i realise this might be weird

and i love hearing all my dreams in perfect sound

might also just be that i am use to these songs in bootleg form

eg - the ball was always faster on my bootlegs, same for witness (version 2), and i preferred it like that tbh

but the prob with official releases is that i expect more, and if it doesnt meet that, then its dissapointing. with bootlegs i am more forgiving.

i cant lie, there is also something more fun and mysterious about bootlegs than having something officially released.

maybe its just that it gives it a different context, youre listening to something you werent meant to, that someone didnt want you to hear.

now, with official releases, its just out there. and you have to evaluate it more fairly as a result. its a different context.

im glad these songs are out there now, but it does take the 'hunting' aspect out of it!

-

Whats the difference? Dubious sources, tinkered with tracks, weird track selections, dodgy artwork, wrong speeds/tempo..."frankenstein"...

Warners is just a glorified eye records

Michael Howe is just a glorified Lovesigne. They both even have an unneccesary "E" at the end of their name

OperatingThetan said:

I've definitely prefered some of the production and mixes on certain bootlegs because it sounds authentically Prince, as opposed to the mixing values of Bolas, who tends to drench Prince's vocals in unnecessary reverb. This is most noticeable on 'Originals'. Also, I would prefer to hear the development and various mixes of songs as recorded, not butchered composites of various takes that Prince never assembled. The circulating bootlegs of '100MPH' for example, are superior to the Estate's release.

Does adding reverb help to conceal source audio problems?

In the case of bootlegs vs. official releases . . . one example stands out to me from last year and that is If It'll Make U Happy. The bootleg version is waaayyy better than the version on 1999:SDE. Too much reverb on the official version! Maybe if I had never heard the bootleg, the official one wouldn't bother me so much.

On a recent bootleg, last year or so, I heard different versions of Sister in various stages of development. THAT kind of stuff is great to hear!

While I don't want to scrape the bottom of the barrel like The Beatles did with their Anthology, I wouldn't mind hearing a few of these early drafts come to light.

i never heard or had a "bootleg" Prince record/tape ..isnt that stealing from Prince?

Se7en said:

While I don't want to scrape the bottom of the barrel like The Beatles did with their Anthology, I wouldn't mind hearing a few of these early drafts come to light.

Bottom of the barrel on Anthology? Whut?

Both

theives in the temple for REAL

No, not really but there are some bootlegs that I listen to much more often than official releases, for instance the Noon Rendezvous/Neon Rendezvous bootleg, and some bootlegs may not sound crystal clear but have a deeper bass than the released versions. I´m sure that if one day we get a legit release of Can´t Stop/We Can Funk/Girl of my Dreams it will probably sound much thinner than the bootleg I´ve gotten used to.

RJOrion said:

Revolution81 said:

-

Whats the difference? Dubious sources, tinkered with tracks, weird track selections, dodgy artwork, wrong speeds/tempo..."frankenstein"...

Warners is just a glorified eye records

Michael Howe is just a glorified Lovesigne. They both even have an unneccesary "E" at the end of their name

.

But yes, there's some truth here.

Revolution81 said:

lust said:

The moment a previously bootlegged track gets an offical release, two things happen. 1) We (generally) get the far superior sound that we’ve always wanted. 2) The legacy and magic of the underground catalog is chipped away at. At some point we’ll no longer be able to bore people with tales of having more unreleased studio songs that most artists have ever released and then telling them that some of it is actually his best work. Instead, they can stream it for free on Spotify. I’m so pleased that we now have Wally (even though it is not THE version) but was the mystique of never having heard it and knowing that we likely never would of even more value to the Prince Canon? Would I change it and not have them release it? No. But we are losing something. [Edited 10/22/20 10:21am]

Makes sense but in this day and age of streaming and downloads, especially illegal downloads, official releases mean very little anyway. I know many die-hard Prince fans who used to buy every official release and even they stopped caring and stopped buying legit releases so I don´t really care about having exclusive or almost mystic unreleased stuff.....just let the estate release as much as they can and let´s buy it and listen to it while we´re still here on earth, because frankly, I´m not so sure how long we´ll be able to be here and buy music and listen to it.

And I must admit that even though I still buy almost any new release, I doubt that I will really care that much about some obscure releases such as an unreleased Vanity 6 or The Family song ten years from now, so I for one am glad that they´re releasing lots of music in comparatively short time.

i'd prefer not stealing from another Black Man

RJOrion said:

RJOrion said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

RJOrion said:

lust said:

RJOrion said:

lust said:

RJOrion said:

RJOrion said:

lust said:

For clarity, do you steal from people that you don’t consider to be “my people”?

i dont steal... and if i did endeavor to partake in larcenous activities, i damn sure wouldnt be trying to steal from Prince Nelson. Or anybody else i consider "my people".

Legally speaking , bootleg material will probably always be stolen material but these days I see it as a part of presering his legacy and body of work, plus it´s good for posterity. I see the bootleg and "elite trader" scene as a positive factor, a second archive so to speak, and those guys are like archivists, in a way protecting the songs.

I´m happy with the Super Deluxe Editions the estate and Mr.Howe put together but imagine if that was all we knew of Prince´s music. Would it really suffice?

b00tlegs occur more often, offer different material, offer material sooner.

RJOrion said:

Boots will always be an essential part of getting into Prince's musical world because not everything will be offiicially released. However I do perfer any official souce of audio whenever it is out

[Edited 10/22/20 23:13pm]