Come (Prince Album)

''Come'' is the fifteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on August 16, 1994, by Warner Bros. Records.

At the time of the album's release, Prince was in a public dispute with Warner Bros. A lack of promotion from the label and from Prince himself resulted in ''Come'' under-performing on American record charts, stalling at No. 15, and becoming his first album since ''Controversy'' (1981) to not yield any top 10 singles in the US. However, it was more successful overseas, reaching the top 10 across Europe and topping the UK Albums Chart.

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".

Concept evolution

After Prince's name-change to an unpronounceable symbol in 1993, he intended to release new songs under that moniker in formats other than albums. He would fulfill 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 Mayte Garcia sent a letter to a Prince fanzine listing the tracks "Come", "Endorphinmachine", "Space", "Pheromone", "Loose!", "Papa", "Dark", "Race", "Solo" and "Poem", which all ended up being included in some form on ''Come''. She also included "Interactive", "Peach" and "Pope". Most of these songs were newly written, except "Peach" (written in 1992), and "Race" (written in 1991 during the ''Love Symbol Album'' sessions—it uses a scratching sound effect similar to ''Love Symbol Album''s "The Continental").

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.

Recording

Most of the songs from the ''Come'' album were recorded at Paisley Park Studios and The Record Plant in early 1993 during a highly prolific time for Prince. The guitar sound on "Orgasm" is a sample of a feedback guitar solo from a previous Prince track, "Private Joy," from his 1981 album ''Controversy''. The moaning on "Orgasm" is that of Vanity, recorded in 1983 for the unreleased track "Vibrator." In the liner notes, Vanity is credited as "she knows".

Music and lyrics

''Come'' is notable for its minimalist and evocative track titles, consisting of single-word descriptors. The album opens with the eleven-minute-plus-long title track, which explores themes of love, desire, and seduction. It features a passionate plea from a lover, urging her to join him in a moment of intimacy and abandon. The second track, "Space," delves into a consuming obsession, likening the intensity of love to the vastness and mystery of the cosmos. (The album version of the song is actually the B-side of the "Space" single, as the A-side was called the "Universal Love Radio Remix" and had completely different lyrics.) The third song, "Pheromone", uses the metaphor of pheromones to convey love's irresistible allure. "Loose!" is a funk-infused song that celebrates freedom, individuality, and the joy of uninhibited expression. In the heartfelt "Papa," "a dramatic recollection from an abused child," Prince expresses anger, love, loss, and forgiveness. The "strutting R&B;/hiphop anthem" "Race" critiques societal divisions and stereotypes about race, emphasizing unity, equality, and the shared humanity that transcends these constructs. The dark and brooding "Dark" delves into themes of loneliness, isolation, and the complexities of human relationships, all in a downbeat gospel style. The next song, "Solo," with its "eerie liturgical ambience, sampled thunder, and moody harp," embraces self-discovery, independence, and the power of solitude. The mid-tempo " Letitgo" encourages listeners to let go of negative emotions and embrace freedom and self-acceptance; it was described as characteristic of Prince's "seductive rolling funk numbers". The album's final song, the explicit "Orgasm", "comes off as a you-are-there live remote recording of a sexual encounter" — all in just over a minute and a half.

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 gold and receiving heavy R&B airplay with the single "Letitgo". In the United Kingdom, the album was a huge hit, debuting at number 1. Prince also released two maxi singles in support of the album.

In 1993, a funkier instrumental version of the song "Pheromone" was used as the theme music for the BET music video program '' Video LP''.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Prince; except where noted

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

Adapted from Benoît Clerc

Musicians

* Prince – lead vocals , spoken vocals , rap , backing vocals , electric guitar , acoustic guitar , bass , drums , percussion , finger snapping , tamborine , programming , synthesizers
* Brian Gallagher – tenor saxophone
* Dave Jensen, Steve Strand – trumpet
* Kathy Jensen – baritone saxophone
* Michael B. Nelson – trombone
* Tommy Barbarella – synthesizers
* Michael B. – drums
* Mr. Hayes – synthesizers , Hammond organ
* Sonny T. – bass
* Mayte – backing vocals
* Jearlyn Steele Battle – looped sample ("Face the Music")
* Kathleen Bradford – vocals , backing vocals
* Eric Leeds – transverse flute
* Ricky Peterson – additional synthesizers
* Vanity – vocalizations , moans

Technical

* Prince – producer
* David "Chronic Freeze" Friedlander, Ray Hahnfeldt, Tom Tucker – recording engineers
* Xanex Bess, Tom Garneau, Kimm James – assistant recording engineers

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles and Hot 100 chart placings

* " Letitgo" (#31 US, #10 US R&B)
* "Space" (#71 US R&B)

Certifications

References

External links

*
Come
' at Discogs

{{DEFAULTSORT:Come (Prince Album)
1994 albums
Prince (musician) albums
Albums produced by Prince (musician)
Warner Records albums