Prince 30 Years Of Unreleased Funk Vol 3. various > Pure Funk #PF 028-029-030 bootleg CDs > flac > CDR Disc 1 1. CAN'T STOP THIS FEELING I GOT 2. NEW POWER GENERATION 3. ELEPHANTS AND FLOWERS 4. WE CAN FUNK 5. JOY IN REPETITION 6. TICK, TICK, BANG 7. MELODY COOL 8. THE GRAND PROGRESSION 9. GRAFFITI BRIDGE 10. NEW POWER GENERATION (PT. II) Disc 2 1. WOW (PRINCE VERSION) 2. WOW (OPENING VERSION) 3. WOW (SEXY VERSION) 4. WOW (EMMY VERSION) 5. WOW (PREGNANT VERSION) 6. WOW (CORRIDOR VERSION) (INSTRUMENTAL) 7. MAKE BELIEVE (FUNK VERSION) 8. MAKE BELIEVE (PRINCE VERSION) 9. MAKE BELIEVE (PLAYBACK VERSION - CAST) 10. I'LL DO ANYTHING (PRINCE DEMO VERSION) 11. I'LL DO ANYTHING (PLAYBACK VERSION - ALBERT BROOKS) 12. DON'T TALK 2 STRANGERS (PRINCE VERSION) 13. DON'T TALK 2 STRANGERS (PLAYBACK VERSION #1 - TRACY ULLMAN) 14. DON'T TALK 2 STRANGERS (PLAYBACK VERSION #2 - TRACY ULLMAN) 15. MY LITTLE PILL (PRINCE VERSION) 16. MY LITTLE PILL (PLAYBACK VERSION - JULIE KAVNER) 17. THIS LONELY LIFE (SINEAD O'CONNOR) 18. THIS LONELY LIFE (PLAYBACK VERSION - WHITTNI WRIGHT) 19. U R THE BEST (PLAYBACK VERSION - WHITTNI WRIGHT) 20. MAKE BELIEVE (KIDS) 21. JENNY'S SONG (PRODUCTION TRACK) 22. THERE IS LONELY (PRINCE VERSION) 23. THERE IS LONELY (PLAYBACK VERSION - ALBERT BROOKS) 24. I CAN'T LOVE U ANYMORE (PRINCE DEMO) 25. DNG GROOVE - I CAN'T LOVE U ANYMORE (PLAYBACK VERSION #1) 26. DNG GROOVE - I CAN'T LOVE U ANYMORE (PLAYBACK VERSION #2 - JULIE KAVNER) 27. BE MY MIRROR (PRINCE VERSION) 28. BE MY MIRROR (PLAYBACK VERSION - NICK NOLTE & WHITTNI WRIGHT) 29. FINALE - ROUGH MIX (I'LL DO ANYTHING MEDLEY) Disc 3 1. CAN'T STOP THIS FEELING I GOT 2. STILL WOULD STAND ALL TIME 3. GOD IS ALIVE 4. THE P 5. ROUND AND ROUND 6. MELODY COOL 7. NUMBER ONE 8. ACKNOWLEDGE ME 9. DATA BANK 10. DELIRIOUS 11. I HATE U (REMIX) 12. RACE 13. SARAH 14. TURN IT UP COMMENT from Thedatabank.org Disc 1 is titled on the accompanying artwork as being the Graffiti Bridge "original configuration", however I'm simply not of the mind any configuration - no matter how early - consisted of these 10 tracks and ran at 38 minutes long. Slightly cheeky to label it as such, as it's extremely misleading and blatantly untrue - which makes Disc 1 nothing more than a collection of Graffiti Bridge-era outtakes. That aside, the content is pretty much flawless and I've certainly never had the pleasure of hearing these outtakes in such pristine quality. The infectious groove of the original 'Elephants And Flowers' fades into 'We Can Funk' (6:22 version), however slightly disappointingly there is a hatchet-job on the segue between 'We Can Funk' and 'Joy In Repetition'. The remainder is familiar, however the quality of these once again is the real attraction and the stunning clarity of these outtakes even makes the awful 'The Grand Progression' listenable....just. Disc 2 at first appears to be a daunting collection of tracks intended for the ill-fated 'I'll Do Anything' project, however the fact various versions of the same track run in consecutive order makes it far easier to listen to - credit for that. Out of the mammoth 29 tracks on this disc only 9 actually feature any Prince involvement, and out of those 9, 4 already appeared on Pure Funk's previous release '30 Years Of Funk Volume 1' - strange indeed. Repetition of tracks aside, the fact a number of these Prince tracks have never been released before (discounting Pure Funk's previous release) is of enormous significance. Because of this, the opening 'Wow', 'I'll Do Anything' (Demo) and 'I Can't Love U Anymore' make the release worthwhile all on their own. The remaining Prince tracks have all been in circulation for a number of years, but admittedly not in this quality and never in a collection of this nature focusing solely on the other songs from the project. The remainder of the songs on here are rather hit-or-miss, and certainly of very little importance to the casual listener - unless comedy is your thing. Albert Brooks versions of 'I'll Do Anything' and 'There Is Lonely' is pure comedy gold and has all the appeal of a rapist whispering in your ear before he attacks. Likewise, Julie Kavner (yup, Marge Simpson) rasps her way through a number of Prince-penned tunes with hilariously awful results. The only other (slightly) interesting point worthy of note in the non-Prince tracks included is the version of 'Ill Do Anything Medley' (track 29) differs from the currently circulating version (on releases such as 'Fate / Coincidence'). Disc 3 is less impressive in terms of what has been included - not because of the quality, which again is of a very high standard, but it's just too vast a period to be condensed onto one disc (1982-1996). The opening 7 tracks are touted as Graffiti Bridge-era tracks, but 'The P' most certainly does not fit into that category. Excellent quality again throughout until 'Acknowledge Me' which sounds raw and harsh in comparison to the clarity of the majority of other tracks on Discs 1, 2 and 3. Both 'Data Bank' and 'Delirious' are near-perfection and it isn't until 'I Hate U' (Remix) (an amalgam of Quiet Night Mix / Extended Remix) taken from The Versace Experience and 'Race' where the sound quality takes another slight dip and perhaps would warrant a VG+ rating. Still, as erratic as Disc 3 is there are a number of gems which are superior to the circulating versions. Overall this is something of a mixed bag. Take aside the fact Disc 1 has been misleadingly titled as an early configuration, and just concentrate on the quality in comparison to what was previously circulating - these outtakes wipe the floor with any other release thus far. The majority of the tracks included on Disc 2 simply were not circulating, and whilst 2/3rds feature no Prince involvement (other than the original score being written by him), their inclusion is valid and welcome - although perhaps not something many will give a repeat listen to. Disc 3 works fairly well as a collection of improved quality outtakes, but there is no cohesion and the 14 songs chosen span 14 years in 70 minutes - too far a leap for me. Bitching aside, I enjoy this release immensely due to the simple fact that it contains completely uncirculating material, and the circulating tracks it does contain are vastly improved.