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All The Songs
Prince: All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track
" All the Songs is a major achievement...[It] may be the definitive single-volume book about Prince for both its breadth and the way it views his life through the songs that were the true essence of his being." - Psychobabble
Spanning nearly 50 years of albums, EPs, B-sides, and more, read the full story behind all of the songs that Prince ever released. Moving chronologically through his epic back catalogue, expert author Benoît Clerc analyses everything there is to know about each song and session.
No stone is left unturned across more than 600 pages, illustrated with incredible photography throughout. From the inspiration behind the lyrics and melody to the recording process and even the musicians and producers who worked on each track, uncover the stories behind the music in this truly definitive book - a must-have for every Prince fan.
Spanning nearly 50 years of albums, EPs, B-sides, and more, read the full story behind all of the songs that Prince ever released. Moving chronologically through his epic back catalogue, expert author Benoît Clerc analyses everything there is to know about each song and session.
No stone is left unturned across more than 600 pages, illustrated with incredible photography throughout. From the inspiration behind the lyrics and melody to the recording process and even the musicians and producers who worked on each track, uncover the stories behind the music in this truly definitive book - a must-have for every Prince fan.
648 pages, Hardcover
Published November 8, 2022
145 people are currently reading
208 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 28, 2023
Fantastic Revisit of Prince’s Music
It took me forever to read this book, mainly because I kept pausing to listen to Prince’s music while I read it.
I love that author Benoit Clerc doesn’t just catalogue every Prince song but also offer his opinion of some of them as well, even if I disagree with that opinion (example: I’ve always thought “3 Chains of Gold” off the Symbol album was a bit overdone and pretentious, but Clerc writes that it’s the highlight of the album and “ranks among Prince’s greatest songs. Rightly considered as Prince’s Bohemian Rhapsody or Stairway to Heaven.” Sorry but “Purple Rain” is clearly Prince’s Stairway to Heaven.”)
I also learned a few things from this book. Like I never knew Jon Bon Jovi asked Prince if he could record with his band, the New Power Generation (and that Prince turned him down.). I also discovered a few covers of Prince songs I’d missed through the years. In fact as I read it I made a Spotify playlist called “Overlooked Prince Songs.”
But the best part about this book was it felt like a walk through my entire life. I’ve been a huge Prince fan since my early teens and I’ve bought every one of his albums the day they were released, immersing myself in them for weeks on end. So revisiting something like Around The World In A Day brought me back to being 19 and wasting time in college. Or the epic Emancipation, which I listened to non-stop in early 1997 as I was trying to navigate the waters of being a solo entrepreneur. Prince’s music, more than any artists, has been the soundtrack to my life and this book was an awesome opportunity to relisten and reminisce.
It took me forever to read this book, mainly because I kept pausing to listen to Prince’s music while I read it.
I love that author Benoit Clerc doesn’t just catalogue every Prince song but also offer his opinion of some of them as well, even if I disagree with that opinion (example: I’ve always thought “3 Chains of Gold” off the Symbol album was a bit overdone and pretentious, but Clerc writes that it’s the highlight of the album and “ranks among Prince’s greatest songs. Rightly considered as Prince’s Bohemian Rhapsody or Stairway to Heaven.” Sorry but “Purple Rain” is clearly Prince’s Stairway to Heaven.”)
I also learned a few things from this book. Like I never knew Jon Bon Jovi asked Prince if he could record with his band, the New Power Generation (and that Prince turned him down.). I also discovered a few covers of Prince songs I’d missed through the years. In fact as I read it I made a Spotify playlist called “Overlooked Prince Songs.”
But the best part about this book was it felt like a walk through my entire life. I’ve been a huge Prince fan since my early teens and I’ve bought every one of his albums the day they were released, immersing myself in them for weeks on end. So revisiting something like Around The World In A Day brought me back to being 19 and wasting time in college. Or the epic Emancipation, which I listened to non-stop in early 1997 as I was trying to navigate the waters of being a solo entrepreneur. Prince’s music, more than any artists, has been the soundtrack to my life and this book was an awesome opportunity to relisten and reminisce.
November 9, 2022
I’ll be reading this for years. It's a coffee table book, but it's a really good one.
March 31, 2024
My heart lies with Prince Roger’s Nelson R.I.P❤️
June 16, 2023
Not the best book ever, but then again: if you can describe it, it ain’t funky!
November 19, 2023
Benoît Clerc's extensive walkthrough of Prince's massive discography is truly a tome. Covering everything up to 2021's 'Welcome 2 America', including singles, B-Sides, collaborations, and other non-album rarities, Clerc has done a phenomenal job cataloguing recording dates and performance credits, along with insightful notes about each song. While not necessarily the most critical at all times, Prince: All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Track is essential reading for better understanding the significance of of the music and legacy of Prince.
December 29, 2022
The only reason I rate this book 4 stars instead of 5 is it is expensive. But for any Prince fan, which I have been for 38 years, it is worth it. I learned things in this book that I never knew and I thought I knew almost all there was to know about him since I have read everything I can get my hands on pertaining to this unique artist.
February 17, 2023
More like a textbook than anything else, this book is magic.
June 30, 2025
Very extensive review of all his music, with information I didn't even know! An amazing reference, and a joy to read. I loved this book, which touched on his personal life but is mainly focused on my favorite subject, his music! This volume was published in 2022, so all the vault tracks from the Diamond & Pearl deluxe edition are missing. Something tells me this book could have a part 2 in another 50 years.
June 13, 2025
Literally ALL the songs (all released songs 😉)… It don’t just cover the popular stuff—there’s something on even the most obscure Prince song. A must-read for Prince superfans 💯💯
Also.. the way the titles, subtitles, and other headings is rendered is on-brand .. ‘👁️ Love U, But 👁️ Don’t Trust U Anymore’, etc.
Also.. the way the titles, subtitles, and other headings is rendered is on-brand .. ‘👁️ Love U, But 👁️ Don’t Trust U Anymore’, etc.
August 30, 2025
4✨️/5
Super intéressant, très enrichissant et très détaillé (voir trop détaillé ??) mais ça reste quand même un très bon livre qui balaie tous les albums de Prince (tout ceux officiellement publiés parce que sinon le livre ferait 10 000 pages 🥲) mais aussi toutes ces collaborations et concerts iconiques 🎤🎵
Super intéressant, très enrichissant et très détaillé (voir trop détaillé ??) mais ça reste quand même un très bon livre qui balaie tous les albums de Prince (tout ceux officiellement publiés parce que sinon le livre ferait 10 000 pages 🥲) mais aussi toutes ces collaborations et concerts iconiques 🎤🎵
November 23, 2022
Some errors, BUT, most importantly, the author does not realize female fans love Prince's ballads. He knocked about half of them in his entries. I started laughing as I continued reading, his disdain ran so deep. Giving a Prince-y side eye.
February 3, 2024
Great read and Awesome photos of some of Prince best moments.
Great book mega deluxe awesome read,excellent details nicely structured. Great detail of past time events band venues. I loved it great book for a Prince fan.😎
Great book mega deluxe awesome read,excellent details nicely structured. Great detail of past time events band venues. I loved it great book for a Prince fan.😎
September 21, 2025
not as insightful as id wish but technical details r bountiful :)
also prince songs between about 2004 and 2014 r kinda whatever so that means a lot of the book is soso
but prince has enough good albums in his prime to make up for it
also prince songs between about 2004 and 2014 r kinda whatever so that means a lot of the book is soso
but prince has enough good albums in his prime to make up for it
March 22, 2023
What an incredible gift to the Purple Hippies, members of the Prince Army. This tome will never leave my bedside. It is now my bible.
May 12, 2024
It took me a year to read this book. It’s very detailed and thorough. I learned a lot about Prince and his music. I do believe you’d have to be a big fan to get through this though.
June 18, 2024
It's good, I mean you learn so much about your favorite songs but there is so much useless information. There pictures of random people. It was a bit annoying, I mean, all I want to read is about the man himself not about random people. It took less than a week to read so that's a bonus! I may have said negative things but this book was amazing ❤
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews