Customer Reviews

Ultimate Prince

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The double cd is finally out and for the Prince dance freaks that this cd is a major buy. There have been so many Prince collections out with Single mixes that for a collection to finally put out what was either on vinyl in the 80's or German cd singles is something good. The first disc should have been longer extended versions of his hits as well. A lot of his great dance cuts are not on here and that is bad-- No "Erotic City", "Housequake", "Anotherloverholeinyohead" and espcially "Batdance" are not here. BUT you get the mega rare "Let's Work" and to say that I finally own this track after being 11 years old and my mother not allowing me to buy it is beyond words. "Let's Work" is very rare and the original 12" is worth between 100-300 bucks .

Disc 1:
1- I Wanna Be Your Lover (Single-2:57)
2- Uptown (4:09)
3- Controversy (LP 7:15)
4- 1999 (Single 3:37)
5- Delerious (2:38)
6- When Doves Cry (Edit 3:47)
7- I Would Die 4 U (2:56)
8- Purple Rain (LP 8:40)
9- Sign O The Times (Edit 3:42)
10- I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (3:39)
11- Alphabet St. (LP 5:38)
12- Diamonds And Pearls (4:19)
13- Gett Off (4:31)
14- Money Doesn't Matter 2 Night (4:47)
15- 7 (5:08)
16- Nothing Compares 2 U (LIVE 4:57)
17- My Name Is Prince (4:03)

Disc 2:
1- Let's Go Crazy (Special Dance Mix- 7:36) number 1 dance.
2- Little Red Corvette (Dance Remix- 8:22) number 61 dance track.
3- Let's Work (Dance Remix- 8:02)-- number one along with "Controversy" for 6 weeks in 1981. Very very rare version.
4- Pop Life (Fresh Dance Mix-6:18)- Mixed by Sheila E and reached number 5 dance in 1985.
5- She's Always In My Hair (12" version 6:31)- B-side of "Rapsberry Beret"
6- Raspberry Beret (12" Version- 6:34) reached number 4 dance in 1985.
7- Kiss (Extended-7:16)- number one dance in 1986 but a very odd extended version!!!
8- U Got The Look (Long Look - 6:40) Sheena Easton and Prince at their best. Oddly never hit the dance charts.
9- Hot Thing (Extended Version- 8:30)- the b-side to the "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man" 12" single. "Hot Thing" reached number 4 dance in 1988.
10- Thieves In The Temple (Remix-8:08)- Not the Junior Vasquez house mix but the Prince remix that recahed number 9 club and number one sales in 1990. From Graffiti Bridge soundtrack.
11- Cream (NPG Mix- 4:50)Huge pop and sales track from 1991. His last number one pop hit.

So buy it for the dance remixes or the single versions but until the actual Prince 4-5 cd box set comes out or Warner reiussues his Lps on remastered cds this is the best sounding Prince collection of dance hits out. A++++ for "Let's Work".

I wish Warner Bros. had stuck to the original 29-track listing instead of the revised one that went to the presses. The other reviewers are right. Amazon has the wrong tracklisting (the original), so if you think you are getting "Erotic City (12" Version)" you won't find it here, unfortunately! Apparently, it seems that the label wanted to throw all the 12" versions on the second disc and keep the original shorter versions, including 7" edits, on disc one. Both discs clock in close to 80 minutes each, so there's no room for any more tracks, unless of course a few more 7" edits were used on disc one or a track or two were removed. I'm not sure why we got edits of many of the tracks on disc one coupled with the full-length versions of "Purple Rain" and "Controversy".

Prince simply has too many chart hits to fill two discs. I love the idea of including 12" versions of the many hits. It's the first time I've heard many of these extended cuts. However, we still are missing the #1 single "Batdance" and the gold-selling "Partyman" from 'Batman'. I imagine that the idea was to offer fans a new Prince compilation to follow up the 2001 'The Very Best Of' release. By including the rare 12" versions many fans would be drawn in to picking up yet another Prince hits collection.

Despite the complaints the remastering easily makes up for it's faults. These songs are punchy, crisp, and full! From the soaring highs of "Let's Go Crazy" to the punchy drums of "Little Red Corvette" this is the ultimate Prince collection to own for the remastering. Originally, I was going to give this compilation a 5-star review based on the stunning sound alone. But by removing the 12" of "Erotic City" and only focusing on the Warner '79 - '93 era, instead of branching out into his mid/late-90's Warner cuts, I've decided to give it a generous 4 stars.

Perhaps including the original single versions of all cuts would have allowed his other charting singles, including those I listed above. I think the 12" versions should have been saved for a box set release or for possible album remasters. Placing them next to original edit and single versions just doesn't make sense here. Nonetheless, it's still a solid compilation all around.

This seems to be a re-release of the single disc hits collection released a few years ago, and "THE HIT/B-SIDES" several years ago. However, there are some nice remixes included with this offering. Amazon has the tracks listed on this CD incorrectly. The correct tracklisting is:
Disc 1
1. I WANNA BE YOUR LOVER (SINGLE VERSION)
2. UPTOWN (SINGLE VERSION)
3. CONTROVERY
4. 1999 (SINGLE VERSION)
5. DELIRIOUS (SINGLE VERSION)
6. WHEN DOVES CRY (SINGLE VERSION)
7. I WOULD DIE 4 U
8. PURPLE RAIN
9. SIGN "O" THE TIMES (SINGLE VERSION)
10. I COULD NEVER TAKE THE PLACE OF YOUR MAN (SINGLE VERSION)
11. ALPHABET ST.
12. DIAMONDS AND PEARLS (SINGLE VERSION)
13. GETT OFF
14. MONEY DON'T MATTER 2 NIGHT
15. 7
16. NOTHING COMPARES 2 U
17. MY NAME IS PRINCE (SINGLE VERSION)

Disc 2
1. LET'S GO CRAZY (SPECIAL DANCE MIX)
2. LITTLE RED CORVETTE (DANCE REMIX)
3. LET'S WORK (DANCE REMIX)
4. POP LIFE (FRESH DANCE MIX)
5. SHE'S ALWAYS IN MY HAIR (12" VERSION)
6. RASPBERRY BERET (12" VERSION)
7. KISS (EXTENDED VERSION)
8. U GOT THE LOOK (LONG LOOK)
9. HOT THING (EXTENDED REMIX)
10. THIEVES IN THE TEMPLE (REMIX)
11. CREAM (N.P.G. MIX)

This "Ultimate" collection simply doesn't do justice to the vast wealth of material available from one of the absolute best music artists of the last fifty years. Flawed for not only what it includes ( the painfully dated "Kiss" and "Cream" remixes, when the originals would do ) but also for what it doesn't ( superior singles like "Mountains" and essential tracks like "Erotic City" and "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World".)Better than this two disc set of semi-rare remixes and single edits, the Prince back catalogue would be much better served by a complete overhaul. Imagine how good it would be to have remastered versions of classic Prince albums, each with a bonus disc of remixes and b-sides. Or better yet, how about a box set? "The Singles" set is woefully outdated, and there is so much more to Prince than the singles he releases anyway. But because Warner Brothers won't do the obvious and give Prince fans what they really want ( and indeed what this man really deserves ) this kind of thing is what we have to settle for.

Sure, Warner Brothers Records might be trying to make another quick buck here- and sure, Prince might not like the idea...but I don't care. I'm happy to see compilations like this come out. Everyone knows that Prince was his best during the Warner Brothers years & it's good to see his classic stuff being repackaged & re-introduced to the masses.

I've been waiting 20 years (!!!) to see some of these classic extended versions appear on CD and finally here they are- well, SOME of them. I would have preferred a full 12" compilation on CD, rather than mixing them in with the usual "greatest" hits. Fans like me are still waiting for extended mixes of songs like "I Wish U Heaven," "Mountains," "Anotherloverholenyohead," and "Glam Slam," to make it onto a CD, just to name a few.

For the Prince collectors out there who are wondering about the packaging: The cover art you see here on Amazon is a cardboard slipcase. Inside the jewel case is a nice fold-out insert with LOADS of photos- a sort of discography of Prince's 45's, 12" singles & albums throughout his entire Warner Brothers phase. There is a tracklisting with writing & performing credits, but no liner notes. All in all, a nice job!

If Warner Brothers was smarter, they would have started remastering & re-releasing every Prince album years ago, with original cover art, extended versions, and b-sides. I'd buy every one of them! I thought they at LEAST would have put out a 20th anniversary edition of Purple Rain! Wake up, Warner!

Disc 1 consists of versions availiable on other compilations. Disc 2 is the real jem. All tracks on disc 2 are extended versions or remixes. "She's always in my hair", Let's Work" (so obscure, some may have never heard it before now, but is essential.) "Pop Life", "U got the look" are all great to FINALLY have released. All other tracks on disc 2 are great as well. Most compilations are incomplete, that applies to this one. These are some glaring ommisions:

1. Housequake (Seven Minutes Mo Quake)
2. America (The FULL 21:46 version)
3. I Wish U Heaven (10 Minutes and something )
4. Mountains
5. God (Instrumental Version)
6. Another Lonely Christmas
7. Girl
8. La, La, La, Hee, Hee, Heee (10:32)
9. Batdance (The Vikki Vale Mix)
10.Partyman

Edits just don't cut it for any compilation. Cutting any full length song for the sake of time or cost does these packages an injustice. Half versions of song's belong on the radio. Having said that, good job on Disc 2. Hopefully we can hear the tracks listed above in the near future.

When we say Ultimate, It is done by a long process of things. This CD is no exception to the case. Warner music has done it again. Giving us a great selection of one of it all time hottest and most versatile artist. This retrospective CD is a great introduction of how really talented Prince is. Not only do you get the most popular, but a bonus CD of some long awaited Extended and rare dance hit collectables. The only downside to this is that there are still many tracks unavalible. Like for example*(Anotherloverholenyohead Extended version), Love or Money (B side of "kiss" single), Girl (Long version), Sexy Dancer(Dance mix), Erotic City(Dance Mix), America (Dance mix) and the list goes on and on. Nevertheless, it is still a great selection of tunes to own. Although, I wouldn't be too surprised to see Ultimate Prince 2 in the near future.

Before all the negative votes start piling up, let it be known that I come to praise Prince, not to bury him.

While I am perfectly happy to have a lot of these songs on one disc, I am also disappointed that a few songs are missing. Add to that I really don't care about "rare dance mixes" (yawnnnnnnn), then I am the rare listener to have issues with the second disc. I would have been much happier with "Kiss," "Pop Life" and "Raspberry Beret" in their album versions, instead we are forced to listen to dopey raps and cornball dialogue. Hardly the stuff of genius, even if I believe Prince to be one.

I am also perfectly happy to get a single disc with the cream of doff albums like "Parade" or "LoveSexy." Prince had his run of unbeatabilty that lasted up to "Purple Rain." But after that, even for a boy-wonder, things got spotty. That said, I do wish the "Batman" stuff was here, and maybe he'd have switched "Nothing Compares 2U" with "AnotherLoverHoleInYourHead." These being my personal quibbles, of course.

Prince was the soul machine of the 80's...an unstoppable force of nature that packed dancefloors all while charting his own course. He took risks and made them pay off (or not, if you think about the "Under The Cherry Moon" movie). But he played guitar like a Hendrix and funked like James Brown with an admitted Joni Mitchell fixation. What is not to love? The three star rating is for the clumsily compiled songs here, not for the merit of the music.

Now when are we getting the classic albums remastered?

Its very amazing that people out there actually paid over $100 when this was orginally released and than pulled from the shelves at the last moment. Therefore when I read it was finally being released again I jumped at grabbing the first day it came out. To my surprise I would have thought it would have included a bit more, either in booklets, pics, or any other bonus. And especially for the price.
The songs posted here though on Amazon are totally different than what has actually been released in stores. I was disappointed to say the least it did not include the purple medley, Erotic City, Alternate versions, nor "Live" versions as the CD itself states.
Also as many here have already said it also is missing many other "Hits" and rare and out of print mixes and/*or extended versions which would have easliy been a third disc to include in this set.
If you can find a copy of it rather than the first "best Of" than by all means snap it up.

QUESTION:
How are you going to make the claim of creating "THE ULTIMATE"
Prince collection and not include the extended dance mixes of
"Erotic City" (1984), "Head" (1980), "Sexy Dancer" (1979) or
"Party Up" (1980)???
And they do exist too, because I had every one on 12" back in the day!

Not to mention true Prince fan jams like: "The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker",
"If I Was Your Girlfreind" and "Strange Relationship" (All 1987),
"Anothaloverholenyohead" (Extended Version--1986), "Ana-stesia" (1988)
"Lady Cab Driver", "A-U-T-O-matic" and "Irresistible Bitch" (all 1982)
"Party Man" & "Bat-Dance" (both 1989) or even his first hit....
the sizzling "Soft & Wet" (1978).

ULTIMATE PRINCE??--I think not!
When you let 20-ish music executives and studio interns who
weren't even around when most of this music was relevant and
current make the decisions about what exactly is an
"ULTIMATE PRINCE" collective, then what do you expect?
This is a cursory comp with a few good rare ditties that
they haven't included on any of the other mediocore comps!
The 3-Disc "Prince: Greatest Hits & B-Sides", released in
the early '90's was pretty comprehensive, but still lacking
in many ways as well.
I give this comp 3 stars and say that if you're a
youngster just getting into Prince and what impact
his music made on the 80's and early 90's,
then, by all means, this is one to buy!