databank said:

scififilmnerd said:

I had the same reaction as back when Crystal Ball came out with a reworked version of Sexual Suicide that was vastly different from the bootleg we knew. It took some getting used to and now I love it.

With Stone, I was so used to the version we already had, I found the addition of synth orchestra unsettling at first, but now I'm getting familiar with it and guess it's not so horrific.

The new version is supposedly an outtake from the early 1996 configuration of Emancipation and I think the sound fits as Prince was into synth orchestrations at the time.

With both With This Tear and Stone being originals by Prince, my fear that Timeless would be Frankenstein mixes like Originals have been calmed, and I'm actually looking forward to the release even though I'm as disappointed as everyone else in that it's only a few tracks that seem like a drop in the ocean of what's in the Vault.

[Edited 6/4/26 22:01pm]

Vastly? . [Edited 6/4/26 22:40pm]

The Sexual Suicide outtake had a haunting sax solo by Eric Leeds that wasn't on the funked up Crystal Ball version.

But now that I've been listening to Stone and gotten used to the orchestra, it's not really THAT different from the outtake, no.

Steelclawz said:

so were basically getting 4 new songs

eveything else we already had

am i getting that right ?

Some people are complaining that they alreadsy heard half of the album which is weird because it isn't there fault or problem if you downloaded or bought bootlegs so kind of wweird to complain about that.

Yeah, Prince fans are tiresome, aren't they?

In random order, Prince fans are complaining that:

- there aren't enough releases (almost nothing was released between 2024 and 2026)

- there are too many releases (before 2024, anyway)
- the Vault doesn't contain anything of interest, so should be left alone (e.g. "Stone" or the D&P SDE outtakes suck)
- but not the live recordings, though, those should be released
- no, no, no, we want the studio stuff, not the live stuff
- "Stone" sounds awful (although it's apparently the "final mix" approved by Prince)
- "Heaven" is too short (although it's apparently a version approved by Prince as well)
- songs above 4-5 minutes are too long anyway
- "Timeless" sucks (although it's apparently only released to appease the fans complaining that nothing was released)
- etc.

Note: those are not my complaints. I'm just saying Prince fans have always complained and will always complain.

scififilmnerd said:

databank said:

scififilmnerd said: Vastly? . [Edited 6/4/26 22:40pm]

The Sexual Suicide outtake had a haunting sax solo by Eric Leeds that wasn't on the funked up Crystal Ball version.

Incredibobble! Thanks for explaining. I hardly ever listend to the bootleg again since 1998, so I had forgotten this entirely. I'll listen to it again today

JorisE73 said:

Steelclawz said:

so were basically getting 4 new songs

eveything else we already had

am i getting that right ?

Some people are complaining that they alreadsy heard half of the album which is weird because it isn't there fault or problem if you downloaded or bought bootlegs so kind of wweird to complain about that.

That, too.

Taking bootlegs into account is good, but not releasing things because they were bootlegged first would be absurd.

olb99 said:

Yeah, Prince fans are tiresome, aren't they?

In random order, Prince fans are complaining that:

- there aren't enough releases (almost nothing was released between 2024 and 2026)

- there are too many releases (before 2024, anyway)
- the Vault doesn't contain anything of interest, so should be left alone (e.g. "Stone" or the D&P SDE outtakes suck)
- but not the live recordings, though, those should be released
- no, no, no, we want the studio stuff, not the live stuff
- "Stone" sounds awful (although it's apparently the "final mix" approved by Prince)
- "Heaven" is too short (although it's apparently a version approved by Prince as well)
- songs above 4-5 minutes are too long anyway
- "Timeless" sucks (although it's apparently only released to appease the fans complaining that nothing was released)
- etc.

Note: those are not my complaints. I'm just saying Prince fans have always complained and will always complain.

scififilmnerd said:

databank said:

scififilmnerd said: Vastly? . [Edited 6/4/26 22:40pm]

The Sexual Suicide outtake had a haunting sax solo by Eric Leeds that wasn't on the funked up Crystal Ball version.

Listening to it now and really confused. Could someone point me to when in the track is that haunting sax solo? I can't hear any solo that doesn't seem to be on the CB version.

Additional question: the CB version was the final version envioned for DF, wasn't it?

Sorry for my ignorance. I must admit I was never really good at spotting slight differences between versions.

Is scififilmnerd thinking of "Crucial"?

There's definitely no extra sax solo on SS on the bootlegs. The tracks are more or less the same length, with overdubs, etc. on the released version.

But "Crucial" was of course already circulating in the late 80s/early 90s as two WIP versions, one with a sax solo and one with a guitar solo. The version on CB obviously doesn't have the sax solo. Is that what you meant, scififilmnerd?

databank said:

scififilmnerd said:

The Sexual Suicide outtake had a haunting sax solo by Eric Leeds that wasn't on the funked up Crystal Ball version.

Listening to it now and really confused. Could someone point me to when in the track is that haunting sax solo? I can't hear any solo that doesn't seem to be on the CB version.

Additional question: the CB version was the final version envioned for DF, wasn't it?

Sorry for my ignorance. I must admit I was never really good at spotting slight differences between versions.

In the "sax version" of Sexual Suicide, there is background horns from the start and the horns sound really haunting at around 2:44 and then Eric plays some horn at 3:10 until the end at 3:34. But, okay, it's not a solo per se like in Crucial (Sax Version).

And yeah, I assume the Crystal Ball version is the Dream Factory version.

[Edited 6/11/26 15:08pm]

databank said:

JorisE73 said:

Some people are complaining that they alreadsy heard half of the album which is weird because it isn't there fault or problem if you downloaded or bought bootlegs so kind of wweird to complain about that.

That, too.

Taking bootlegs into account is good, but not releasing things because they were bootlegged first would be absurd.

True. And true.

Buet then again from time to time I hear people cry for an official release of the Small Club I mean, what's the ponit ?

Heard 'Stone' now at least ten times with headphones, and I can't say anything else than it is a mediocre song, a strange production, and a silly choice for a single.

If they did some more pormotion on 'With This Tear', this album could get more attention. I don't see or read much about it in the media.

'Stone' can be on that album, but another song would've been a better choice imho.

psyche2 said:

databank said:

That, too.

Taking bootlegs into account is good, but not releasing things because they were bootlegged first would be absurd.

True. And true.

Buet then again from time to time I hear people cry for an official release of the Small Club I mean, what's the ponit ?

I would love a newly mixed version of Small Club. All we have is the venue mix.
Teh matrix mix odf the audience recording ansd the released soundboard of the Utrecht show on SOTT SDE is also an improvement and much livelier.

olb99 said:

Yeah, Prince fans are tiresome, aren't they?

In random order, Prince fans are complaining that:

- there aren't enough releases (almost nothing was released between 2024 and 2026)

- there are too many releases (before 2024, anyway)
- the Vault doesn't contain anything of interest, so should be left alone (e.g. "Stone" or the D&P SDE outtakes suck)
- but not the live recordings, though, those should be released
- no, no, no, we want the studio stuff, not the live stuff
- "Stone" sounds awful (although it's apparently the "final mix" approved by Prince)
- "Heaven" is too short (although it's apparently a version approved by Prince as well)
- songs above 4-5 minutes are too long anyway
- "Timeless" sucks (although it's apparently only released to appease the fans complaining that nothing was released)
- etc.

Note: those are not my complaints. I'm just saying Prince fans have always complained and will always complain.

So what.

Not everyone likes the same things or situations.

Luckily Prince fans aware of how things go, they know what's out and not out yet,

they are well informed and outspoken. Nothing wrong with that.

For me, they are not tiresom at all.

Criticism (all the time, or not) is in the eye of the beholder.

We don't need to go with it if we don't like it, righ?

JorisE73 said:

Steelclawz said:

so were basically getting 4 new songs

eveything else we already had

am i getting that right ?

Some people are complaining that they alreadsy heard half of the album which is weird because it isn't there fault or problem if you downloaded or bought bootlegs so kind of wweird to complain about that.

As a bootleg collector since 1988, I wholeheartedly agree. We made the choice to listen to unreleased tracks, so, to complain we've already heard them when they get released is asinine.

databank said:

scififilmnerd said:

The Sexual Suicide outtake had a haunting sax solo by Eric Leeds that wasn't on the funked up Crystal Ball version.

Incredibobble! Thanks for explaining. I hardly ever listend to the bootleg again since 1998, so I had forgotten this entirely. I'll listen to it again today

Me too! Thank you scifi!!

olb99 said:

Yeah, Prince fans are tiresome, aren't they?

In random order, Prince fans are complaining that:

- there aren't enough releases (almost nothing was released between 2024 and 2026)

- there are too many releases (before 2024, anyway)
- the Vault doesn't contain anything of interest, so should be left alone (e.g. "Stone" or the D&P SDE outtakes suck)
- but not the live recordings, though, those should be released
- no, no, no, we want the studio stuff, not the live stuff
- "Stone" sounds awful (although it's apparently the "final mix" approved by Prince)
- "Heaven" is too short (although it's apparently a version approved by Prince as well)
- songs above 4-5 minutes are too long anyway
- "Timeless" sucks (although it's apparently only released to appease the fans complaining that nothing was released)
- etc.

Note: those are not my complaints. I'm just saying Prince fans have always complained and will always complain.

There's a clue in the fact that you used the word "fans" as a plural, meaning that there is more than one person. Have you considered that sometimes different people may have different opinions?

JorisE73 said:

psyche2 said:

True. And true.

Buet then again from time to time I hear people cry for an official release of the Small Club I mean, what's the ponit ?

I would love a newly mixed version of Small Club. All we have is the venue mix.
Teh matrix mix odf the audience recording ansd the released soundboard of the Utrecht show on SOTT SDE is also an improvement and much livelier.

Is there such a thing like a matrix of the soundboard and audience recordings of the Utrecht show making the rounds ?

[Edited 6/13/26 9:36am]

[Edited 6/13/26 9:37am]

Raevene said:

There's a clue in the fact that you used the word "fans" as a plural, meaning that there is more than one person. Have you considered that sometimes different people may have different opinions?

Of course! Very different opinions. Which means that, as a collective, we give very contradictory signals to the Estate.

djThunderfunk said:

djThunderfunk said:

JorisE73 said:

Some people are complaining that they alreadsy heard half of the album which is weird because it isn't there fault or problem if you downloaded or bought bootlegs so kind of wweird to complain about that.

As a bootleg collector since 1988, I wholeheartedly agree. We made the choice to listen to unreleased tracks, so, to complain we've already heard them when they get released is asinine.

Seriously? do thing we're in the 80's right now ? you dont have to be listening to bootlegs to be in a certain niche market , all of these so called bootlegs are readily available on youtube , and millions of people have heard them , i would have to say every single unreleased song is on youtube from the bootleg days. So i would have to think they are releasing these random songs as a way to close the gap so to speek of what was released, so maybe in the year 2040 or 2050 they will have closed the gap on all of unreleased songs and will finally start releasing new music , of which time i will probably be deceased so it wont matter.

let's proove my point .. (searching on youtube) , yup there is tick tick bang (81 version), there is heaven , there is I wonder , there is with this tear , and there is Stone in early and new version , and who cares about a live version of how come , were left with 4 new songs

[Edited 6/14/26 15:19pm]