In June, Legacy Recordings inked a historic deal with The Prince Estate that marked a new home for much of Prince’s legendary music. In August, 23 titles from Prince’s catalog were released on streaming platforms, along with a new compilation called Prince Anthology: 1995-2010. Today, The Prince Estate and Legacy Recordings have announced the first in a series of Prince album re-releases on CD and vinyl. It’s all part of Legacy’s ongoing, definitive catalog reissue campaign.
The roll-out of Prince reissues begins on February 8, when three of The Purple One’s essential 2000s albums will arrive on CD and, for the first time ever, LP. Musicology, 3121, and Planet Earth marked Prince’s return to the mainstream during a period of renewed creative energy and continued artistic genius. The results proved to be as commercially successful as they were musically groundbreaking.
Musicology, which will be available in 1CD and 2LP configurations, marked Prince’s return to a major label (a one-off deal with Columbia Records) and to the upper heights of the charts. It reached the Top 5 on the Billboard 200 in 2004. It also resulted in two Grammy Awards: Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance (“Musicology”) and Best R&B Vocal Performance – Male (“Call My Name”), and has been certified RIAA double platinum. Ever the innovator, Prince pioneered a marketing trend by bundling the album in with every ticket sold during his successful Musicology–Live 2004ever Tour, a practice that’s now something of an industry standard.
In 2006, Prince released 3121, which will arrive in 1CD and 2LP versions. It also received critical acclaim and debuted atop the Billboard 200 – his first No. 1 album since the soundtrack to Batman 17 years earlier, and also his first album to debut at peak position. Planet Earth also fared well on the charts upon its release in 2007, reaching No. 3. (In the U.K., Prince struck a deal to release the record free with copies of The Mail On Sunday.) That title will be released as 1CD and 1LP versions.
In addition to those standard configurations, each title will also be pressed on limited-edition purple vinyl. New album-specific merchandise will also be available exclusively from the Official Prince Store.
This trilogy of albums from 2004-2007 saw Prince at yet another creative high point in his career, with compelling music that both fulfilled his artistic and creative quests and reached the masses. As noted in the press release, it was also during this time that Prince gave some of his most iconic performances, from “his unforgettable appearance with Beyoncé at the 2004 Grammys, his show-stopping induction at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame a month later, and his incandescent triumph at the Super Bowl in February 2007.”
It was at those moments that the world was reminded not only of Prince’s musical talent, but also his flair for all things visual. Since the announcement of the Prince catalog acquisition this summer, Legacy Recordings has continued to offer iconic Prince official music videos to digital services. Videos from 1995-2010 have been released weekly since last month. This week’s batch will come from Musicology, 3121, and Planet Earth. You can check out all the music videos here.
Meanwhile, fans are invited to pre-order the new reissues of those titles. Musicology, 3121, and Planet Earth will be available on CD and limited-edition purple vinyl on February 8. You can find track listings and preorder links below!
Prince, Musicology (originally NPG Records/Columbia CK 92560-51, 2004 — reissued Legacy Recordings, 2019)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
- Musicology
- Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance
- A Million Days
- Life ‘O’ The Party
- Call My Name
- Cinnamon Girl
- What Do U Want Me 2 Do?
- The Marrying Kind
- If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life
- On The Couch
- Dear Mr. Man
- Reflection
- Musicology
Prince, 3121 (originally NPG Records/Universal B0006296-02, 2006 — reissued Legacy Recordings, 2019)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
- 3121
- Lolita
- Te Amo Corazón
- Black Sweat
- Incense and Candles
- Love
- Satisfied
- Fury
- The Word
- Beautiful, Loved and Blessed
- The Dance
- Get On The Boat
Prince, Planet Earth (originally NPG Records/Columbia CD 88697 12970 2, 2007 — reissued Legacy Recordings, 2019)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
- Planet Earth
- Guitar
- Somewhere Here On Earth
- The One U Wanna C
- Future Baby Mama
- Mr. Goodnight
- All The Midnights In the World
- Chelsea Rodgers
- Lion of Judah
- Resolution
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Review: Prince, “Sign ‘O’ The Times: Super Deluxe Edition”
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I’m old enough that streaming holds zero appeal; I want physical copies of the CDs in my hands… so I didn’t bother with last August’s releases.
But these three… I have the originals, and they sound good enough to me. When better quality versions of the 80’s albums start to arrive in physical form, THEN we’ll talk.