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Ultimate, Warner Bros. Records (2006)

Ultimate © 2006, Warner Bros. Records
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3121
(2006)

Ultimate

Planet Earth
(2007)

Review (5 / 5) Prince Biography Prince Albums Greatest Hits

Ultimate

Warner Bros. Records

Ultimate is Prince’s third greatest hits compilation released by his former label Warner Bros Records. The set comprises of two discs; the single edits occupy disc 1 and are tracked in the chronological order of their original release, although exclusively covering his Warner tenure (1978-1996) and nothing post 1993. The second disk consists of long unavailable extended versions, many of which not previously available on CD, to tempt those who owned already Warner’s two previous greatest hits compilations, as well as to appeal to Prince’s core fan base to purchase Warner Brothers’ ‘UltimatePrince compilation.

I just wanted to do my best and someone dug it

The only Prince albums without representation in Ultimate are For You and, because of licensing restrictions, Batman. The set originally peaked at 61 in the US Billboard chart and at number 24 in the UK (eventually in 2014 certifying 300,000 units sold in the UK), but sales improved to respectively numbers 6 and 3 in the week following Prince’s death in April 2016 and remained in the UK charts for 27 weeks. Because of the rarities included in its second disc, Ultimate is indeed an essential compilation, second only to Prince’s debut greatest hits package The Hits / The B-Sides issued in 1993.

The sales of Ultimate had been a slow burn because its planned street date was postponed from 21 March 2006 at the request of Prince, since it deliberately coincided with the release of his own 3121 album due that same day and under the distribution of Universal Records. Ironically, because of the sudden postponement of the release, 1,000 copies not cleared from the shelves were sold accidentally and thereby posed a threat to the chart success of Ultimate because fans scrambled to acquire copies of the set on the black market before Ultimate got its eventual official release on 21 August, since there was widespread apprehension its cancellation might be permanent.

Ultimate Prince (2006)
Cover art under slipcase (photography by Jeff Katz)

Extended versions

Unlike the triple-disc The Hits / The B-Side collection which reissued the original songs issued as B-sides for Prince’s singles, Ultimate republishes the 12-inch versions and remixes previously available on his maxi-singles. Their inclusion offered fans the true incentive to buy the Ultimate compilation, which for the first time made long out of print versions available on CD. Like many of Prince’s remixes predating 1987, Let’s Go Crazy [Special Dance Mix] is actually the full length cut of the original track prior to editing for the Purple Rain LP. It was recorded live in August 1983 at First Avenue and was released as the A-side to the Erotic City full length version Erotic City (Make Love Not War Erotic City Come Alive).

The following tracks were mixed at Sunset Sound, Prince’s studio of choice on the west coast. Little Red Corvette (Dance Remix) is a reworked version of the original, produced in 1983 and released as a maxi-single that year as the A-side to Lady Cab Driver. Let’s Work [Dance Remix] is actually the extended version of the track comprising an extra drum portion added by Morris Day in December 1981. Pop Life [Fresh Dance Remix] is a remix by Sheila E as one of two extended versions created of the track in June 1985 – this one was issued as A-side of Hello [Fresh Dance Mix]. The second version of Pop Life is the Extended Version and was released on the His Majesty’s Pop Life promo. She’s Always In My Hair [12″ Version] and Raspberry Beret [12″ Version] were mixed in January 1984 and released as B- and A-sides together for the same maxi-single. Kiss [Extended Version] was created in January 1986, following the original song’s completion the previous April. Kiss [Extended Version] was backed with Love Or $ [Extended Version] the full version of the original track, was released on the 12″ issue of the single. U Got The Look [Long Look] is the extended version of the track created in 1986 released as the A-side to the also extended Housequake [7 Minutes MoQuake].

From 1987, Prince began working with external producers to remix cuts for his 12″ singles. The first was Hot Thing [Extended Remix] mixed in 1987 by a then unknown Shep Pettibone, produced at Mastermix Studio in New Jersey – it backed the single I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man. That year, Pettibone also created an extended mix of Strange Relationship which was eventually released in 2020 on Sign O’ The Times Super Deluxe.

Thieves In The Temple [Remix] was produced at Paisley Park Studios in 1990, although cryptically credited to “Paisley Park” it is believed to have been completed by Prince himself. The single was issued with two additional remixes of the same track Thieves In The House Mix and Temple House Dub created by Junior Vasquez. Cream [N.P.G. Mix] was produced at Paisley Park by Prince in the autumn of 1991 and was released on the Cream EP containing eight re-imaginations of that track.

Cover story

Ultimate is a two-disc set issued on CD format only, wrapped in a white slipcase – the front displaying simply ‘Prince’ in the Purple Rain typeface. The 1984 original was hand drawn for the movie poster but is since available as a font named Still Time. Inside is a booklet with images spanning Prince’s career captured by his main photographers, arranged in this order: Jeff Katz (Batman, Sign O’ The Times), Allen Beaulieu (1999 single), Joe Giannettii (Soft And Wet single), Larry Williams (Purple Rain). Collages of Prince LPs and single covers are arranged in the centrefold of the booklet by package designer Mathieu Bitton, who would later design Prince’s posthumous packages issued by The Prince Estate.

Data

Production
Prince
Label
Warner Bros. Records
Distribution
Warner Bros. Records
Cover/Design
Matthieu Bitton and Jeff Katz
Released
17 years ago on 21 August 2006
Running Time
150:10
US Chart Peak
6
UK Chart Peak
3
Orig. Format

Tracklist

Disk 1

  1. (2:57)
  2. (4:09)
  3. (7:15)
  4. [feat. Jill Jones, Lisa Coleman, and Dez Dickerson] (3:37)
  5. (2:38)
  6. [Prince & The Revolution] (3:47)
  7. [Prince & The Revolution] (2:56)
  8. [Prince & The Revolution] (8:40)
  9. (3:42)
  10. (3:39)
  11. [feat. Cat Glover] (5:38)
  12. [Prince & the New Power Generation] (4:19)
  13. [Prince & the New Power Generation] (4:31)
  14. [Prince & the New Power Generation] (4:47)
  15. [Prince & the New Power Generation] (5:08)
  16. [Prince & the New Power Generation] (4:57)
  17. [Prince & the New Power Generation] (4:03)
Running Time
77 min, 14 sec

Disk 2

  1. (7:36)
  2. (8:22)
  3. (8:02)
  4. (6:18)
  5. (6:31)
  6. (6:34)
  7. (7:16)
  8. (6:40)
  9. (8:30)
  10. (8:08)
  11. (4:50)
Running Time
79 min, 06 sec

Singles from Ultimate

Ultimate produced no singles.

Ultimate – review

Ultimate is no less than Prince’s third ‘greatest hits’ package from Warner Brothers. Like with The Hits / The B-Sides of 1993, they knew how to target the core fan-base, rather than The Very Best Of Prince which catered to the gotta catch em all crowd-pleasing listener. Ultimate is a two-disk set, one unsurprisingly containing 17 of the main hits up to 1992, the year Warner Bros. think Prince stopped creating sellable music. So how do Warner get hardcore fans to fork out for music they own twice over? Simple. Add a second disk and this is where the set comes into its own. Ultimate puts on CD for the first time a whopping 11 extended versions of cuts that only ever previously existed on long deleted and hard to find vinyl singles. The bonus is that every track has been remastered. Ultimate offers rarities and favourites with superiorly restored sound and superbly presented in well conceived artwork and slipcase. Warner Brothers can only release one more ‘greatest hits’ package for Prince and their contract then is truly over, so this set, although missing a few gems (Prince demanding the removal of the extended Sexy Dancer) and therefore not really so ‘ultimate’ – is more of a compass points look at the artist than the collection herein. This standard of stereo food remains an impossible act to follow.

Ultimate

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