Customer Reviews

One Nite Alone Live

5 star:		(82)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Let me make this much clear at the outset: I was a Prince fan until about 1992 or so. After that the music just feel off for me and I've been waiting for Prince to get it together. I retained a severe respect for his genius and range, but had given up all hope for an album that I would actually be able to like, let alone spend money on.

Well, after album and album of navel-gazing production values, mission statements and songs with no almost bite whatsoever, Prince hit me fully over the head and knocked me out with his latest release, the 3-cd box set "One Nite Alove...Live!". The mission of the record was to show "real music by real musicians", which he attempted to sell via the abominable "Rainbow Children" record, but nailed here in capturing some of the stuff live. The 1st CD is made up of stuff that most people couldn't name because they didn't buy any of his last 4 or 5 records, but the second and third CDs are mostly old stuff revamped with a new, jazzier band, and man, do they smoke. The slow grooves REALLY grind to a funky, smoldering near-halt and the party stuff actually makes you want to dance like the man's in your living room. Prince finally got the philosophy, the tunes and the mission all on the same page and this box set really soars.

The one thing I have to point out here that this box gives us is a great insight into Prince as guitar player. Sure, we all know he plays guitar, but live? He really kills it. Problem is, if you don't see him live you don't appreciate how incredibly gifted he is on this instrument. He really is a guitar god, and this set proves it. For me, there's Jimi, then Frank Zappa, then Prince. Always has been, but now I have this box as uncontestable evidence. The man's range is almost frightening.
For fans, but also for people who used to be fans.

What can I say? I've been a Prince fan almost my whole life, and have just about every one of his albums, under any moniker. This is his best since Sign 'O' The Times, hands down. I've never heard a live CD this intimate, this energetic, this intense, this emotional, and played this amazingly. Best band ever assembled. Now for a rundown of the tracks.

Disc One
1. Rainbow Children : a great studio tune made awe-inspiring live. The playing is superb.
2. Muse 2 The Pharaoh : one of my faves from The Rainbow Children, this track kicks up live and gets a little bit more funky. One of Disc One's highlights.
3. Xenophobia : a great NEW track! Epic instrumental jam with jazz stylings; yet again, awesome playing.
4. Extraordinary : Love this ballad. Great, old school type 6/8 falsetto ballad. Beautiful.
5. Mellow : The title says it all. But not in a bad way! A great groove track from Rainbow Children.
6. 1+1+1 is 3 : another Rainbow Children track, this one funks it up a bit; an instant Prince classic turned up live.
7. The Other Side Of The Pillow : an awesome bluesy track from the acoustic album The Truth; sounds very B.B. King-ish live, which makes it even better.
8. Strange Relationship : this blows the original out of the water; the groove is tighter and the song just is HUGE!
9. When U Were Mine : like the latter, this crushes the original. This is one of the best tracks in the entire Box Set.
10. Avalanche : a great song fighting racism; the message makes the song even more intense emotionally.

Disc Two
1. Family Name : a great James Brown type of funk/soul track from Rainbow Children. Gotta love it. Prince at his best.
2. Take Me With U : the FULL VERSION live! Gotta love it. The arrangement features very cool starts and stops and slides right into...
3. Raspberry Beret : wow. Just wow.
4. Everlasting Now : another GREAT funk tune from Rainbow Children album; the best track live from that album easily.
5. One Nite Alone... : the so-called title track? It's only about a minute-and-a-half long, but it has a cool vibe; more like an interlude than anything.
6. Adore : AMAZING. AMAZING. AMAZING. Prince, a piano, the crowd, humor, sex, love, passion. AMAZING.
7. Eye Wanna B Ur Lover : another piano tune that sounds VERY cool; don't get me wrong, I love the original, but this allows Prince's voice and musical talent to shine!
8. Do Me, Baby : the crowd sings most of it, which is pretty awesome. Prince can tear it up on the piano.
9. Condition of the Heart (interlude) : it's an interlude! However, it is very graceful and pretty.
10. Diamonds & Pearls : No Rosie Gaines, only one verse. Still a great moment.
11. The Beautiful Ones : Classic! Rarely performed live, it's just Prince and the piano, another amazing staple on Disc Two.
12. Nothing Compares 2 U : the best version yet! GREAT!
13. Free : an overlooked gem from 1999 that really shines live.
14. Starfish & Coffee : a short segment, but a crowd-pleaser nonetheless
15. Sometimes It Snows In April : absolutely awe-inspiring. Probably the rarest track on this collection, this tune is actually a tearjerker.
16. How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore : a B-side with PIZAZZ! Live, the full band crushes it! One of the highlights of the Box Set.
17. Anna Stesia : hands down the best track in the set. Overlooked on Lovesexy, this song actually makes me feel good after listening to it. I actually bought the box set during a bad week, and this song gave me a great outlook. The emotion is only hightened by the music. It's total bliss. Prince lives.

Disc Three
1. Joy In Repetition : a cool funk jam.
2. We Do This : great to hear George Clinton on here! Prince and band at their best, as usual.
3. Medley: Just Friends (Sunny)/If You Want Me To Stay : very interesting to hear a new voice over Prince and his band; a smooth R&B medley sure to please.
4. 2 Nigs United 4 West Compton : funky gem from the rare Black Album. Prince workin' it into the wee hours.
5. Alphabet St. : much more uptempo than the original, gets the crowd goin!
6. Peach (xtended jam) : much bluesier and cleaner than the original; the extended jam is over ten minutes, great playing.
7. Dorothy Parker : a more evolved version of the original "Ballad Of..." Gotta love it.
8. Girls & Boys : another funky soul treat.
9. The Everlasting Now (vamp) : a very short faded vamp of the song that ends a great album on the right note!

If there were any doubters beforehand, this 3CD box-set should silence them! His jazz upbringing shows throughout. This being a LIVE set and for those keenly aware of how GREAT Prince is in concert, such as myself, this set is an extra treat! The side-musicians: Renaldo Neto(keyboards), Rhonda Smith(bass), Maceo Parker(saxophone), Greg Boyer(trombone), John Blackwell(drums), Larry Graham(bass), Sheila E.(drums, cymbals), Candy Dulfer(saxophone) are all of the highest order and are allowed to shine MANY times throughout this 3hr extravaganza, but Prince is the LEADER make no mistake about it! I won't give a song by song play-by-play of this set but I will mention those songs which spoke for me and I think other fans of this artist. They are the HIGHLIGHTS in a set of gems:
1) Xenophobia (free-form jazz! Always changing, never put in a box, is Prince's motto and this song proves it. I LOVE IT!)
2) The Other Side Of The Pillow (That VOICE!)
3) Avalanche (social commentary, at its most biting!)
4) Family Name (Free at last!...)
5) Everlasting Now (BRILLIANTLY performed on the recent guest spot on the 'Jay Leno' show!)
6) Anna Stesia (brings back memories of the Lovesexy album and tour with an EXTRA touch at the end (ie. 'Rise Up' seque) which takes it over the top for ME!)
7) Joy In Repetition (GENIUS...I can't use this word enough)
8) We Do This (FUNKIEST SONG of the past 20-25 years! The artists on the song: Prince/George Clinton/Larry Graham/Maceo Parker/etc.. gives you some idea of what this song is about! I would rank this song up next to songs by The Godfather-James Brown (one of Prince's idols) and not feel embarassed!)
9) Peach (a very funky extended groove - over 11 minutes!)
10) Girls & Boys (the 'LA' chant throughout this song, does it for me!)

In an age of bland industry cookie cutter products being given to the public, Prince stand as ONE OF THE FEW whose whole life's mission is geared for the MUSIC and the music ALONE and that's why I'm a fan and why he has my undying respect. As I've said before in one of my reviews and Prince uses in one of the songs here: 'REAL music, REAL musicians'... enough said!

This box set is THE best live music recording I have EVER bought - and that is saying something considering that I have well over 2,000 CDs in my collection... Prince is a genius - live and in the studio, but especially live where his true unique talent SHINES. The NPG accompanying him on this tour consist of the hottest musicians in the world including the genius of Candy Dulfer and Maceo Parker on Sax!! CANDY YOU ROCK!!! Just buy it if you have ever liked even just ONE Prince song as after hearing this collection you will ADORE all of his work. The CDs have songs ranging from the whole of his career including some of his best songs that were sung by others like Alicia Keys - How come U don't call me anymore and Sinead O'Connor's Nothing Compares 2 U! OUTSTANDING! All I can say is BUY!!! It's worth more than it's weight in gold. I saw the show in Seattle USA and it will I am sure remain the best live show I have ever seen - musicianship on a higher level. The cream of the crop! PEACE.

Excellent! Prince is an excellent musician and entertainer, his band is great-jazzy, funky, groovy...The sound is great too and so is the set list.
I haven't enjoy a Prince album this much since...well probably "Parade" or "Sign Of the Times".
The only bad point, would be the price...after all it's only 3 cd's but to me it is worth it.Good music made by good musicians...real LIVE MUSIC!

After many years of hoping and praying finally there is now an official Prince live album. Not only does the set include a double CD of the One Nite Alone tour taken from 9 different performances throught the US, but also a bonus CD taken from aftershow parties!! Anyone who witnessed the tour will know how intimate the shows were and the track listing reflects the loose feel of these shows, covering not only most of the under-rated Rainbow Children album but also many of his greatest albums tracks from nearly all of his career. Particular highlights can be found on disc 2 where he steals back "How Come U Don't Call..." from Alicia Keys and shows what real emotion is on his version of "Nothing Compares 2U". But versions of "Adore", "Beautiful Ones", "Starfish & Coffee" are proof that Prince is now fully aware how fantastic his back catalogue is. Essential to the hardcore fans and highly recommended to anyone who has an interest in live music played by a proper band.

This is the best piece of music that Prince has released since "Sign 'O' The Times," and you can be sure that fans will be debating whether or not this is Prince's greatest album for years to come. The musicianship on this record is awe-inspiring, and not only that displayed by Prince but by his band as well. The first CD, which draws heavily from "The Rainbow Children," his underrated jazz/funk fusion album released in the fall of 2001, gives Prince and the NPG room to stretch out with an abundance of solos and two 12 minute long jam sessions, (track 1 and track 3). For those who remember the old days, check out the live cuts of "Strange Relationship" and "When You Were Mine," both of which are done in wonderfully funked up style. Disc 2 is more song driven than disc one. Magnificent versions of "Adore," "Raspberry Beret," and "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore" can be found here. Most of disc 2 is focused on a piano medley of some of Prince's earlier hits and rarer tracks, and is sure to be a hit with anyone that is a fan of Prince's classic ballads. It also showcases his magnificent falsetto, which, after 45 years of use, sounds as clear and beautiful as it ever did. The last disc of 3 CD set is an incredible, hour-long, orgasmic funk jam featuring Larry Graham, Sheila E., Maceo Parker, and even Funk Overlord George Clinton on a disgustingly good track called "We Do This." I couldn't possibly squeeze everything about this album into this review, so I'll leave the rest to you. This is sure to please long time fans and first time listeners alike. Prince hasn't lost a step, and nobody else alive can bring real music to light the way he can.

Starting with the title track on the second disk Prince creates a level of intimacy that is truly extraordinary. Extraordinary because, as all Prince fans know, the man rocks, funks, jazzes, stomps and does just about everything else which, for better or worse, shields him from the audience just because, if for no other reason, he makes us aware of that he is a performer and that we are the audience. For a while Prince was a stadium musician and, even though he's not selling out stadiums today, his music sometimes reflects distance. So you get through Rainbow Children on the first disk and all is good so far but not great. I like Rainbow Children but it's not one of my favorites and Prince, as he always does with his live performances, manages to switch things up enough to breathe new life into the material (I must let you know, however, that Avalanche is weak, Prince at his most pretentious and precious). But this record really picks up when it slows down - after getting through Family Name (I just don't like that song) and some call and response versions of RBaret and Take me With U, Prince breaks things down, gets slow and personal and the emotion and spontaneity surges and you get a solid fifty minutes of incredible music, Prince at the top of his game dropping brilliance like it aint nothing. As for Disk Three? Rocks man. Prince got the funk, the music on disk three will have you shaking in your seat, hip busting, body jerking sh**.

Well what to say..I am not a 'mad' Price fan but a friend asked me to go to his recent concert in London...I had been hearing some stuff from The Rainbow Children album and as it was so good I thought why not?
To say the least I do not think I have come across a better live musician and band leader. Starting of with all new material from the Rainbow Children for the first hour which, I guess, most of the audience would not have not heard before would be like suicide for most artists.However, not only did he get people listening and appreciating the new songs he even got them on there feet and dancing to songs most people did not even know..that takes some doing.
Anyway the live Cd takes the basic live set (excluding the covers that he did during the show) and succeeds in showing the muscianship that was on display throughout.I dare you to listen to 1+1+1 is 3 or the Work Pt 1 and not feel your feet twitch and your hips shake!
Basically the tracks cover the new songs, some unreleased songs and some older obscurities. This is no greatest hits package but is an object lesson in how to construct an artistic statement through a live show. A lot of thought has obviously gone into picking the songs that appear here and the performances that were picked. The editing is first class as well.
For all the superlatives that I could say about the first two discs it is the third disc, featuring the famous after show parties, which is the trump card of the whole package. For anyone with even the slightest idea of how to play an instrument or be part of a band this will remind you why Prince Rogers Nelson is considered to be a musical genius. Major highlights here are a rare outing for Joy in Repetition and a fantastic 8 minute version of Peach.
For the sake of maximum pleasure make sure you listen to discs one and two back to back. You will gain a better understanding of what the concert was like.
On another point the artwork and packaging postively reek of quality...which sums up whats inside as well.

Prince's first live-album in 25 years and not a bad one !
And his "New Power Generation" consisting of truly great musicians like Maceo Parker or John Blackwell is probably the best band he's ever had. Stylistically this album hits everything he's ever done: Solid Funk, Soul, Jazz, Hardrock, whatever .... one cannot describe the unbelievable variety of styles - each one very princeley - this little man seems to handle with his little finger - just two week points: Prince concentrates too much on old-fashioned jazz-structures and the bonus-disc "It Ain't over" contains too many over-lengthy jams that get pretty boring if you are not drunk.

Highlights:
Disc 1:
"The Rainbow Children" - wonderful jam
"Muse 2 The Paraoh" - swinging and sexa, just a little bit too preachy
"Extraordinary" - never heard such a beautiful melody before
"When U Were Mine" - better than the original
"Avalanche" - rights the wrong, a jazzy ballad against racism

Disc 2:

Sheer brilliance, especially the piano-part (half an hour !) is extremely beautiful and on "The Everlasting Now" he's getting close to Mr. Santana.
"Anna Stesia" - I love it, it makes you feel better every time.

Disc 3:
"Joy In Repetition" - that guitar!
"We Do This" - Parker's coolest performance on Sax plus Mr. George Clinton doing the coolest vocals
"Dorothy Parker" - no longer named "The Ballad of D ....", this version is absolutely great!

Well, if it wasn't for the preaching and the teaching I would have given 5 stars .... but anyway: Prince is the Greatest!