Yes on ATWIAD, Parade, Black Album/Lovesexy.

But ALL?

Is the D&P SD really happening? Can you honestly think of ANYONE other than died hards buying it? Most interested folks already have the hits and the rapping on that album is so dated.

My opinion is definitely not all WB albums. If sales are underwhelming on SDs for 1999 and SOTT there is no incentive to do lesser albums this way.

I would love a Dirty Mind/Controversy combo SD. It's a critical period in his career and those two albums sound like they were all recorded in the same sessions anyway.

I would hope they would do 2 or 3 disc deluxe editions of For You , Prince, Batman, Graffiti, D&P, Symbol.

Also at some point Sony will have to re-issue 1999 and SOTT physically, yes?

homesquid said:

Yes on ATWIAD, Parade, Black Album/Lovesexy.

But ALL?

Is the D&P SD really happening? Can you honestly think of ANYONE other than died hards buying it? Most interested folks already have the hits and the rapping on that album is so dated.

My opinion is definitely not all WB albums. If sales are underwhelming on SDs for 1999 and SOTT there is no incentive to do lesser albums this way.

I would love a Dirty Mind/Controversy combo SD. It's a critical period in his career and those two albums sound like they were all recorded in the same sessions anyway.

I would hope they would do 2 or 3 disc deluxe editions of For You , Prince, Batman, Graffiti, D&P, Symbol.

Also at some point Sony will have to re-issue 1999 and SOTT physically, yes?

Who said that sales were "underwhelming" for SOTT ?

In case you forgot D&P was a huge hit for Prince and "diehards" are who they are marketing this to and there are several hundred thousand Prince diehards.

If 200,000 bought a $100 dollar box set........

I want Super Deluxe versions of the following albums (those which have yet to receive such treatment):

FOR YOU

PRINCE

DIRTY MIND

CONTROVERSY

AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY

PARADE

LOVESEXY

DIAMONDS & PEARLS

THE GOLD EXPERIENCE

Call me batshit crazy, but I've recently developed a hunch that AFTER a possible Diamonds & Pearls SDE is released this year, the Estate is going to move from a yearly SDE release to some subscription based model that will give us even more access to his music...and the vault. Something like the Neil Young Archives or the Radiohead Public Library.

It's my hope that Sony, WB, and the Estate will recognize the importance of creating SDEs for his "classic era" albums. If they cooperate and give us SDEs of "Around The World In A Day", "Parade", "Lovesexy", and "Batman", I'll be deliriously happy.

.

On another forum I frequent, George Michael fans were bemoaning how inept his management seems to be when it comes to reissuing and updating his catalogue. They've been working on a vinyl reissue - just vinyl, no SDE - of one of his later albums for two years now! And forget any Wham! or "Faith" projects.

.

So at least as Prince fans we've gotten what we've gotten. If getting a "Diamonds & Pearls" SDE this year means we get "Lovesexy" or "Parade" next year, I'm okay with that.

[Edited 5/16/21 10:14am]

Just my opinion, in principle I'm not a fan of the Super Deluxe model.

Velvet Kitty Cat and Katrina's Paper Dolls are both on Purple Rain Deluxe yet have nothing to do with the project and were recorded months before.

It's kinda intellectual laziness but I suppose it's whatever chases the dollar.

It's quite possible they will super deluxe every album from For You to Love Symbol ('78-'92).

Since they've already shat on the purist's dream of having Vault material released as de facto, standalone albums, I guess they may as well continue as they were before. It's what will bring in most money for the Estate.

It would be great if we were given SDE of every album, but I doubt that it will happen. I have a feeling that it will simply stop after the next three or four that hopefully will be released. I just would like them to concentrate on releasing the music that a lot of us don't have (I'm not a mega collector). I would like to hear somgs that I have never heard before.

D&P will definitely happen. It was such a success internationally, supported by a huge tour. It represents Prince at his commercial peak. It might not have aged well, it might not be the critics' favourite, but it'll definitely get the SD at some point.

And no personally I don't think every album will get the SD treatment - we could easily spend the next 20 years just mining the WB era recording sessions for more gems and leave everything from mid-90s and beyond, and that's probably what we all want anyway.

AvocadosMax said:

His sisters goal is to release everything, or pretty much everything, that he recorded. So even if they lay off the SDE treatment on some of the remasters, i’m sure they will come up with other projects

His sister isn't involved in the Estate no more so whatever. But anyway if that's the intention, just remember...

It won't be Graceland unless they commoditize a makeup range (which Prince didn't design), Paris St Germain's 4th jersey (which Paris St Germain will never wear), and anti-diarrheal drugs so you get ill just like Elvis.

fortuneandserendipity said:

AvocadosMax said:

His sisters goal is to release everything, or pretty much everything, that he recorded. So even if they lay off the SDE treatment on some of the remasters, i’m sure they will come up with other projects

While his sister's heart is in the right place, it takes money to get all of those songs/videos remastered/touched up, etc. and the way the things are going with the Estate I don't know if we'll get to hear/see all that is in the vault.

AvocadosMax said:

I hope they eventually re-do the Purple Rain SDE. The 2017 version sucked. The “remaster” just sounded like they took the digital copy, added bass, and then raised the audio levels to hell. I get Prince had no interest in remasters, but why not just call yup Bernie Grundman? Josh already had plenty to do producing HitnRun Phase One.

I'd really like a decent PR remaster too. Such a shame that the one we have was brick walled so badly. It's not all bad though, some of it sounds great with it being so clear and without hiss compared to the original CD.

As for SDE's in general , I like them but I'm not too fussed. I definitely want every album remastered to the same standards as 1999 and SOTT as they both sounded great. For unreleased material I'd like some kind of online vault. If they're going to continue with physical releases then I'd like to see them in packages relating to the years that the tracks were recorded.

Whatever they do, I hope they start ramping up the release schedule. As with all of us, I'm not getting any younger, they should be maximising their earning from those of us who are still willing to pay for stuff because we won't be around forever.

I don't think every album will be Super Deluxed however I definitely think every album from the '80s will be as well as a few chosen '90s albums.

AvocadosMax said:

I hope they eventually re-do the Purple Rain SDE. The 2017 version sucked. The “remaster” just sounded like they took the digital copy, added bass, and then raised the audio levels to hell. I get Prince had no interest in remasters, but why not just call yup Bernie Grundman? Josh already had plenty to do producing HitnRun Phase One.

Wasn't the 2017 version based off of the same digital transfer that the HD Tracks version was based off of? I didn't hear any more clarity via better tape transfer than that version, just more compression and low end being added. If it was done tastefully via 1999 remaster in regards to the compression it could have been a winner

muleFunk said:

Who said that sales were "underwhelming" for SOTT ?

Purple Rains SD was still selling more copies than the brand new release. That's got to be underwhelming for that set. It's one thing for PR to still do healthy sales but it shouldn't be beating the initial roll out sales of something like SOTT.

It would make an enormous amount of sense for Warner to use up their last remaining year owning the rights to the non-soundtrack albums with a deluxe of his biggest selling remaining album. We can then expect they will do SDEs of the other soundtrack albums, leading up to Purple Rain for 2024. The good news is that Sony will then be incentivized to do not only special editions of other albums, but also *even more* with 1999 and SOTT, maybe even someday an Atmos/5.1 mix. I would've loved to have seen Dirty Mind or Parade this year, but when you factor in what a hit D+P was, it makes perfect sense for this to come right now.

muleFunk said:

homesquid said:

Yes on ATWIAD, Parade, Black Album/Lovesexy.

But ALL?

Is the D&P SD really happening? Can you honestly think of ANYONE other than died hards buying it? Most interested folks already have the hits and the rapping on that album is so dated.

My opinion is definitely not all WB albums. If sales are underwhelming on SDs for 1999 and SOTT there is no incentive to do lesser albums this way.

I would love a Dirty Mind/Controversy combo SD. It's a critical period in his career and those two albums sound like they were all recorded in the same sessions anyway.

I would hope they would do 2 or 3 disc deluxe editions of For You , Prince, Batman, Graffiti, D&P, Symbol.

Also at some point Sony will have to re-issue 1999 and SOTT physically, yes?

Who said that sales were "underwhelming" for SOTT ?

In case you forgot D&P was a huge hit for Prince and "diehards" are who they are marketing this to and there are several hundred thousand Prince diehards.

If 200,000 bought a $100 dollar box set........

-

True.

From a commercial point of view, I think they are 'trying' to milk this (D&P SDE), cause they simply need the money.

You're right homesquid, they should release these important DirtyMind/Controversy combo.

But I think they will keep that till the end i'm affaid.

But from a commercial point of view, the song 'Controversy' plus maybe 'When U Were Mine', are the only commercially known singles. Not much to go with for a SDE imho.

Same for Parade SDE. I'm also not sure if they will release that soon. (I do still hope for it)

Indeed, 'Kiss' still is the most important track from that album. But that is the only known single that is generally his most known track. But not the album it was on.

Let alone the movie it was in.

I don't know, i'm just speculating. But everything needs to be seen from an economical and profitable point of view. Simple as that.

Otherwise the estate can shut down.

-

[Edited 5/17/21 5:11am]

fortuneandserendipity said:

Just my opinion, in principle I'm not a fan of the Super Deluxe model.

Velvet Kitty Cat and Katrina's Paper Dolls are both on Purple Rain Deluxe yet have nothing to do with the project and were recorded months before.

It's kinda intellectual laziness but I suppose it's whatever chases the dollar.

It's quite possible they will super deluxe every album from For You to Love Symbol ('78-'92).

Since they've already shat on the purist's dream of having Vault material released as de facto, standalone albums, I guess they may as well continue as they were before. It's what will bring in most money for the Estate.

That Purple Rain release was before the had proper access to the vault - they threw on everything they had that could be vaguely linked to the era, in whatever source was then available.

A lot more care has subsequently been taken.

As one of the biggest hits of his career, D&P is a shoe-in for the deluxe treatment. Massive hits, huge tour, big exposure with music videos etc.

Vannormal said:

muleFunk said:

Who said that sales were "underwhelming" for SOTT ?

In case you forgot D&P was a huge hit for Prince and "diehards" are who they are marketing this to and there are several hundred thousand Prince diehards.

If 200,000 bought a $100 dollar box set........

-

True.

From a commercial point of view, I think they are 'trying' to milk this (D&P SDE), cause they simply need the money.

You're right homesquid, they should release these important DirtyMind/Controversy combo.

But I think they will keep that till the end i'm affaid.

But from a commercial point of view, the song 'Controversy' plus maybe 'When U Were Mine', are the only commercially known singles. Not much to go with for a SDE imho.

Same for Parade SDE. I'm also not sure if they will release that soon. (I do still hope for it)

Indeed, 'Kiss' still is the most important track from that album. But that is the only known single that is generally his most known track. But not the album it was on.

Let alone the movie it was in.

I don't know, i'm just speculating. But everything needs to be seen from an economical and profitable point of view. Simple as that.

Otherwise the estate can shut down.

-

[Edited 5/17/21 5:11am]

As a fan, sure, I don't care about their bottom line but you're right. Realistically, only the albums that still sell will likely get the SDE treatment. Parade and Dirty Mind/Controversy are the exception. Those are just iconic Prince eras with lots of material.

The only catalog things that still actually sell are hits collections and Purple Rain. Not even SOTT sold many units the past decade. Is there enough material for a ATWIAD SDE?

D&P is rumoured so probably happening. That said I don't believe it will sell even half of what the other SDEs have. I think it's a mistake not to go with Parade because of the wealth of material. I'm a huge fan- not quite what I would call a diehard anymore (Prince has too much music available already and there's only so much time we have)- and loved D&P when it came out but I will not be pre-ordering any D&P SDE until I hear the contents. Probably will cherry pick.

fortuneandserendipity said:

Velvet Kitty Cat and Katrina's Paper Dolls are both on Purple Rain Deluxe yet have nothing to do with the project and were recorded months before.

.

so?

.

they were clearly recorded after 1999. and yes, they were recorded befrore purple rain really got rolling, but where else would you expect them to fit in?

LoveGalore said:

fortuneandserendipity said:

Just my opinion, in principle I'm not a fan of the Super Deluxe model.

Velvet Kitty Cat and Katrina's Paper Dolls are both on Purple Rain Deluxe yet have nothing to do with the project and were recorded months before.

It's kinda intellectual laziness but I suppose it's whatever chases the dollar.

It's quite possible they will super deluxe every album from For You to Love Symbol ('78-'92).

Since they've already shat on the purist's dream of having Vault material released as de facto, standalone albums, I guess they may as well continue as they were before. It's what will bring in most money for the Estate.

Those two songs probably aren't the best to mention as they were recorded initially during the same sessions that yielded everything else during the era. It's Wonderful Ass that sticks out the most as the version on the deluxe isba result of sessions completed after PR came out. Same as Dance Electric.

.

except for (according to princevalult) wonderful ass basic tracking started in '83. so again, where else would this fit in. it makes more sense in the purple rain era than around the world. people here are never f*#%ing happy.

homesquid said:

Yes on ATWIAD, Parade, Black Album/Lovesexy.

But ALL?

.

As the Estate is unable to even get close to the theoretical maximum monetzation of their assets, they will also be unable to make attractive, unsensored releases for those releases.

And even if they do it will take many many years.

Same as the 'speed' at which they solve the inheritance things.

Same as the 'speed' at which they check the vault and catalog it. (one person)

Same as the efficiency of the leaches.

Not in there for the most efficient production...

SoulAlive said:

I would be very disappointed if we don’t get SDEs for Dirty Mind and Controversy.

Those are the main two that I want. Also the other 1980s albums. They need to release some of those full completed previously unreleased albums from the 1980s though. As for the 1990s to the present, they keep all that shit.

savagedreams said:

fortuneandserendipity said:

Velvet Kitty Cat and Katrina's Paper Dolls are both on Purple Rain Deluxe yet have nothing to do with the project and were recorded months before.

.

so?

.

they were clearly recorded after 1999. and yes, they were recorded befrore purple rain really got rolling, but where else would you expect them to fit in?

Because they were not songs intended for the Purple Rain project, and they weren't even recorded in the same time period. For instance, by 1985 he had already recorded at least 700-800 songs and many of them came after the 'vault' was set up in 1983. The Estate's approach is pick and mix. Don't mean to be pedantic but it's a scattergun approach. Still, I'd rather have those songs officially released somewhere than not at all.

I admit to not having read Duane Tudahl's book, but I did read somewhere that Magnoli the film director decided which 9 songs should go on the album from an assortment of nearly 100 recorded songs. Have no idea if this is really true, maybe someone can confirm or deny?