cdm72's Full Review: One Nite Alone...Live! by Prince
Well, it took over 20 years, but Prince has FINALLY released a live CD. Why is this a big deal when everyone knows live albums suck? Because everyone also knows Prince is one of the best live performers out there. He may not be able to sell records like he used to, but if ONE NIGHT ALONE . . . LIVE! is any indication, he can still play his heart out in front of an audience. And some things are just worth the wait.
As with a few of Prince's big deals of the past 6 years, this is another 3-CD set, with 36 songs, all live "recorded directly from my soundboard to 2-track for release" says Scottie Pakulski who acted as sound man for the One Night Alone Tour. The first two CDs contain songs culled from various performances in 9 different cities between March 11th and April 30th (2002? I don't know. The Pakulski notes are dated July 2002, so let's assume it was earlier that year), but a little overdubbing here and there to meld them all together so perfectly they seem to come from one show, and you're good to go. The third CD, subtitled "It Ain't Over" contains 9 more songs from later those nights, during the aftershows where Pakulski says, "With no set list, rented band gear and no curfew, Prince and the members of the New Power Generation march fearlessly into compositions, both written and often times not, and leave his fans, the people that mean the most to him, hungry for more."
If this were all one show, as it's produced to sound like, this would be a show worth a second mortgage on the house just to pay for the tickets. He'd march out on stage, go straight into "The Rainbow Children", and not let up until, over two hours later, he finishes up with a deep and deeply beautiful version of "Anna Stesia". Throw in the aftershow and you get a KILLER "Joy In Repetition", "Alphabet Street", and "Dorothy Parker" to name a few.
This isn't your normal live show caught on tape. It's an all-out production, one you don't need to see to appreciate. When he heads into the audience during "Xenophobia" and asks a woman "Is it better to give or to receive" (she replies, "It's better to give") and then proceeds to direct her, "All right, then give up your seat to this person back there in the back.", we see the shock on the audience's faces as if we were there. Her chance at redemption comes a second later with, "Is it better to be a leader or a follower?"
"A leader."
"A leader? Too bad. Who thinks it's better to be a follower?"
The hands go up, we know it, cuz it may only be a CD, but we're in the audience that night, too.
The next person he asks answers correctly and Prince repays with "Follow me."
Right onto the stage. What I wouldn't give.
"Have a seat right there. I'mma play the guitar for you, all right? Can I get you anything?"
Yeah, a cardiologist, cuz I think I just had a heartattack.
I know a lot of performers have a routine they go through for their shows, and I'm sure Prince is no different (after all, twice on this set he says, "If you don't know the words, you better ask somebody."), but it's not the same old "I've been to a lot of cities, and I just wanna say, Portland rocks harder than all the others." He may follow his routine, but his routine is fun at least, going so far as to give new names to some of the audience members before "Family Name"
"For those of you expecting to get your 'Purple Rain' on, you in the wrong house. See we're not interested in what you know, but what you are willing to learn." What we learn is what a live show is SUPPOSED to sound like, and there ain't no better teacher than Prince.
ONE NIGHT ALONE . . . LIVE! isn't one of those Bringing Out the Hits live shows, this is a show for the fans, nearly void of radio hits ("Raspberry Beret" makes a brief appearance, as does "Diamonds & Pearls" for the first verse and chorus, then a few lines of "Nothing Compares 2 U"), and focusing mostly on the songs the true fans want to hear, like "Strange Relationship", "When U Were Mine", "Anna Stesia", "Joy in Repetition", and a good 6 songs from the then-brand new RAINBOW CHILDREN.
If anything could be said to drag this set down it would have to be the lack of complete songs. Prince is big on playing only bits of the older songs, usually the first verse and chorus, before moving on to something else. Maybe not so bad in someone else, but this is Prince and these are songs I've loved forever, so when he gets through only a few minutes of a song like "Do Me, Baby" before segueing into a "Condition of the Heart" interlude (40 seconds of piano, but no lyrics), then into "Diamonds & Pearls" . . . well, I was enjoying the first song. But it IS "Diamonds & Pearls," so it's okay. But a verse and chorus into that song and he goes into "The Beautiful Ones". Another great song, yes, but dammit, if you're gonna include the song on the CD release, play the whole thing. The only thing that saves this section of CD 2 from sucking is the way he pulls it off. The songs are taken from many different shows, but the way they're mixed, it comes off as an 8-song piano medley with Prince slipping from one song to the next with no effort. Hell, some songs he didn't even sing. He got started on "Do Me, Baby", but then the audience took over for the rest of the song. Let me tell you, there's nothing like hearing a few THOUSAND people all singing a 20+ year-old song all at once. I get chills when I hear it, literally.
Some of the songs are recognizable only because their listed on the back CD cover. Otherwise I never would have known the 11:19 jam on disc 3 was "Peach". Halfway through, he recites a few of the opening lines, but that's about it. Still, it's a great jam.
Jamming seems to be what he was really set on at these shows. Aside from the RAINBOW CHILDREN tracks, most of the tunes turn into long, energetic jams that begin to lose any sense of where they started. But I think that was his intention. "Real music for real music lovers," he says. He's not on stage to let you hear the old songs live, he's up there to let you hear the old songs ALIVE. Can you dig it?
"Somebody get me another suit ready, I'm 'bout to sweat this one out."
I believe it. Hell, I need a nap just listening to it.
With the 3 hours of incredible music presented here, I begin to lose sight of the songs I wish had been included. It would have been nice to hear "If I was Your Girlfriend" or "Little Red Corvette", maybe "Bambi" or "Electric Chair", but hell he included "Joy in Repetition" so who's complaining?
ONE NIGHT ALONE . . . LIVE! is nothing short of brilliant musicianship on everyone's part, not just Prince, but the NPG itself, Renato Neto on keyboards, John Blackwell on drums, and Rhonda Smith on bass. Plus there's the horn section, Maceo Parker and Candy Dulfer on sax, with Greg Boyer on trombone. Everyone's in top form and they all turn in first-rate performances.
There are only 2 weak points, and those are due in no part to any shortcoming of Prince. The vocal George Clinton gives on "We Do This" sounds like the man's out of breath, suffering from strep, and about to pass out. And Musiq Soulchild's "Just Friends (Sunny)/If You Want Me to Stay" medley is simply forgettable (as proof, I've had this CD for over a week and I still couldn't tell you what Musiq's contribution sounds like, I just haven't noticed it, even when I'm listening specifically for that song).
But these two, very unimportant cons aside, ONE NIGHT ALONE . . . LIVE! is well worth the 20+ year wait, and will definitely find itself one of these days on some official "Best Live Records" list. Count on it.
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