A downside of Prince’s fierce desire to own the rights his music is that he took many recordings out of circulation, apparently figuring if he couldn’t make what he felt he deserved, no one would. Many titles have been reissued in the years since his death in April of 2016, and his estate will release three titles through Sony Music — the 1996 albums “Emancipation” and “Chaos and Disorder,” and the rare cassette-only “Versace Experience (Prelude 2 Gold)” — on Sept. 13 that have long been unavailable as physical products.
“Chaos and Disorder” was Prince’s final album of new material through his original deal with Warner Bros., and “Emancipation” — the title referencing his freedom from that Warner deal — is a triple-CD set released through EMI later in 1996; both albums will be released on vinyl (purple vinyl, no less) for the first time next month.
“The Versace Experience (Prelude 2 Gold)” was originally a limited edition promotional-only cassette of previously unreleased material given to attendees of the Versace runway at Paris Fashion Week in July 1995. A first glimpse of Prince’s then-upcoming “Gold Experience,” the cassette featured remixed versions of the album’s songs “P. Control,” “Gold” and “Eye Hate U” as well as rare unreleased music by The New Power Generation, The NPG Orchestra, and Prince’s jazz-fusion project Madhouse.
Many tracks — not available in the same form elsewhere — were remixed or edited specifically to make the cassette “its own seamless sonic universe,” according to the announcement, as well as a rare Prince collectible. A reproduction of the cassette was released in another limited edition for Record Store Day 2019; it will now be available on CD and vinyl.