ShellyMcG said:

Emancipation This album is very good. Out of 36 songs there's bound to be a few I don't really vibe with but overall, I really like it. The ballads on here are top drawer. Somebody's Somebody is my favourite song on the whole set but there's lots to like here. Betcha By Golly Wow and La La La Means I Love You are exceptional. I know both of these songs from years ago but I prefer these Prince versions. And speaking of covers, I've always associated the song "I Can't Make You Love Me" with George Michael. I know his version was a cover as well but his is the only version I'm really familiar with. So it's a nice gimmick for me to hear Prince do it. And he does it very well. Some other favourites of mine here are Sex In The Summer, Emale, My Computer and surprisingly, Face Down. I feel like I made such a big deal out of disliking the rapping on these albums and then this one came along and won me over Speaking of being won over, Sleep Around initially annoyed me but then it grew on me. It ended up being one of the highlights on disc 3 along with Style and the title track. Overall, I put this one right up there alongside The Gold Experience. I know the 90s has brought some songs I absolutely do not like but taking everything I've heard so far into consideration, I'm really liking this period. I know it's a big departure from what he was doing in the 80s so I can see why some people were turned off during this time but I'm liking it so far. I have to seek out The Undertaker next before launching into another 3 disc(!) album, Crystal Ball. I don't know why I was under the impression that he released less stuff in the 90s because it seems like this was his busiest period.

I was waiting to hear what you thought of Emancipation - it was the album that turned me and a few friends into proper fans after years of being a casual listener. I thought you might mention some of the ballads on Disc 2 like One Kiss At a Time or Soul Sanctuary. The album does get a bit of hate on here, which I think is unwarranted. There are also 10 or so very good songs that didn't make the final cut!

Btw, Chaos & Disorder was a contractual obligation album - he certainly didn't put his heart and soul into it. And going back to Come - there are better versions of songs from that album out there, including two incredible, and very different versions of title track.

leecaldon said:

Thanks for the info, I'll look into those alternate versions of Come.

As for Emancipation, there are literally too many songs to mention . I feel like I could have listed about 20-25 songs.

The Undertaker

Bit of a weird one, this. It could just be the version of the album I got but the sound quality is weird. It's like it's too loud even if I turn the volume down. That being said, I'm not usually a big fan of heavy guitars and all that but this is actually pretty good, all things considered. The Ride goes on a bit long for my liking but it's a really good song regardless. Honky Tonk Woman is another one I enjoyed a lot. And of course, Bambi. I still prefer the version on the Prince album but this version is nice too.

A lot of Prince's music so far has been outside my comfort zone and this is no exception. In fact, I think this is the furthest I've been outside my comfort zone. But like I said, I liked it. I'm glad it was relatively short though because I'm not sure how much more I could withstand

And from 1994 you have 1 800 New Funk, which is compilation album.
https://www.google.com/se...0+new+funk

And in 1998 you have The War by Prince + NPG - a 26 minute live track.
https://www.google.com/se...ce+the+war
[Edited 10/26/22 3:05am]
[Edited 10/26/22 3:06am]

Bonnie Raitt's original version of I Can't Make You Love Me is by far the best one, imo. Prince cluelessly turned a heartbreaking song into just another song about sex.

PJMcGee said:

Having now heard all 3 versions, I still prefer the George Michael one.

Crystal Ball

The first disc is excellent. Really enjoyed it from start to finish. 2Morrow may just be my favourite song on the whole album but everything here on disc one is at least good, most of it is very good.
Things go very wrong on disc 2. It starts out ok. Interactive is a nice Endorphinmachine-esque song. But then everything up until Good Love is just not for me. So whereas everything on disc one is good, everything on disc 2 is bad with the exception of 2 songs.
Disc 3 is similar to disc 2 in that I don't like most of it. Last Heart and The Ride being the only two songs on there that I actually do like.

Just like with Emancipation, it's not fair to expect to like everything when there's so much material on offer. But there's more than enough here that I do like to give the overall album a thumbs up.

Ha, disc 2 (most of the guitar driven songs on the set) is the only disc I still listen to of CB!

ShellyMcG said:

I'm not too familiar with George's version.

ShellyMcG said:

My journey has officially begun. I started with For You. I don't know if I'll stick to a purely chronological order but I figure it's a decent starting point. I've listened to the whole album and my feeling towards it is kind of mixed. That first track scared the shit out of me. I won't lie. I thought my speakers were haunted . So year, I'll be skipping that track on my next listen. The standout tracks for me are "In Love", "Soft & Wet", "Crazy You" and "Just As Long As We're Together". After that, it's mostly downhill. There's nothing on there I'd say is bad, per se, but nothing really grabbed me after the 5th track. Overall, a good start I would say. I'll give it a second listen tonight when I go to bed but I'm pretty satisfied with how my Prince journey is going. And as an added bonus for myself, I hadn't heard any of these songs before so they were all brand new to me.

Welp! The great thing is that although not every Prince album and song may "do it for you," there are soooooooooooo many that will! Happy listening travels! I can identify with you in a way... I was a rabid Prince fan up until the Gold Experience came out in the 90s, which I listened to over and over (probably drove my little kid crazy LOL) but then I wasn't up on any new Prince music until 2009, when I got addicted to his music again...and had such fun discovering all the years of albums I hadn't heard...and plenty of bootlegs as well! I did get to take my grown son to see Prince 13 times--the last time in a small club in 2014. A lifetime dream come true! Enjoy your musical Prince journey!

purplethunder3121 said:

Hey, thanks. Unfortunately I never got to see Prince perform live. I know a couple of people who did see him though and both of them swear that he was the best live performer they'd ever seen. I always said I'd go see him if he ever played here again. But that never happened. And it's only now that I'm getting properly invested in his music that I realise how much I missed out.

Crystal Ball is actually a 5CD set.

The 3 discs were for people who only bought the album in stores. It's 3 discs of outtakes from old recordings (although "2morrow" was a new song, recorded after Mayte asked him to enter "studio rehab").

Fans who bought the album directly from Prince's website got an extra 2 discs of new albums with all-new material: Kamasutra by the NPG Orchestra, and his solo acoustic album The Truth.

The Truth album info from Jan 1998. He made The Truth right after the loss of his son and Mayte said recently specifically the song "Comeback" was written for their child. (Mayte Interview with Irish Times.) This is the proper and actual follow-up to Emancipation.

You're getting into the late 90s/early 00s now, a lot of his albums (most?) during this time were mail-order or internet-only and not ever released to record stores until like last year on vinyl. Some have never had physical releases. They get neglected from a lot of Prince resources that aren't PrinceVault.com as a result. And Old Friends 4 Sale is another outtakes set.

[Edited 10/27/22 0:06am]

WhisperingDandelions said:

Thanks again for your help. I didn't know that The Truth was part of the Crystal Ball. I had them listed as separate albums. And I never even heard of Kamasutra so thanks for the heads up on that.

ShellyMcG said:

Thanks again for your help. I didn't know that The Truth was part of the Crystal Ball. I had them listed as separate albums. And I never even heard of Kamasutra so thanks for the heads up on that.

no prob. Kamasutra was the Mayte/Prince wedding ceremony music.

1998 when I first got into Prince seemed like wtf did he slow down this year,

but after The Truth, you got,

The War. Basically an EP, though almost as long as Dirty Mind was, Which was later mailed to fans to who previously purchased the 5CD mail-order version of Crystal Ball, also streamed/sold online through his first website Love4OneAnother.com, his first online venture before he opened the NPG Music Club in 2000 (most of these year-2000 tracks were compiled into The Chocolate Invasion and The Slaugherhouse albums.)

NPG album New Power Soul, this time with Prince on clear lead vox and on the album cover. "The One" might be my fav vid, definitely a perfect and fitting final Mayte appearance. Great sultry ballad.

Chaka Khan's Come 2 My House album with Prince input throughout

and Graham Central Station's GCS 2000 with Prince input throughout. Larry Graham is the bassist from Sly & the Family Stone and one of the architects of funk. Sly's "Thank You (Falletin Me Be Mice Elf Agin)" is still a big hit, you might recognize it, that bassline is all Larry. He's a controversial figure around these parts because he's the guy who got Prince to become a Jehova's Witness. Prince definitely idolized him based on what he did for funk.

All three are in the video for NPG's "Come On" (a little Prince the comedian in that, too). All these projects make 1998 seem more significant than a list of his solo albums will.

[Edited 10/27/22 4:07am]

The Truth

Another strange turn. Of all Prince's 90s stuff I've heard so far I was not expecting an acoustic album to follow it all. Not that I'm complaining though. It's a nice change of pace. I really like this one. Don't Play Me and Circle Of Amour being the two songs I think I'll be revisiting more often. I also like The Truth (song) but, and this is going to make me seem like a prude or something, I find the swearing to be completely unnecessary. Not just on this song but on most songs that he swears on. It sounds weird. Like it's too forced or something. I just don't associate Prince with "bad language", I suppose. But anyway, I really like the album overall. It's got a nice feel to it.


The War

I didn't know where to fit this in but I was curious about it. I think the overall message of the song probably goes over my head a bit. I might need to listen to it again. Maybe a few more times. It's almost hypnotic in a weird way. For some reason I was thinking about that old Fritz Lang movie "Metropolis" throughout. And I've never even seen that movie . When I get home from work tomorrow I'm going to draw myself a hot bath and listen to this one again.

Think of the microchip as your smartphone.

Every ten-year-old has one now!

ShellyMcG said:

The Truth Another strange turn. Of all Prince's 90s stuff I've heard so far I was not expecting an acoustic album to follow it all. Not that I'm complaining though. It's a nice change of pace. I really like this one. Don't Play Me and Circle Of Amour being the two songs I think I'll be revisiting more often. I also like The Truth (song) but, and this is going to make me seem like a prude or something, I find the swearing to be completely unnecessary. Not just on this song but on most songs that he swears on. It sounds weird. Like it's too forced or something. I just don't associate Prince with "bad language", I suppose. But anyway, I really like the album overall. It's got a nice feel to it. The War I didn't know where to fit this in but I was curious about it. I think the overall message of the song probably goes over my head a bit. I might need to listen to it again. Maybe a few more times. It's almost hypnotic in a weird way. For some reason I was thinking about that old Fritz Lang movie "Metropolis" throughout. And I've never even seen that movie . When I get home from work tomorrow I'm going to draw myself a hot bath and listen to this one again.

I don't think you will hear Prince swear on another song in the rest of your listening journey.

New Power Soul

I don't know if this is a Prince album or a New Power Generation album. It's technically listed as New Power Generation but if Prince is singing on every song, shouldn't it at least be credited as a "Prince & The New Power Generation" album? Anyway, that's besides the point.

I LOVE THIS ALBUM! I think I still rate The Gold Experience ahead of it as best 90s album (so far) but this one is absolutely fantastic. Until Your In My Arms Again and Freaks On This Side are perhaps the only two songs on here I don't love but I don't dislike them either. The One is another all time great ballad. Come On and the title track are just perfect. I've used the term "not my cup of tea" quite a bit during this journey through Prince's back catalogue. Well this album is exactly "my cup of tea".

One thing I've come to realise over the past few weeks is that prior to listening to Prince, I was never really that into these kinds of soul songs. Now I find myself desperately hoping that each Prince album I listen to will have them. I've made a whole playlist with nothing but songs like Insatiable, Adore, If I Was Your Girlfriend and Scandalous.

ShellyMcG said:

New Power Soul I don't know if this is a Prince album or a New Power Generation album. It's technically listed as New Power Generation but if Prince is singing on every song, shouldn't it at least be credited as a "Prince & The New Power Generation" album? Anyway, that's besides the point. I LOVE THIS ALBUM! I think I still rate The Gold Experience ahead of it as best 90s album (so far) but this one is absolutely fantastic. Until Your In My Arms Again and Freaks On This Side are perhaps the only two songs on here I don't love but I don't dislike them either. The One is another all time great ballad. Come On and the title track are just perfect. I've used the term "not my cup of tea" quite a bit during this journey through Prince's back catalogue. Well this album is exactly "my cup of tea". One thing I've come to realise over the past few weeks is that prior to listening to Prince, I was never really that into these kinds of soul songs. Now I find myself desperately hoping that each Prince album I listen to will have them. I've made a whole playlist with nothing but songs like Insatiable, Adore, If I Was Your Girlfriend and Scandalous.

Such a fascinating journey you're on.

NPS gets a lot of hate, but there are gems on it. I was looking forward to you hearing The One. It's just so gorgeous. The video is worth seeking out as well. And the video for Come On is also amusing.

The hidden track at the end (track 49 on the CD), Wasted Kisses, is also genius.

Why he chose to release this one under the NPG moniker I've never been entirely sure. Exodus was for contractual reasons (check out his TV performances and interviews from that era, where he's wrapped a scarf around his face and called himself Tora Tora because Prince isn't supposed to be playing!). I'm guessing it was a musical decision, that this kind of funk album was an NPG project. But it was promoted at the time very much as a Prince (or "The Artist") album.

leecaldon said:

For the purposes of my ranking system, I'm going to include New Power Soul as a Prince album. I have it slightly below Emancipation based purely on Emancipation having more songs.

Why is the video for The One not on Prince's YouTube channel? Or if it is, I couldn't find it. The only one I could find was uploaded by someone else and the picture quality is less than stellar. It is a beautiful video regardless.

The Vault: Old Friends For Sale

Another good album. The very beginning of the first track gave me a bit of a fright though and maybe that's why I really don't like that song now . Luckily, the rest of the album is pretty good. 5 Women is definitely my favourite song on here.



Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic

Very, very good album. Some excellent songs on here and a few nice surprises too. I never knew Prince had a song with Gwen Stefani and I'm baffled as to how this song wasn't a huge hit. Hot With U, Man o'War, Baby Knows and Prettyman are all really great songs too but my absolute favourite song here is definitely The Greatest Romance Ever Sold. Brilliant video too. This whole album deserved a lot more success than it seemingly had.



So this wraps up the 90s segment of my Prince journey and I have to say, I'm still very much enjoying the ride. The 80s stuff opened my eyes (and ears) to some music genres I've never listened to before and a lot of the 90s stuff has shown me a superior version of a lot of the music genres I was already a fan of.

Next up is The Rainbow Children. All I know about this one is what my cousin has told me. Which was not complimentary but then again, she hates The Love Symbol too and I quite liked it so I'll make my own mind up. And I'm looking forward to kicking off this final period of Prince's officially released back catalogue.

ShellyMcG said:

The Vault: Old Friends For Sale Another good album. The very beginning of the first track gave me a bit of a fright though and maybe that's why I really don't like that song now . Luckily, the rest of the album is pretty good. 5 Women is definitely my favourite song on here. Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic Very, very good album. Some excellent songs on here and a few nice surprises too. I never knew Prince had a song with Gwen Stefani and I'm baffled as to how this song wasn't a huge hit. Hot With U, Man o'War, Baby Knows and Prettyman are all really great songs too but my absolute favourite song here is definitely The Greatest Romance Ever Sold. Brilliant video too. This whole album deserved a lot more success than it seemingly had. So this wraps up the 90s segment of my Prince journey and I have to say, I'm still very much enjoying the ride. The 80s stuff opened my eyes (and ears) to some music genres I've never listened to before and a lot of the 90s stuff has shown me a superior version of a lot of the music genres I was already a fan of. Next up is The Rainbow Children. All I know about this one is what my cousin has told me. Which was not complimentary but then again, she hates The Love Symbol too and I quite liked it so I'll make my own mind up. And I'm looking forward to kicking off this final period of Prince's officially released back catalogue.

I'm not sure how's it listed for your listening journey, but Rave In2 the Joy Fantastic is a remix album of sorts that Prince's released himself a few months after Rave Un2. You will LOVE the extended version of The Greatest Romance on there. The first minute or so of it is actually spliced from the Adam & Eve remix of the song, which is also worth checking out. And there's a Jason Nevins remix that makes it dance friendly too.

.

There are also some other tracks on Rave In2 worth checking out.

.

Prince wanted to release So Far, So Pleased as a single but No Doubt's record company wouldn't allow it. He also guested on their song, Waiting Room.

.

Old Friends 4 Sale was the other album Prince handed over with Chaos & Disorder in 96 to fulfill his contract with them. Several of the tracks were supposed to be in the Julia Roberts/Nick Nolte musical I Love Trouble - but it ended up not being a musical when the director realised it was not a good idea for Nolte to be singing those Prince songs. Not sure why Warner chose to release it when they did. Seek out the unreleased original version of Old Friends 4 Sale.

[Edited 11/1/22 6:14am]

ShellyMcG said:

Next up is The Rainbow Children. All I know about this one is what my cousin has told me. Which was not complimentary but then again, she hates The Love Symbol too and I quite liked it so I'll make my own mind up. And I'm looking forward to kicking off this final period of Prince's officially released back catalogue.

You should do The Chocolate Invasion (try to get the original tracklisting) and The Slaughterhouse first. They're both collections of tracks originally released to the NPG Music Club in 2000-2001. The Rainbow Children was also originally released to the NPG Music Club, after those other tracks were put out individually, much later in November 2001.

Saving Chocolate Invasion/Slaughterhouse for 2004 when they were re-compiled into an album after 2004's Musicology makes the evolution in styles seem jarring, especially when Musicology/3121/Planet Earth all have a pretty unified vibe related to the organic stuff that comes before them.

The production choices of Choc.Invasion/Slaugherhouse seem more logical following Rave un2 the Joy Fantastic. They were essentially "re-released" in 2004 because by that time he shut down the NPG Music Club and changed it into the Musicology Download Store, so it became the only way to get those older 2000-01 tracks.


It will also give you a better view of his trajectory following Rave un2 the Joy Fantastic, where his first attempt at a mainstream Arista-records "come back" failed and essentially made him even more of an "indie" cult artist than ever who in turn became the first major artist to switch his main source of "official" releases solely to the internet. It's that year-year-and-a-half-to-two-years backdrop that serves as a precursor to The Rainbow Children.

[Edited 11/1/22 9:11am]

leecaldon said:

I'm not sure how's it listed for your listening journey, but Rave In2 the Joy Fantastic is a remix album of sorts that Prince's released himself a few months after Rave Un2. You will LOVE the extended version of The Greatest Romance on there. The first minute or so of it is actually spliced from the Adam & Eve remix of the song, which is also worth checking out. And there's a Jason Nevins remix that makes it dance friendly too.

.

There are also some other tracks on Rave In2 worth checking out.

.

Prince wanted to release So Far, So Pleased as a single but No Doubt's record company wouldn't allow it. He also guested on their song, Waiting Room.

Rave in2 the Joy Fantastic "remixed" by Prince. Sometimes for the remix generation you know it's like, "oh, remixed by who, Kanye? Diplo? It was the 90s right, maybe a Prodigy remix, P. Diddy and the Family featuring Mariah and Bone Thugz?"

Same with "Waiting Room", here's Gwen talking about Prince taking their demo and completely reconstructing/rewriting the song in her Howard Stern interview:

https://www.youtube.com/w...D4VA8PgRPw

"Hot wit U" Remix Video - Official Channel.

But yeah, Rave in2 is a pretty substantial "remix"/reconstruction/rewrite where it deserves to be held in the same regard as the regular album proper. She's using the list on the main Wikipedia page, which throws stuff like this and the live albums into the abyss of separate wikis, yet includes all those various Greatest Hits compilation and Outtakes compilations listed with albums proper, surely they could be separate space header like they have all the NPG/Madhouse albums?... And of course, this can't be edited because of course some possessive Prince fan put locked the page on "Protection" so you gotta put in an application to be approved to make an edit or something.

Like his first live box set, One Nite Alone... Live!. More of a companion piece to The Rainbow Children and One Nite Alone, released right after. It's more "Prince in 2002" than purely "live album" like him doing "Little Red Corvette" at Wembly or something.

[Edited 11/1/22 9:17am]

leecaldon said:

I don't know about anyone else but I'd gladly pay good money to hear Nick Nolte attempt to sing Prince songs. That would be funny AF

WhisperingDandelions said:

Thanks, I'll check out The Slaughter House and The Chocolate Invasion tomorrow at work along with Rave In2 the Joy Fantastic. I may have a crap job that pays next to nothing but at least it affords me a lot of free time. And, speaking of which, I was playing Insatiable earlier today at my desk and one of the guys who works in the building walked in and instantly looked over and said "are you listening to Prince? I like it". Then he got in the elevator and I didn't see him again .

WhisperingDandelions said:

leecaldon said:

I'm not sure how's it listed for your listening journey, but Rave In2 the Joy Fantastic is a remix album of sorts that Prince's released himself a few months after Rave Un2. You will LOVE the extended version of The Greatest Romance on there. The first minute or so of it is actually spliced from the Adam & Eve remix of the song, which is also worth checking out. And there's a Jason Nevins remix that makes it dance friendly too.

.

There are also some other tracks on Rave In2 worth checking out.

.

Prince wanted to release So Far, So Pleased as a single but No Doubt's record company wouldn't allow it. He also guested on their song, Waiting Room.

Rave in2 the Joy Fantastic "remixed" by Prince. Sometimes for the remix generation you know it's like, "oh, remixed by who, Kanye? Diplo? It was the 90s right, maybe a Prodigy remix, P. Diddy and the Family featuring Mariah and Bone Thugz?"

Same with "Waiting Room", here's Gwen talking about Prince taking their demo and completely reconstructing/rewriting the song in her Howard Stern interview:

https://www.youtube.com/w...D4VA8PgRPw

"Hot wit U" Remix Video - Official Channel.

But yeah, Rave in2 is a pretty substantial "remix"/reconstruction/rewrite where it deserves to be held in the same regard as the regular album proper. She's using the list on the main Wikipedia page, which throws stuff like this and the live albums into the abyss of separate wikis, yet includes all those various Greatest Hits compilation and Outtakes compilations listed with albums proper, surely they could be separate space header like they have all the NPG/Madhouse albums?... And of course, this can't be edited because of course some possessive Prince fan put locked the page on "Protection" so you gotta put in an application to be approved to make an edit or something.

Like his first live box set, One Nite Alone... Live!. More of a companion piece to The Rainbow Children and One Nite Alone, released right after. It's more "Prince in 2002" than purely "live album" like him doing "Little Red Corvette" at Wembly or something.

[Edited 11/1/22 9:17am]

Agree with all of that.

Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic

Hmm, I'm not sure about this one. Other than the remix of Greatest Romance, I don't really like the remixes on here. I think I prefer the original version of the album. Still, an interesting listen if nothing else. Plus, a whole new song with Beautiful Strange, which I liked as well. But yeah, the original album will be the one I'll stick with in future.


The Slaughterhouse

Pretty damn good collection of songs. Some are definitely better than others though. I really like Peace and S&M Groove. The version of the album I got might be a bit dodgy though because there's two songs with different titles and run times but sound identical. There's a song listed as "Silicon" and another listed as "Welcome To The Slaughterhouse". But like I said, both songs are the same with the only difference being that "Welcome To The Slaughterhouse" is about 30 seconds longer. No song by that name shows up on the tracklist on Wikipedia though so I don't know what the deal is with that.


The Chocolate Invasion

Another really nice collection. I prefer this to the Slaughterhouse album. When I Lay My Hands On You, Supercute and The Dance are great. This was a collection of standalone singles originally released online, right? Such a shame. These songs definitely deserved a proper release on a full studio album. I can imagine Supercute in particular being a big hit around the early 2000s.


Next up is The Rainbow Children and One Night Alone.

ShellyMcG said:

Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic Hmm, I'm not sure about this one. Other than the remix of Greatest Romance, I don't really like the remixes on here. I think I prefer the original version of the album. Still, an interesting listen if nothing else. Plus, a whole new song with Beautiful Strange, which I liked as well. But yeah, the original album will be the one I'll stick with in future. The Slaughterhouse Pretty damn good collection of songs. Some are definitely better than others though. I really like Peace and S&M Groove. The version of the album I got might be a bit dodgy though because there's two songs with different titles and run times but sound identical. There's a song listed as "Silicon" and another listed as "Welcome To The Slaughterhouse". But like I said, both songs are the same with the only difference being that "Welcome To The Slaughterhouse" is about 30 seconds longer. No song by that name shows up on the tracklist on Wikipedia though so I don't know what the deal is with that. The Chocolate Invasion Another really nice collection. I prefer this to the Slaughterhouse album. When I Lay My Hands On You, Supercute and The Dance are great. This was a collection of standalone singles originally released online, right? Such a shame. These songs definitely deserved a proper release on a full studio album. I can imagine Supercute in particular being a big hit around the early 2000s. Next up is The Rainbow Children and One Night Alone.

Supercute had a CD Single in April 2001 but it was only sold at concert dates.

Good luck with the next two. If you dig them, check out his 2002 boxset, his very first formal live album One Nite Alone... Live! It's mostly Rainbow Children material, though, FYI.

[Edited 11/2/22 13:11pm]

ShellyMcG said:

Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic Hmm, I'm not sure about this one. Other than the remix of Greatest Romance, I don't really like the remixes on here. I think I prefer the original version of the album. Still, an interesting listen if nothing else. Plus, a whole new song with Beautiful Strange, which I liked as well. But yeah, the original album will be the one I'll stick with in future. The Slaughterhouse Pretty damn good collection of songs. Some are definitely better than others though. I really like Peace and S&M Groove. The version of the album I got might be a bit dodgy though because there's two songs with different titles and run times but sound identical. There's a song listed as "Silicon" and another listed as "Welcome To The Slaughterhouse". But like I said, both songs are the same with the only difference being that "Welcome To The Slaughterhouse" is about 30 seconds longer. No song by that name shows up on the tracklist on Wikipedia though so I don't know what the deal is with that. The Chocolate Invasion Another really nice collection. I prefer this to the Slaughterhouse album. When I Lay My Hands On You, Supercute and The Dance are great. This was a collection of standalone singles originally released online, right? Such a shame. These songs definitely deserved a proper release on a full studio album. I can imagine Supercute in particular being a big hit around the early 2000s. Next up is The Rainbow Children and One Night Alone.

I'd go with Rave Un2 as well. There's an alternative (original) version of Beautiful Strange on a video release of the same name. It was for promotion around the time of Newpower Soul, and features the oddity of Mel B/Scary Spice interviewing/flirting with Prince at Paisley Park, and some cool footage of a London late show, also featureing Chaka Khan and Larry Graham.

.

The Chocolate Invasion singles were initially only available to buy as CDs at concerts! A friend kindly got me Supercute at one.

[Edited 11/3/22 6:46am]

[Edited 11/3/22 9:34am]