olb99 said:

Romeoblu said:

olb99 said: Again this is all conjecture, no evidence. Who has a full knowledge of what is in the vault? Both tracks sound great to me.

.

They sound great to me, too, and I'm happy to be finally able to listen to all those studio outtakes on an official release. That was not the question.

.

Of course, what I'm saying is a conjecture. But it's based on:

.

1) the Peach & Black interview with Niko Bolas, where Bolas says, on the one hand, that they used reference mixdowns to make mixes as close as possible to the original mixes and, on the other hand, that Bolas used a lot of reverb because it sounded good to him. He's contradicting himself. I don't know why exactly, but this gives us an idea of how serious he is about mixing Prince's tracks (i.e. not much).

.

2) the first minute of "If It'll Make U Happy" on the deluxe version of "1999" and the first minute of "If It'll Make U Happy" on "Blast From The Past 3.0" (for example).

.

And yes, again, maybe there were several stereo mixdowns of "If It'll Make U Happy". I don't know. But using Occam's razor, here, I'll go with Niko Bolas not staying faithful to the original mix because "it sounded good to him"...

I'm not at home, won't be for several week, so I can't really compare or use any good sound system. I'm sad to see they took creative liberties again, no matter how minimal.

At least these tracks can always be remixed later in a way more faithful to the mixdowns, when/if a more serious team is in charge of the vault.

databank said:

olb99 said:

.

They sound great to me, too, and I'm happy to be finally able to listen to all those studio outtakes on an official release. That was not the question.

.

Of course, what I'm saying is a conjecture. But it's based on:

.

1) the Peach & Black interview with Niko Bolas, where Bolas says, on the one hand, that they used reference mixdowns to make mixes as close as possible to the original mixes and, on the other hand, that Bolas used a lot of reverb because it sounded good to him. He's contradicting himself. I don't know why exactly, but this gives us an idea of how serious he is about mixing Prince's tracks (i.e. not much).

.

2) the first minute of "If It'll Make U Happy" on the deluxe version of "1999" and the first minute of "If It'll Make U Happy" on "Blast From The Past 3.0" (for example).

.

And yes, again, maybe there were several stereo mixdowns of "If It'll Make U Happy". I don't know. But using Occam's razor, here, I'll go with Niko Bolas not staying faithful to the original mix because "it sounded good to him"...

I'm not at home, won't be for several week, so I can't really compare or use any good sound system. I'm sad to see they took creative liberties again, no matter how minimal.

At least these tracks can always be remixed later in a way more faithful to the mixdowns, when/if a more serious team is in charge of the vault.

.

To be fair, what I noticed so far is nothing major.

olb99 said:

databank said:

I'm not at home, won't be for several week, so I can't really compare or use any good sound system. I'm sad to see they took creative liberties again, no matter how minimal.

At least these tracks can always be remixed later in a way more faithful to the mixdowns, when/if a more serious team is in charge of the vault.

.

To be fair, what I noticed so far is nothing major.

Is it even possible for even the most skilled engineer to reproduce a mix exactly as on a guide by ear? Like 100% similar? And with different technology from 35 years later? IDK.

Now that they finally admitted that they won't release Extraloveable and Lust U Always because they're too pussy, I don't feel bad about not buying this release.

olb99 said:

Romeoblu said:

olb99 said: Again this is all conjecture, no evidence. Who has a full knowledge of what is in the vault? Both tracks sound great to me.

.

They sound great to me, too, and I'm happy to be finally able to listen to all those studio outtakes on an official release. That was not the question.

.

Of course, what I'm saying is a conjecture. But it's based on:

.

1) the Peach & Black interview with Niko Bolas, where Bolas says, on the one hand, that they used reference mixdowns to make mixes as close as possible to the original mixes and, on the other hand, that Bolas used a lot of reverb because it sounded good to him. He's contradicting himself. I don't know why exactly, but this gives us an idea of how serious he is about mixing Prince's tracks (i.e. not much).

.

2) the first minute of "If It'll Make U Happy" on the deluxe version of "1999" and the first minute of "If It'll Make U Happy" on "Blast From The Past 3.0" (for example).

.

And yes, again, maybe there were several stereo mixdowns of "If It'll Make U Happy". I don't know. But using Occam's razor, here, I'll go with Niko Bolas not staying faithful to the original mix because "it sounded good to him"...

I agree, Niko seemed to contradict himself.

I didn't like the vocal mix on 'If It Will Make U Happy' when I listed to it on headphones at the weekend, but it far more pleasureable in the car on a regular stereo.

Strive said:

Now that they finally admitted that they won't release Extraloveable and Lust U Always because they're too pussy, I don't feel bad about not buying this release.

What a weird justification.

rdhull said:

Strive said:

Now that they finally admitted that they won't release Extraloveable and Lust U Always because they're too pussy, I don't feel bad about not buying this release.

What a weird justification.

Indeed. Streaming is fine, but it's a bit rich to download this set illegally when it's so clearly full of a lot of worthy material due to a tantrum over the exclusion of two songs.

Moonbeam said:

rdhull said:

What a weird justification.

Indeed. Streaming is fine, but it's a bit rich to download this set illegally when it's so clearly full of a lot of worthy material due to a tantrum over the exclusion of two songs.

People are living their lives or dying on the strength of EL and LUA lol.

Moonbeam said:

I'm getting the CDs but I was wondering if there was a way to get the liner notes,etc in the vinyl size. I know I can read it from the CD but would like the full size .

No I dont want to buy the vinyl lol.

Giovanni777 said:

Strive said:

Now that they finally admitted that they won't release Extraloveable and Lust U Always because they're too pussy, I don't feel bad about not buying this release.

So you don't care about what they did give us, only about two ommited songs we already have on bootlegs? I love both these songs but to me the crushing dissapointment some people have at their non-inclusion is really over the top

Strive said:

Moonbeam said:

Indeed. Streaming is fine, but it's a bit rich to download this set illegally when it's so clearly full of a lot of worthy material due to a tantrum over the exclusion of two songs.

"We can't let the people paying $55 hear a naughty no-no word." ~*Extralovable is widely available in bootleg quality including on YouTube with over 100,000 views*~ "Why won't you give us our $55? Didn't you see the Casey Rain exclusive Vagina lyrics? Prince was totally woke and a LGBTQ trendsetter. We can't alienate those people. It's 2019 " The estate and Warner Bros can go jump in a lake. [Edited 11/27/19 18:03pm]

This is so incredibly juvenile, I get it, you don't like the decision. Just listen to the boots, it isn't like the songs aren't out there to enjoy. I will be proudly buying this box set and enjoying the treasure trove of material it will include

-

...well those two songs missing...

-

Am SO happy to live in Europe where people are more open, normal and less prudish, and don't have to keep up appearances like that. And less religious too, very important!

For fuck's sake, it's 2019 !

When are the conservatives having their own renaissence in life ?

Never ?

-

"Extraloveable" & "Lust U Always" are classic Prince tunes, need to be released in pristine quality.

"Vagina" somehow made it, something I don't understand in that fashion.

We already have "Lady Cab Driver"...

oh whatever...

-

I personally should forbid the explicit "The Rainbow Children" religeous crap (great music though, but those bloody lyrics...)

Anyways, my humble opinion to ignore.

Peace, always.

-

Strive said:

Moonbeam said:

Indeed. Streaming is fine, but it's a bit rich to download this set illegally when it's so clearly full of a lot of worthy material due to a tantrum over the exclusion of two songs.

"We can't let the people paying $55 hear a naughty no-no word." ~*Extralovable is widely available in bootleg quality including on YouTube with over 100,000 views*~ "Why won't you give us our $55? Didn't you see the Casey Rain exclusive Vagina lyrics? Prince was totally woke and a LGBTQ trendsetter. We can't alienate those people. It's 2019 " The estate and Warner Bros can go jump in a lake. [Edited 11/27/19 18:03pm]

Comment deleted - l'ange bleu - moderator

rdhull said:

Aside from missing Extralovable and Lust You Always, there are others that are missing. Namely, the instrumental version of Lust You Always and Climax which is also an instrumental.

I would also liked to have seen Prince's version of Baby You're A Trip with only his vocals, that version is far better than what came out on Originals without all the echoey effects added (that were not on the original).

Looking forward to this but really a complete set of the 1999 sessions should include reissues of What Time Is It? and Vanity 6's album as Prince pretty much did all those tracks too and I'm sure there are some great alternate versions/outtakes from them.

[Edited 11/28/19 1:21am]

AvocadosMax said:

yello1 said:

New interview with Michael Howe:

https://www.ilikeyouroldstuff.com/news/interview-prince-archivist-michael-howe-on-prince-vault

“I would say the vast majority of The Vault is not officially released,” Howe says. “It’s difficult to quantify, but there is a lot more unreleased material than there is released material - I can tell you that much. As well as Prince music in The Vault, there are sessions with an array of other artists and players whose work intersected with Prince’s work. I can think of one collaboration with an artist in The Vault no one even knows about.

Some of Prince’s attempts at humour from this period no longer translate, particularly in a post #MeToo environment. Howe explains that despite the wish to create an exhaustive overview of Prince’s 1999-era output, unreleased songs “Extraloveable” and “Lust U Always” were left off the package. “Even though those two tracks are resolutely of the era, both tracks contain somewhat lamentable rape references. Given the egregiously insensitive candour of the lyrics and our lack of wanting to take creative license by editing or manipulating the tracks, we decided not to include them. Even though we want to shed light on the entire creative period, we certainly don’t want to be inflammatory or insensitive. We didn’t think it was right to include them.”

.

Do you know what? Fair play to Michael Howe.
.
Even though I am not happy with the decision to shelf these two tracks, I really appreciate the fact that he addressed the situation head on and didn't duck the question. I admire his honesty and reasoning. He also didn't berate the fans for wanting these tracks which is actually very refreshing these days. Respect.

Just arrived!

Joyous.

Thanks for sharing this, Moonbeam. I can't stand all the bitching about the songs that have been left off, when we're about to receive a remastered 1999 crammed full of unreleased music. If you're a Prince fan and not excited about this, you really need to get your head examined.

Moonbeam said:

Wrote something to describe my excitement for this. I can hardly contain myself! It’s been 29 years since I first immersed myself into Prince’s magnum opus 1999. For 29 years, it has felt like more than an album to me – 1999 creates its own solar system populated by 11 different worlds I could visit over and over again, in which light exists in the form of neon purple rays and senses melt together into a fluorescent magma of vision, sound, and movement. From childhood through adolescence, adulthood, and parenthood, its magnetism hasn’t dulled a bit. I think part of it is that it feels like his most isolated album, like the songs were borne out of experiments devised and undertaken with limitless abandon inside a secluded lab. Many of the songs have an outward focus, such as the party call-to-arms of “D.M.S.R.” and the global apocalypse of “1999”, but the spirit of the album feels singular. It’s in the primordial screams of “Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)”. It’s in the feeling that the world may be watching (and even applauding), but those people don’t – they CAN’T – know the real you that echoes through “All the Critics Love U in New York”. It’s in the retreat from the perils of the real world where he can finally let his innermost thoughts out in “Lady Cab Driver”. Even the encounters with others – the flirtatious come-ons to the object of his affections in “Let’s Pretend We’re Married”, the mechanical declarations of love and lust in “Automatic”, the desperate confessions in “Lady Cab Driver”, the grandiose jetsetting of “International Lover” – these interactions feel like fantasy, concoctions of a vivid imagination. It’s that sense of aloneness that makes 1999 the perfect album to serve as a soundtrack to your escape into your inner sanctum, where your thoughts can run wild and free. I’ve gone on and on about the album itself and it’s momentous personal impact. In short, it gave me the confidence to be unswervingly me, to forge a strong sense of self that I wouldn’t sacrifice. It led me into a wide community of Prince fans, many of whom have become very dear friends. It led me to my wife, and in doing so, led me to my new country and career. I both lost and found myself in the worlds of 1999 time and time again. Inevitably, my Prince fandom led me to collect a number of bootlegs, many of which contained hidden worlds within 1999’s ever expanding solar system. Songs like “Possessed”, “Extraloveable”, and “Do Yourself a Favor” added impossibly good dimensions to the sound of 1999. “Purple Music” encapsulated the entire ethos of the era, a quaking colossus of a song outlining the all-encompassing panacea that this vibrant sci-fi synth funk provided. “No Call U” and “Turn It Up” (then split into a part 1 and a part 2) ignited with a hyperactive drive propelled by neon synths. And in “Moonbeam Levels”, I found heaven in song, an otherworldly embodiment of the transformative power of Prince’s music, and an inspiration for my screen name at all sites I frequent. For the past 20 years, I have filled disc after disc with companion sets to 1999 with these hidden treasures, gleefully expanding them with each new song that was unearthed. Tomorrow, the solar system 1999 is due to expand to a galaxy. This super deluxe version is literally a dream come true after all these years. The past two months have filled me with the strangest feeling, as I have been put in a position to anticipate something that feels like it has been permanently engrained in my DNA. Unheard titles like “Rearrange” and “Bold Generation” and “You’re All I Want” have ignited that same sense of wonder in me that the infinite soundscapes of the album have filled me with for nearly 30 years. And the album itself! The prospect of experiencing that opening seismic rumble of the drum machine in “1999” in remastered quality mere hours from now leaves me overawed. I guess that’s what purple music’s all about!

Strive said:

Moonbeam said:

rdhull said:

Strive said:

Now that they finally admitted that they won't release Extraloveable and Lust U Always because they're too pussy, I don't feel bad about not buying this release.

What a weird justification.

Indeed. Streaming is fine, but it's a bit rich to download this set illegally when it's so clearly full of a lot of worthy material due to a tantrum over the exclusion of two songs.

"We can't let the people paying $55 hear a naughty no-no word."

~*Extralovable is widely available in bootleg quality including on YouTube with over 100,000 views*~

"Why won't you give us our $55? Didn't you see the Casey Rain exclusive Vagina lyrics? Prince was totally woke and a LGBTQ trendsetter. We can't alienate those people. It's 2019 "

The estate and Warner Bros can go jump in a lake.
[Edited 11/27/19 18:03pm]

kindofblue said:

Jon Bream writes about the birth of the 1999 album, with a little help by Bobby Z, brilliant as always:

http://www.startribune.com/how-1999-made-prince-a-star-this-album-was-the-turning-point/565432932/

yes, excellent, details added that sharpened my knowledge, thank you.

Review in Belgian newspaper De Morgen: https://www.demorgen.be/t...~bd6fe98d/

New interview (in French) with Michael Howe on Funk-U: http://www.funku.fr/2019/...hael-howe/

New York Times review: https://www.nytimes.com/2...eview.html

Strive said:

No sign of whether Amazon will offer AutoRip of this?

Having the digital tracks on Amazon make them easy to access from multiple devices, so it is definitely a plus for me.

tmcjb said: