The Hits/The B-Sides

The Hits/The B-Sides
Box set by Prince
Released	September 10, 1993 (1993-09-10)
Recorded	Summer 1976 – May 1993
Genre	Dance-rock[1] funk[2] pop[3]
Length	225:53
Label	Paisley Park Warner Bros.
Producer	The New Power Generation Prince The Revolution Tommy Vicari
Prince chronology
Love Symbol Album (1992)Love Symbol Album1992 The Hits/The B-Sides (1993) Come (1994)Come1994
Singles from The Hits/The B-Sides
"Pink Cashmere" Released: August 31, 1993 "Peach" Released: November 18, 1993 "Controversy" Released: December 11, 1993

The Hits/The B-Sides is a box set by American recording artist Prince. It was released on September 10, 1993 by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album is a comprehensive 3-disc set consisting of many of his hit singles and fan favorites.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	B+[5]
Entertainment Weekly	A[2]
MusicHound Rock	4.5/5[6]
NME	6/10[3]
Q	[7]
Rolling Stone	[7][8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[9]

Album information

In 1993, Prince wanted to release Goldnigga, the debut album by his band The New Power Generation but Warner Bros. refused and instead decided to finally release the greatest hits collection it had wanted to release two years earlier when Prince instead got Diamonds and Pearls released.

Discs one and two were released separately, under the titles The Hits 1 and The Hits 2 respectively, but The B-Sides disc could only be obtained by purchasing the full set. The separate Hits discs and the full set were all released on the same day. Most of the songs (A-side and B-sides) on The Hits/The B-Sides are represented in their edited single form. This was necessary due to time constraints, and the nature of a greatest hits collection; exceptions to this were "Alphabet St.", "7", "Little Red Corvette", "Sexy MF", "Let's Go Crazy", and "Purple Rain". This compilation marks the first time the single version of "Kiss" was made available on CD. The third disc of B-sides also featured the 7" edits, with the exceptions of "200 Balloons", "17 Days", "Gotta Stop (Messin' About)", "Horny Toad", "Irresistible Bitch", "I Love U in Me", "God", and "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" which were all original full-length recordings from the original singles.

Among the previously unreleased material was the rare live version of "4 the Tears in Your Eyes", only previously released in a 1985 TV broadcast for the Live Aid concerts. Also included was a live version of "Nothing Compares 2 U", recorded live January 27, 1992, at Paisley Park with The New Power Generation. The other four new tracks were outtakes. The oldest track was "Power Fantastic", a moody ballad once considered for the Dream Factory project of 1986. Another ballad, "Pink Cashmere", was broadcast before some of the Lovesexy World Tour shows, dating it back to 1988 originally for his abandoned Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic project. "Peach" and "Pope" were more recent, and both were played live during some 1993 after shows. "Pope" was actually in the short-lived musical ballet Glam Slam Ulysses, which also spawned several songs later released on Come and The Gold Experience. Live jams of "Peach" often extended into the title track of Chaos and Disorder.

While Prince had very little interest in the project, he insisted that his longtime manager Alan Leeds write the liner notes instead of Rolling Stone journalist Neal Karlen. According to Prince biographer Per Nilsen, the record company paid Prince to not get involved with the making of this compilation.

The Hits/The B-Sides originally debuted and peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard 200 album chart in 1993. The album sold 40,000 equivalent copies (24,000 in pure album sales) in the week following Prince's death,^[10] thus allowing the album to re-enter the Billboard 200 at number 6.^[11]

Track listing

All songs performed by Prince, except where noted.

Disc one: The Hits 1

Disc two: The Hits 2

Disc three: The B-Sides

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References