I'm sure most of you saw that in the tour book it says one of the cds for the NPGMC this year will be The Very Best of . I was thinking about this and I think it could be one of four things:

1) The greatest hits of re-recorded material that was said to come out on the NPG Ahdio show. I hope it is, but I doubt it.

2) An actual best of collection. I don't understand why Prince would do this. It would be a cheap thing to do, but it's Prince so it wouldn't surprise me at all. He does own all his masters to his recordings.

3) An unreleased collection of songs that he made while he was

4) I was thinking maybe a live era album when he was , mixing older hits with newer stuff, kinda like the JOTY tout, but I doubt Prince would release a live album, God Forbid!

please god no! the sooner we leave behind that era the better. TGE was the only good thing 2 come out of it.

OK, the announcement of "The Very Best of was a bit of a bomb-shell to me. Here is what I think the possibilities are:

1) A greatest hits package of songs from when he was . Folks, there is NO chance that this is what is. First of all, Prince DOES NOT own the masters to The Gold Experience (unless he bought it back from WB), which pretty much takes any purpose out of such a package. He also couldn't include songs from Come (which although released as "Prince," was really a album since it dropped a year after the name change. Second, this album would appeal to nobody. The casual fans would have no interest in these songs, and the hard-core fans already own these albums. I'd be very suprised by the release of such an album.

2) The long awaited New Masters. I think this is a realistic possibility because John Blackwell was quoted recently saying something about these finally being done. This allows Prince to put out a competing greatest hits package to cut into WB's sales. An interesting question here would be does he release the same songs as WB (i.e., the "Hits"), or does he release his best material--a/k/a the "Hits" that the "fams" would want. Y'all know what I mean here--Housequake, Dorothy Parker, Anna Stesia, etc. instead of the same-old-hits package.

If this is what it is, he could sell it with a "remastered" sticker, which might con some people into buying it instead of the WB package. The big question in my mind is exactly what "remastering" will take place. If this is an actual re-recording of his hits, like the 1999 fiasco, I will be very disappointed. On the other hand, I don't believe Prince could simply "remaster" his old albums and somehow claim that these are not owned by Warner. Also, why would he call it the Best of and not the Best of "Prince"? I don't see any legal reason why he can't release the "remasters" under the name "Prince." If he wants it to sell in stores, you'd think he would sell it under that name.

What other possibilities are there? I guess it could be a package of unreleased songs by (Days of Wild studio, Come "electonic", Endorphinmachine "guitar version", Empty Room "NPG" version) coupled with some of the songs he owns the rights to off of Emancipation, NPS, The Truth and Rave. He could also include live recordings by (stuff like Funky Design from the '95 Paisley gigs, etc.). I personally hope its a mixture of unreleased songs and live songs, but I seriously doubt it.

So I'm kind of stumped by this album right now. What do others think?

I always heard the he owned his masters from the album and on. That's why WB didn't put anything from those albums on The Very Best Of cd. They easily could have put 7 and The Most Beautifl Girl, so maybe that's why they didn't put them.

SlayerNPG said:

Interesting. I guess that's why he was able to put the P Control and Continental remixes on Crystal Ball. I had always wondered how he was able to do that, but I guess that explains it. So the $100 million was for all his masters up to that point, plus the next ten albums--which he would retain "master" ownership over?

If that's true, then it makes a lot more sense that this could actually be a greatest hits album, but I really hope he's creative in what he includes. At the very least, this set should have Days of Wild studio extended and Empty Room '95. He should also include some live songs.

Here's my suggested tracklist (assuming he doesn't want to include a couple live tracks, and it's in no particular order):

1. Come "original" version
2. Endorphinmachine-- unreleased "Come" ablum version
3. Days of Wild studio extended
4. TMBGITW--'96 Mustang Mix (the unreleased one)
5. Dreamin About U
6. 319
7. Shy
8. Into the Light / I Will
9. Fascination
10. Dark
11. I Love You But...
12. Billy Jack Bitch (unreleased extended version with the full NPG Hornz part at end)
13. Empty Room '95
14. In this Bed I Scream

This at least get six "new" songs into the mix--and it would make a pretty nice little album for the casual listener.

But think of how Prince used 2 slander those 'best of' and 'greatest hits' packages on his website only last year. Stating that it was nothing more than making a quick $.

Repackaged and Recycled. That's what they called it.

So why?????


Questions, Questions.

Everytime Prince gives us some information on a new release or a new tour or whatever, it usually throws up more questions than answers.

We'll just have 2 wait and see.

I always remember price saying on the view or was it the travis smilie BET interview.. that I am re-recording every song from warner bros..

longer version.. different versions.. the way they were supposed to be..

so I see most of these songs being 6 minutes..and different styles then the orginals?

hmmm...
who knows??

I'm thinking it will be a collection of unrealesed songs from this time period. God knows there are plenty of them---Superhero, Snowman, I Can't Love U Anymore, Poor Little Bastard...

Rather than a 'best of the ' years album, I think that this "Very Best Of " could well be the 'New Masters' Greatest Hits package that Prince mentioned a long while back.

If you think about it he re-recorded all those 'Prince' songs while he was called . So I think that rather than containing songs like 'Endorphinmachine' and 'The Holy River' it will contain stuff like '1999 - the New Master' and 'Starfish & Coffee '96'.

Also, if I remember correctly, Prince said that this ' plays the hits of Prince' album was going to be a double.

kaylef said:

What on earth would be the point of such an album? If he really wants to compete with WB's hits package, why doesn't he release a double album of live tracks from his career? It would get much better critical acclaim, and hence, might at least make a dent on the Billboard charts. The 1999 New Master fiasco should have convinced him that re-recording tracks is just plain stupid. Unless he's going to simply "remaster" the old recordings, which I don't believe he can do as long as WB owns the masters, this idea is primed to be another laugher.

The reason y Prince told us not 2 buy the VBOP was becuz Warners would profit more than P. This new greatest hits by would be the real deal, new versions , re-recorded et al, I 4 one would really love 2 hear his present views on the older songs

The idea of Prince re-recording his old songs is disappointing,imo.I would NOT buy a CD featuring re-recorded songs.And if he's gonna remove the swearing and add new lyrics,forget it!!

But all this is just speculation.None of us really know what will be on this new CD.Most likely,it will be a collection of songs recorded under his Symbol name.

Personally I think this is another name for Madrid 2 Chicago, and it will have those songs plus possibly those from year 1 that were credited to (Van Gogh, Hypnoparadise etc.) but are unreleased in conventional form. But then, that would be a bit of a misnomer, unless he feels is unreleased work is his best?

I don't know, but to me it sounds dodgy and it's put me off renewing my club membership.

I don't want re-recorded versions of the classics either. What's the point? I doubt I could like them any better - it's nothing more than a curiosity.

But what you're forgetting is that IT DOESN'T MATTER if he releases a record that casual fans have no interest in because he has already sold it to his hardcore fanbase via the club.