Box, front: PRINCE4EVER [Love Symbol] Prince Rogers Nelson
Hype sticker on shrink: 4EVER 40 of Prince's greatest songs on 4 LP's Includes "Moonbeam Levels" Plus exclusive photo art prints by Herb Ritts 558509-1 [copies sold in Europe have the same sticker but with the catalog number 9362-49130-4 instead of 558509-1]
Box, back: [Love Symbol] [Barcode] Tracklist *previously unavailable on LP [refer to asterisked track F5]
Box, spines: PRINCE4EVER [WB logo] [NPG Records logo] 558509-1
Content of the box: [3 layers bubble foil]
1st Art print, back: Liner notes, tracklist, credits *previously unavailable on LP [refer to asterisked track F5] Special thanks to the estate of Prince Rogers Nelson
All four of my discs are flat,have well centered holes and are surface noise free. The box itself is well made and sturdy the pictures and info are all welcomed & are a nice touch.My box set was purchased Jan 2018 from amazon so was CHEAP compared to what these go for now.
Sound/music quality: (I can only say what I hear via my system) Most people will know the "big hits" on here and will obviously immediately relate to them. When it comes to the big hits for me the uncensored version of "Sexy MF" is (out of many) a highlight not just because it`s uncensored,but it`s one of the "better sounding/pressed" tracks! If your turntable is revealing which I`m certain most will be you`ll easily hear the difference in sound quality from track2track ie: I love "Sexy MF" and be surprised if my tt can reveal a better version but,the version of "Alphabet St." does not match or better the version on my U.K. copy of the album "Lovesexy".Also the rear/lesser known tracks makes this an essential buy for fans and collectors alike. In saying this the overall mastering and pressing of this WONDERFUL box-set is Great,just that some tracks clearly sound better than others.
Highly Recommended you won`t find this at it`s original rrp so if you do want this,limit yourself first to a reasonable budget to stop yourself being fleeced by a "flipper"!
Music 5* Sound quality 5* Mastering 5* Pressing 4.5*
Vinyl front-end used for this review: Rega P3:RB880 tonearm,Cartridge Denon DL301mkii LOMC. Phono Stage:Whest Audio TWO.2 class A,dual mono fully balanced.
Man! I am So glad I got this on Amazon a few years ago when they were selling it for just under 50 bucks! I have 1999, Purple Rain, Sign ‘O’ The Times and several 12” singles, but I Knew this was gonna be worth some $. The Discogs value is more realistic! I can see this being extremely hard to find these days and for Way more than what I paid. FOMO didn’t get this guy! Lol. Amazing set. My records all came Perfect! And I’ve cherished it for the last 4+ years. Trust me this set has rocked a few parties! Perfect vinyl. Quiet, flat, on center. Nice wide sound stage, crystal clear highs, mids and Powerful Thumping Bass. Such a Quality set. Although I have Never heard a bad Prince mastering on anything. So it’s to be expected that this is so great. My One gripe is that they used a “7” single edit” of Lets Go Crazy. Funny though, I had the 45 back in ‘84 (for the Erotic City B-Side) and I don’t remember ever hearing the intro chopped like This. Interesting, because this version was never on the radio in Cali back then. I would Definitely remember it, if it had. Anyway, I don’t care though since I have the full album. If you find this… get it! It’s Awesome
I bought mine in 2017..but it came with 2 same LP's (record 2) et no record 4..if anyone had the same problem (2 vinyls record 4', I'm intersected to exchange ;) I think I'm not alone :)
Ah man, I didn’t prioritise getting this one as I thought with it being a compilation, they’d basically keep it in print forever, lol. Guess I’ll have to wait until 2043 for them to do an affordable reissue or something
March 2023 edit: I do now have a copy! Miracles do come true, lol. A gorgeous set in terms of presentation, and I'm looking forward to spinning it.
Does anyone else have an issue at the beginning of “Let’s Go Crazy” after Prince says, “Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life” and it’s then the next several lines are scrambled sounding into only a second or two, then goes right into the first verse. Hard to explain but it has to be a defect, an odd one at that, but didn’t know how widespread it was.
Just given this another spin, and quality of this pressing really is quite something (Kevin Gray works his magic, yet again!) . Yes, this compilation may have been a bit of a money spinner at the time, but you can't say Warner Bros. didn't do it right.
Overall I'm happy with the boxed set. The photos are nice and had they opted for heavier photo paper these would look great framed. It is missing two photos that were included with the CD, I guess that makes the CD set more valuable. The sound and quality of the vinyl tracks is great. Some may say this is just another timely "money-grab" by the horrid Warner Bros. But as long as the overall quality is at it's best, who cares? Prince may have died but his music will live on.