Post by ganews on May 30, 2022 13:38:23 GMT -5
Prince famously died with a vault of unreleased recordings, and now the estate has (and, as of writing, is continuing to) put out posthumous albums. Let's take a listen.
Originals (2019) (posthumous)
Pre-existing Prejudices
All of these songs were written by Prince and given to/mad famous by others, particularly his associated acts, so I know quite a few of them. Almost all of them were recorded in the 80s, and I know several of the Prince-recorded versions already, so this ought to be a fun stroll down memory lane.
Songs
"Sex Shooter" - The Apollonia 6 song with the lingerie from Purple Rain, and the main synth hook sound very much like it. Synthy and slinky with a wash beat. Really the phallic title works better with a male vocalist.
"Jungle Love" - From The Time, complete with opening monkey call. This is pretty much completely indistinguishable from Morris Day, even "somebody bring me a mirror". Forgot got how dangerous and heavy that bass line is.
"Manic Monday" - From The Bangles. Frankly I was never a fan of this song. Prince's vocals kind of have a "Raspberry Beret" quality, not as good as The Bangles. There is a jarring, atonal piano bridge,
"Noon Rendezvous" - A Sheila E. song. Heartbeat echo percussion and piano ballad. Ends a cappella. Feels like a demo.
"Make-Up" - A Vanity 6 song. Bad-ass Terminator synth rumble and hi-hat, spoken flat vocals. Come. Here. This makes me want to seek out more Vanity 6! Bring out the faux-handclaps and synth noodle. Gender-bender lyrics because of the nature. Real band/lyrics synergy here.
"100 MPH" - For Mazarati, the Brownmark band. Starts and ends with arena rock fanfare, in the middle toms/synth/guitar crying. Very cool. Prince's vocals are actually relatively low in the mix.
"You're My Love" - For Kenny Rogers(!). Easy-listening funk trappings with crooning. Very easy to imagine Kenny Rogers singing this, and Prince is really putting on a Kenny Rogers voice for it.
"Holly Rock" - From Sheila E. Ooh, big street percussion beat with tickled guitar strings, crowd repeating, synth party. This verse is essentially rapping, which is way early for Prince. "Sheila E.'s my name, Holly Rock's my game." Prince throws in some squeals, which is rare in these songs written with others in mind. Big guitar noodles, even bigger sax noodles from Eddie.
"Baby, You're a Trip" - For Jill Jones, a Prince backing vocalist and orbiter. Ironically lots of backing vocalists on this version. Doo-wop soul jam with bass pop. I like the organ contribution. Princes biggest vocal performance yet on this album. He sings over like a minute-long organ note, which sets apart this otherwise overlong song.
"The Glamorous Life" - For Sheila E., her biggest song. Sax noodle over unsteady bass to intro. The synth hook, clap, and wash are all there. Another very similar to the version you know.
"Gigolos Get Lonely Too" - For The Time. Industrial pressure-release slow beat intro. Slowish jam. Perfect lyrical fit for the Morris Day player character. I like a good tom roll as much as anybody.
"Love... Thy Will Be Done" - For Martika, another light-skinned singer/actress of Prince's type. This is from 1991, and though it still has Big 80s echo snare it also had gospel choir handclap just right for the time. Prince is his own backing vocals.
"Dear Michaelangelo" - For Sheila E. Some more exciting bongo rumble over simple beat, with electric guitar noodles, sax, and synth: a Sheila E. song. An little dark and edgy in the back.
"Wouldn't You Love to Love Me?" - For a Taja Sevelle. A bit funk-rockist with bass pop. This must have been a cassette recording, it is not very good quality. Fine pop fluff, goes on pretty long.
"Nothing Compares 2 U" - For The Family, the band that formed out of The Time, but let's be serious: we know this because of Sinéad O'Connor. This song is, honestly, the only reason for this album to exist, as Prince's biggest song performed by someone else. This was all over the radio after this album came out. As opposed to Sinéad's sparse and powerful performance, this is a full backing band. It has almost a Beatles Walrus-like ringing. The song here is a bit of a mope, not a soul-on-fire torch. It can't help sounding over-produced, there are even orchestral strings, plus drum roll and big sax bridge.
Summary: The inescapable question is, "is it essential?" Well, no. Was it worth the estate releasing? I don't know, it doesn't seem like an utter cash grab, mostly just some fun and first toe-dip into releasing music that Prince plainly did not prioritize releasing. I hope the artists who sang the better-known versions got a few people listening to their old albums, though they were all 30 years past at that point. This was a solid listen. The best songs are very little changed from the line-ups and vocals of the studio versions we know. Prince's original "Nothing Compares 2 U" is a solid song, but it wasn't a legend.
Sexiness level, 1-5 scale: 1, rounding down from "Sex Shooter".
Favorite overall song: "Jungle Love", it's just such an over-the-top song, you got to love it
Favorite new-to-me song: "Make-Up"