Come (album)
Come | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | August 16, 1994 | |||
Recorded | 1991, January – May 1993 and March 1994 | |||
Studio |
| |||
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
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".
Recording
Most of the songs from the Come album were recorded at
Concept evolution
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,
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.
Album cover
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.
Post-release and reception
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
In 1993, a funkier instrumental version of the song "Pheromone" was used as the theme music for the
Track listing
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:
- "Space" (Universal Love Remix) – 6:10 (singing different lyrics than the album track)
- "Space" (Funky Stuff Remix) – 5:42
- "Letitgo" (QDIII Instrumental Mix) – 5:00 (retitled "Instrumental" for single release)
- "Letitgo" (J-Sw!ft #3 Instrumental) – 5:43 (retitled "(-) Sherm Stick Edit" for single release)
Personnel
- Prince – lead vocals and various instruments
- Tommy Barbarella – keyboards (2, 7)
- Mr. Hayes – keyboards (2, 7)
- Sonny T. – bass (2, 5, 7)
- Michael B. – drums (2, 5, 7)
- Brian Gallagher – tenor saxophone (1, 6, 7, 9)
- Kathy J. – baritone saxophone (1, 6, 7, 9)
- Joseph Robinson – trumpet (1, 6, 7, 9)
- Steve Strand – trumpet (1, 6, 7, 9)
- Dave Jensen – trumpet (1, 6, 7, 9)
- Michael B. Nelson – trombone (1, 6, 7, 9)
- Ricky Peterson – keyboards (9)
- Eric Leeds – flute (9)
- Mayte – backing vocals (6)
- Kathleen Bradford – backing vocals (9)
- Jearlyn Steele Battle – "Face the music" looped sample (6)
- Vanity – vocalizations (10)
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Singles and Hot 100 chart placings
Certifications
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. |
References
- ^ AllMusic. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
- ^ Christgau, Robert. "Prince". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
- ^ Campbell, Chuck (August 26, 1994). "Prince Digs Into Vaults, Comes Out With Little". Knoxville News Sentinel.
- ^ Hoskyns, Barney (September 1994). "Prince: Come" (paywall). Mojo. Bauer Media Group. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
- ^ Simmons, Sylvie (1996). "Prince: The Best of the Patchy Years" (free registration required). Mojo. Bauer Media Group. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
- ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
- ^ "Prince - Come CD Album". CDUniverse.com. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
- ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
- ^ "Prince: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on March 20, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
- ISSN 0042-6180. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
- ^ "Australiancharts.com – Prince – Come". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – Prince – Come" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Prince – Come" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ^ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Prince". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 204.
- GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ^ "Charts.nz – Prince – Come". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Prince – Come". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Prince – Come". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Prince – Come". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ^ "Prince | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ^ "Prince Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ^ "Prince Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Prince – Come" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
- ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1994". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
- ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1994". Billboard. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
- Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
- ISBN 8480486392.
- ^ "British album certifications – Prince – Come". British Phonographic Industry.
- ^ "American album certifications – Prince – Come". Recording Industry Association of America.