Posthumous Prince Album Offers Insight into His Rich Oeuvre: 'He Was a Genre in Himself'
Fans of Prince have been treated today to a collection of ten previously unreleased tracks from the music legend. The album Timeless spans almost his entire career: from I Am You from 1977 to How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore, a live recording from his last tour in 2016. A month after that performance, Prince suddenly died at the age of 57.
Since his death, much of Prince's work has been released. For example, Welcome 2 America came out in 2021 and several old albums were reissued in a new form.
Since 2022, control over Prince's music and legacy no longer lies entirely with his family; lawyers and a music company also have a say in its management. This is the result of a years-long legal conflict that arose because Prince left no will.
What would Prince himself have thought about so much of his work being released after his death? "I don't think he would have wanted to lose control over his songs," says music journalist Edgar Kruize, who is working on a second book about Prince.
His Royal Badness, as his nickname went, was known as a control freak. His urge to keep control over his music often brought him into conflict with record companies.
Versatility
"He often left songs on the shelf for years until a project appeared where they fit," says Kruize. "A good example is Tick, Tick, Bang. He wrote that song in 1981, but it only appeared in 1990 on the album Graffiti Bridge. He thought very carefully about which song ended up on which album. That is precisely why there is something to be said against these songs being released in this way now."
Because the songs cover a period of almost forty years, Kruize finds it incoherent.
Radio host and Prince expert Sherill Samson, however, believes the album shows the artist's versatility. "There are songs from the 70s, 80s, early 2000s, and 2010s: it represents all his musical periods. He was the great tastemaker of the 80s. The characteristic hybrid Minneapolis sound, in which funk, pop, rock, and electronic music came together, came from his mind."
For Prince fans, the new album feels bittersweet, says Samson. "We are happy with new work, but he always wanted to look forward and create a different kind of sound, rather than look back. Moreover, he set the bar high for himself. Now others decide which recordings are released after all."
With about 40 albums in a 38-year career, Prince was very productive. "He released a lot of music, but was also quite careless with recordings he had made," says Kruize. "If he rented a car, he sometimes left cassette tapes with unreleased music behind. Or he forgot recordings in a hotel room."
As a result, countless songs leaked over the years. "Some think that was a deliberate move because Warner Bros. wanted him to make less music." That caused many bootleg CDs of his music to circulate in the 90s.
"Because of his sometimes reckless handling of unreleased music and the lack of a will, I think he would have cared little that new work is being released now," says Kruize.
According to the music journalist, this album clearly shows how Prince musically developed over the years. "It was never entirely funk or rock, but always with a touch of jazz, pop, or RnB. There was always something mixed in. Actually, Prince was a genre in himself."
Kruize hears some songs on the album for the first time, such as I Am You, a disco track from the 70s. Other songs are already known. For example, Prince wrote With This Tear for Céline Dion, who included it on an album, and Prince himself released How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore before Alicia Keys later covered it.
In Prince's archive, The Vault, there are still thousands of hours of unreleased music and video clips, according to Samson. Occasionally new material is released, although projects are sometimes also blocked, such as recently a nine-hour documentary about Prince. Kruize is glad that his treasure trove occasionally opens. "It keeps the interest in Prince alive."
The last track on the album: