The latest releases from the Prince Estate and Legacy Recordings will revisit a particularly fruitful period in the late rock hall of famer's early 2000s career.
On Thursday (Feb. 20), the Estate said the first batch of 2020 titles will spotlight two albums originally released just six months apart. They include The Rainbow Children (2001) and One Nite Alone… (2002), as well as the first official live albus from the tour that took place between those two albums. The albums will be available on April 17; pre-order here.
The 4-LP set One Nite Alone… Live! and the double-album One Nite Alone… It Ain't Over! will get their first-ever vinyl release on limited-edition purple vinyl and The Rainbow Children will be available on CD for the first time in nearly two decades as well as on a clear double-LP with a limited-edition custom rainbow slipmat. And that's not all. There will also be a five-disc collection entitled Up All Nite with Prince: The One Nite Alone Collection, which will combine One Nite Alone… and the long-out-of-print bonus DVD Prince Live at the Alladin Las Vegas in a slipcase with a 48-page bound book.
Rainbow Children, Prince's 24th album, was initially sold on his NPG Music Club site before its release on NPG Records on Nov. 20, 2001, and it was the first album — outside of works he released through his NPG Music Club — to be released under the Prince name after the late singer change his name to an unpronounceable symbol in 1993; it was also his first fully indpendent release to be issued without any major label backing.
It is described as "a concept album intertwining Prince's recurring themes of spirituality and sexuality, love and social consciousness, set in a metaphoric utopian narrative. Musically, the album showcased a new jazz-influenced direction for Prince, with live drums and expansive horn charts." One of the album's tracks, "The Work, Pt. 1," was released as a free download on the then-controversial Napster file-sharing service.
One Nite Alone… was originally released on May 14, 2002, and it features Prince singing and playing piano, with some other spare instrumentation. Originally issued as a gift to NPG Music Club members, it features "U're Gonna C Me" and a cover of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of U." The album was never sold in stores. The two-hour-plus, 27-track One Nite Alone… Live! was Prince's first official live album was culled from highlights at nine shows in March and April 2002.
The backing band on the live album includes: Sheila E., Maceo Parker, Eric Leeds, Candy Dulfer, Greg Boyer, Renato Neto, John Blackwell, and Rhonda Smith, playing such classics as "When U Were Mine," "Raspberry Beret" and "Nothing Compares 2 U." The One Nite Alone… The Aftershow! will be available for the first time as a double-LPset on purple vinyl, highlighting three of Prince's legendary aftershow performances; it was previously unavaialble as a physical standalone release and has guest appearances from George Clinton and Musiq Soulchild.
Watch a performance of "Pop Life" from Live at the Alladin Las Vegas.
