Recent Prince Reissues, Posthumous Releases, and Deluxe Editions

With 39 studio releases during his lifetime, 2 posthumous releases, and reportedly enough material in his vault to release an album a year for another hundred years, there is a lot of content around for Prince fans.  Recently I purchased the latest Prince reissue, a super deluxe edition of Sign o' the Times, an 8CD + DVD and hard-cover book set.  I bought it upon release at the inflated price of slightly over NZ$270.  Had I waited a few weeks I could have picked it up a bit cheaper during a Labour Weekend sale, but previous Prince stuff disappeared soon after release and I was worried I might miss out.  Because that release sold very well at that inflated price, I am now worried that future estate releases will have similarly inflated prices, and to be honest I can't afford that.

Let's have a look through some of the Prince releases I have picked up over the past couple of years (and some I skipped), and what I'm hoping for in the next year or so.

Super Deluxe and Deluxe Reissues:

Here's a couple of pics of the aforementioned Sign o' the Times Super Deluxe Edition.  The main draw for this is the 3 CDs of vault material, but if that's all you are buying this for, they would cost you NZ$90 each!  At a per disc cost for the 9-disc set, it is still just over NZ$30/disc - ouch!  I've listened to all of the audio content of this package (the vault CDs twice) but have yet to watch the DVD or read the book.  The book has comments about each of the vault songs so, when I have time, I will have to sit and listen to those again with the book in hand.  This was also released as a 13LP (plus DVD) vinyl box set, but at NZ$675 I gave it a pass.  Besides, I have the double black vinyl re-release from a couple of years ago.

1999 was also released as a Super Deluxe Edition, containing 5 CDs and a DVD.  2 of the CDs are vault material.  This cost me just over NZ$82, so less than NZ$14/disc.

Purple Rain (my favourite Prince album) was released as a 3CD + DVD Deluxe Edition (1 disc of vault material).  I picked this up for just under NZ$42, so fractionally just over NZ$10/disc.  This is one release that I hope gets a Super Deluxe Reissue as I feel there must be more in the vault from this period.

Posthumous Releases:

So far, there have been 2 posthumous releases (Wikipedia says 3, but one of those is an anthology, which doesn't really count).  The first was a demo tape that Prince likely made for his own use, with just him and a piano, appropriately titled "Piano and a Microphone."  I picked up the deluxe release for a steal (under CAN$22) which was a boxy gatefold container housing a vinyl record, a CD, and a booklet.

The other posthumous release is the double album, "Originals."  These were songs Prince wrote for other artists, but recorded himself as a guide for those artists.  This was also released in a deluxe format - double purple vinyl and single CD, but I purchased the cheaper option of the double black vinyl.

Other Reissues:

Prince's back catalogue has seen a wave of reissue activity over the past couple of years, many of them available in both CD or vinyl versions.  I believe I have picked up all but two of these reissue titles.

There were way too many purple vinyl releases...

The "Chaos and Disorder" reissue was on purple vinyl but I own the original CD, so skipped this. Likewise, I also already had the CD of "Emancipation" which was reissued as a 6LP vinyl set.

"Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic" and "Rave In2 the Joy Fantastic" were both released as double purple vinyl albums, as well as a deluxe edition of the 2 albums on CD along with a concert DVD.  I picked up all three as they were reasonably priced.

Likewise, "Musicology" and "3121" were both double purple vinyl releases, and Planet Earth was a single purple vinyl release.

"Lo+usflow3r" and "MPLSound" were released together on black vinyl in a gatefold package (see above) and came with CDs of both albums (in paper sleeves); curiously the CDs were black (as opposed to silver).

"Plectrumelectrum" and "Art Official Age" both had single black vinyl releases.

"The Versace Experience: Prelude 2 Gold" was released on both purple vinyl and on CD.  After listening to it online and realising it was mostly out-takes of the "Gold Experience" album, I chose the cheaper option.  I've put both albums side by side below for a track listing comparison (if you can read them).  "Emancipation" was also released on vinyl at this time but, as mentioned, I already had the original CD and don't currently have a lot of disposable income, I passed on that.

"The Rainbow Children" was also released on clear vinyl (with a rainbow turntable slip mat included) and CD.  Again, I chose the cheaper option, as I never obtained this album when it was originally released.

At the same time, the "One Nite Alone" album was reissued on purple vinyl, and in a 4CD + DVD box set, including a 2CD set of the live concert, a single CD of the live aftershow, and a concert DVD.  The CD box set was better value for money, so I went with that.

Future Releases/Reissues:

Internet chatter recently posed the possibility of an "Originals 2" as Prince wrote a ton of material for other artists, however it is likely that the content of that (if it exists as performed by Prince) will be lesser known material than the first.  Of course, any other unreleased content would be welcome, be it as an individual release such as "Originals" or "Piano and a Microphone" or as part of a larger reissue.

Here are some of my thoughts on the question of future Super Deluxe Editions.  My second favourite Prince album is the Batman soundtrack, and it was my hopeful expectation for a super deluxe edition of it to come out soon, but I believe the ownership rights might hold that one up a little longer.  On a more selfish nature, because of some CD rot damage on a Prince CD maxi single and a regular CD single of "Cream" that I own I now would like "Diamonds and Pearls" to be the next SDE so I can be sure to have that content intact and playable.  Failing that I would go for either the "Love Symbol" album, or the "Gold Experience," but the latter has some copyright issues and the former is not very popular with the public.  Based upon popularity, I would wager that the estate releases an SDE of "Around the World in a Day" next.  *June 2021 Update: Rumours now say Diamonds and Pearls will be the next SDE

As for other reissues, I'm hopeful for the seven albums I do not have copies of, which are: Crystal Ball, The Truth, The Vault, Xpectation, N.E.W.S., Chocolate Invasion, Slaughterhouse.

Whatever is next for the reissue/release campaign, I hope it is one of the albums that I don't own yet, something I already own but it is failing, or is something previously unreleased.