An outlandish idea? Perhaps. But now that Prince is back in the spotlight, doesn't it make sense for him to let the rest of the world hear his best recent album?

Here's the scenario: In a year or so, enough time for Musicology to fade, he could get another one-off deal with a major label to do the proper distribution on TRC. Maybe it would chart, maybe it wouldn't, but it would get the hearing and discussion it deserves. My guess is it would be recognized by a large audience for what it is: a major, innovative, groundbreaking work by one of the greatest artists ever to work in rock or R&B.

And, hey, Christianity is hip these days, ain't it? What with the success of Passion of the Christ, etc...

TRC is too good to be a strictly fan-only affair. It needs to be heard!

I'm still seeing copies of it EVERYWHERE around here...

croweonbranch said:

where's "here"?

It's readily available in the UK in both High St retail outlets and online.
.

It's also easy to find at Tower and Best Buy in....at least in SoCal.

As far as I know TRC was distributed pretty well in the States.


`
[This message was edited Sun Jun 6 12:21:23 2004 by Supernova]

I think it would be kind of pointless to reissue the Rainbow Children. It is easily available now, the simple truth is that the general public doesn't want to hear it. It's simply too "out there" for most people. I don't think that any major label push could greatly increase it's sales.

What I would like to see is the original WB albums released from 1978-1996 reissued. If only Prince and WB would play nice together. Think about it, each album reissued with a second disc full of B-Sides, Extended Versions, Live Tracks and Outtakes. Now that would be a reissue worth buying! Sigh, maybe someday.

dubiousraves said:

I never knew that TRC was out of print. I wonder why he yanked it?

Supernova said:

There was no promotional budget on it, and critics didn't get review copies, thus ensuring that TRC didn't get reviewed. Also, it was released during P's purgatory, so no one was paying attention. The upshot: only diehard fans heard TRC. And that's a damned shame.

Now, with P resurgent, things could be different. That's why I think he should reissue it on a major label, with full promotion and videos, the works.

rialb said:

There's no way to judge if it's too "out there" without giving people a chance to make that judgment. With weak distribution, no promotion and no reviews, they haven't had that chance.

Of course a major-label push could greatly increase its sales. A major-label push could get a turd on the charts, and often does. That's the game.

Do you really think if Musicology had been released 2 years ago, on NPG or Red records, with no review copies sent out to critics, that anyone would have given it the time of day?

Prince has never shown any interest in 'going back' or re-releasing a previous album before
so I don't expect him to start now (...I mean, to him it's like 4 years old now!).

Plus he spent a lot more time promoting and touring TRC than practically any other album
he's made, I'm sure he feels that 'that' era is very much 'done'.
[This message was edited Sun Jun 6 13:12:05 2004 by BorisFishpaw]

dubiousraves said:

Oh I'm not saying it was promoted well, or that anyone outside of the hardcore fans heard it. But overall it was one of his best reviewed albums in YEARS. During the past version of Prince.org those reviews were posted and kept track of. Byron in particular could tell you about the ratio of good to bad reviews, and most were good. And these were reviews from all over the world. I agree it is a shame it wasn't heard by more people.

dubiousraves said:

Precisely. But I doubt TRC would be reissued anytime soon. The timing IS right for the first decade of albums to be remastered, though.

BorisFishpaw said:

Good points, all. I don't seriously believe he'll reissue TRC, but you gotta dream. It's such a crime that so few know about this album.

So remastering the albums would be strictly for sound quality right?

Love2tha9s said:

yes.

dubiousraves said:

man am i glad your not in charge of what gets released your idea would kill Prince's momentum big time,,do you really think the general public would like and get that album? i have been a Prince fan over 20 years and i dont even get it or like it...now MY plan would be to re release The Gold Experience! that would keep the momentum going

Mazerati said:

The Gold Experience already had its major-label run, courtesy of WB. TRC might not be a chart-topper if rereleased, but it sure would generate discussion. And it would allow Prince to get props for actually accomplishing something -- breaking new musical ground, again! -- as opposed to just stepping back in the spotlight.

dubiousraves said:

I dont know i just hope TRC clicks with me one day because it bothers me it being the only Prince album i dont like...maybe one day

bad idea. next...

croweonbranch said:

Where? What city? I need one.
I went to best buy in two cities...and I went on-line looking for it.
My friend in Califoria looked for it too, and could not find it.
They don't have it at NPGMC....

Nah, there's no need. I kinda feel like TRC/ONA/Xpectation/News was a special time that people can go back to & discover on their own. Or maybe they can do it in the future but now isn't the right time to take things in a totally different direction. Since we're looking WAY back to the PR years get on that remastering of the entire back catalogue. Even start w/ PR but that's the more pressing issue IMO...

DigitalGardin said:

dubiousraves said:

IM PISSED OFF THAT I DIDNT THINK OF THIS THREAD FIRST... I LOVE THE IDEA

tullyblanchard said:

I never heard anything about it being out of print. I just think he should rerelease it on a major label. It wouldn't have to be out of print for that, because he owns it.

dubiousraves said:

SensualMelody said:

I saw bunches of them the last time I was at my local Best Buy in Maplewood Minnesota.

dubiousraves said:

Yes, it's really good, but I highly doubt the casual fan would like it.

I'd much rather see a re-issue of anything pre come

I'm in MA, near Boston. Stores around here seem to have copies pretty much randomly. Best Buy has tons of copies, though. They also had the singles for New Power Generation and the Scandalous Sex Suite for whatever reason.

croweonbranch said:

You'll always find 'em at Best Buy, because Best Buy owns the label, Redline records, that distributed TRC.

And Best Buy knows about as much as distributing records as a fish knows about a bicycle.