In 1989 Prince had returned to the number one slot on the album and single charts in America, for the first time since 1985 and 1986 respectively. Not a long time for most artists, but for someone as prolific as Prince, people were beginning to worry.
Sign O' The Times had been acclaimed in alot of circles as the album of his career but it only racked up 1.3million sales in the US, and a further 1.8million outside the US. For reference, Purple Rain sold well over ten million the year of it's release in 1984.
The followup, LoveSexy, had been panned and flopped, although it did have the top ten single Alphabet St.
So when Tim Burton and Jack Nicholson wanted Prince to do a couple of songs for the upcoming Batman film Prince gave them an album instead, and it was used too, getting to number one on the album charts while the lead single, Batdance, also got to the top spot (Prince's fourth at
the time I think).
This EP, The Scandalous Sex Suite, takes the song Scandalous from the Batman soundtrack and extends it to three different six minute versions. They feature Kim Basinger on vox (They dated on and off in the following years), talking to Prince, while he seduces her.
The three versions are 'The Crime', 'The Passion' and 'The Rapture'. The two songs tacked on the end are the B-Side, 'Sex', and the LoveSexy and Black Album album track 'When 2 R Love'.
It's a hard EP to review, as the purpose of it's release has never really been clear. It's bizarre why Warner Brothers would release an EP of Prince jamming on one song for 20 minutes, but that's what seems to have happened.
Personally, I'm glad they did. Scandalous has always been one of my favourite tracks on the Batman soundtrack and as a huge Prince fan I love to hear how he can make such different and brilliant versions of an existing song.
However, it's obviously not going to be for everyone's tastes. At the end of the day a jam is still a jam, so if you like your songs nicely structured and less than five minutes long, I'd avoid this little set.
The song Scandalous itself is sparse in arrangement and features a fantastic vocal turn from Prince, who is busy enticing a lucky lady with come ons and sexy promises. It's officially co-written with his father but there is strong rumour that says he occasionally gave his father a writing credit to help him out economically. It's a very good song and one of the fans favourite Prince ballads, and it was a good choice to extend into a 20 minute slow jam.
The Crime has a sax playing the main melody of the song, while The Passion adds a whole new bass line and backing vox, and this works the best of the three, being a brilliant track in it's own right. By the time of The Rapture it all seems like much of a muchness but it has a great guitar solo.
Sex, the b-side, is a cool little song, and oozes the Prince sexiness and naughtiness that he had mastered so easily by this time. At seven minutes long it ends up as another jam, but it's a good song nonetheless. As an aside, he seems to be revisiting the synth riff of this song on his new album, Musicology, with one song, Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance sounding fairly similar.
I don't have a clue why When 2 R In Love is on here, presumably as a little advertisement for LoveSexy, which desperately needed extra sales. However I do love the song, so I have no qualms about it being here! It's a got lovely acoustic guitar on it and features typically brilliant Prince vocals. It's one of those songs that seems so sweet but when you listen to the lyrics it's Prince slipping in some filthy one liners too! I still love the sentiment of the songs though, with the opening lyrics that go '"When 2 R in love, they whisper secrets only they 2 can hear" - I mean, how spot on is that? It's a really good song.
So overall, it's a cool little package. You can generally find it for about a fiver, so even if you don't like if you shouldn't feel ripped off!
If you are looking to get into Prince, you could probably get a full album from the 82-87 period for the same price, and that's the best way to go.
If you are a Prince fan, and you like the Batman album, you may as well get this, unless you hate the song, Scandalous, in which case stay away!
Ultimately, it's a good little showcase of Prince's versatility, but perhaps it's one for the more hardcore fans or those looking for something abit different.
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Hi, well, the only Prince-stuff I still like is the one from "Purple Rain", film or record, it doesn't matter ... "Sign O' The Times" is one more great song by Prince (and also okay from Simple Minds) ... Many regards, Sven (Zoobremia)
Delicate_Orchid 30.11.2004 20:57
Do like Prince, but not quite enough to buy a whole album. Desiree x
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