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Warners go crazy with vinyl-heavy Prince release schedule for 2016

By Paul Sinclair

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49

aroundtheworld2

Warners will continue to reissue Prince albums on vinyl during 2016, with many titles in the schedules, including some of his most popular albums such as Sign ‘O’ the Times and Parade.

The label have already issued For You and Prince in the last few weeks and 1985’s Around The World In A Day is already available for pre-order on Amazon USA, with a slated 5 July release date, with Parade expected the following month.

The Black Album, Batman, Sign ‘O’ the Times, Lovesexy, Diamonds and Pearls, Music From Graffiti Bridge, Come and the ‘love symbol’ album are all in the schedules for a vinyl release in 2016.

Interestingly, Warners will also issue Controversy, Dirty Mind, Prince and Purple Rain on cassette in June, giving credence to the claims that the format is having a mini-resurgence. Again, listings are all up on Amazon US, so tape fans (you know who you are) should go here to pre-order!

Despite all this activity, there is no word about any forthcoming deluxe editions. Perhaps the Warner strategy to get everything back in print on vinyl and CD and think about deluxe editions for 2017.

More news on Prince releases when we have it. There are no UK or European pre-order links for any of the above at present.

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49 Comments

49 thoughts on “Warners go crazy with vinyl-heavy Prince release schedule for 2016”

  1. Do we know for sure if the Black Album is in fact coming out on vinyl? I just ordered the six albums already available on vinyl and plan to order all the forthcoming ones as well.

    I already have all of these on CD and like many others I am really hoping we will see special editions on CD before too long… Vinyl issues of Hits and The Gold Experience would also be most welcomed.

  2. Pingback: Prince: Around the World in a Day vinyl | superdeluxeedition

  5. Unfortunately, I think we are going to have to wait quite a long time before we see SDEditions of any of his material or even b-sides, outtakes, etc. Especially now that they have not found a Will to his estate and family members are falling out of the woodwork. The who gets what battle is just beginning and that includes his vault full of music.

  6. Paul – how’s this working ? – I thought Prince had bought back all the rights to his albums and him (or now his estate) would have full control of what and when stuff was released – nothing has been remastered and so Warners will have the same old master tapes that was used for our old vinyl (and cassettes and 1st gen CDs) … As his estate is in limbo and won’t get sorted out for a very long time, I am wonderering how Warners are managing to do this – unless as I say it’s just pressing another lot of the same old stuff. Controversy indeed.

    1. If you look at the recent “Prince” vinyl reissue it has on the inner sleeve “NPG Records, Inc. under exclusive license to Warner Bros Records”. So Prince, or now his Estate, does indeed own them, but looks like the deal was done before his death to reissue these. I get the feeling that Warners have probably cranked up the schedule a bit since his death but the licensing agreement is clearly already in place.

  7. FWIW – I always loved 8-tracks, cassettes, and (especially) MiniDisc’s. Still have all 3 players.
    Vinyl too. But I *so* wish they’d do these on coloured vinyl…

  8. The plan is to wait until everybody who ever listened to Prince is dead. Then they will release the Superdeluxe Editions and complain that nobody wants to buy them…
    I am a Prince fan since 1999 (the album), but i give up now, i know now i will never see any Deluxe Editions in this life. Maybe in my next life when we all moved to another planet…

  10. #Prince4Ever♊✴⭐

    As with all great masterpieces created by God. Our beloved Prince was a one-of-a-kind work of art. Simply on loan to this Earthly Museum. And as with all of God’s Great Works, in time they must be returned. I am so thankful and grateful to have been a part of the time that Prince was here on Earth. I have loved him for more years than I can even remember. Though he has now passed to the other side of the Veil. His musical Legacy lives on in our hearts and our minds and in our souls. Thank you God for allowing me to live to see the dawn. And for loaning us the amazing treasure that was Prince Rogers Nelson!

    LoveAgent7
    AKA
    Gregory Charles West

  11. I don’t know – I’ve trimmed the vinyl so it fits in my CD player but it just keeps getting ejected. I’m waiting for the DAT or Mini-Disc reissues.

  12. Everybody keeps going on about deluxe boxsets for each album and that is great, but I hope that there is also an implication of there being deluxe editions and standard editions like the Zeppelin Remasters. I like Around A World In A Day and Dirty Mind a lot, but I wouldn’t cough up the money that I would for Purple Rain, Sign O’ The Times, and Parade for either of those. Knowing Prince, the bonus tracks on the deluxe stuff would be a goldmine for bonus material unlike the Zeppelin ones.

  14. Since 1999, Controversy, Dirty Mind, and Purple Rain were part of the last re-pressing by Rhino, will they be included this time around? I have not seen them listed anywhere. I have also seen that Prince and For You are 140gram.

  15. HMV have 2 Prince CDs fir £10 including Sign O’ The Times, I’m sure it!s just a matter of time before some sort of deluxe/boxset is announced.

  16. I don’t do vinyl these days but to own a decent pressing of Black album would be sweet. Personally I think this is indeed the first step in a larger reissuing program. Don’t they already have the Purple Rain stuff ready to go in box set form? I remember reading an article last year that Warners had everything ready and Prince pulled the plug on the project for some reason.
    A decent reissuing program of double CD’s for the first 4 albums (album plus related out takes and/or live [period material) followed by decent presentations (as in box sets inc. b-sides, out takes, live material audio and visual from those periods)) of the big 5, 1999, PR, ATWIAD, Parade, SOTT. A possible first time issue of the rumoured double album remix set for Lovesexy would be a nice thing to own.
    As someone who was big into Prince in the 1980’s I am a bit biased toward that era of material. All of this is even before we start to discuss ALL of the related artists down through the years, The Time, Vanity 6, Apollonia 6, The Family, Jill Jones, Madhouse, Sheila E amongst others.
    If done right this could become one hell of a reissuing program but we’ll need to see and besides, the guy hasn’t even been gone a month yet.

  17. Re-Releases without un-released material? the umpteenth Purple Rain Pressing?
    What a waste!
    Just release cd-only and online-only material on vinyl: like the War, the Daisy Chain, or even better the whole albums from the npg-music club: Slaughterhouse and Chocolate Invasion.
    That would be REAL good news.
    But as always: Major record company executives of today don’t seem to be music lovers like Ahmet Erteguns or Jerry Wexlers or today’s Third Man Records’ Jack White or UK-based Jazzman Records’ Gerald Short…

  18. Probably been said already but Prince really needs a comprehensive box of 12″ versions (a-sides and b-sides) – so many extended and remixed versions around the ten minute mark.

  20. I am excited as I am completely reverting back to vinyl. I cannot wait to get a copy of a decent copy of THE BLACK ALBUM on vinyl. I always felt that this was one of Prince’s finest albums and is a jam all the way through. Kudos to Warner Brothers for the releases.

    1. No one really knows… I certainly wouldn’t *not* buy these, if you think you’ll enjoy them, because the future re Prince deluxe sets is uncertain.

  22. It’s possible that he vinyl reissues were already in the pipeline–For You and the S/T album were already scheduled prior to his death and in terms of the work and planning that would need to go into having these out on the schedule they are stating, the first several releases MUST have been in the pipeline prior to his passing. So I’m not quite as cynical about these releases as some might be, though, as a non-vinyl enthusiast, this announcement doesn’t do anything for me ,except in terms of giving me hope that it’s another step toward proper super deluxe reissues. (Come on, Warner, give me SOMETHING good.)

    I really have no idea why cassettes would ever make a comeback, unless it’s some sort of ironic thing. I grew up with them and have zero nostalgia for tiny, chopped up, cropped album art, tape hiss, and that moment of terror when the machine begins to mangle the tape.

    I may be the only one who wants this, but does anyone hope that an SDE of the Purple Rain soundtrack might also include the non-Prince songs from the film on a disc? For the most part, they’re really only “non-Prince” in the sense that he doesn’t do the lead vocals on them, but for the most part he did the composition, played the tracks, and even, sometimes, did the backing vocals. I think it would be a nice addition to the package, and “Jungle Love” (The Time” and “Sex Shooter” (Appollonia 6) both made some impact on the charts.

  23. Oh for a return of oxide on your fingers trying to pull out from the head tape that still somehow managed to sound and play fine for about 20 seconds after it got jammed and ultimately stretched and snapped… Happy days. Seriously who on earth would not want to go back to wading through this minefield!
    Type I

    Low-level: TDK A, TDK B, TDK J, TDK FE, TDK T1
    Entry-level: TDK D, TDK DS, TDK DS-X, TDK AE, TDK LN, TDK Dela
    Medium-level: TDK CDing-I, , TDK DJ1, TDK Beam 1, TDK Optima 1, TDK CD Bass
    High-level: TDK AD, TDK AD-X, TDK AD-S, TDK SD, TDK AD1, TDK Super CDing-I
    Top-level: TDK AR, TDK AR-X, TDK ED, TDK OD, TDK IF

    Type II

    Low-level: TDK CDing-II, TDK CV-II, TDK DJ2, , TDK CD Power, TDK Nana
    Entry-level: TDK AD2, TDK Optima 2, TDK Beam 2
    Medium-level: TDK Super CDing-II, TDK Walker, TDK Super D
    High-level: TDK SD, TDK SF, TDK SR, TDK SR-X, TDK CUE,
    Top-level: TDK SA, TDK SA-X, TDK SA-XG, TDK SA-XS, TDK HX, TDK HX-S

    Type IV

    Low-level: TDK CDing-IV, TDK DJ Metal, TDK Optima 4
    Entry-level: TDK Super Cding-IV
    Medium-level: MA
    High-level: MA-X, MA-EX
    Top-level: MA-R, MA-XG

  24. Really The Black Album? Kind of shocking WB would even think of releasing it. I do think it should be released but as I don’t collect vinyl I’ll wait for possible CD re-issues… same for The Gold Experience! how that ever went OOP even on CD always surprised me. but Prince fans who love Vinyl should love these releases.

    It is sad Prince passed away so untimely he always seemed to be moving forward much like another artist Madonna and I would hope this is a wake up call for those who don’t seem to care much for their back catalog to be more pro active and have someone curate your tapes etc for prosperity and also possibly release some deluxe editons while your fans are still alive!

    Look at Michael Jackson we recently were offered Off The Wall with a DOC (nice but really ? No bonus tracks?) and a piece of chalk?

    Metallica – I wish I were a fan cause I respect how they are handling their box sets! They are massive and most hate the books with CDs and Vinyl.

    The only thing I wish we would get more of are Blu-Ray discs with uncompressed 2.0 / 4.0 (when available) and 5.1/7.1 HD mixes.

  25. The comeback of the cassette has been and gone about five years ago! I think Warners are being clever but cynical here. Reissue the basic vinyl editions this year whilst interest is at its highest and then release super deluxe editions next year that will render this year’s reissues redundant. It’s all about the money!

  26. While I already have a couple of them on vinyl already (including a promo copy of The Black Album), I’ll probably go ahead and buy these. (One small thing, Paul — ‘Diamond’ should be plural in the title list above.)

  27. Glad to see Come coming (!) on vinyl. It’s really difficult to find one without paying silly prices. Overall a reissue campaign is very welcome. Maybe when the Vinyl is out the way the SDE will follow.

  29. Sad to see Gold Experience NOT on that list. It’s actually his best post-1990 Warner album. They seem to have only been issued as promo copies on vinyl originally, and before his death were going for around $100. Now they are upwards of $200. How else am I supposed to rock “P Control” or the epic “Gold” on my turntable without this in my life? Heck, even “Most Beautiful Girl in the World” was rerecorded for it. Big oversight if that’s the case…

  30. The pressing plant used for “For You” isn’t as ace as the one they used for the ones a few years ago – and I’m not sure “For You” feels 180 grams, but in the US, we never got a release for Diamonds and Pearls or the Symbol album. And both were out of print years before we had eBay or any online shopping. I was lucky enough to be able to over-pay for a legitimate (not bootleg) of the German release of The Black Album, but it was in such a flimsy sleeve that even the most serious vinyl junkie like me is left with seam splits and tattered corners. I welcome these releases.. Excited for those records from 1987 on especially and glad we don’t have to get gouged over these. And with no wife or child, I don’t care if things Prince-related are a cash grab or not. I will buy everything. I just hope the remastering is great – – and more crucually, I pray we don’t get a Thriller25 fiasco. I couldn’t stomach “When Doves Cry 2017 Remix featuring Nicki Minaj” or worse, Purple Rain 2017 featuring Beyoncé. I’ll jump off a building.

  31. Why, oh, why are they not doing some beautiful box sets for these discs and beautiful hardcover thick books?! What an insane missed opportunity? Should I buy these now for certain reasons or wait another decade for the box set I want which may never come in the first place?!

    1. Because all that will take ages. I see this as a first step in properly reworking Prince’s catalog – i.e. get the basics sorted, then move on to fancy boxes (hopefully!).

  32. Cassette resurgence?
    Wait, don’t tell me:
    The shells are made from the finest teakwood and the tape is hand-coated with platinum-infused metal particles and each release comes in a heavyweight plastic “supercase” and costs $65…
    And there’s nothing like that “warm and full” cassette sound, right?

    When will everyone understand that wax cylinders were the best recording technology ever?

    1. Neil Young’s next album is coming out on recycled 78s cos he thinks that music at 78rpm sounds better than Pono

      I haven’t checked if this isn’t actually happening BTW

  35. I understand this new fixation with cassette from a nostalgia perspective, but then again, from a sound quality standpoint, not really sure I would want to start rebuilding my collection in this format.

  36. Well that is some very good news…. if these new vinyl reissues are as good the ones we got a few years back in Europe (Dirty mind, Controversy, 1999 and Purple rain). I hope they will respect all of the original US packaging goodies (stickers for Around the world and Sign of the times, etc…..).

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