Fenwick said:
My apologies. Allow me a brief introduction context wise.
I was recently explaining to my close friend from the Org, Trvial Pursuit, the older I get, the more difficult I find it to make time for a true and proper assessment of these Super Deluxe releases.
Life in general makes time a premium. But when you're married with two young kids, carving out the space and time to properly digest vast volumes of material that is this historically and artistically vital becomes extraordinarily difficult.
So for me, the invariable rinse, wash, repeat cycle is: Obtain album, listen to it as intensely as a I can for a few weeks, then put it away for A LONG STRETCH of time. I'll get back to it when time permits.
So here we are. A full three years later. And I'm FINALLY dusting this stuff off again.
Let's begin with my overall score; (which will include a controversial comment not worth debating).
My overall score for the box set is an 8.5. (This is a VERY high mark for me).
Not taking the time to create a 5.1 mix and omitting the Lust U Always/Extraloveable tracks due to retroactive morality is borderline irresponsible. That's just my opinion.
But this material is too important to make judgment calls of that nature. Even if every song on the discs isn't very good, the rest of the package is brilliant and extremely well done. On to the tracks:
Feel U Up/Irresistable Bitch - (9 out of 10) This pair of songs were readily available to those of us with access to boots over the years. Usually any song Prince parked for a later date and revisited resulted in a far lesser version of said song. But in this very rare instance, I'd say the Batman B side of Feel U Up feels tighter and more focused.
The main keyboard line that transitions into Bitch is magniificent. The surly vocals and majestic outro guitar are brilliant.
Money Don't Grow on Trees - (3 out of ten) This isn't particularly worth debating with people who love it. It's a wonderfully produced track where the musicianship is excellent. But the melody and ESPECIALLY the lyrics just destroy my interest in the song. I detest the "Money don't grow on tress" resolution of the chorus.
Vagina - (10 out of 10) I don't use a 10 score lightly. And the next three tracks all sit comfortably with this score. Vagina sonically drips of a cleaned up Dirty Mind era track. The liner notes in the box set suggest this is an incomplete demo because it lacks a drum track. I couldn't disagree with this assessment more. The "half boy half girl" chants with hand claps feel VERY complete to me. If anything, a full drum track would feel invasive to that groove. The bass line complete with atonal fills are brilliant.
Rearrange - (10 out of 10) How did this song not receive a proper release? The instrumentation and stacked vocals are perfect.
Oh..... and that guitar solo. It begins around the 2 minute mark and stretches to the end of the song. A four minute solo of titanic bliss.
Bold Generation - (10 out of 10) Again, everything about this song is perfection and dwarves the Graffiti Bridge version. The instrumental breaks are so fulfilling. I want this song to last 45 minutes.
Colleen - (2 out of 10) Because it's Prince this falls into the historically important, but artistically irrelevant category. It's a jam that meanders aimlessly for five and a half minutes.
International Lover - (8 out of 10) For those of us who love this song, this is a minilamist gold mine. Jusy piano and drums. Those random call outs are pure gold. "Peggy - are you listening" "Thank you for flying Morris International - don't touch those cymbals" "Give me a nice ending right here". "Just touch those cymbals a little bit - fiddle around".
Turn It Up - (6 out of 10) This is one of those songs where debate is warranted. It's one of those few famous outtake songs (like Wonderful Ass) that just don't work for me. It's not "bad" per se and I like it. But five and a half minutes of this particular groove don't do it for me.
You're All I Want - (3 out of 10) Clearly an inferior Horny Toad cousin.
Something In the Water - (9 out of 10) A really fun variant to the released version.
If It'll Make You Happy - (1 out of 10) Nothing positive to say here. This is not anything I ever want to hear again in this lifetime.
How Come alternate - (10 out of 10) This is just about as gorgeous musically as anything you could ask for in life. The interchanged subtleness and attack of the vocals and piano are literally perfection.
Possessed - (8 out of 10) Sing the "I was dreaming when I wrote this" lyrics from 1999 over the main intro riff. I love this song. But I understand why it was shelved.
Delirious Long - (6 out of 10) Outside "Free", this is my least favorite song on the proper album. The removal of the extra bits was very appropraite.
Purple Music - (3 out of 10) I understand why people worship this song. The instrumentation is phenomenal and the lyrics speak to the importance of music on a personal level. But I've never cared for it.
Yah You Know - (ZERO our of ten) - Pardon my language. But this song can go fuck itself forever.
Moonbeam - (9 out of 10) One of his most legendary outakes. So nice to have in the best quality possible .
No Call U - (7 out of 10) A Prince 'light" song that really works. It has a great atmosphere.
Can't Stop - (9 out of 10) This rough and ready preliminary version is so quintessentially Prince. I wish it was longer. Much longer.
Do Yourself a Favor (9 out of 10) I actually forgot this was a Willie Pepe track. Right around the six minute mark when you feel like it's overstaying its' welcome, this happens:
"Too sexy. Yaysssss. Mhhmmmhmmmmmm That's a fifty dollar bill. When's the last time you saw one of them"? I could hear 75 more minutes of that banter.
Don't Let Him Fool Ya - (5 out of 10) It's OK. But certainly not essential.
Teacher Teacher - (10 out of 10) I've aways had a soft spot for this song. It really plays right into the Wendy and Lisa sandbox. That bass line is so full of flavor and the harmonized outro screams are glorious.
Medley - (5 out of 10) An admittedly strange way to close the disc. This doesn't move any needles and was quickly abandoned for a reason.
I hope this creates some interest in revisiting and reassessing these tracks.
[Edited 9/21/22 17:01pm]
I hope it does too.