The Dawn was to be the first Prince album after Emancipation, but it was shelved in 1997. An acoustic version of the title track can be found on The Truth. Prince had often thought of releasing an album called 'The Dawn' at many points during his career. The earliest known incarnation of 'The Dawn' was from 1986, and seems to have been some kind of musical (an idea that eventually resurfaced as 'Graffiti Bridge'). Another incarnation of 'The Dawn' was assembled around 1994, soon after Prince changed his stage name to an unpronounceable symbol. This time the content was made from tracks that would later surface on Come and The Gold Experience. The last known incarnation of the album was assembled in 1996/1997, this time it came very close to release, and was even advertised on the back of the free cassette single of 'The Holy River' given away at 'Borders' stores in 1997.
Read more about this topic: Unreleased Prince Projects