PRINCE - 4EVER

My biggest fear after Prince died was that major record companies would do what they've done with artists like Elvis Presley or Jimi Hendrix.  Anytime they come up with a previously unreleased outtake, demo or live recording, they package it along with previously released material to make a greatest hits package they can sell for a cool profit.

I hoped, with the amount of music Prince left behind, there would be the motivation to release entire albums of previously unreleased material.  However, in its rush to capitalize on Prince's passing, Warner Bros. put together this hasty compilation.  The packaging is lovely, but at the same time, a bit disappointing.  They use photos from his previous greatest hits package, Paisley Park's "The Hits/B-Sides".

In order to make the set more appealing, they also list edits of certain songs as previously unreleased on CD.  We all know that's not the case.  With most of these tracks, you can find the edits on CD singles or promotional CD releases.  There's no real value here.

There is one, and let me be specific here, one singular unreleased track included.  'Moonbeam Levels'.  And this is exactly what I feared would happen.  For the rest of our lives, we'll get a new Prince greatest hits compilation once a year with one or two new songs.  They'll charge us the price of a double disc set for a single song or two.  Not even at his most anti-establishment, "artists should profit from their legacies" moments would Prince imagine screwing over his fams like this.

Most die-hard fans already have copies of this song.  Either downloaded or purchased on bootlegs.  It's not new to the community.  So now, you're asking me...  If you have all of this material, why did you invest in the set?  

The answer is simple...  I've always said and I wrote this in a chat with Prince himself once, that even if I owned a bootleg, if he released music in an official capacity, I would purchase it legally.  And I have.  However, I'm disappointed with what's happened here.

Prince is not an artist you can parse out over time.  He has work that needs to be put together and sold as a complete package.  Anything else is a betrayal of his legacy.

I'm not going to get into this release much more.  I find it somewhat sad and not worth the price tag.  I'll leave it at that.  My final words:  A SKIP UNLESS YOU'RE A COMPLETIST.

PRINCE - 4EVER
CD1
01. 1999
02. Little Red Corvette
03. When Doves Cry
04. Let's Go Crazy
05. Raspberry Beret
06. I Wanna Be Your Lover
07. Soft And Wet
08. Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?
09. Uptown
10. When You Were Mine
11. Head
12. Gotta Stop (Messin' About)
13. Controversy
14. Let's Work
15. Delirious
16. I Would Die 4 U
17. Take Me With U
18. Paisley Park
19. Pop Life
20. Purple Rain
CD 2
01. Kiss
02. Sign 'O' The Times
03. Alphabet St.
04. Batdance
05. Thieves In The Temple
06. Cream
07. Mountains
08. Girls & Boys
09. If I Was Your Girlfriend
10. U Got The Look
11. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
12. Glam Slam
13. Moonbeam Levels
14. Diamonds And Pearls
15. Gett Off
16. Sexy MF
17. My Name Is Prince
18. 7 (Album Edit)
19. Peach
20. Nothing Compares 2 U

DEVO - GREATEST HITS

More than any other band, Devo typifies the New Wave sound of the 80's.  Synth driven, simple musical motifs, futuristic lyrics and bizarre costuming all add up to make Devo a shining example of everything we loved about 80's electronic music.  The embracing of technology and strange fashion also helped their image as rebels.

In essence, Devo was the nightmare of an aging generation who couldn't figure out how to program their VCRs.  Their approach to music was somewhere between the robotic industrial sounds of Kraftwerk and the driving energy of the Sex Pistols.  It's hard to imagine hearing soulful vocals in such sterile music, and yet somehow, Devo could convey a sense of organic progression in their songs.

I'm always skeptical when bands release greatest hits packages.  Usually, the compilation is made up of their single releases.  And that's highly questionable as to whether or not all of the tracks were hits.  Devo have a number of songs they are strongly associated with.  Songs that are iconic.  'Whip It', 'Jocko Homo' and 'Through Being Cool' are examples of these tunes.  They were also popular for their covers of other classic tunes like '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' by The Rolling Stones.  With so much of this music present I will agree this is a greatest hits package.  The likes of which I prefer to see.

As cool as I've thought Devo was, I've never owned a lot of their material.  I have the odd album here and there but I didn't buy everything they put out.  Still, I quite like what they do and I'm intrigued by their music.  They're a group I always meant to buy but never did.

And that's part of the reason I picked up this disc.  When I found it, I knew I'd have all the songs I loved in one collection.  The downside is I'm not hearing the additional music from the albums.  For example, the very first track, 'Here To Go' is from "Shout" and my favorite song on this record is the Jimi Hendrix cover, 'Are You Experienced?'  I've always thought it was brilliant.  That's the other downside to compilations.  You miss all of the other stuff.

Still, I'm happy with this purchase and I look forward to a time when I can experience Devo more fully.  My final words:  AN EXCELLENT REPRESENTATION OF THIS BAND'S BODY OF WORK!

DEVO - GREATEST HITS
01. Here To Go (Go Mix Version)
02. Through Being Cool
03. Big Mess
04. That's Good
05. Jerkin' Back 'N' Forth
06. Peek-A-Boo!
07. Beautiful World
08. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
09. Whip It
10. Girl U Want
11. Freedom Of Choice
12. Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA
13. Gut Feeling
14. Gates Of Steel
15. Working In The Coalmine
16. Jocko Homo

DEVO - SHOUT

Devo is an interesting band. I've always liked them, but I never collected them as heavily as other new wave acts. I'm quite fond of synth pop and Devo are truly masters of the genre. This particular record is the first tape I ever bought of the band. I didn't recognize any of the songs on it, but I knew their singles from MTV. 'Whip It', 'Satisfaction' and others... The first time I listened to the tape I wasn't impressed. I thought the beats were cool and I liked the music, but I didn't hear anything that stood out. Usually you hear a couple songs that strike your fancy and although I enjoyed listening to the disc, there wasn't a single track that really jumped out.

Devo approach songwriting in a manner similar to old 50's pop groups... They keep their songs short and to the point. They're very simple ideas that stay on target. It's an industry accepted and well respected format for pop music. But I often find it leaves me unsatisfied. I know, I'm a freak and I'm often drawn to groups who don't function in a traditional setting.

Over the years, I gained a new appreciation of the tape. I listened to it now and again and always enjoyed singing along and tapping my feet. In fact, I found a song I thought was absolutely brilliant on the record. The band do a cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic, 'Are You Experienced?'. I thought it was amazing. I loved the slight lyrical changes and the brilliant sound arrangement. I realized that Devo are similar to Hendrix in many ways. Hendrix played his instrument in a very free flowing manner and his performances were usually just as free. He gained notoriety for his non-conformist style. By the same token, Devo are as progressive but on the totally opposite end of the scale. Their music is programmed. It often sounds like an equation playing out rather than a song. There's structure, form and a rigid adherence to meter and rhythm. It's this very quality that make Devo appear to be a band perfectly linked to the binary code world of computers, science and electronic music. It's also the very quality that makes what they do with the Hendrix cover so interesting. The song moves from one sort of flow to another.

There's a lot to be said for the organic texture of the lyrics and the vocal performance. Even with the highly structured soundscapes their subject matter isn't quite where you'd expect when you look at them. I see a group I'd expect to hear songs about aliens, technology and mathematics. Instead, Devo tackle some traditional pop themes like love, relationships and various anxieties. There is a sometime foray into science, but mostly, the lyrics could be the natural progression of 50's pop stars in a modern era. I could easily hear old Motown acts sings these tunes.

The CD includes a couple of bonus features. I assume 'Growing Pains' is a single b-side and then there's the remix of 'Shout'. It's probably the worst part of the CD and could easily have been left off. It sounds like it was programmed and performed on a Casio Keyboard your parents would buy a five year old for Christmas. Terrible.

In the end I think it's a fairly decent record. I really enjoy listening to the album in a continuous mode. The songs are certainly different enough not to run together in one long blur, but they don't really stand up and say "Here I am!" If you're a die-hard fan you need this essential record. If you're a casual listener, your dollars would be better spent on a more well-known record with popular singles to boast or a band single compilation. My final words: NICE BUT NOT ESSENTIAL.

DEVO - SHOUT
01. Shout
02. The Satisfied Mind
03. Don't Rescue Me
04. The 4th Dimension
05. C'mon
06. Here To Go
07. Jurisdiction Of Love
08. Puppet Boy
09. Please Please
10. Are You Experienced?
11. Growing Pains
12. Shout (EZ Listening Muzak Version 1)