i.e he was working on several projects like he was in the mid-late 80s, and needed to compile a best of, out of those projects, not release them individually.

i know there was the unofficial The Dawn set, but that basically like a modern crystal ball, cool for completists, but maybe too much in one sitting.

a double (or one single CD in 90s terms) would have provided a more succinct summary of prince at that point.

something like -

disc1

Interactive

Endorphinmachine

Shhh

Shy

Zannalee

Pheromone

Papa

Dark

Count the Days

Dolphin

The Same December

Gold

disc 2

Dig U Better Dead

Dinner with Delores

I Like It There

319

Billy Jack Bitch

I Hate U

Solo

Letitgo

Orgasm

Into the Light

I Will

Had U

[Edited 7/24/22 12:29pm]

i'm pretty sure all fans have a playlist from that era.

Mainly because WB wouldn't let Prince release multi disc albums anymore.

That's why he went rogue.

"WB should have made Prince do...."

is already not a reality!

Sorry, funkybaby!!!

its a fantasy lol.

i know at that time it was a no-no.

but it would have been better for all, and for posterity, if he had been allowed one more double album

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

i.e he was working on several projects like he was in the mid-late 80s, and needed to compile a best of, out of those projects, not release them individually.

i know there was the unofficial The Dawn set, but that basically like a modern crystal ball, cool for completists, but maybe too much in one sitting.

a double (or one single CD in 90s terms) would have provided a more succinct summary of prince at that point.

something like -

disc1

Interactive

Endorphinmachine

Shhh

Shy

Zannalee

Pheromone

Papa

Dark

Count the Days

Dolphin

The Same December

Gold

disc 2

Dig U Better Dead

Dinner with Delores

I Like It There

319

Billy Jack Bitch

I Hate U

Solo

Letitgo

Orgasm

Into the Light

I Will

Had U

[Edited 7/24/22 12:29pm]

WB shoud have made him? Prince likely would have loved to that. WB wasn't interested.

While I totally vibe with your enthusiasm for that era and the great cache of songs he cut I have to say WB and their quality control and savvy business sense to not saturate the market was what Prince needed. For when Prince turned his contractual obligation albums to when was "free" he totally watered down his catalog and lost his specialness. I remember that before "Emancipation" EVERY Prince song I could find was like manna from heaven to me. Just so thrilling. Then? The floodgates opened and he unleashed too much music with too much mediocrity in a short period of time. It was never the same. "Emancipation" was a mistake. Wait. Wait. I actually really dig it now but think about this...36 songs was really 3-4 Prince albums all at once...and then Crystal Ball, NPS, etc. It's like in the space of 1994-1999 years Prince released as many songs as he did in all the years 1978-1993!!

RJOrion said:

lurker316 said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

i.e he was working on several projects like he was in the mid-late 80s, and needed to compile a best of, out of those projects, not release them individually.

i know there was the unofficial The Dawn set, but that basically like a modern crystal ball, cool for completists, but maybe too much in one sitting.

a double (or one single CD in 90s terms) would have provided a more succinct summary of prince at that point.

something like -

disc1

Interactive

Endorphinmachine

Shhh

Shy

Zannalee

Pheromone

Papa

Dark

Count the Days

Dolphin

The Same December

Gold

disc 2

Dig U Better Dead

Dinner with Delores

I Like It There

319

Billy Jack Bitch

I Hate U

Solo

Letitgo

Orgasm

Into the Light

I Will

Had U

[Edited 7/24/22 12:29pm]

WB shoud have made him? Prince likely would have loved to that. WB wasn't interested.

- Yes! And there were so many cool songs from those years...

RJOrion said:

WB "should have made him do..."?? Its that kind of thought process that made the man draw 'sLaVE' on his face. WB wasnt gonna "make him do" anything

Him failing to read through his contract or have a competent lawyer do it is the reason he had to write slave on his face. If you sign a piece of paper stating that you're going to do X in exhange for Y then you are no slave. He wasn't forced to sign anything.

Shoulda coulda woulda.

Prince and WB were already at war in 1995. (He announced his intention to separate from them in December of that year.) They weren't going to "make him" do anything.

Come, Gold and Exodus are all basically offshoots of the same project(s) he had going on at that time. Several of the songs appeared on different albums than the ones they ended up on.

He was on fire during this era, but one of WB's main complaints was over-saturation.

Se7en said:

Come, Gold and Exodus are all basically offshoots of the same project(s) he had going on at that time. Several of the songs appeared on different albums than the ones they ended up on.

He was on fire during this era, but one of WB's main complaints was over-saturation.

Totally agree. Come, The Gold Experience, Exodus, Chaos and Disorder are all fantastic records. I've always maintained that as big as his mid-80s moments were (and literally all of the 80s were great for him), that the mid-90s was the same kind of firing-on-all-burners situation.

It seems that once his started NPG Records, and started owning his property he saw the end. And it energizes him. One could argue that the biggest dip in his WB-era career was all things just before, during, and after Graffiti Bridge. But D&P and saw him rise with a new fire in his gut. He shot off The Hits/The B-Sides and promptly moved on.

But yeah, even though he owned the music post '93, his deal still had WB calling the shots of distribution/when, etc.

And to the OP, as much as he was purposely distancing himself from all things Prince, there was zero way he was going to revisit SOTT to do anything with it. And nope - WB wasn't going to make him do anything. Good fucking luck with that.