I actually am not all that crazy about this whole SDE release.

But I like it how they organised the order of the tracks on disk 3, 4 and 5.

I've been listening to them in that exact order.

They sound well as albums on their own imho.

Sure, I could skip a track here and there...

-

But again, most songs are mediocre when it comes to song craftmanship, the writing quality.

Prince started to write verse-chorus-verse songs, the easiest solution.

Where was his creativity in arrangements and sound?

Now I start to understand how he was influenced by New Jack Swing...

Tokyo2 said:

Ok having listened to this, it’s clearly not as stellar as the 1999 or Sign ☮️ The Times Super Deluxe editions…so have pulled together my favourite tracks from the Vault material. Feel free to debate, agree or disagree. T 1. Something Funky (This House Comes) 2. Schoolyard 3. Pain 4. Streetwalker 5. Insatiable (Early Mix) 6. Open Book 7. Get Blue 8. Skip 2 U My Darling 9. Diamonds & Pearls (Long Version) 10. Daddy Pop (12” Mix) 11. Martika’s Kitchen 12. The Voice

- If these are the best ones, I am not that excited

.

I mean, some of them I already know (in bad quality). Honestly, I am not expecting absolutely great stuff there, but I hope there are some moments where the NPG shines. I really love that band.

Vannormal said:

I actually am not all that crazy about this whole SDE release.

But I like it how they organised the order of the tracks on disk 3, 4 and 5.

I've been listening to them in that exact order.

They sound well as albums on their own imho.

Sure, I could skip a track here and there...

-

But again, most songs are mediocre when it comes to song craftmanship, the writing quality.

Prince started to write verse-chorus-verse songs, the easiest solution.

Where was his creativity in arrangements and sound?

Now I start to understand how he was influenced by New Jack Swing...

sorry, I am loving a lot of these....

Not sure there are 12 tracks on it that I would listen to more than once.

Open Book

Spirit

Alice

Pain

and that's all I got

oh and Violet

I agree ... here are my 12 favorites

Alice through the looking glass

Hey U

I pledge Allegiance to your love

My Tender Heart

Pain ( it's longer and awesome )

Skip to my you my darling

Standing at the altar

Street Walker

Tip O my Tongue

Trouble

The Last Dance (bang pow zoom and the whole nine)

open book

1. Lauriann

2. Streetwalker

3. Darkside

4. Get Blue

5. The Last Dance

6. Alice Through The Looking Glass

7. Open Book

8. Something Funky (This House Comes)

9. Standing At The Altar

10. My Tender Heart

11. Insatiable (Early Mix - Full Version)

12. Blood On The Sheets

[Edited 10/27/23 13:53pm]

actually have no idea really, but in fairness, i need to listen quite a few more times. prince tracks often get better the more you hear them. the first listen is often a bit 'huh'

but so far, my impression is that a lot of the vault tracks are nice, solid, but remarkable? not sure.

would i replace any of the album tracks with the vault tracks? i dont think so.

if anything, what the vault songs made me realise is that for all the complaining about the original album being trend chasing, too poppy, too clean, not adventurous, the vault tracks (except blood on the sheets) dial those things up to 10. at least on the album, all the songs are well constructed, and even if the production is very bright, at least the songs are doing some cool stuff (eg willing and able). the outtakes are quite generic really. yeah, the npg could be shit hot technically, but were they 'interesting', or did they have any quirks? not really. theyre kind of anonymous really, even if theyre tight. or maybe prince changed his target, now he wanted his band to be 100% slick and tight, nothing too odd.

last dance is better than jughead though.

and work that fat is pretty funny.

blood on the sheets is obv an early hint of what theyd do on the undertaker sessions. some great playing on that one.

alice... is good too just cos it sounds rougher and not so perfect like almost everything else.

[Edited 10/27/23 19:27pm]

The ballads are the highlight here.

MendesCity said:

The ballads are the highlight here.

The ballads are top tier.

my 12 picks from the Vault Tracks:

My Tender Heart

Pain

Streetwalker

Spirit

Open Book

Something Funky (This house comes)

Hold Me

Don't say you love me

Get Blue

The Voice

Trouble

Alice Through the Looking Glass

[Edited 10/28/23 9:34am]

As I wrote in the "review", I like this short tracklist as "late '80 standard pop/rnb Mtv album plastic production":

1. Get Blue
2. Skip To My You My Darling
3. Tip 'O My Tongue
4. Pain
5. Hey U
6. The Voice
7. Trouble
8. Open Book

[Edited 10/29/23 9:12am]

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

would i replace any of the album tracks with the vault tracks? i dont think so.

if anything, what the vault songs made me realise is that for all the complaining about the original album being trend chasing, too poppy, too clean, not adventurous, the vault tracks (except blood on the sheets) dial those things up to 10. at least on the album, all the songs are well constructed, and even if the production is very bright, at least the songs are doing some cool stuff (eg willing and able). the outtakes are quite generic really.

I agree, the outtakes make you appreciate the album tracks more. The songs he selected for the album were definitely superior to the stuff he left in the vault.

Though, to be fair, many of those vault tracks were WIP. Had Prince put some more effort into them with overbuds and remixing, perhaps they would have improved. Then again, he might have made them worse.

im now more certain than ever that D&P is actually the best 90s album he did.

I find it interesting that generally 50% or more than 50% of everyone's fav. material on this is stuff he gave away and has been available already on official releases for decades.

I just wish people wouldn't sleep on so much of his material. You all clearly like it! There's plenty more where that came from and you don't need to wait for the next SDE to enjoy it.

I also don't really consider that stuff "Vault" material. They're originals. They were never "Vaulted". The majority of Prince fans just willfully chose to ignore that segment of his material for decades until the scratch vocal guide demos were released. In most cases they're literally the same exact songs...

[Edited 10/29/23 20:29pm]

[Edited 10/29/23 20:30pm]

WhisperingDandelions said:

I find it interesting that generally 50% or more than 50% of everyone's fav. material on this is stuff he gave away and has been available already on official releases for decades.

I just wish people wouldn't sleep on so much of his material. You all clearly like it! There's plenty more where that came from and you don't need to wait for the next SDE to enjoy it.

I also don't really consider that stuff "Vault" material. They're originals. They were never "Vaulted". The majority of Prince fans just willfully chose to ignore that segment of his material for decades until the scratch vocal guide demos were released. In most cases they're literally the same exact songs...

[Edited 10/29/23 20:29pm]

[Edited 10/29/23 20:30pm]

.

Actually I listen Prince because I like (also) the Prince voice.

JoeyCococo said:

Vannormal said:

I actually am not all that crazy about this whole SDE release.

But I like it how they organised the order of the tracks on disk 3, 4 and 5.

I've been listening to them in that exact order.

They sound well as albums on their own imho.

Sure, I could skip a track here and there..

But again, most songs are mediocre when it comes to song craftmanship, the writing quality.

Prince started to write verse-chorus-verse songs, the easiest solution.

Where was his creativity in arrangements and sound?

Now I start to understand how he was influenced by New Jack Swing...

sorry, I am loving a lot of these....

Most people are just freshly happy there is new stuff after such a long time.

We'll see how much listens this set will get in a few weeks of time.

it has taken a while to get used to prince sounding well, so NORMAL. but hey, if i had to make an album from these tracks, id pick these (id prob think of a few more, but im still finding time to work through them all):

my tender heart

streetwalker

lauriann

skip 2 u my darling

open book

dont say u love me

alice thru the looking glass

hey u

i pledge allegiance...

Pain

Blood on the sheets

[Edited 10/31/23 16:31pm]

[Edited 10/31/23 17:10pm]

Easy

01 - Something Funky This House Comes

02 - Hey U

03 - Open Book

04 - Spirit

05 - Don't Say U Love Me

06 - Martikas Kitchen

07 - Tip O My Tongue

08 - Glam Slam 91

09 - Schoolyard

10 - Work That Fat

11 - Standing At The Altar

12 - The Last Dance (Bang Pow Zoom and the Whole Nine)

If I can add 2 more as B-sides

Streetwalker & Skip to My You My Darling

FunkyStrange said:

Easy

01 - Something Funky This House Comes

02 - Hey U

03 - Open Book

04 - Spirit

05 - Don't Say U Love Me

06 - Martikas Kitchen

07 - Tip O My Tongue

08 - Glam Slam 91

09 - Schoolyard

10 - Work That Fat

11 - Standing At The Altar

12 - The Last Dance (Bang Pow Zoom and the Whole Nine)

If I can add 2 more as B-sides

Streetwalker & Skip to My You My Darling

This would be mine, except 8 and 9. I'd replace them with Lauriann and Get Blue