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Prince: Gems Beneath The Surface

Fifty-one tracks and not a single one you would hear on the radio. This is the Prince catalogue below the waterline, and it is where the real argument lives.

The problem of abundance

Prince recorded relentlessly. The Paisley Park vault reportedly holds thousands of unreleased recordings, enough for decades of posthumous releases, and even within his official catalogue the sheer volume means that dozens of superb songs never got near a single.

That creates a specific pleasure for listeners: almost nobody has heard all of it, and a well-assembled deep-cuts playlist can genuinely surprise people who have owned the albums for forty years.

He died in April 2016 of an accidental fentanyl overdose, and the reissue programme since has been unusually generous — the Sign o' the Times and 1999 super-deluxe editions in particular have released genuinely important material.

What to listen for

"When We're Dancing Close and Slow" is from For You and Prince-era material — a nineteen-year-old writing a slow jam of startling sophistication.

"It's Gonna Be Lonely" and "Do Yourself A Favor" come from the same early period, before the persona had fully arrived, and the vocal arrangements are extraordinary.

"Anna Stesia" live from the One Nite Alone tour is the essential inclusion. The Lovesexy original is one of his most explicitly spiritual songs, and the live version is close to a sermon.

"My Computer" from Emancipation is the prescient one — a 1996 song about looking for connection online, featuring Kate Bush.

"I Wish U Heaven" and "Xotica" are the deep Lovesexy-era cuts, and "Dionne" and "Revelation" are from the late period.

"MR. NELSON" with Lianne La Havas comes from HITnRUN Phase Two and is one of the last things he released.

"Visions" is solo piano and barely a minute long, and it is the one that will stop you.

Go deeper

Sign o' the Times (1987) is the album, and the super-deluxe edition with its sixty-plus unreleased tracks is one of the great archival releases.

Piano & A Microphone 1983 is a cassette recording of him alone at a piano, and it is astonishing.

The Time, Sheila E., Vanity 6 and The Family are the satellite projects where a great deal of his best writing ended up.

Why this collection works: the hits taught everyone what Prince sounded like, and these sides quietly correct the record. Stripped of the obligation to conquer radio, he turns into a stranger, funnier, more searching musician — and the deep catalogue is where that version of him actually lives.

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