RIP Prince

[trevgreg]

Well, the whole Prince library is in need of remastering. Unfortunately Prince won't be around anymore to oversee anything (who knows if he would have anyway).

The ideal move would be to package this into one boxed set: 2 discs for Dream Factory, 1 for Camille, 3 for Crystal Ball, and 2 for a remastered Sign O' The Times. Perhaps a final disc of outtakes from 1986 that didn't make any of these.

Yeah, I held off on mentioning the remastered part in case that got thrown with the “loudness war” aspect of things. But I agree and hopefully someone in the family/Warner Bros. group can look at these things and make sure all of that is taken care of in the process.

I’m still crossing my fingers for a properly remastered version of the extended mix of Computer Blue at some point. The bootleg version sounds decent enough, of course, but I wouldn’t mind being further blown away by a better-sounding track once all’s said and done!

 

[lazarus]

I haven't heard any extended Purple Rain stuff. But I have an alternate version of Parade with longer mixes of Mountains, Anotherloverholeinyohead, and Kiss, as well as four other tracks from the movie/sessions, and it's such a strong period of creativity.

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that Prince's growth and output from 1999 through The Black Album/Lovesexy (1982 to 1988) has yet to be matched, only The Beatles can claim such a run.

 

[phanan]

The original version of Computer Blue is much better and fleshes out the premise of the song so the listener has a complete picture. That would be a no brainer for a Purple Rain box set.

As for Crystal Ball, I tweak the original track listing slightly by moving Forever In My Life to the end of Side 2, as it was ultimately released (I don't like Hot Thing ending the side anyway). I then place U Got The Look at the start of Side 5 before Shockadelica.

 

[lazarus]

That sounds good to me. I don't care much for Hot Thing as a side closer, and it's probably one of my least favorite on SOTT. These alt versions are so new to me I hadn't even begun to think about customizing them yet. You could also go one further by bringing back some Dream Factory tracks that didn't survive.

Sign O' The Times runs just shy of 80 minutes. Crystal Ball with U Got The Look added runs 2 hours. I guess it would be an endurance test to create something longer and make it a superior experience, but of course it would still be a lot more consistent than Prince's 3-hour Emancipation.

 

[trevgreg]

The original version of Computer Blue is much better and fleshes out the premise of the song so the listener has a complete picture. That would be a no brainer for a Purple Rain box set.

Completely agree. My understanding was that it was cut down to make way for the last minute addition of Take Me With U?

The first few times I heard Purple Rain as a teenager, I liked the song enough, but even then thought to myself that it'd be a lot better with a second verse and being a tad longer somehow. When I discovered the extender version a number of years down the road, not only was I happy to see that it all existed in the first place, but was completely blown away.

 

[iron yuppie]

So this is a post I've been building up to for the last few weeks. I've been listening to all the 1986 material in frequent rotation, and I wanted to break down the evolution of Prince's various projects for those who don't care to read the Wiki entries, let alone the more detailed ones on the PrinceVault website...

Just getting around to reading this - but thanks for the illuminating look at the creative process behind Sign o' the Times.

My one question would be, with all of the high-quality material you say was left on the editing floor from these sessions, why on earth is that live cut of Beautiful Night on there? That to me is the one misstep on the album proper.

 

[phanan]

Completely agree. My understanding was that it was cut down to make way for the last minute addition of Take Me With U?

It was originally around 12 minutes and then got edited down to 7:30 for the album. It got edited down again when Take Me With U was added.

The 7:30 version was fully mastered and the outtake of it is close to official release quality.

The original longer version exists as well, but the sound quality is rough.

 

[lazarus]

Just getting around to reading this - but thanks for the illuminating look at the creative process behind Sign o' the Times.

My one question would be, with all of the high-quality material you say was left on the editing floor from these sessions, why on earth is that live cut of Beautiful Night on there? That to me is the one misstep on the album proper.

I don't find the song bad, but it's odd to have a single live performance as the second-to-last track on an otherwise all-studio album.

 

[Hewson]

Official says Prince died of opioid overdose

 

[trevgreg]

It was originally around 12 minutes and then got edited down to 7:30 for the album. It got edited down again when Take Me With U was added.

The 7:30 version was fully mastered and the outtake of it is close to official release quality.

The original longer version exists as well, but the sound quality is rough.

Interesting stuff. I have the longer version, but am curious to hear the 7:30 version now.

Official says Prince died of opioid overdose

Sounds like the full report is coming out tomorrow too.

 

[lazarus]

No surprise.

 

[trevgreg]

Medical examiner just confirmed... fentanyl was the drug, apparently.

Prince died of accidental overdose of painkillers: Medical examiner's office | MSNBC

 

[corianderstem]

Fentanyl is some seriously scary shit. As in normally used for extreme pain management ... end-stage brain cancer, hospice. If a doctor prescribed that to him for pain management, that is seriously fucked up.

 

[david]

Yeah, that sucks.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[cobl04]

 

[nbelcik]

As someone who used opioids for three years and almost got addicted, this fucking sucks so much and hits really close to home. Our country needs to work on fixing this problem of painkiller abuse


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

 

[MrPryck2U]

Today would have been Prince's 58th birthday.

 

[corianderstem]

VH1 Classic had Under the Cherry Moon on last week, so I DVRd it, having never seen it.

Holy crap, how did this thing even get made? It's so bad. And yet so awesome, because it's Prince vamping around in black & white being a giant walking gif for 2 hours.

 

[lazarus]

A shame that this didn't get as much coverage as the Gaga and Madonna tributes, but as it was from the BET awards, not a surprise.

Sheila E. showed everyone how it's done, with the help of some fellow Prince alumni.

A major showstopper, to put it lightly.

 

[bono_212]

Random, I just watched that about half an hour ago. Loved it. Really just the way to do it, if you've ever seen his aftershows.

 

[LemonMelon]

Yeah, it felt like a New Power Generation show shrunk down to 7 minutes. Great song choices too.

Jamie Foxx singing Erotic City to his kid lol

 

[Hewson]

Grand finale of Boston esplanade fireworks last night was synced up to "Let's Go Crazy", with a fair preponderance of purple fireworks.

 

[corianderstem]

Thanks for posting that. I remember looking for the video the day after it aired and there was nothing online.

Edit: God damn it, Viacom has already removed it.

 

[bono_212]

It's on bet's site in great quality

 

[corianderstem]

Cool, thanks!

 

[BVS]

Well conspiracy theories are already flying.

Apparently they found counterfeit pills that were labeled as hydrocodone but contained fentanyl.

 

[LadySpinHead]

Also fentanyl found hidden in aspirin and vitamin containers in his home