Prince has a new album out. Well, no, he doesn’t. He has another greatest hits package on the shelves and on Internet retail outfits. It’s his third Best Of and his previous one was in 2006. This isn’t quite as bad as Bowie whose recent Legacy follows on less than two years since Nothing Has Changed.
Prince4Ever is a pretty decent collection of his singles, plus one B side, up to 1993. (I think the world is crying out for a half decent post 1993 Prince collection. If the Purple People want some help, I’m willing to make suggestions.) The thing that upsets me is the inclusion of one, just one, previously unreleased track. It’s called Moonbeam Levels and was originally written in 1982, for 1999, and adjusted in 1989, but never actually issued. Elvis Costello covered it during Prince’s inauguration to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. I have all the other 39 tracks. Let’s hope I can download it separately. It’s rather nice but not worth forking out for the whole ‘album’.
The good news is the the Purple People plan to release a Purple Rain legacy edition next year, followed by a whole collection of » Continue Reading.