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Reply #150 posted 10/29/23 7:05am

JoeyCococo

themanfromneptune said:

Did I like the unreleased songs on Prince's album? Are they important stuff?



They are interesting, there are fewer hidden jewels than the previous SDEs, even fewer pieces that fans were waiting for but - with a view to having an increasingly complete picture of Prince's music-making - this collection offers moments of enjoyable music and here and there also thrilling.


But what's inside?
Meanwhile there are a series of pieces that are closer to the sound of the original album, alternative versions or pieces that were designed for the album's initial setlists: Cream, Live 4 Love, Daddy Pop, Insatiable, Horny Pony, Thunder, The Last Dance (a reworking of Jughead), Diamonds & Pearls are presented in unreleased versions alongside pieces like Schoolyard and Something Funky which were in the initial configuration of the album. This part alternates interesting pieces, reworks that in some cases were as successful as those later put on the album (Insatiable), and useless things, like the one minute longer version of the tacky title track or the bare one of the overrated Cream. Note the delicate instrumental ballet included in Thunder Ballet and the version of Schoolyard which is not the one that has been around as a bootleg for years, but is more complete here.


.
A second group of songs which - listening to the various CDs - I find to have their own compactness, are a series of secondary songs which, put together, would create a "normal" pop album with jazz/rnb nuances from the late eighties. Listening to these pieces in succession I had the impression of finding myself in front of a multiverse where Prince had started making, instead of Diamonds & Pearls, a generic album with semi-electronic production. Keyboards, drum machines, backing vocals and production a la Boy George, Cameo, or other MTV rotation music. I'm talking about songs like Get Blue, Skip To My You My Darling, Tip 'O My Tongue, Hey U, The Voice, Trouble, Pain, Open Book. An album with this tracklist would have been an excellent "normal" commercial album by Prince, to which you could also add things like Martika Kitchen, Spirit or Don't Say U Love Me, which however already have a more nineties sound. They are mostly pieces that Prince then gave to other singers and which here and there send out some flashes of their own beauty: the jazzy voice in Pain, the groove of Trouble and Hey U, the absolute and dreamy pop of Open Book.


.
A third group could be that of the "monsters", unreleased songs, demos and oddities: the coarse rap with decelerated vocals of Work That Fat, the very elegant blues of I Pledge Allegiance to Your Love, the unexpected jazz of Letter 4 Miles and the rock of Darkside and Blood on the Sheets, the demo (still very bare) of Standing at the Altar and the fiery one of Streetwalker, the unreleased (still unfinished) of Alice Through the Looking Glass with its minor chords, the witness of that which will be Gett Off with the feet still in Love Machine and a refrain taken from Lovesexy (Glam Slam '91), the out-of-time ballad of Hold Me and - perhaps - the two best pieces on the album, Lauriann and My Tender Heart, a slow, saccharine and passionate and an absolutely radio-friendly and energetic pop-rock piece. They are all songs that don't belong together, they wouldn't have made sense on the album but which show our multiple musical interests even in the unfortunate, artistically speaking, early nineties. No one could really believe that the same person went on to record such different things musically from one day to the next, such as styles, voice registers, instrumentations..



And - despite all this stuff - a lot of it is missing. There is always a question of what was or was not included in a collection of this type, but it remains inexplicable why songs from this period such as I Wonder and above all I Hear Your Voice were excluded.


.
A good triple to add to the collection of released songs, but still waiting for the next one. There are still eras full of things that have barely been touched: Gold and Parade to name two. Let's hope we don't have to wait years to get them in overpriced packages like this very expensive SDE.






This was a fair review. Amazing one person could do so many kinds of songs. My guess is I Wonder and I Hear Your Voice did not get recorded within the parameters set for this project. In fact, I am very sure considering some things Duane has said.
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Reply #151 posted 10/29/23 8:01am

SoulAlive
My copy arrived yesterday smile this is a very nice package
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Reply #152 posted 10/29/23 8:16am

KingSausage

avatar

My sets are supposed to arrive from Amazon today. In the meantime, I've streamed the whole thing. I love this set. A lot. I was expecting to be underwhelmed. Is it perfect? No.

Speak of the devil, Amazon literally just delivered my sets while I typed this post.

"Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry
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Reply #153 posted 10/29/23 8:25am

SoulAlive

KingSausage said:

My sets are supposed to arrive from Amazon today. In the meantime, I've streamed the whole thing. I love this set. A lot. I was expecting to be underwhelmed. Is it perfect? No.



Speak of the devil, Amazon literally just delivered my sets while I typed this post.



hey KS,how ya doing buddy? Long time no see.
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Reply #154 posted 10/29/23 8:43am

KingSausage

avatar

SoulAlive said:

KingSausage said:

My sets are supposed to arrive from Amazon today. In the meantime, I've streamed the whole thing. I love this set. A lot. I was expecting to be underwhelmed. Is it perfect? No.

Speak of the devil, Amazon literally just delivered my sets while I typed this post.

hey KS,how ya doing buddy? Long time no see.

hey! Doing well. I hope you are too.


Too bad they didn't use polylined sleeves in the massive vinyl set. Otherwise, these sets are beautiful.

"Drop that stereo before I blow your Goddamn nuts off, asshole!"
-Eugene Tackleberry
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Reply #155 posted 10/29/23 9:08am

themanfromnept
une

JoeyCococo said:

themanfromneptune said:

This was a fair review. Amazing one person could do so many kinds of songs. My guess is I Wonder and I Hear Your Voice did not get recorded within the parameters set for this project. In fact, I am very sure considering some things Duane has said.

.

Thank you. I asked Duane on Facebook about I Hear Your Voice, I dont't know if he will could answer me.

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Reply #156 posted 10/29/23 10:07am

SoulAlive

KingSausage said:



SoulAlive said:


KingSausage said:

My sets are supposed to arrive from Amazon today. In the meantime, I've streamed the whole thing. I love this set. A lot. I was expecting to be underwhelmed. Is it perfect? No.



Speak of the devil, Amazon literally just delivered my sets while I typed this post.



hey KS,how ya doing buddy? Long time no see.


hey! Doing well. I hope you are too.



Too bad they didn't use polylined sleeves in the massive vinyl set. Otherwise, these sets are beautiful.




Yes,they did a superb job with the packaging.
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Reply #157 posted 10/29/23 12:10pm

Ndorphinmachin
a

Whiskas31 said:

I knew Prince was trying to play catch up with New Jack Swing sounds of the 90's, but listening to the vault tracks it seems he had completely lost confidence in his own abilities.

Songs like 'Don't Say You Love Me' and 'Spirit' are just complete generic rip offs of better NJS songs, while some real gems like 'Open Book', 'Pain', 'Something Funky This Way Comes' and 'Get Blue' to name a few were completely passed over to cater for NJS lite stuff such as Jughead and Daddy Pop.

I think this is the only time in Prince's career where he was trying to copy rather than innovate, and some of the more soulful and funky vault stuff would have complemented the better D&P tracks (i.e. the funk soul and blues ones) than the ones trying to follow modern trends. Kind of glad they got this era out the way, as hopefully we can finally get a Parade Deluxe edition.



I'm curious if you feel the same way about Purple Rain? Do you feel he was he ripping off other rock bands/artists? Copying them rather than innovating? I love PR but is it a particularly innovative album?
Or ripping off house DJs when he added house music into his styles?

Surely every (pop) musician is influenced by what came before them and what's going on at the time. It might be odd if BB King decided to ditch the blues for dubstep. But Prince never subscribed to one style or genre.

What is it that defines which styles/genres he could/should play and which he shouldn't?
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Reply #158 posted 10/29/23 4:50pm

dbpdexter

ganster glam is incomplete without clokin the jizz

how do you not include clockin the jizz but include dj fades we don't need

AKA PDEXTER
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Reply #159 posted 10/29/23 5:56pm

gandorb

LIke most people here, I really am enjoying the live set. Among the vault releases, the mid tempo ballads here could have made a 4th Emancipation album/disc and it would have competed with the 2nd one as the best one in the collection.

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Reply #160 posted 10/29/23 8:16pm

WhisperingDand
elions

avatar

Ndorphinmachina said:

I'm curious if you feel the same way about Purple Rain? Do you feel he was he ripping off other rock bands/artists? Copying them rather than innovating? I love PR but is it a particularly innovative album? Or ripping off house DJs when he added house music into his styles? Surely every (pop) musician is influenced by what came before them and what's going on at the time. It might be odd if BB King decided to ditch the blues for dubstep. But Prince never subscribed to one style or genre. What is it that defines which styles/genres he could/should play and which he shouldn't?

Noice, noice.

Yes, the continent of fans who bust out the blahblahblah about "follow trends" etc. are almost uniformly speaking of his deep explorations into R&B and rap exclusively.

The same continent stay mum when it comes to holding his rock tracks to the same critical standards. Literally his best rock songs at best are "of the moment" and reflective of rock trends at the time. At best. The greater majority of his rock is 70s throwbacks like "Cream", "Peach", all of Chaos & Disorder etc. Generic neo-classic rock like that is markedly less evolved and cutting-edge than his R&B material on an album like say Emancipation, but again, they'll bust out the superlatives to wholly deride that material, yet handle his rock with kid gloves and enthusiasm.

They need to just say they hate R&B and hate ballads and keep it moving.

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Reply #161 posted 10/29/23 11:14pm

funkbabyandthe
babysitters
For some fans, that might def be true (possibly the same fans who dislike rosie). I was actually into rnb in the lare 80s/early 90s though and worshipped teddy riley and la and babyface (that first guy album for example is one of the best rnb albums ever) so on one hand i get a kick out of hearing prince do early 90s styles so straight. But i also just think the songs arent that strong. If they were i wouldnt care. But theres also the issue that its prince. I expect a little more, a little different, which apart from maybe alice, you dont really get. The vault tracks on this set, hes really avoiding all eccentricities, anything weird, or anything too 'princely', etc. Which isnt what i come to prince for, personally. And tbh, i find much of his later rock songs like guitar, fury, etc enjoyable as hes playing rock guitar, but uninteresting, kinda cliche and cheesy (also just not that great as songs). Laurian is a bit better than those later songs, but it reminds me of those songs, fun as it is. I guess peach was the start of his openly trad/by the numbers rockers. Cream is too good and crafted to be dumped in the same category. Maybe its just that when prince does anything straight, or more traditional (ie a proper band sound rather than his more common one man band approach), its generally less interesting. And from 91 onwards (to make a huge generalisation), he was prob trying to do that more? Thats why the d+p album is kind of underrated. Yeah a song like thunder is like a preview of the big, stagey, kind of rock thing hed do on the next album (eg 3 chains) but its got a lot of unusual touches in there all the same (its also full on pop rock gospel). Its actually got a lot going on there. And is now one of my favourites on that album somehow.
[Edited 10/30/23 2:55am]
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Reply #162 posted 10/30/23 2:42am

Vannormal

SmalleyBiggs said:

One I'm very curious about that I've never had on my radar is "Thunder Ballet"...what do you guys think that is? Orchestreal version of Thunder?

I think it was this track he talked about to Susannah, when he said he was writing his first ballet, and that it would be special/stuninng or something like that. Can't remeber what he said or wrote (was it in a leter? I think so...).

Thunder Ballet is everything besides special or stunning imho.

-

I'd very much like to glue a Bob George's voice with the Bob George lyrics over it,

plus some "Aawooaah" screams, and a bit of Vanity moaning here and there,

to make it digestable for my achy breaky funky ears.

That orchestral part is just bad sad weather.

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves. And wiser people so full of doubts" (Bertrand Russell 1872-1972)
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Reply #163 posted 10/30/23 2:43am

Vannormal

nayroo2002 said:

ElectricThighs said:

It's a clean version without the performers' screams, etc.

The "circulating version" was a download from Prince, himself!

i never understood why he released the audio like that?

i'm happy that it is now cleanly represented in this set biggrin

He probably couldn't find the proper studio version in his then messy vault? wink

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves. And wiser people so full of doubts" (Bertrand Russell 1872-1972)
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Reply #164 posted 10/30/23 2:45am

Vannormal

Any news on the liner notes?

Duane Tudahl?

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves. And wiser people so full of doubts" (Bertrand Russell 1872-1972)
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Reply #165 posted 10/30/23 4:33am

mrjj71

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

For some fans, that might def be true (possibly the same fans who dislike rosie). I was actually into rnb in the lare 80s/early 90s though and worshipped teddy riley and la and babyface (that first guy album for example is one of the best rnb albums ever) so on one hand i get a kick out of hearing prince do early 90s styles so straight. But i also just think the songs arent that strong. If they were i wouldnt care. But theres also the issue that its prince. I expect a little more, a little different, which apart from maybe alice, you dont really get. The vault tracks on this set, hes really avoiding all eccentricities, anything weird, or anything too 'princely', etc. Which isnt what i come to prince for, personally. And tbh, i find much of his later rock songs like guitar, fury, etc enjoyable as hes playing rock guitar, but uninteresting, kinda cliche and cheesy (also just not that great as songs). Laurian is a bit better than those later songs, but it reminds me of those songs, fun as it is. I guess peach was the start of his openly trad/by the numbers rockers. Cream is too good and crafted to be dumped in the same category. Maybe its just that when prince does anything straight, or more traditional (ie a proper band sound rather than his more common one man band approach), its generally less interesting. And from 91 onwards (to make a huge generalisation), he was prob trying to do that more? Thats why the d+p album is kind of underrated. Yeah a song like thunder is like a preview of the big, stagey, kind of rock thing hed do on the next album (eg 3 chains) but its got a lot of unusual touches in there all the same (its also full on pop rock gospel). Its actually got a lot going on there. And is now one of my favourites on that album somehow.
[Edited 10/30/23 2:55am]

Spot on!

I'd also add that while the 90's were definitely not a great decade of synth sounds compared to the synths of the 80s, which still sound great today, Prince had a real knack in the 90's for choosing the worst sounds for his keys/synths
[Edited 10/30/23 4:39am]
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Reply #166 posted 10/30/23 5:13am

MIRvmn1

avatar

Original Album Remastered

A fine remaster.

My rating: 4/5


Singles Mixes & Edits Remastered

It's good to have remixes and edits but the estate left off too many tracks like Gett Off (Flutestramental), Ethereal Mix and Clockin' The Jizz which makes this set feel incomplete. They should at least release 2 seperate remastered Gett off and Cream maxi singles with the missing tracks

My rating: 3/5


Vault Tracks part 1

My rating: 4/5


  • Schoolyard - I like this more complete version. 4/5
  • My Tender Heart - Amazing and beauiful ballad. Glad they incuded this one. 5/5
  • Pain - Very nice relaxing song. 3/5
  • Streetwalker - I like this one. 3/5
  • Lauriann - One of my favorites on this set. Should be a single. 5/5
  • Darkside - Awsome groove and great guitar solo. 5/5
  • Insatiable (Early Mix - Full Version) - My favorite version I first heard on D&P Beginnings. Glad it's finally released. 5/5
  • Glam Slam ’91 - Never been a favorite. It's an ok track. 2/5
  • Live 4 Love (Early Version) - I think I prefer this less produced version to the album version. The only thing I'm missing is the guitar solo. 4/5
  • Cream (Take 2) - Really like this demo, it's raw and I prefer it to the polished album version. 4/5
  • Skip To My You My Darling - Cool track 4/5
  • Diamonds And Pearls (Long Version) - A bit dissapointed with this one. But it's a wonderful song. 4/5


Vault Tracks part 2

My rating: 5/5


  • Daddy Pop (12" version) - Better than the album version and without the annoying rap. 4/5
  • Martika’s Kitchen - I really like Prince's version of this amazing song. 5/5
  • Spirit - Very nice track. 4/5
  • Open Book - I'm glad they finnaly released this masterpiece . It's a wonderful ballad. 5/5
  • Work That Fat - Cool and fun track. 3/5
  • Horny Pony (Version 2) - The version Prince should have released. 3/5
  • Something Funky (This House Comes) (Band Version) - Why didn't Prince put this great funky song on the D&P album instead of Push? 5/5
  • Hold Me - Sweet ballad. I really like it. 4/5
  • Blood On The Sheets - Wow! Another masterpiece on this set. 5/5
  • The Last Dance (Bang Pow Zoom And The Whole Nine) - Should have been on the D&P album instead of Jughead. It's so much better. 4/5
  • Don’t Say U Love Me - Not a fan of this song 2/5


Vault Tracks part 3

My rating: 4/5


  • Get Blue - This beautiful song has always been a favorite I first heard on the Yellow bootleg back in the 90s. 4/5
  • Tip O’ My Tongue - It's a nice track 3/5
  • The Voice - Hard to say which version I prefer but I really like this song. 4/5
  • Trouble - A strong track. I like it. 4/5
  • Alice Through The Looking Glass - Such a cool and funky track, very nice groove. 4/5
  • Standing At The Altar - I'm so glad to have this demo and always wanted to hear Prince's vocals on this song. 4/5
  • Hey U - Another cool track. 3/5
  • Letter 4 Miles - A decent track. 3/5
  • I Pledge Allegiance To Your Love - Nice blues. It's a good song. 3/5
  • Thunder Ballet - It's cool to have this one and it belongs on the set. 3/5


Live at Glam Slam - 11 January 1992

My rating: 5/5

Amazing show with so much energy! Great performance.

Some highlights: Thunder, The Sacrifice Of Victor, Nothing Compares 2 U, Thieves In The Temple, Insatiable, Cream/Well Done/I Want U/In The Socket and Gett Off.


The estate did a great job with this set and this release was something I was looking forward to as D&P was my first Prince album back in 1991. I like the selection of vault songs and the concert is fantastic.However, there are a few things they could have done better to make the set more complete. Include another disc with alternate versions (early mixes) of all the album tracks. It's something I think should be part of every SDE as it's a good insight into the work-in-progress. Include all the remixes from the maxi-singles and the 2 unreleased music videos, Walk Don't Walk and Daddy Pop should be part of the the video collection.

My rating: 4/5

U are now an official member of the New Power Generation
Welcome 2 The Dawn
Free the prince SDE now!
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Reply #167 posted 10/30/23 6:28am

scififilmnerd

avatar

I think it's a mixed bag. confused There's the bad, like I never really cared for Schoolyard or Glam Slam '91 and Streetwalker is just as bad, but I've always loved Open Book and The Voice, and I'm enjoying Skip To My You My Darling, Horny Pony (Version 2), Tip O' My Tongue and Trouble. biggrin Lauriann is kinda nice, but it's just another song for a grilfriend, like Donna and Sarah, so... confused Work That Fat = Mashed Potato Girl: Fun the first couple of times, then... Skip! mad I've always liked Standing At The Altar and Hey U is alright too. biggrin I think towards the end, you can hear we're going into the more exciting prince album era with a couple of slightly more interesting, jazzy tracks, Letter 4 Miles and I Pledge Allegiance To Your Love. biggrin

[Edited 10/30/23 9:40am]

rainbow woot! FREE THE 29 MAY 1993 COME CONFIGURATION! woot! rainbow
rainbow woot! FREE THE JANUARY 1994 THE GOLD ALBUM CONFIGURATION woot! rainbow
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Reply #168 posted 10/30/23 7:06am

JorisE73

scififilmnerd said:

I think it's a mixed bag. confused There's the bad, like I never really cared for Schoolyard or Glam Slam '91 and Streetwalker is just as bad, but I've always loved Open Book and The Voice, and I'm enjoying Skip To My You My Darling, Horny Pony (Version 2), Tip O' My Tongue and Trouble. biggrin Lauriann is kinda nice, but it's just another song for a grilfriend, like Donna and Sarah, so... confused I've always liked Standing At The Altar and Hey U is alright too. biggrin I think towards the end, you can hear we're going into the more exciting prince album era with a couple of slightly more interesting, jazzy tracks, Letter 4 Miles and I Pledge Allegiance To Your Love. biggrin

[Edited 10/30/23 6:48am]


i think with Paisley Park Recods being a financial drain and WB wanting to monetize it, prince probably started to write/record anything regardless of quality for anyone just to keep it alive.

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Reply #169 posted 10/30/23 7:35am

antonb
My main criticism, is you don’t need the same show on audio and blue ray. Release the full blown show on audio from the tour. Seems a waste to me. You can rip the audio from the blueray at if you want it
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Reply #170 posted 10/30/23 7:42am

JoeyCococo

Original Album Remastered A fine remaster. My rating: 5/5

- I didn't think it needed a full overhaul like SOTT. I always felt the bottom end needed some weight and i think they did a fine job fixing that. Live 4 Love is the song i think of that needed this most as the point was to show us the dynamic range....super highs of his guitar and screaminig and the lows of the rhythm section. What I didn't anticipate was the clean up on the top end. This is more refined. I didn't realize how much smearing there was until I heard this remaster. Great job, and I give it a 5/5/ b/c I can't see what else they could have done. I gave the SOTT remaster a 10 out of 5 and the 1999 remaster a 5 out of 5.

I 'm not going to review all the songs...just the ones I felt were great or special. I keep reading of some saying this is not a great set, the vault songs are not as super. I count 23 here that are essential. Who else could do this while releaseing a 13 song album (remember the 90s saw albums grow by 5-6 songs) and 2 or 3 more b sides (Violet, Horny Pony)

Schoolyard - the longer version does make this better...it is funky and benefits from the clear sound.

My Tender Heart - Classic...would have been a concert staple like NC2U became. One of those where you just shake your head at his talent and confidence, to vault a song this superb.

Pain - Love it....so laid back. I wonder who's playing piano. I always loved Chaka Khan's version and Rosie's but this is also super. I hear the vocals imbalanced through...he's coming from one side.

Horny Pony - i love this version

Streetwalker - Again, who's on piano and why is it mixed so damn low? The song is ok but the piano had me listening again.

Lauriann - Simple track..good.

Darkside - I love these insights into his process. I also love the fireworks...where he just goes guitar crazy. It's that Marvel Super Hero thing that I love.

Insatiable (Early Mix - Full Version) - always loved this ...more organic, with the piano. Just better than that album version.

Glam Slam ’91 - it's neat b/c you can hear so many shounds...like that beat/precussion thing from Round and Round....it sort of brings together sounds from the pre D&P era...like a bridge.

Live 4 Love (Early Version) - Very neat ...cool to hear how he changed the mood on the album version and totally blew it out of the water.

Cream (Take 2) - I actually prefer to the album...this is more raw.

Martinka's Kitchen - actually a great song....i love this version

Spirit - actually a great song...i'd dismissed it all these years.

Open Book - classic....would and should have been played live


Work that Fat - i wasn't sure i wanted this out....but I laughed my head off hearing it. Hilarious

Something Funky - I always dismissed this as a jam but, it really is a jam to show off the entire band. Typical of him, he did it in such a musical way. Tony sounds really good here. Anytime I've played this, i've played it fully.

Blood On The Sheets - oh wow....never heard him this aggressive...maybe Wall of Berlin...so so satisfying to hear him go crazy.

Lasts Dance - BLOWS away Jughead. So good and funny.

Get BLue - classic...see comment for Open Book and My Tender Heart

The Voice - His version is slower, more laid back but I love it.

Standing at the Altar - GREAT SONG. It's a demo but, his vocals are so so well done.

Letter 4 Miles - so good....the band gets to just let loose. This is one I'll keep going to.

I Pledge Allegience - this is quite good...understated and his playing is so damn great. He always knew how to hold back.

The Live stuff - 100 out of 10. Nothing more to say.

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Reply #171 posted 10/30/23 12:21pm

thesexofit

avatar

Whiskas31 said:

I knew Prince was trying to play catch up with New Jack Swing sounds of the 90's, but listening to the vault tracks it seems he had completely lost confidence in his own abilities.

Songs like 'Don't Say You Love Me' and 'Spirit' are just complete generic rip offs of better NJS songs, while some real gems like 'Open Book', 'Pain', 'Something Funky This Way Comes' and 'Get Blue' to name a few were completely passed over to cater for NJS lite stuff such as Jughead and Daddy Pop.

I think this is the only time in Prince's career where he was trying to copy rather than innovate, and some of the more soulful and funky vault stuff would have complemented the better D&P tracks (i.e. the funk soul and blues ones) than the ones trying to follow modern trends. Kind of glad they got this era out the way, as hopefully we can finally get a Parade Deluxe edition.

He wrote all those for Martika, a pop star then in her early 20's, so obviously he would change his stylle to fit her's or her record label's to get his songs included. We just need Martika or someone to tell us if she turned down "Open book", which is indeed a real gem.

"Spirit" always reminded me abit of "Vogue". "Don't say you love me" still has that drum programming that reminds me of "Graffiti bridge" era stuff. Some have said he aping Teddy Riley and I can see that on that track. Reminds me more of a kiddie "Poison" by Bell Biv Devoe though haha

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Reply #172 posted 10/30/23 12:24pm

thesexofit

avatar

I prefer El Debarge's "Tip o my tongue", though obviously these tracks he gave to others are just demo's so that is abit unfair.

Still enjoy it mind you and you could easily call El's version overproduced, which it is IMO but I still give the edge to El.

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Reply #173 posted 10/30/23 12:32pm

fredmagnus

JoeyCococo said:

Original Album Remastered A fine remaster. My rating: 5/5

Schoolyard - the longer version does make this better...it is funky and benefits from the clear sound.



My Tender Heart - Classic...would have been a concert staple like NC2U became. One of those where you just shake your head at his talent and confidence, to vault a song this superb.



Pain - Love it....so laid back. I wonder who's playing piano. I always loved Chaka Khan's version and Rosie's but this is also super. I hear the vocals imbalanced through...he's coming from one side.



Horny Pony - i love this version



Streetwalker - Again, who's on piano and why is it mixed so damn low? The song is ok but the piano had me listening again.



Lauriann - Simple track..good.



Darkside - I love these insights into his process. I also love the fireworks...where he just goes guitar crazy. It's that Marvel Super Hero thing that I love.




Insatiable (Early Mix - Full Version) - always loved this ...more organic, with the piano. Just better than that album version.



Glam Slam ’91 - it's neat b/c you can hear so many shounds...like that beat/precussion thing from Round and Round....it sort of brings together sounds from the pre D&P era...like a bridge.



Live 4 Love (Early Version) - Very neat ...cool to hear how he changed the mood on the album version and totally blew it out of the water.



Cream (Take 2) - I actually prefer to the album...this is more raw.



Martinka's Kitchen - actually a great song....i love this version



Spirit - actually a great song...i'd dismissed it all these years.



Open Book - classic....would and should have been played live



Work that Fat - i wasn't sure i wanted this out....but I laughed my head off hearing it. Hilarious



Something Funky - I always dismissed this as a jam but, it really is a jam to show off the entire band. Typical of him, he did it in such a musical way. Tony sounds really good here. Anytime I've played this, i've played it fully.



Blood On The Sheets - oh wow....never heard him this aggressive...maybe Wall of Berlin...so so satisfying to hear him go crazy.



Lasts Dance - BLOWS away Jughead. So good and funny.



Get BLue - classic...see comment for Open Book and My Tender Heart



The Voice - His version is slower, more laid back but I love it.



Standing at the Altar - GREAT SONG. It's a demo but, his vocals are so so well done.



Letter 4 Miles - so good....the band gets to just let loose. This is one I'll keep going to.



I Pledge Allegience - this is quite good...understated and his playing is so damn great. He always knew how to hold back.



The Live stuff - 100 out of 10. Nothing more to say.



I agree with everything you say here.

I just want to add that I REALLY appreciate all the context and details they give about the Vault Tracks. We even know the source they used (cassette or Half inch reel or if they had to make a fresh mix from the multitracks.) I think we've all asked for that and we have been heard.

Last, about the panned voice on Pain. Like it or not, It's the way it's always been since it's the original mix. Moreover, you can here it on the edit bootleg version we had too.
[Edited 10/30/23 12:34pm]
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Reply #174 posted 10/30/23 2:38pm

FunkyStrange

avatar
So excited for this set!! biggrin biggrin
[Edited 10/30/23 14:40pm]
Hard to believe I've been on the org for over 25 years now!
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Reply #175 posted 10/30/23 3:35pm

RJOrion
"Letter 4 Miles" is a MASTERPIECE

maybe Prince's best jazz effort ever
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Reply #176 posted 10/31/23 12:59am

AlexNevermind2
8
My set arrived today and I have to say I am very mixed here. While I have a ton of nostalgia with this set as it was my first Prince cd I ever bought in the summer of 96, I am not very impressed. With three cds of vault tracks, I had only not heard very few of them. A lot of them sound like rejects from the originals cd. I probably should have noticed the track listing when I first got the email about this but again I was too excited about being 15 again.

I hate to be greedy but these sets are meant for us hardcore fans so keep giving us hardcore stuff! I see 7-8 tracks for me as a 27 year fan of Prince had never heard previously other than versions of released songs.

Streetwalker, Lauriann, Darkside, Blood on the sheets, The last dance, Alice…, I pledge…, Thunder Ballet(this may have been heard but not by myself).

Of these tracks, two are instrumental, one is a fucking Jughead remix(fuck me..) and one is Thunder with some classical music.

So we get 4 unknown unreleased songs with lyrics? I am not trying to complain here, I love the liner notes, pictures, lyrics(although we got more with SOTT), and Horny Pony version 2!

I started to think I was been greedy so I looked at the previous sets and even Purple Rain with one disc gave us more.


I love that the Prince team is releasing box sets because I know we would have never gotten Work That Fat released with Prince controlling it but come on..you don’t even put out the best non Prince track on here during this era(on the way up) and leave out one of the best unreleased tracks from this era (I wonder).

While I am happy with this release, they could have done better.
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Reply #177 posted 10/31/23 3:15am

highcalonic

AlexNevermind28 said:

My set arrived today and I have to say I am very mixed here. While I have a ton of nostalgia with this set as it was my first Prince cd I ever bought in the summer of 96, I am not very impressed. With three cds of vault tracks, I had only not heard very few of them. A lot of them sound like rejects from the originals cd. I probably should have noticed the track listing when I first got the email about this but again I was too excited about being 15 again. I hate to be greedy but these sets are meant for us hardcore fans so keep giving us hardcore stuff! I see 7-8 tracks for me as a 27 year fan of Prince had never heard previously other than versions of released songs. Streetwalker, Lauriann, Darkside, Blood on the sheets, The last dance, Alice…, I pledge…, Thunder Ballet(this may have been heard but not by myself). Of these tracks, two are instrumental, one is a fucking Jughead remix(fuck me..) and one is Thunder with some classical music. So we get 4 unknown unreleased songs with lyrics? I am not trying to complain here, I love the liner notes, pictures, lyrics(although we got more with SOTT), and Horny Pony version 2! I started to think I was been greedy so I looked at the previous sets and even Purple Rain with one disc gave us more. I love that the Prince team is releasing box sets because I know we would have never gotten Work That Fat released with Prince controlling it but come on..you don’t even put out the best non Prince track on here during this era(on the way up) and leave out one of the best unreleased tracks from this era (I wonder). While I am happy with this release, they could have done better.

The song I Wonder does not belong to this period. So it's logical that it's not included...

[Edited 10/31/23 3:15am]

"You can skate around the issue if you like,
But who's gonna get you high in the middle of the night?"
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Reply #178 posted 10/31/23 9:10am

antonb
I have put all the vault tracks together on one playlist. And I’m getting plenty of enjoyment out of them! Out walking the dogs in the park! I’m happy at least!
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Reply #179 posted 10/31/23 9:14am

Vannormal

jraw said:

Tip O' My Tongue's sax-loop sounds a lot like Dutch Sport TV-show tune from the early 90's (composed by Tonny Eyk).

Studio Sport 1990

Hehehe, inderdaad.

Vette tune uit mijn jeugd, was tijd om wag te zappen (draaien aan de knop van de automatische antenne op het dak).

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves. And wiser people so full of doubts" (Bertrand Russell 1872-1972)
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