Come | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | August 16, 1994 | |||
Recorded | 1991, January – May 1993 and March 1994 | |||
Studio |
| |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 48:43 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. 45700 | |||
Producer | Prince | |||
Prince chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Come | ||||
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Robert Christgau | [2] |
Knoxville News Sentinel | [3] |
Mojo | (mixed) [4] |
Mojo | (favorable) [5] |
MusicHound | 1.5/5 [6] |
NME | 7/10 [7] |
Rolling Stone | [8] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [9] |
Village Voice | (unfavorable) [10] |
Come is the fifteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on August 16, 1994, by Warner Bros. Records. At the time of its release, Prince was in a public dispute with Warner Bros. A lack of promotion from the label and Prince himself resulted in Come under-performing on American record charts, stalling at No. 15, and becoming his first album since Controversy (1981) to not yield any top 10 singles in the US. However, it was more successful overseas, reaching the top 10 across Europe and topping the UK Albums Chart.
The album would be Prince's final Warner Bros. album under his name. For the remainder of his contract with the company, his name would be represented by the unpronounceable "Love Symbol", and he would be referred to in the media as "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince".
Most of the songs from the Come album were recorded at Paisley Park Studios and The Record Plant in early 1993 during a highly prolific time for Prince. The guitar sound on "Orgasm" is a sample of a feedback guitar solo from a previous Prince track, "Private Joy" from his 1981 album Controversy . The moaning on "Orgasm" is that of Vanity, recorded in 1983 for the unreleased track "Vibrator." In the liner notes, Vanity is credited as "she knows".
After Prince's name change to an unpronounceable symbol, he intended to release new songs under that moniker in formats other than albums. He would fulfil his contract to Warner Bros. by delivering unreleased material from his music vault. Prince conceived an "interactive musical experience" called Glam Slam Ulysses —a musical loosely based on Homer's Odyssey . These songs and many others would travel back and forth between different projects, including a planned triple-album called The Dawn. Material from this era later ended up on Come, The Gold Experience and The Beautiful Experience , among other projects.
In late May 1993, Prince's then-band member, Mayte Garcia, sent a letter to a Prince fanzine listing the tracks "Come", "Endorphinmachine", "Space", "Pheromone", "Loose!", "Papa", "Dark", "Race", "Solo" and "Poem", which all ended up being included in some form on Come. She also included "Interactive", "Peach" and "Pope". Most of these songs were newly written, except "Peach" (written in 1992), and "Race" (written in 1991 during the Love Symbol Album sessions—it uses a scratching sound effect similar to Love Symbol Album's "The Continental").
On March 6, 1994, Prince submitted a tape of eight songs to Dutch radio stations which included the song "Pheromone". Five days later, he submitted the first version of the Come album to Warner Bros. The album consisted of: "Poem", "Interactive", "Endorphinemachine", "Space", "Pheromone", "Loose!", "Papa", "Race", "Dark", "Solo", and "Strays of the World". This version of the album is exactly 45 minutes in length and is known as the Come Test Pressing. The title track was absent. Warner Bros. rejected this version, and asked for the title track along with some other new material, such as the recent hit "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Prince went back into the studio and tooled with the title track, creating an 11-minute horn-boosted sexual romp.
With these additions, Warner Bros. agreed to release the album. But Prince decided to change it once again, removing the more rock-oriented tracks "Interactive", "Endorphinemachine", and "Strays of the World." He also broke up "Poem" into segues throughout the album, with the remainder retitled as "Orgasm", and included the newly-written "Letitgo". This final version was submitted to Warner Bros. on the same day as a configuration of The Gold Experience. Prince wanted them to release both albums simultaneously, so the Prince material would compete with the one released under the symbolic moniker in the charts (with the latter having more commercial material). Warner Bros. accepted both albums, but refused to release them both at the same time fearing the market would have too much Prince material in stock.
The album cover photo was taken in front of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona. Outtakes from the photoshoot were included in the 1994 book Prince Presents: The Sacrifice of Victor. The cover also proclaims "Prince: 1958–1993", indicating that the "Prince" identity had symbolically died in 1993 and had been reborn under the new Love Symbol alias.
Upon release, Come received little support from Prince, who derided the album as "old material", despite the fact that many of the tracks had been recorded during the same sessions that produced The Gold Experience. Since Prince placed the more up-tempo and commercial material from these sessions on The Gold Experience, the overall tone of Come is somewhat dark and experimental in nature. Despite Prince's apparent marketing neglect, Come performed moderately well, reaching number 15 in the United States, going gold and receiving heavy R&B airplay with the single "Letitgo". In the United Kingdom, the album was a huge hit, debuting at number 1. Prince also released two maxi singles in support of the album.
In 1993, a funkier instrumental version of the song "Pheromone" was used as the theme music for the BET music video program, Video LP .
All songs written by Prince, except "Solo", music composed by Prince and lyrics written by David Henry Hwang.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Come" | 11:13 |
2. | "Space" | 4:28 |
3. | "Pheromone" | 5:08 |
4. | "Loose!" | 3:26 |
5. | "Papa" | 2:48 |
6. | "Race" | 4:28 |
7. | "Dark" | 6:10 |
8. | "Solo" | 3:48 |
9. | "Letitgo" | 5:32 |
10. | "Orgasm" | 1:39 |
Promotional vinyl bonus tracks:
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
France (SNEP) [27] | Gold | 100,000* |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [28] | Gold | 50,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [29] | Gold | 100,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [30] | Gold | 500,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Lovesexy is the tenth studio album by American recording artist Prince. The album was released on May 10, 1988, by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album was recorded in just seven weeks, from mid-December 1987 to late January 1988, at Prince's new Paisley Park Studios, after the cancellation of the infamous Black Album and most of the album is a solo effort from Prince, with a few exceptions. The lyrical themes of the record include positivity, self-improvement, spirituality, and God.
Emancipation is the nineteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on November 19, 1996, by NPG Records and EMI Records as a triple album. The title refers to Prince's freedom from his contract with Warner Bros. Records after 18 years, with which he had a contentious relationship. The album was Prince's third to be released that year, which made 1996 one of the most prolific years for material released by Prince.
Batman is the eleventh studio album by American recording artist Prince and the soundtrack album to the 1989 film Batman. It was released on June 20, 1989, by Warner Bros. Records. As a Warner Bros. stablemate, Prince's involvement in the soundtrack was designed to leverage the media company's contract-bound talent as well as fulfill the artist's need for a commercial revival. The result was yet another multi-platinum successful cross media enterprise by Warner Bros., in the vein of Purple Rain.
The Very Best of Prince is a greatest hits album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on July 31, 2001, by Warner Bros. Records. The album contains most of his commercially successful singles from 1979 to 1991 including the US number 1s "When Doves Cry", "Let's Go Crazy", "Kiss" and "Cream".
Diamonds and Pearls is the thirteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince, and the first with his backing band The New Power Generation. It was released on October 1, 1991, by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album produced several hit singles, including "Gett Off", "Cream", "Money Don't Matter 2 Night", "Insatiable", and the title track. Dancers Lori Werner and Robia LaMorte, known as "Diamond" and "Pearl" respectively, appeared on the holographic cover. Diamond and Pearl also appeared in the music videos for "Cream", "Strollin'", "Gett Off", and the title track, and also participated in Prince's Diamonds and Pearls Tour.
Love Symbol is the fourteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince, and the second of two that featured his backing band the New Power Generation. It was released on October 13, 1992, by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. It was originally conceived as a "fantasy rock soap opera" with various spoken segues throughout, and contains elements of R&B, funk, pop, rock, and soul.
Graffiti Bridge is the twelfth studio album by American recording artist Prince and is the soundtrack album to the 1990 film of the same name. It was released on August 20, 1990, by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records.
Chaos and Disorder is the eighteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on July 9, 1996, by Warner Bros. Records. The album reached number 26 in the United States—his poorest performance with an album of new material since his debut album For You—and number 14 in the United Kingdom. Prince refused to promote the album, still engaged in his fight against his Warner Bros. contract, and it was released simply to fulfill his contractual obligations. The inlay sleeve carries the message: "Originally intended 4 private use only, this compilation serves as the last original material recorded by 4 warner brothers records - may you live 2 see the dawn".
The Gold Experience is the seventeenth studio album by American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Prince. It was credited to his stage name at the time, an unpronounceable symbol, also known as the "Love Symbol".
The Hits/The B-Sides is a box set by American recording artist Prince. It was released on September 10, 1993, by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album is a comprehensive three-disc set consisting of many of his hit singles and fan favorites.
Girl 6 is the soundtrack album to the Spike Lee film of the same name. All songs were written by Prince. It was released on March 19, 1996, by Warner Bros. Records. The album consists of mostly previously released songs from Prince and related artists such as the Family, Vanity 6, and the New Power Generation. The three previously unreleased tracks are "She Spoke 2 Me", "Don't Talk 2 Strangers" and "Girl 6", which was newly recorded for the soundtrack.
The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale is the twenty-second studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on August 24, 1999, by Warner Bros. Records. The album was submitted to Warner Bros. Records in 1996, complete with artwork at the same time as Chaos and Disorder, but released three years later, shortly before Prince's Arista album release Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic. The album was recorded from 1985 through 1996. It was the last album to be released by Warner Bros. to fulfill his 1992 contract obligations.
"Letitgo" is a song by American musician Prince from his fifteenth studio album, Come (1994). Despite statements that the album consisted entirely of "old" material, "Letitgo" was actually newly composed for the album. The mid-tempo song relies heavily on a drum machine pattern and bass guitar with synthesizers in the refrain. A keyboard and percussion solo appear toward the end. The song is sung in falsetto in unison with another track layered in his regular, lower register. Kathleen Bradford provides backing vocals, while Eric Leeds provides flute accompaniment.
The Beautiful Experience is an EP by American musician Prince, his second commercial release under the symbolic moniker. The EP contained seven mixes of the song "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" in various formats, some with completely new vocals and/or instrumentation. Of particular note is the "Mustang Mix", in which Prince uses his normal singing voice and additional lyrics to give the song a sexual edge. The maxi-single also spawned two singles, "Staxowax" and "Mustang Mix", which were sold commercially in shops to support it.
On the Night is the second live album by the British rock band Dire Straits, released on 10 May 1993 by Vertigo Records internationally, and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album features many of the band's later hits, including the singles "Walk of Life" and "Money for Nothing". The cover art of the album features dishes of the Very Large Array in central New Mexico.
Live at the BBC is a live album by British rock band Dire Straits, released on 26 June 1995 on Vertigo Records internationally, and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album was recorded on 22 July 1978 at BBC Studios in London, with one track recorded on 31 January 1981. The studio versions of the first six songs were released on Dire Straits. Live at the BBC was the band's third live album, preceded by Alchemy: Dire Straits Live (1984) and On the Night (1993).
E.S.P. is the seventeenth studio album by the Bee Gees released in 1987. It was the band's first studio album in six years, and their first release under their new contract with Warner Bros. It marked the first time in twelve years the band had worked with producer Arif Mardin, and was their first album to be recorded digitally. The album sold well in Europe, reaching No. 5 in the UK, No. 2 in Norway and Austria, and No. 1 in Germany and Switzerland, though it failed to chart higher than No. 96 in the US. The album's first single, "You Win Again", reached No. 1 in the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Norway.
Glam Slam Ulysses was a 1993 musical production by Prince, loosely based on Homer's Odyssey, featuring a combination of live performances and video, with twelve previously unreleased songs.
And Winter Came... is the seventh studio album by Irish singer, songwriter, and musician Enya, released on 7 November 2008 by Warner Bros. Records internationally and by Reprise Records in the United States on 11 November 2008. After recording new Christmas songs for her fourth EP Sounds of the Season: The Enya Collection (2006), Enya started work on a Christmas album of traditional carols and original tracks, but the idea was changed to a collection of songs with a Christmas or winter theme as it better suited the style of the new material. It was recorded with her longtime collaborators, arranger and producer Nicky Ryan and his wife, lyricist Roma Ryan.
4Ever, also known as Prince 4Ever, is a greatest hits album by American recording artist Prince, released on November 22, 2016, by NPG Records and Warner Bros. Records. It is the first Prince release following the musician's death on April 21, 2016.