The Hits/The B-Sides [Box] - Prince (CD 1993)

Yes, most of you know the Artist Formerly known as and Now Currently Known as Prince as a weirdo eccentric genius who made some great music in the 80s, then seemed to sink deeply into trying to sabotage his career.

The culprit, at least the one he blamed, was Warner Brothers. See, Prince was nothing if not prolific, creating hundreds (some said up to 1000) songs that crammed his tape vaults. Some were good, some were bad, and Prince wanted them to see the light of day.

But bad old Warners, having signed the Purple One to a big contract (which according to a book I've been reading, may have been $100 million) where they owned him for several albums and owned his past masters. He got big bucks and indignant, Warners began to tire of him and decided to burn off the remainder of his contract with minimal promotion.

Now I understand Prince's concern. Money is in back catalog, and it appears that this is where Warners got it's ransom. But as bad as the deal may have been for Prince (he doesn't appear broke or even middle class to me anymore), it was even worse for his fans?

Why? Witness Prince The Hits/B-Sides. Released in 1993 as boxed sets were becoming a phenomenon, this 3 CD set is a celebration of all that was right with Prince's vast career, and wrong with Warner Brothers' handling of its back catalog.

Warners has a long history of botched boxes and reissues. They put out a four CD set of Rod Stewart made off of subpar album masters. Their many artists, from Van Halen to the Talking Heads have all been the same cruddy CD copies that have existed since Warners first realized it could turn a buck. As for Prince, the best they've done is 3 separate issues of 1999, that were done to correct leaving off two songs from the original issue.

So what's the problem with Hits/B-Sides? First, let's start with the length. 3 CDs, all clocking well below their 74 minute running time. Instead of full album versions of songs, many are presented in abridged form, including When Doves Cry, When You Were Mine, 1999, Controversy, and Delirious. This editing tends to cut the wonderful instrumental portions at the end of these songs. Why not expand to 4 or even 5 discs. Prince's live shows are wonderful. Why not a live disc? Or a Vault disc?

Song selection is also a problem. While I can't quibble with most of the songs on here, there is little that surprises, nor is it a complete take of the "hits". For instance, where is Batdance and My Name is Prince? Why is If I Was Your Girlfriend on here? The B-Sides contain a lot of enjoyable stuff, but one has to wonder why little if any music was pulled out of the vaults for the album.

Okay, enough quibbling. This CD is for those of you who like (or liked) Prince, but not enough to mine his albums for all of the songs. And for that, it succeeds quite well. You get a lot of good stuff here, including more than half of Dirty Mind, one of Prince's best albums. You get a version of Nothing Compares 2 U that blows away Sinead O'Connor's version, and you get enough solid gold tracks to electroplate the White House.

The B-sides disc is what most of us bought this for, and it DOESN'T disappoint. Most of the songs here sound too good to be considered B-Sides. Erotic City is, of course, the most famous track here, full of naughty (for 1984) language that somehow got itself played at 8th grade dances back when I was that age. But there's much more here. Irresistible B*tch is a typical Prince "love" song set to minimalist drum riff that always gets my toe tapping. Horny Toad is a synth swing song with some incredibly sadistic lyrics that will remind one of a certain song (that I can't mention) found on Controversy. Hello is one of the most personal songs in Prince's catalog, a kiss off to the people who questioned his motives for not attending the session for "We Are the World." Defending himself, while criticizing USA for Africa (the song points out there is plenty of hunger in the US), the song could come off sounding bitter, but actually is probably the best tune to come out of those few days.

So, if you want a brief overview of Prince's best stuff, The Hits/B-Sides is definitely for you. It also makes a great sampler for the fan without a CD-Burner. Just don't be surprised if you find yourself wanting more.