I’m trying to think of another situation when the B-side of a single is a different song, but essentially feels like an extension of the A-side. That’s definitely the case with today’s song, “Escape.” “Escape” was the B-side to “Glam Slam” from 1988’s Lovesexy album. If you listen to these songs back-to-back you’ll feel the similarities immediately. Same tempo. Similar background vocals singing “glam slam.”
Here’s my problem: I don’t love “Glam Slam.” If I were to rank Prince’s singles from favorite to least favorite it would be at or near the bottom of the list. I didn’t really need more of it. However, I prefer “Escape” despite the fact that it’s only slightly different. It has a better bass line. It also contains the lyric, “All the crack in Compton won’t set U free.” “Escape” is a simple party track about loosening up and freeing yourself from “this rat race.” There’s a lot of yelling about love and hate. Can you tell that I have little to say about this track?
Prince (or Warner Brothers) must’ve liked this song more than I do because it was included in 1993’s collection The Hits/B-Sides alongside some legendary music. Prince did much better work than this song. I’m not going to dwell on it any longer. I give it 1.5 out of 5 stars.
mookiefantana 