It had to be one or the other... Do u think Prince was right to choose Free over Moonbeam Levels for inclusion on 1999? Would the 1982 masterpiece have been even more of a masterpiece with ML instead of Free or did Prince make the right decision?

I've just listened to both back 2 back, inlcuding ML to the tracklist after Free while listening to the whole album... I really can't decide which one woulda been the best choice

Opinions?

Both songs are great...

However I am waiting for everyone to say Moonbeam Levels "should have been released".

I think Prince made the right choice."Free" has a universal message that's easy to understand.

"Moonbeam Levels" is a nice song,but I think it would have confused listeners.They would have been like "what the hell is he singing about?"

while "moonbeam levels" has the edge for me personally,

i can see why he left it off the album in favor of "free".

that song just fits better with the album. "moonbeam" is

not really that compatible with the rest of the album.

/

same way "the beautiful ones" is obviously the better

choice for purple rain instead of "electric intercourse",

eventho that is a fantastic song. / it just goes to show

you how much good material he had in those days, to

choose from. instead of just picking the best cuts, he

crafted albums back then.

/

which is a thing he should get back to. apart from the

Lotusflower disc, most of his recent albums actually feel

like he just went with the tracks he considered the best

instead of cementing an album from tracks that fit well

together.

[Edited 10/13/13 5:43am]

SoulAlive said:

I think his unreleased material has some mystique to it. Would "Free" be the better track had it not been available? I don't know. I like "Free" on the album. "Moonbeam levels" is a nice song too but I don't think it'd be talked about much had it been officially released. I still call it "A better place to die" since that's what it was called on every bootleg CD I had

Moonbeam Levels is SO much Better. ALot Catchier and probably had a shot of becoming a hit or a Prince classic. Free is a filler song that for a filler song is pretty good.

"Moonbeam Levels" would have been the better choice.

Not that "Free" being on the album makes it worse, or anything. 1999 is still a 4-5 star album to most.

Two of my favourite Prince songs. Almost imposible to decide. I wish somehow that they were both on the album.

he needs to do a full length version of FREE live with the girls

Sometimes P's choices for b-sides was confusing Why in the world would anyone favor Horny Toad over Moonbeam Levels beats me ^^ But on the other hand, he had DOZENS of songs to choose from for every b-sides so I'd tend to say that he chose whatever fit his mind at that exact moment when he had to pick one song, and then Horny toad makes as much sense as anything else. He also probably assumed that his unreleased stuff would be precious material for outtakes compilations much later. It seems he was willing to open the vault when he left WB, with CB, the Roadhouse Garden project, NPG Music Club and the aborted CB2. What made him change his mind is something I'd really love to know.

I tend to agree with those who say that Free would be the favorite if it had been the unreleased one. The unreleased status gave some sort of a cult status to these tracks.

I think he made the right call. Moonbeam Levels is rather an obtuse song whilst Free suited his message of the time.

I think ML is slightly over-rated, and that if the roles were swapped then Free would be even more revered than ML currently is. I suspect many would be talking about it in hushed tones, the equal of 'Empty Room' or 'All My Dreams'.

..also I've just replayed Free in my mind, and the last minute or so (including his remarkable screaming) is really quite avant-garde, with the kind of instrumentation that's a hint of the free-form sounds he'd experiment with three or four years later.

[Edited 10/14/13 6:18am]

IstenSzek said:

while "moonbeam levels" has the edge for me personally,

i can see why he left it off the album in favor of "free".

that song just fits better with the album. "moonbeam" is

not really that compatible with the rest of the album.

/

same way "the beautiful ones" is obviously the better

choice for purple rain instead of "electric intercourse",

eventho that is a fantastic song. / it just goes to show

you how much good material he had in those days, to

choose from. instead of just picking the best cuts, he

crafted albums back then.

/

which is a thing he should get back to. apart from the

Lotusflower disc, most of his recent albums actually feel

like he just went with the tracks he considered the best

instead of cementing an album from tracks that fit well

together.

[Edited 10/13/13 5:43am]

I prefer "Moonbeam Levels" as a song as a whole, but your assessment is spot on!

Free is a shitty song. Period. One of his worst lyrically. Moonbeam Levels has cool music but suffers from HORRID lyrics. The first freakin' line is ridiculous.

All that being said, Moonbeam Levels has a huge edge musically, but I can't really decide. All I know for certain is thta both songs are better than Arms of Orion, but that's saying very little.

Hope this helps...

I never could get into "Free". The album is perfect with the exception of this song. "Moonbeam Levels"... I can't get enough of it, really should've been on the album.

"Free," most definitely. I never did understand the near-universal praise that "Moonbeam Levels" gets. In my opinion it's a bland, boring song.

I can't stand "Free". My least favorite song on "1999" and I pretty much skip it every time.

"Moonbeam Levels", on the other hand, is absolutely fantastic.

To me,1999 is the one Prince album where I wouldn't remove any songs or change anything about it.It's just perfect the way it is.

I dont like Free, never have, cant say I never will because I never used to like Sometimes It Snows In April. I do like ML, loved it as soon as I heard it, so for me its a easy answer

Why do so many of you dislike "Free"??!! I don't get it.What is so terrible about it?? I think it's a great ballad,great message,and it fits perfectly on 1999.

novabrkr said:

"Moonbeam Levels" would have been the better choice.

Not that "Free" being on the album makes it worse, or anything. 1999 is still a 4-5 star album to most.

True (to the bolded)--but that's true based on the first record alone. People could say that without even getting to the second LP--so which of these tracks he put on it really doesn't matter (and neither would be the strongest material on the second record either).

I'll go with "Free"--it's nice having a less weird track stuck in there, honestly. That second record was, in retrospect, kind of strange. And while "Free" is, if you listen closely, kind of out there in bits, the chorus feels so traditionally rousing, and seems so innocuous, that you don't necessarily think about the whole "they're marching on us" stuff. Who exactly is he talking about? It's not the Soviets. What "new laws"? Is this a call to revolution? Against what, exactly? When'd he turn against Ronnie? Or did he? That heartbeat verse is also almost as inscrutable as "Moonbeam Levels"--I really think it's just the chorus that makes one seem more clear than the other in meaning.

Scotsman1999 said:

..also I've just replayed Free in my mind, and the last minute or so (including his remarkable screaming) is really quite avant-garde, with the kind of instrumentation that's a hint of the free-form sounds he'd experiment with three or four years later.

[Edited 10/14/13 6:18am]

Yep, the ending to "Free" is great.

SoulAlive said:

Why do so many of you dislike "Free"??!! I don't get it.What is so terrible about it?? I think it's a great ballad,great message,and it fits perfectly on 1999.

I Love Free, the album cut and I love the live piano rendition at his 6.7.1984 1st Avenue show

SoulAlive said:

Free. It's more to the point. More poignant. Who knows what he's going on about in the other one (love the song, by the way, am listening to it right now ). What the is a moonbeam level anyway?