best Intro> 4 me without a doubt: CONDITION OF THE HEART

Lets go crazy, 1999, When doves cry, & Controversy.

When Doves Cry

Sticky Like Glue

I like the intro to Wall of Berlin...

love2thenines2003 said:

best Intro> 4 me without a doubt: CONDITION OF THE HEART

Right there with U

Batdance and 1999

Nice topic for a thread

Let's Go Crazy immediately came to mind, the beautiful prolonged synth. And kudos to who said Do Me Baby, with the sprinkling piano.

WDC and 17 days is nice also

ecstasy said:

Nice topic for a thread

Let's Go Crazy immediately came to mind, the beautiful prolonged synth. And kudos to who said Do Me Baby, with the sprinkling piano.

@ sprinkling piano

My favorite one: Purple Rain

When Doves Cry

Do Me Baby

Pop Life

Lets Go Crazy

Solo.. lol, just kidding.

My pick... the most beautiful girl in the world

"I No"

What a Way to start an album - eden-esque imagery, a rejection of drugs - leading to the acceptance of the funk high party that is to come with a shout that one would probably shout ironically, while under the influence - "Hundalusilia!"

Tamborine It's his way of saying - "I'm playing Drums, MF!" which is interesting as it's the only track on the album which does actually uses live drums and his beginning Drum fill drives this point home...

"If I Was Your Girlfriend"

Arguably one of the most controversial and enigmatic beginnings to any Prince songs and is still talked about to this day amongst Prince aficianados...

"Crystal Ball" This is a tough one to jusitfy as it goes on long enough to be a song of it's own (which I believe it once was - "Expert Lover" - The rarity of hearing Prince play a Woodwind instrument is enough to at best, place this in the proverbial suggestion box...

"Screams Of Passion Extended mix" Why the intro was never used on the album version is beyond me. In an era where 12" extended Mixes usually started out with beats lasting for at least a couple of minutes with retrospectively crude samples of obscure pieces of the song, what we get with this particular version is a beautfiul yet short Clare Fischer arrangement which goes into the song unexpectedly, yet without flaw...

"Graffiti Bridge"

...get's a token mention as it maybe a bit more coherent i.e the strings resolve before the track begins as opposed to "Screams Of Passion" - but falls off the ladder (no reference or bonics intended) for being a flacid title track song overall - a rare miss for Prince there IMHO and "Rave..." don't count.... hey this is a thread unto itself! Anyway, on abstract, these are the first songs that come to mind for best intros... a bit like Lays potato chips - U can't eat just one!

'dre

[Edited 12/29/10 13:47pm]

Mountains has a pretty cool intro, too.

... Oh, and let's not forget "One Song"... wait, that's spoken, too!!

Prince is real good at intros overall, I hope many of you agree, but here are some of my favorites not yet mentioned:

I Wonder U

Kiss

Temptation

Ballad of Dorothy Parker

Dance On

Crystal Ball

It's About That Walk

Digital Garden

3121

Ol' Skool Company

Laydown

The list could go on...

Pink Cashmere (I wonder if there's an acoustic demo in the vaults somewhere)

She Loves Me 4 Me- (The rhodes, guitar, drums, and bass on this song are pure magic)

Sign O The Times (You know who it's is from the downbeat to the first hit of the snare)

Anotherloverholeinyohead (Anyone know if that's his guitar or a synth on the intro?)

Diamonds & Pearls (Magic. Whole lotta magic.)

In Love (This is him showin off on the keys Gotta love that)

Uptown (Nasty Nasty bass)

New Power Generation (Heeeey)

Girl (du du dup dum duuum)

Money Don't Matter 2nite (Michael Bland baby Nuff said)

Live 4 Love (Again Michael Bland on the drums)

LadyCabDriver (I would die 2 hear Prince bring out the bass and rip into this)

For You (Try and sing that note for note in the shower. lol I dare ya)

Sexy M.F. (One of the best salutes to James Brown I've every heard)

Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad (This is one of the reasons why I love and play guitar 2day)

I'm Yours (If you absolutley positivley got to kill every muthafucka in the room on your 1st album this is the way to do it. We know what he does on guitar but he's just as sick on the drums and bass)

[Edited 12/29/10 13:11pm]

[Edited 12/29/10 13:14pm]

sexual suicide

Okay here I go:

Gett Off

When Doves Cry

Raspberry Beret

Adore

Soft and Wet

1999

GOD - with those crazy squeling noises...rather sexual sounding lol

Great examples said already! Love "...Girlfriend" especially.

Also have to add

The Digital Garden - was playing it on my surround sound and those deep bass drum booms made the whole place shake!

Gett Off is instantly recognizable,

I Feel For You is great too, and I like

The Days of Wild - any of the tracks from the "experience" period with the computer and hydraulic door sounds

Too many to mention, but some examples from the top of my head:

- The Future: eerie, dreamlike

- Shockadelica: dark, tense (love the moment when his vocal kicks in: he is sounding like some kind of witch almost.. lol)

- that dry 'stomp' and synth bass the song Lovesexy starts with, coupled with the slant 'new power, newer power give it to me').

- If I was your girlfriend: makes you prick your ears immediately when you hear it, like WTF is happening here?

- America: as mentioned before.. these false starts.

- Around the world in a day: the mixture of that flute and the characteristical linn 'clap'.

- Mentioned before: the whole first part of Crystal Ball, again eerie and dreamlike, a bit creepy also, love how his Camille-voice creeps in and the drapings offered by Clare Fischers orchestrations.

- Screams of Passion by the Family (great mix of linn-drums, orchestrations, and psychedelic sounds in the background)

- Mia Bocca by Jill Jones, the orchestral intro on the album (which is labelled on vinyl as a seperate song)

- Superfunkicalifragisexi: the campy sounding beginning notes, and that almost develish sounding laugh. I used to play back to that part often, to listen that laugh again.

no love for 'Shhh' at all? great intro

Cornelius1973 said:

Too many to mention, but some examples from the top of my head:

- The Future: eerie, dreamlike

- Shockadelica: dark, tense (love the moment when his vocal kicks in: he is sounding like some kind of witch almost.. lol)

- that dry 'stomp' and synth bass the song Lovesexy starts with, coupled with the slant 'new power, newer power give it to me').

- If I was your girlfriend: makes you prick your ears immediately when you hear it, like WTF is happening here?

- America: as mentioned before.. these false starts.

- Around the world in a day: the mixture of that flute and the characteristical linn 'clap'.

- Mentioned before: the whole first part of Crystal Ball, again eerie and dreamlike, a bit creepy also, love how his Camille-voice creeps in and the drapings offered by Clare Fischers orchestrations.

- Superfunkicalifragisexi: the campy sounding beginning notes, and that almost develish sounding laugh. I used to play back to that part often, to listen that laugh again.

I love the way Prince delivers his intros. Some of my favs are:

Head (funkier than a sack of grandaddys)

Hello (Fresh dance mix)

If I was your girlfriend

Shockadelica

Joy in repetition

Irresistable Bitch

Rebirth of the Flesh

The One

Beautiful Strange (the funky one with the girl laughing @ beginning)

Lady Cab Driver

Anotherloverholenyohead 12"

3121

Anna Stesia

Positivity

I like a lot of the ones that have been mentioned too. Too many to pick just a few.

guitar intro to SOTT live