as this is the month its getting the SDE treatment, here is a chance to challenge the accepted consensus on the album.

obviously it is one of his best. after all, it just has one brilliant song after the other....

BUT...

ive never really thought it all fits together that well. which makes sense considering where all the songs have been pulled from (listen to the camille album and youll hear a much better, more cohesive 'album', and one which i think would have been one of prince's best if he released it).

prince often had albums that didnt really hang that well (controversy, ATWIAD, parade even), and this isnt that different. i dont think creating a 'mood' per se was ever that big a concern, it was more just selecting the best songs from the ones he was working on at the time. if they had a connection, so be it.

never mind that though. how would you change the running order of sott? would you?

in his LRB piece last year, the writer ian penman suggests it should start with SOTT (apocalypse) and end with the cross (release/redemption etc). i quite like that. though mine would go something like -

side one (the fairlight funk side)

sott

it

hot thing

housequake

side two (the rock side)

u got the look

play in the sunshine

i could never take the place...

the cross

side three (the experimental/weird side)

the ballad of dorothy parker

starfish and coffee

strange relationship

if i was your girlfriend

side four (the R&B/ballad/devotional side + a feel good live funk stomp to go out on a high note)

forever in my life

slow love

adore

its gonna be a beautiful night

[Edited 9/1/20 15:40pm]

i will be doing no such thing

I feel that "Forever in My Life" has an experimental, skeletal, futuristic, electronic mix, plus the backup vocals precede the lead vocals.

"Strange Relationship" has very pop friendly arrangement and sound, and the only thing odd is that that it is mixed to emphasize that monotonous hard hitting beat that goes through the whole song like some kind of tribal march with the synth and other intruments all in sync. That aspect is unique.

So I would have switched those two around in the genre categories.

To me the genius of the album is how it encapsulates his almost manic musical diversity with its kind of shuffle/scattered track arrangements. You start grouping tracks by genre, sounds and what "goes together" and suddenly you take all the energy and edge out of the record. I don't want similar songs together.... the night-and-day contrast between the stark title track and the giddy "Play in the Sunshine" is what hooked me from the jump.

WhisperingDandelions said:

ufoclub said:

Nope, but I might like SOTT at the end instead of beginning.

The OP is trying to resequence based on the type of song. This ain't no gatdayum Babyface record! Prince don't work like that, never has, never would. Grouping similar songs is silly and trite when talking about Prince music.

The fucking genius of that record is the unexpected. You kinda knew what was coiming with Parade because there was an aesthetic over the whole record for the most part. SOTT doesn't have that. So much reworked and remixed stuff (compared to when W&L were putting things together) that things like "Housequake" are entirely different than "Forever In My Life" or "ICNTTPOYM." "Beautiful Night" is a romp followed by one of his best ballads ever put to tape.

To resequence feels dim. You try to fix perfect, you fuck it up. SOTT is a more perfect record than Purple Rain. It doesn't need to be resequenced, nor would I consider it.

As one of those Org weirdos that obsesses over tracklists and alternate tracklists and playlists, etc, I can definitvely say HELL NO. Every track is in its place for a good reason.

Shockadelica should have been there after IIWYGF

TrivialPursuit said:

In my mind, the perfect sequence is the Crystal Ball triple album. WB forced a double album, but let's play around some more and say that they required a single album. That means that the running time as a total is roughly 24 minutes per side. It is possible to have a nice flowing album... for me, this would be the strongest version, removing filler and annoying tracks:

.

Side A:

Sign O' The Times (4:56)
Housequake (4:41)
Forever In My Life (3:30)
Starfish And Coffee (2:50)
It (5:10)

.

To me, it only requires removing the starting alarm bell for Starfish & Coffee and this is a nicely sequenced side running 21:07

Side B:
If I Was Your Girlfriend (5:01)
The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker (4:02)
Strange Relationship (4:01)
Adore (6:29)

.

Adore will start properly, of course, without any audience noise. This brings this side to 19:33 and the full album to 40 minutes and 40 seconds, something Prince would probably have liked (and me too, so I could fit it on one side of a 90 minute cassette)

.

I do have a problem with removing It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night, but with a runtime of 9 minutes, it simply too long for the album. I'd make it the B side to the first single, Sign O' The Times, with La La La He He Hee and Shockadelica as B sides for the other singles Housequake (b/w Shockadelica) and Strange Relationship (b/w La La La He He Hee). Depending on album reception and Prince's willingness to support the album, the rest of side B could be follow-up singles, not sure what the best B sides for those would be, but I wouldn't use any of the removed tracks from the double album. Candidates would be Jaguar, Last Heart, Sexual Suicide ad Rebirth Of The Flesh, to combat the critics somewhat that complained about the "mellowness" of the album. (hey if we're going to do fanfic alternative history, we might as well take that in mind!)

.

This, of course, is sacrilege, but a fun thought exercise anyway.

Krank