Hi, I'm trying to compile a compilation of stuff, that I can only define as having a late-hours vibe.

Its got to start with Slow Love, end with Adore and fit onto an 80 minute audio CD.

Here are the tracks that I have in mind - obviously they won't all fit - so I need advice on which songs to drop and the running order...

Do Me, Baby
Under The Cherry Moon
Slow Love
When 2 R In Love
Scandalous
Insatiable
Sweet Baby
Pink Cashmere
I Love U In Me
How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore
Power Fantastic
One Kiss At A Time
Shhh
Somebody's Somebody
Here On Earth
Soul Sanctuary
Dreamin' About U
Goodbye
The One
Wasted Kisses
Pink Cashmere
Adore

Please bear in mind that I'd like it to start with Slow Love and to end with Adore. Thanks!

Difficult to decide which ones to lose, but personally, I would drop:

Here On Earth - nice tune but doesn't quite fit in with the rest
How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore - this song is about a lost love, rather than saying "Come to bed baby!" like the others in the list
Wasted Kisses - again great track, but also about lost love.
Goodbye - same reasons.

bryanpage said:

You're right. I've now swapped "Here On Earth" for "A Case Of U" and lost "How Come U Don't Call Me", "Wasted Kisses" and "Goodbye".

The tracklist now looks like this...

Slow Love
Shhh
International Lover
I Love U In Me
When 2 R In Love
Pink Cashmere
Sweet Baby
Soul Sanctuary
Do Me, Baby
Scandalous
Dreamin' About U
Under The Cherry Moon
Power Fantastic
A Case Of U
The One
Somebody's Somebody
Insatiable
Adore

Its awkward because if you put early stuff like "International Lover" next to "Slow Love", the real strings and horns in one song make the synth-strings and horns of another song sound cheap & tacky, instead of endearing.

Does anybody else have any suggestions?

Drop 'Scandalous' and add "Alexa De Paris" and I think you're on to a winner.

Oh, and drop insatiable and add Prince farting through a cheese-grater..... then you're really on to a winner.

Here's what the cover curently looks like...



I want it to look like a retro late-60s/early-70s compilation album, like:



or



or



or



or



I like how old albums have lots of text and symbology on the front cover, intead of just a photo.

BoySimon said:

Why don't you like "Insatiable"? "Scandalous" and "Insatiable" are sort of integral to the overall vibe...

"Alexa De Paris" is a bit prog-rock in places.

BinaryJustin said:

The hightlighted songs are the ones I would lose.

BinaryJustin said:

I like your cover art.

renapisces3372 said:

Why would you drop "Sweet Baby"? Do you think "And God Created Woman" would fit better?

Glad you like the cover. Its still not finished yet - I'll let you know when it is, if you want a copy.

Since u wanted an opinion, here's mine. I think the cd would open up better with Scandalous. Simply because it has that kind of flair for an opening track. Slow Love is EXCELLENT, but should come toward the 1st half of the cd (like track 2 or 3).

I think that it would work well like the follwing:
Scandalous
I Love U In Me
Slow Love
Dreamin' About U
Do Me Baby
Shhh
Pink Cashmere
Somebody's Somebody
The One
International Lover
Sweet Baby
Insatiable
A Case Of U
Under The Cherry Moon
Power Fantastic
When 2 R In Love
Adore

I also think it would be a great idea to incorporate Prince's vocals from the poem used on Come. That's just my 2cents.

I'd drop Under The Cherry Moon and add When The Lights Go Down...
it's got more of a rhythmic groove for, ahem, the FLOW...

daPrettyman said:

When 2 R In Love sounds a little sparse and under-baked when played inbetwen Power Fantastic and Adore. I did think about opening with International Lover as its sort of tongue-in-cheek and silly, whereas the other tracks are more straight-laced...

Revolution said:

I like When The Lights Go Down, but I'm trying to stick to love songs.

BinaryJustin said:

She Loves Me 4 Me

Revolution said:

I tried it, but it was a little too jangly and upbeat.

Revolution said:

Agreed. I had totally forgotten about that one.

I'd consider dropping Sweet baby, good bye and Somebody's Somebody. With 80 minutes you may want a little ebb and flow. Add some punch!

love songs to consider
Crucial,
Girl (playful and intimate)

BinaryJustin said:

Not a "makin' love" song And God Created Woman? Good choice for a replacement.

Oh, yeah - I agree with Rev about Crucial. Just the right groove for, well..you know.

I dropped "Shhh" as the intro is way too noisy and it sort of ruined the groove.

"Crucial" is too much of a morning song - same as "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" and "Venus De Milo". They all sound like sunlight pouring through your bedroom window in the morning. There's definitely a "daytime" love song compilation brewing at the back of my mind. You know, its like the difference between "Loving You" by Minnie Ripperton and "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye. One song is all sweetness and bird noises and the other, erm... isn't.

The final tracklisting I decided on comes to nearly exactly 80 minutes and it really fits together well...

International Lover
Sets the mood and works just as well as an opener to this album as it does as the closing track of 1999. Slightly camp and silly - but knowingly so. I like how Prince's closing patter welcomes you to "satisfaction" - its almost as if he's welcoming you to this compilation.

Under The Cherry Moon
I feel that track is incredibly overlooked. Less than three minutes long but instantly memorable. Prince never sounded jazzier before this. Its incredibly clever too - listen to that piano breakdown at about 02:05 - the piano sounds sexually frustrated! Still slightly camp lyrics, but musically its incredibly mature.

Slow Love
Another under-rated song. I always wished that Warners had released the planned When 2 R In Love compilation - I think it would have converted a lot of non-fans who only seem to imagine Prince squealing and thrusting his guitar. Sounds great after "Under The Cherry Moon" as they both use the Clare Fischer orchestra. I never thought that the tracklisting of the Sign O' The Times album helped this song's popularity. It was sandwiched inbetween sing-song psychedelia and dance-funk and as such, may have appeared to sound like a stop-gap in the proceedings to casual listeners.

Scandalous
One of his greatest vocal performances in my opinion. The little yelp he lets out when he sings: "I'm willing to be" - its stunning. I really don't know why this wasn't released as the third single from the album instead of "The Arms Of Orion". This is the most straight-forward R&B track he had released since 1979 and in retrospect was a sign of things to come.

Do Me, Baby
Extraordinary. I can't think of any other male performer whom can sing in a falsetto about wanting to be "done" and still sound like a man. He was fearless back in the day, wasn't he? I have no idea why this song doesn't sound corny or weird - its his vocal. He's taking the song completely seriously and I think that forces the listener to do the same...

Dreamin' About U
The ballads on the Emancipation album are much stronger tracks than the dance / funk / pop songs. Its not surprising really, as most of the songs were recorded during Mayte's pregnancy. Yes, in retrospect, it was sad how the pregnancy turned out but that doesn't ruin the songs. I didn't really pick this track for its melody - I mean as an actual song, its pretty weak, but its a great vibe. It sounds great after the histrionics of "Do Me Baby". Its almost as if whomever was in bed with him during the previous song has left him alone to dream. This sounds like a breeze drifting through a window on a hot summer night. Nice guitar solo too.

Power Fantastic
I wanted to carry on the dreamy vibe. Probably the most technically proficient song that the Revolution recorded together. Its got that great "live" vibe too. I can't see how anybody could dislike this song. I couldn't have made this compilation without this song. It sounds like night-time.

A Case Of U
One Night Alone is his best album since Lovesexy - no question. If the album had been released through a major, I doubt it would have had much chart success, but I think it would have brought a lot of casual fans back to the fold. I'm not a great fan of his cover versions, but this is gorgeous and deserves a wider audience.

Soul Sanctuary
Who cares how much of the song he actually wrote himself? Another song which should have been a single. It would have had great potential on AOR/MOR radio. These songs really do relax you when stuck together like this - I fell asleep listening to the CD I made, last night.

Pink Cashmere
This just swells to a huge climax. It gently picks up the pace again after the previous song and feels like a big fluffy cushion. It sounds fluffy - it really does.

When 2 R In Love
I never liked this song when I first heard the Lovesexy album. I think it sounds a little laid-back when compared to the rest of the album. It wasn't until I heard it as part of the Piano Medley during the Lovesexy tour, that I realised how pretty the melody is.

Somebody's Somebody
Maybe a bit more uptempo than the rest of the compilation, but this was another song that I couldn't ignore if I was making a collection of late-night jams. Not necessarily a love song, unless you imagine that he's singing it to a specific person rather than just singing about how he feels. None of the songs on the compilation are about being dumped or leaving somebody. Its obviously about wanting love, rather than somebody not loving you. I really wanted to include "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore", but it just didn't fit the tone of the other songs.

The One
If you know me well enough, you'll know that I love the Newpower Soul album. I don't know why people dog it so much... Anyway, here's the second-best track from that album. The harp! The swirling eastern-tinged strings! The hollering! This doesn't so much envelop your ears as swagger into them. Other people singing these words would sound like they were pleading, but in Prince's hands, it sounds like a demand.

Insatiable
When I first heard this, I thought it was a pale carbon-copy of "Scandalous" but I learned to love it in it's own right. There's not much else to love about the Diamonds And Pearls album, is there???

Adore
Dense and luscious like a bowl full of whipped cream with cherries on top. This song has got almost as many gear changes as "Bohemian Rhapsody". Its relentless. You feel exhausted when you've listened to it but you still want more. Its an astonishing track. I know its a cop-out having it as the closing track, but you should always save the best for last, shouldn't you?

I've nearly finished the artwork if anybody's interested in making the compilation.

Don't forget to rip the tracks using Volume Normalisation. I ripped mine to wav files first, trimmed milliseconds from the beginning of "Under The Cherry Moon" and "Adore", then raised the RMS of each song to 0.1230 using Goldwave. It sounds fine.

Yeah - sounds good! Please post the finished artwork on THIS thread when it's done - I love the "subscribe to this thread" function

May I use your fantastic artwork?
Well, Im gonna use it anyway... but im gonna change the tracklist a bit. Dont like The One. Otherwise, i really dig it!

I finished it. If anybody wants hi-res copies, here's the URLs for the zip files...

http://www.geocities.com/..._front.zip

http://www.geocities.com/...e_back.zip





Prinssi - if you let me know which track you want substituting, I will amend the images for you.

Hi BinaryJustin,

Congratulations for your fantastic artwork!!!!!

i am in love with your 60s/70s retro style covers.

I already made my own "Prince: Slow Love Compilations" months ago!

P wrote so many fantastic love tunes, that the capacity of one single cd is too less!
So I compilated Slow Love Vol.I - III.

Would you amend your image for me to 3 discs if I give you the tracklists of my 3 compilations? Same designm and pictures of the original, maybe other font colors.....

funkenstein99 said:

Hi. Just orgnote me the tracklists and let me know what colours you want the fonts in and I'll sort it out, this week. I've already got a few other orders ahead of you, but I promise I'll get around to all of you.

prinssi said:

Your wish is my command...

Here's the URLs to the zip files:

http://www.geocities.com/...n/sl2f.zip

http://www.geocities.com/...n/sl2b.zip

Hi. Just orgnote me the tracklists and let me know what colours you want the fonts in and I'll sort it out, this week. I've already got a few other orders ahead of you, but I promise I'll get around to all of you.[/quote]

Hi!

Ok, these R the tracklists of my own "SLOW LOVE VOL. I & II":

CD1:
1. Damn U
2. Do Me, baby
3. I Can't Make U Love Me
4. Slow Love
5. The One
6. Power Fantastic
7. Adore
8. Under The Cherry Moon
9. Insatiable
10. Joy In Repitition
11. Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife
12. A Case Of U
13. Venus De Milo
14. Crazy You

CD2:
1. Scandalous
2. Somebody's Somebody
3. Shhh
4. Pink Cashmere
5. International Lover
6. Dreamin About U
7. Sweet Baby
8. When 2 R in Love
9. Here On Earth
10. Extraordinary
11. Dark
12. Soul Sanctuary
13. Baby
14. I Luv U In Me

It would B fantastic if U have the time to amend your image for me to these 2 CDs. Different Font color 4 the 2nd Cd is your decision!

Thanx, Man!

nice cover!
Prince should allow his fans to submit a covers for his next album and then let them download it.

Thank You!

I'll make this compilation immediately...

This will look great in my cd shelf!

-Prinssi