a peaceful beach at dusk. CRYSTAL CLEAR RECORDING TOO!! You can really hear the background harmonies as the song builds to a wonderful crescendo.

***** out of *****

13) Dear Michelangelo: Simple, sort of funky song. Sort of psychedelic too. Definitely sounds like something Prince would have worked on during the Around The World In A Day Era. But not a great Prince song.

** 1/2 out of *****

14) Wouldn't You Love To Love Me: No song during Prince's long career teased and agonized Prince more than this one. He was always tinkering on it. Pulling it out of The Vault and re-recording it. Prince almost never did that. It was recorded in 1977-78, in 1981 (this particular one), then again in 1982, and again in 1986. I love this funk-rock version, though. WITH LIVE DRUMS!! Which are totally Prince from Snare Hit #1. A bit muddy sounding, for sure, but you can really hear the wonderful promises of this song...and why Prince really loved it, obviously.

**** 1/2 out of *****

15) Nothing Compares 2 U: A really wonderful treasure to own and hear...but a shadow of Sinead's EPIC version. A classic song, regardless.

**** out of *****

THE WHOLE ALBUM:

**** out of *****

[Edited 6/7/19 7:44am]

Awww come on! "Gigolos" and "You're a Trip" 3/5!? Those are the best on the set. Easily 5/5 on both.

databank said:

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.

Despite what Neversin says, how can you be so sure that these mixes didn't exist in the vault? We have plenty of examples of tracks with mulitple mixes/takes -- just because we have different versions of these tracks doesn't mean those were the only versions, does it?

Wolfie87 said:

AvocadosMax said:

Its been over 3 years and still crying while listening to this...

jjam said:

No, it's Prince arseing around on the guitar. He would have listened back to that and thought "Sod that" and muted the part.

Prince wasn't in the habit of including parts on records that didn't serve a purpose to the song.

.

'Muting' most commonly means pressing the mute button on the mixing desk during mixing, therefore just because something is on the multitrack tape, it doesn't necessarily mean that it was intended to be part of the final mix.

ewald said:

Its been over 3 years and still crying while listening to this...

soladeo1 said:

My Review:

5) Make Up: FANTASTIC!!! Prince at his most weird and manic!! The sound of Controversy/1999 in all it's glory. Prince at his most experimental. That this was conceived and recorded in 1981 is incredible. Way ahead of it's time. Not even the most radical sound-scappers of the era where here yet. A flat-out masterpiece. Beautifully rich and full sounding too.

***** out of *****

I pretty much agree with your whole review apart from this track. Might download it again, seems like I'm listening to a completely different version to everyone else.

Kares said:

jjam said:

No, it's Prince arseing around on the guitar. He would have listened back to that and thought "Sod that" and muted the part.

Prince wasn't in the habit of including parts on records that didn't serve a purpose to the song.

.

'Muting' most commonly means pressing the mute button on the mixing desk during mixing, therefore just because something is on the multitrack tape, it doesn't necessarily mean that it was intended to be part of the final mix.

No shit. I already know this.

[Edited 6/7/19 8:24am]

BartVanHemelen said:

AvocadosMax said:

I like Prince’s vocals on Glamorous Life; you can tell he believes in the song and has Sheila E in mind

.

Except he didn't originally: http://princevault.com/in...orous_Life

This is correct - to add to the Prince Vault content, I have even heard interviews with Jill Jones where she says it was intended for her at one point before Shelia E. came into the picture.

delirious said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

Except he didn't originally: http://princevault.com/in...orous_Life

This is correct - to add to the Prince Vault content, I have even heard interviews with Jill Jones where she says it was intended for her at one point before Shelia E. came into the picture.

I think it was in the Tudal book where it says some of these woman Shelia and Jill did not even know he was recording with the other one... that he would have them come in at different times.... I am sure Prince was wise enough to see who a song was suited for.

I want to say one of the few songs he wrote with the singer in mind was "Sugar Walls" after seeing her on tv...

I'm gonna agree with those that get a "Blast From The Past" vibe from this set. It does seem similarly haphazard as those collections. The sound of the mastering for the album overall is not good. As is typical these days it's way too loud and harsh, already looking forward to a "remaster"... Maybe the vinyl will sound better.

That said, I'd rather have this as is than not have it all. Since I don't have access to anything that's not widely circulating, I'll try to judge the tracks for what they are rather than what they should be.

Some of the edits and early fade outs are extremely jarring, very poorly done, as if they were done in audacity or soundforge, Jungle Love's ending is just... yuck.

Noon Rendezvous is really nice. Maybe the best thing here.

100 MPH is a favorite, wish it was a 7min+ version. Funk jams deserve long versions.

I love the "Now try to dance to that" at the end of Holly Rock! Niiiice.

Baby You're A Trip sounds weird to me. If someone tells me this is one of those "frankenstein" mixes,
I'll believe it. I like elements of it a lot but something in the mix is detracting from me being able to fully enjoy it.

I want to like Gigolos more than I do, too. The track also has that same weird sound to the mix as Baby You're A Trip, it's distracting.

Wouldn't You Love To Love Me just sounds bad.

Hmmm, I don't love this set and I don't hate it. It's just "meh" as a whole. I'm not impressed with the mixing and mastering at all. The overall sound of the set is very disappointing and has me less than optimistic about quality control going forward. Hopefully the vinyl will sound better, but as it is, I won't buy it until and unless reviews confirm my hopes. I'll be purchasing the Target CD for the exclusive so I probably won't get the liner notes but hopefully they'll be transparent and honest about sources and mastering/mixing choices, but I doubt they will. If they don't it will just fuel the fire of the debate and keep the fans fighting about it.

Another botched opportunity in my opinion. But what do I know. I'm just an annoying fan that wants to give them my money, why should my opinion matter.

Not saying I hate it completely, it's as good as a lot of the bootleg outtake collections that I've listened to for years. I just expected better from an official release.

[Edited 6/7/19 8:53am]

RE: neversin

There's a way to point out a release's flaws without taking it to the extremes you did. Frankenstein versions or not, the content isn't bad or worth ignoring. We just need more transparency from the estate.

jjam said:

Kares said:

.

'Muting' most commonly means pressing the mute button on the mixing desk during mixing, therefore just because something is on the multitrack tape, it doesn't necessarily mean that it was intended to be part of the final mix.

No shit. I already know this.

[Edited 6/7/19 8:24am]

.
I wasn't judging what you might or might not know. I was commenting on what you wrote.

Originals is Jamming to me!!!

Especially that Wouldn't You Love to Love Me, Holly Rock, 100 MPH and others.....

after hearing 100 ph its obvious it was concocted...not by Prince