*********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************   PRINCE: "THE HITS / THE B-SIDES" Paisley Park / Warner Bros 9362-45440-2 1993 Tracks: 54 (!) Total playing time: 3 hours 47 minutes  AM/FM Rating (0-10): 10   *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************  It had to come. It was unevitable. PRINCE has been an extremely active musician since he started out some 15 years ago - he has had literally tons of hits, performed by himself or others, he's written so many songs; so many *fantastic* songs; that it is almost unbelievable that there hasn't been one, two, three or even four "Best of"-collections of his work already! The answer is of course, artistic integrity. Why give the fans the same songs that they already have, with just a new cover and maybe a couple of new tracks just so people will *have to* buy it; when you can give them NEW wonderful material instead? For 15 years, Prince has given his fans more than they could ever bargain for. A new superb album every single year - sometimes double albums. Not only that, but his songs have showed up here and there, more often than even the most enthusiastic Prince fan could ever hope for. In short, there has been a great flow of new music from this genious - his fans have been downright spoiled! During his 1993 world tour supporting his (great) Love Symbol album, Prince announced that he would withdraw from the music industry in the form that he works today. Bomb. Atomic bomb. Suicide?! He said he would probably not release any new albums; as he would rather use his time on writing songs for others, and "explore new areas of music and music media". (See the "AM/FM news and gossip" article for a bit more on this!). While this is sad, sad, oh so sad, news for the whole world of pop music is needless to say - yet, it is not without understanding I realise that there probably won't be another new Prince album this fall or this winter. Afterall, the guy is closing up on 40 years old (Yes, it's true! He was born in 1956.), and I think we will see Prince in the future as a songwriter, producer, and perhaps the occasional Prince concert will be held. The reason I mention concerts is that Prince has also expressed that his concerts in the future - if there'll be any - might take on a bit of a different form that what the pop music listening world is used to. Apparently, he's mentioned that he would like to hold concerts where they played ONLY >NEW< MUSIC, like they did in the old days of classic music. Imagine going to a Prince concert and being served only new songs, that no one has ever heard before! Surely hard to swallow for most of the pop music listening audience, since most of them/us must already know the chorus of a song to be able to enjoy it... But personally, I would just know I would love it. I remember the concert in 1988 where he played a live version of "The Question of U" - this song would appear on the next album, so no one in the audience had heard it before, but it was like he melted the whole arena with it - to me, it was the absolute high point of the concert. Anyway, so as I said above - I guess this collection just had to come. The only problem is of course - how can one CD collection possibly give justice to the fantastic carreer Prince has had, all those fantastic songs collected down to a minimum of size?? The answer is (well, the attempted answer is), a 2-CD box, where both of the CDs have extremely long playing times. This collection comes on two CD's, both of which can be bought separately - they're like two separate CDs, Volume 1 and Volume 2. But IF you want to buy the two CDs together in a package, you also get a *third* CD for the same price, and this third CD contains some of his best Single B-sides through the years. Buy the whole package, and you get all in one box - for the price of two CDs - real value for money! As I mentioned, all the CDs have *extremely* long playing times - in fact, longer than I thought was possible to cram onto a CD! (When I pressed my own CD "Hobbits & Spaceships", I was told by the factory that 72 minutes was the absolute maximum to put on a CD, but these Price CDs *all* play for more than 75 minutes!) As for the music, this is of course a FEAST of one superb, great, fantastic song after the other, after the other, after the other... I think it is in fact possible to say that never before has so much fantastic music been collected in one box. The hits just go on and on, from the very early days of Prince, with "Soft & Wet", "I Feel For You" (Yes that's the song that Chaka Khan got a hit with, years later. It was written and recorded by Prince in 1979), "Dirty Mind", through all the great years all the way up till last year, with such masterpieces as "Diamonds and Pearls" and "7". The CDs also contain some small goodies for those of us who already had all of these. The hits-collection also contain three brand new songs and a *stunning* live performance of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U" with Prince himself and Rosie Gaynes, performing this song in a little nightclub. The song is taken to new hights as Prince takes back what is rightfully his (we wrote the song, waaay back), and makes Sinead O'Connor sound like a.. a... rape victim. Simply beautiful. The new songs are "Peach", "Pink Cashmere" and "Pope". Also on the "B-Sides" CD, there's bound to be some goodies that even the most eager Prince fan doesn't already have. I have collected Prince material for years, and bought every 12"-single I could get my hands on, but I still came across a few jewels that I hadn't heard before, on this B-sides CD. The original studio recording of "God", "Why Don't You Call Me Anymore" are both incredibly beautiful songs that I had only heard various pieces of from concert-recordings etc. Of course, there are plenty of Prince songs that I would have liked to see included on this collection, but aren't here. "Housequake", "The Question of U", etc. etc. etc. but of course I see the dilemma; how can one possibly choose songs from a 15 years long carreer full of first class songs and hits. It could have been a 10-CD collection, and there would still have been more songs that I would like to include! The space-problem has also forced him to cut off the end of some of the songs, by fading them out before they really ended, but it is done with taste, and it doesn't really ruin any of the songs. The removal of the breathtaking guitar-passages on "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man" is the only place I could hear that a song really suffered from this "cutting". This collection is a MUST for everyone who has ANY interest whatsoever in what has been going on in the world of pop music the last 15 years. I don't doubt for a second that Prince is the most important figure in the development and evolution of the pop music since 1980. He has brought so many with him, so many has looked up to him and followed him wherever he's gone, like no one else, he has formed the highest qualities of pop music through all these years. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind at all when I simply state that Prince is the most gifted musician of modern times. This collection contains some of his greatest pieces ever, it gives superb value for money (perhaps the best ever), and I just cannot think of ANY reason for ANYONE not to buy this collection.  AM/FM Rating: 10  Reviewed by Bjørn A. Lynne *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************