Heard a lot of Rumors that Prince has taken back 2 him his masters from Warner with the help from Universal & are ready 2 Release all his WB back catalogue remastered+Bonus next Year in 2004

It's all rumours at this point, but it would be nice...

It is said that only the early WB albums will be remastered; is that until Lovesexy? or Batman, or even?...

The only thing I want remastered is "Sign 'O' The Times". "Housequake" and "If I Was Your Girlfriend" need more volume and more bass. So does "Adore". Hell , the entire album really.

antoon said:

I'd be satisfied if they remastered every album from 'For You' to 'Lovesexy'.The CDs that came after 1988 sound just fine,imo.It's the earlier albums that really need remastering (especially 'Controversy' and 'SOTT').

DavidEye said:

I recently (well, some time in the last 2 years anyway) bought Purple Rain, ATWIAD, Parade and SOTT on CD.
The first 3 sound fine but SOTT sucks, it's horrible. It sounds like it was recorded in a metal bucket. And note the cleverly disguised disclaimer (red text on a yellow background - really difficult to read) where they say that any degradation of sound is due to imperfections in the orignal recording. Yeah, right. I reckon they couldn't (or didn't bother) to find the masters so just recorded it from an old cassette version they found wedged under the fridge.

Whatever about the rest SOTT definitely needs the treatment - and soon - I'm reduced to listening to my old original cassette version which is held together with superglue and it's not going to last much longer .

I agree with you DavidEye - everything from For You to Lovesexy would be cool.

LittlePill said:

Big 'ole fat "Co-sign"

slimongi said:

To answer your question:
Yes, he got his masters back. According to a press-conference when he told them he owns his own masters again after some "fights" with WB. The trick is that he can't just bring them out again. That would be in violation with WB-legal rights.

peace, newdawn

Actually, SOTT sounds as it does because of new and untested equipment in the Paisley Park studio. Apparently, Prince liked a lot of the distortion, so it wasn't treated.

Re-mastering SOTT won't make a blind bit of difference, as the source tape will be that bad. The album would require complete re-mixing, especially if, as someone said, you want more bass on Housequake etc

Well, the vinyl of SOTT sounds just fine.

newdawn said:

He owns them yet he can't release them?
If WB still has legal rights then he may own them but he can't control them.
As it stands now neither Prince nor WB can re-release any of the old albums without the others co-operation.
Thats why it will never happen.

daned said:

Wow thats weird, I bought SOTT the it came out on CD and today yeah it may need more volume. But to me it still sounds pretty good to me. If they remaster it or Remix the album. I might not sound better. It may have a whole new sound and could lose some of it's edge. Especially if our Purple midget is involved, he may do overdubs on it.

LittlePill said:

Sign 'O' The Times was mixed on a new and for some songs like Dorothy Parker, unfinished Paisley Park studio console.
[This message was edited Wed Oct 22 10:27:20 PDT 2003 by marcdeondotcom]

marcdeondotcom said:

Sign O The Times was mostly recorded at Sunset Sound. Paisley Park opened in 1987, long after the album had been released.

Jestyr said:

My face is red... I stand corrected...
Sunset Sound & Dierks Studio Mobile Trucks(?) were also production & mix locations. Engineer Susan Rogers stated in an interview that the sound in Dorothy Parker was due to it being mixed on a new Paisley Park console which wasn't even completely hooked up. The copyright in SOTT is 1987.
[This message was edited Wed Oct 22 13:26:24 PDT 2003 by marcdeondotcom]

marcdeondotcom said:

Well I have to say that Dorothy Parker was recorded at Prince's brand new home studio installation just before they tracked Dorothy Parker and at the time Prince called every one of his Minneapolis studio outfits "Paisley Park" - so you were right anyway!

And yes, the console was not properly grounded yet so levels were very low during tracking.

I think everything upto and including D&P could do with remastering, but who's to say lil' man getting the masters would result in remasters being released?

Prince does not own his masters. Show me where it says he does?

If he did, he'd be singing from the roof tops!

He does not own the masters; otherwise WB couldn't still sell his back catalogue. He won't own the masters until they legally start reverting back to him after the 35(?) year period ends for each album, or until he buys them from WB.

These rumors are simply that. No deal with WB = no remasters for a LONG time.
[This message was edited Wed Oct 22 18:07:33 PDT 2003 by BanishedBrian]

re: remastering
if you want more bass or level, 'remaster' it yourself. There's pleny of software out there that will do what you want, and CD recorders are cheap.

I think Prince's version of "Remastering" means taking out the naughty words and having Larry G. sing on all the tracks with him.

I remember hearing him say once that he was going to just re-record all the albums he didn't own the masters for and put them out under different titles.

I think and hope that its all about the money, because all in all, their his songs, and he doesnt need a master to prove that,and although it would be tough for someone to own and make money on a song that was written soley by the artist, he DID sign a contract, and last time I checked, its warners songs.. legally...

I think Prince owns the physical master tapes. (2 inch tapes) WB owns the content. I think WB really owns the tapes but Prince has them in his vault. IF WB wanted to be really cold they could force Prince to had them over, then you would see come crying.