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One of the more rare and odder items in the Prince discography, The Versace Experience: Prelude 2 Gold was intended as a promotional cassette to be distributed at the Versace runway show at Paris Fashion Week in July 1995. The event was held a mere two months before the September release of The Gold Experience, and the cassette was designed to promote the new record without undercutting it. The album has exclusive remixes of three of the four singles from The Gold Experience -- "Eye Hate U," "Gold," and "P Control," with the actual hit "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" left off, likely because it was over a year old at that point -- and they ground an album that runs swiftly through excerpts of album tracks, snippets of songs from both the New Power Generation and Madhouse, half-formed instrumentals, and Prince gravely intoning "Versace" at random moments. With its Public Enemy samples, fashion fetishism, loopy funk, and smooth soul, The Versace Experience is very much an artifact of its time, and while the period flair makes it interesting, it's only mildly interesting. At its core, The Versace Experience is a promo tape, designed to hype an album that had yet to hit stores. Listening to it decades after the promotional cycle came to a close relegates it to little more than a curiosity.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
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Tommy Barbarella, Keyboards - Prince, Composer, Lyricist, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, Vocal - Michael B, Drums - Sonny T., Bass Guitar - Mr. Hayes, Keyboards
(P) 2019 NPG Records, Inc. Manufactured and Distributed by Legacy Recordings
Tommy Barbarella, Keyboards - Prince, Composer, Lyricist, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, Vocal - Michael B, Drums - Sonny T., Bass Guitar - Mayte, Background Vocal - Mr. Hayes, Keyboards
(P) 1995 NPG Records, Inc. Manufactured and Distributed by Legacy Recordings
Tommy Barbarella, Keyboards - Prince, Composer, Lyricist, Producer, Arranger - SONNY THOMPSON, Composer, Lyricist - Michael B, Drums - Michael Bland, Composer, Lyricist - Sonny T., Bass Guitar, Background Vocal, Vocal - Mayte, Background Vocal - The New Power Generation, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Tora Tora, AssociatedPerformer, Background Vocal - Morris Hayes, Composer, Lyricist - Mr. Hayes, Keyboards - Thomas Elm, Composer, Lyricist
(P) 1995 NPG Records, Inc. Manufactured and Distributed by Legacy Recordings
Tommy Barbarella, Keyboards - Prince, Composer, Lyricist, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, Vocal - Michael B, Drums - Sonny T., Bass Guitar - Eric Leeds, Saxophone - Ricky P, Keyboards - Mr. Hayes, Keyboards
(P) 1995 NPG Records, Inc. Manufactured and Distributed by Legacy Recordings
Tommy Barbarella, Keyboards - Prince, Composer, Lyricist, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, Vocal - Michael B, Drums - Sonny T., Bass Guitar - Dave Jensen, Trumpet - Ricky P, Keyboards - Michael B. Nelson, Trombone - Brian Gallagher, Tenor Saxophone - Steve Strand, Trumpet - Kathy Jensen, Baritone Saxophone - Mr. Hayes, Keyboards
(P) 1995 NPG Records, Inc. Manufactured and Distributed by Legacy Recordings
Prince, Composer, Lyricist, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, Vocal
(P) 1995 NPG Records, Inc. Manufactured and Distributed by Legacy Recordings
Tommy Barbarella, Keyboards - Prince, Composer, Lyricist, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, Vocal - Michael B, Drums - Sonny T., Bass Guitar - Dave Jensen, Trumpet - Michael B. Nelson, Composer, Lyricist, Trombone - Brian Gallagher, Tenor Saxophone - Steve Strand, Trumpet - Kathy Jensen, Baritone Saxophone - Mr. Hayes, Keyboards
(P) 1995 NPG Records, Inc. Manufactured and Distributed by Legacy Recordings
Prince, Composer, Lyricist, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Michael B, Drums - Sonny T., Bass Guitar - Eric Leeds, Saxophone - Levi Seacer Jr., Guitar - Madhouse, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Prince and Madhouse, AssociatedPerformer
(P) 1995 NPG Records, Inc. Manufactured and Distributed by Legacy Recordings
Levi Seacer, Jr., Composer, Lyricist, Guitar - Prince, Composer, Lyricist, Producer, Arranger, Keyboards, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - SONNY THOMPSON, Composer, Lyricist - Michael B, Drums - Michael Bland, Composer, Lyricist - Sonny T., Bass Guitar - Eric Leeds, Composer, Lyricist, Saxophone - Madhouse, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Prince and Madhouse, AssociatedPerformer
(P) 2019 NPG Records, Inc. Manufactured and Distributed by Legacy Recordings
Tommy Barbarella, Keyboards - Prince, Composer, Lyricist, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, Vocal - Michael B, Drums - Sonny T., Bass Guitar - Mr. Hayes, Keyboards
(P) 1995 NPG Records, Inc. Manufactured and Distributed by Legacy Recordings
Tommy Barbarella, Keyboards - Prince, Composer, Lyricist, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, Vocal - Michael B, Drums - Sonny T., Bass Guitar - Mr. Hayes, Keyboards
(P) 1995 NPG Records, Inc. Manufactured and Distributed by Legacy Recordings
Prince, Composer, Lyricist, Producer, Arranger - Clare Fischer, Orchestrator - The New Power Generation Orchestra, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer
(P) 1995 NPG Records, Inc. Manufactured and Distributed by Legacy Recordings
Tommy Barbarella, Keyboards - Prince, Composer, Lyricist, Producer, Arranger - Michael B, Drums - Sonny T., Bass Guitar, Background Vocal, Vocal - Mayte, Vocal - The New Power Generation, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Tora Tora, AssociatedPerformer, Background Vocal - Mr. Hayes, Keyboards
(P) 1995 NPG Records, Inc. Manufactured and Distributed by Legacy Recordings
Prince, Composer, Lyricist, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Rain Ivana, Vocal
(P) 1995 NPG Records, Inc. Manufactured and Distributed by Legacy Recordings
Tommy Barbarella, Keyboards - Prince, Composer, Lyricist, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, Vocal - Michael B, Drums - Sonny T., Bass Guitar - Ricky P, Keyboards - Mr. Hayes, Keyboards
(P) 1995 NPG Records, Inc. Manufactured and Distributed by Legacy Recordings
Album review
One of the more rare and odder items in the Prince discography, The Versace Experience: Prelude 2 Gold was intended as a promotional cassette to be distributed at the Versace runway show at Paris Fashion Week in July 1995. The event was held a mere two months before the September release of The Gold Experience, and the cassette was designed to promote the new record without undercutting it. The album has exclusive remixes of three of the four singles from The Gold Experience -- "Eye Hate U," "Gold," and "P Control," with the actual hit "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" left off, likely because it was over a year old at that point -- and they ground an album that runs swiftly through excerpts of album tracks, snippets of songs from both the New Power Generation and Madhouse, half-formed instrumentals, and Prince gravely intoning "Versace" at random moments. With its Public Enemy samples, fashion fetishism, loopy funk, and smooth soul, The Versace Experience is very much an artifact of its time, and while the period flair makes it interesting, it's only mildly interesting. At its core, The Versace Experience is a promo tape, designed to hype an album that had yet to hit stores. Listening to it decades after the promotional cycle came to a close relegates it to little more than a curiosity.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 15 track(s)
- Total length: 00:32:43
- Main artists: Prince
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Legacy Recordings
- Genre: Soul/Funk/R&B Funk
(P) 2019 NPG Records, Inc. Manufactured and Distributed by Legacy Recordings
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