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Thread started 07/07/17 8:24pm

rogifan

Guitar World: Prince's 15 Most Righteous Guitar Tracks

http://www.guitarworld.co...acks/29219

15. “Dreamer”
14. “The Ride”
13. “The Morning Papers
12. “Joy in Repetition”
11. “Electric Chair”
10. "U Got the Look"
9. "Alexa de Paris"
8. “She’s Always in My Hair”
7. “Purple Rain”
6. “When Doves Cry”
5. “Computer Blue”
4. “Let’s Go Crazy”
3. “Lady Cab Driver”
2. “Bambi”
1. “I’m Yours”

Anything you’d add or take off this list? Any one you’d re-order? I’d probably add Colonized Mind, Shhh!, I Like It There and Alphabet Street. Maybe When You Were Mine, Fury, Peach and Guitar too. If you can find it check out the 2013 Dakota Jazz show with 3EG. They do a killer version of When You Were Mine and Guitar. Prince’s solo on Guitar kicks major ass.

I’d definitely move Dreamer up higher on the list. And I’d probably put Let’s Go Crazy at #1. Yes I’m sure some people are sick of that song and no it’s not the heaviest rock song he recorded but the guitar solo at the end is pure bliss and on a song that topped the Billboard charts no less. Also I think the version he did with 3EG shows what an awesome rock song this is (check out the video from Manchester).
Paisley Park is in your heart
#PrinceForever 💜
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Reply #1 posted 07/07/17 8:30pm

rogifan

It’s funny I usually felt Prince did more incredible guitar work live than in studio recordings except for Let’s Go Crazy. No live version can touch the studio version for me.
Paisley Park is in your heart
#PrinceForever 💜
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Reply #2 posted 07/07/17 8:34pm

2045RadicalMat
tZ

avatar

Well. To be expected, anything that isn't WB isn't supported here.


In fair consideration:

SAVIOUR
FRIEND MOTHER SISTER LOVER WIFE
KISS (*as distinctive as it is)
PEACH
SHE GAVE HER ANGELS (*yes i know it's only a minute but sometimes that's how Prince did)


stuff that i don't think was him:
SHE SPOKE 2 ME
SEXY MF


I'm grateful they showed reflect 4 THE MORNING PAPERS
[Edited 7/7/17 20:36pm]
♫"Trollin, Trolling! We could have fun just trollin'!"♫
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Reply #3 posted 07/07/17 8:48pm

2045RadicalMat
tZ

avatar

Also.... they should've been smarter and posted a BASS tracks list as well or just parenthesied it


Also notable

777-9311 (*INCREDIBLY NOTABLE)
ANOTHERLOVERHOLENYOHEAD
SO BLUE
CALHOUN SQUARE


And eye know ppl will say WHAT'S MY NAME but it's not his best. Although it sounds baddass

RHONDA: UNTIL UR IN MY ARMS AGAIN
♫"Trollin, Trolling! We could have fun just trollin'!"♫
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Reply #4 posted 07/08/17 4:14am

TheW00denLeg

avatar

I miss Sign o´the Times. Not virtous, but incredibly soulful and funky.

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Reply #5 posted 07/08/17 5:14am

Doozer

avatar

2045RadicalMattZ said:

Well. To be expected, anything that isn't WB isn't supported here.


In fair consideration:

SAVIOUR
FRIEND MOTHER SISTER LOVER WIFE
KISS (*as distinctive as it is)
PEACH
SHE GAVE HER ANGELS (*yes i know it's only a minute but sometimes that's how Prince did)


stuff that i don't think was him:
SHE SPOKE 2 ME
SEXY MF


I'm grateful they showed reflect 4 THE MORNING PAPERS
[Edited 7/7/17 20:36pm]


"Dreamer" wasn't a WB release.

I'd consider adding Revelation to that list. Possibly also:

Scandalous (Crime/Passion/Rapture)
I Hate U
Shhh
Temptation
Lovesexy
3 Chains O Gold
Damned If I Do
Fury
Guitar
Boom

You'll never win with a list of 15 Best Prince Anythings, though. The mountain of candidates is far too large.
Check out The Mountains and the Sea, a Prince podcast by yours truly and my wife. More info at https://www.facebook.com/TMATSPodcast/
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Reply #6 posted 07/08/17 9:58am

getwild180

I'd say that "Gold" should be on that list too. That guitar solo had a lot emotion to it.
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Reply #7 posted 07/08/17 10:27am

Ugot2shakesumt
hin

Lover Dreamer and all the variations he played at the time live. Boy was that a great time to see Prince live.

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Reply #8 posted 07/08/17 11:27am

rogifan

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

Lover Dreamer and all the variations he played at the time live. Boy was that a great time to see Prince live.


There was an amazing version on YouTube from Europe (either 2010 or 2011). Not great quality as it was just video from someone in the audience but good enough. I wish I would have saved it down before it got removed.
Paisley Park is in your heart
#PrinceForever 💜
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Reply #9 posted 07/08/17 11:32am

bigbrother

Good additions might be:

Wall of Berlin
Stratus
Thunder
3 Chains O Gold
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Reply #10 posted 07/08/17 11:54am

206Michelle

Live 4 Love

Live 4 Love ~ Love is God, God is love, Girls and boys love God above
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Reply #11 posted 07/08/17 12:05pm

rdhull

avatar

rogifan said:

http://www.guitarworld.co...acks/29219 15. “Dreamer” 14. “The Ride” 13. “The Morning Papers 12. “Joy in Repetition” 11. “Electric Chair” 10. "U Got the Look" 9. "Alexa de Paris" 8. “She’s Always in My Hair” 7. “Purple Rain” 6. “When Doves Cry” 5. “Computer Blue” 4. “Let’s Go Crazy” 3. “Lady Cab Driver” 2. “Bambi” 1. “I’m Yours”

Im not mad at this list..an its amazing that finally Im Yours gets the respect it deserved..all at the beginning that nobody ever cared about..they all creamed about 1999 and on from there. Im Yours was staring you in the face from the jump.

Of course he rcognized it for the triple threat Conga Room 2009 club date

"Climb in my fur."
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Reply #12 posted 07/08/17 4:09pm

bonatoc

avatar

I think "Witness 4 The Prosecution" (hornless, choirless version) is a real treat in that category.
I'm surprised no one mentioned "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man", which, in its longest form, carries one of the most experimental stuff he's ever done during the extended bridge.

Also, no "Private Joy" outro?

We tend, maybe because of the Purple Rain guitar-hero phenomenon, to always think about Prince's guitar unseparable from distorsion and overdrive, but there's no doubt he was one of the very best rhythm guitar players there ever was. When you start to play the guitar, it's pretty tempting to go for distorsion (and the compression it brings), because it has a kind of redeeming quality: people will have a hard time discerning if your touch is really great or not. I'm not saying Prince hid flaws behind big fat guitar sounds in any way. But it's a shame he didn't do more up-front solos or riffs with a clean sound. I mean his work on the "Where U Were Mine" verses is just fantastic, he goes for the cheapest garagey Telecaster sound, and so he's forced to go for bare, crude expression there.

And don't start me on "Controversy", I mean just focus on the rhythm guitar alone, it's insane. By then he had a acquired a natural finesse and sophistication in details without sacrificing the immediacy of it.

It's pretty difficult, as with most of Princey things, to come up with this particular list. Because there are in reality multiple players in one man, especially if you consider the stylistic changes he went through. You have the young virtuoso ("I'm Yours", "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad", etc.), The master of all pentatonic scales ("God (instrumental)", "Let's Go Crazy"), the lyrical female singer's voice ("Computer Blue", "Purple Rain", "Alexa de Paris"), the heavy metal wunderkind ("Paisley Park", "Temptation", "Shockadelica"), the bluesman ("Sign 'O The Times", "Joy In Repetition", "The Question Of U")...

As a hardcore fan (of a discrete level: there are some serious nutcases amo,gst us, which I'm in awe of), I have a strong preference for the incredible style the "Blue Angel" period brought to the table. Just listen to "The Cross" solo from '88 Dortmund: it borders on the verge of abstract. Of course the most obvious pinnacle being the infamous Small Club's "Just My Imagination", but the Lovesexy era has him at his most inventive: "Anna Stesia", "I Wish U Heaven" and "Positivity" are traversed by phrases and sounds that barely resemble what a guitar would normally do... I hope one day we'll have Deluxe or whatever editions with instrumentals as bonus CDs.

And then there is the over-the-top, exploring territories of the first half of the nineties, with the über wah-wah controlled octave jumps and the up-to-11 overdrives ("The Undertaker" studio sessions, "The Ride" from "The Sacrifice Of Victor"), where Prince went to the limits of expressivity of the instrument, with failed and miraculously successful experiments in equal measure. Very few guitarists pushed the envelope as much as he did.

The last decade saw a return to a kind of classicism in the approach, and even if the use of the whammy bar is questionable (I always admired his bendings and slides for making the guitar sound way MORE elastic than a Floyd Rose), fantastic moments abound.

Really, for me it's too vast a subject and sorry if I can't come up with 15 definitive ones, because there's still one important thing that make the targets constantly move: live, the adrenaline of the performance could bring out alternative, and often better, even more creative work than the studio versions. The definitive example being "Shhh", where you'll be hard pressed to come up with the definitive live take. Just when you think you prefer this particular evening's solo, here comes another with a radically different approach, and then another one years later, that make you reconsider.

Eric, the one with the guitar, sums it best:
"— Mr. Clapton, how does one feel when he's considered the best guitar player in the world?
— I don't know, you'll have to ask Prince."


The Colors R brighter, the Bond is much tighter
No Child's a failure
Until the Blue Sailboat sails him away from his dreams
Don't Ever Lose, Don't Ever Lose
Don't Ever Lose Your Dreams
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Reply #13 posted 07/08/17 4:23pm

Ugot2shakesumt
hin

rogifan said:

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

Lover Dreamer and all the variations he played at the time live. Boy was that a great time to see Prince live.


There was an amazing version on YouTube from Europe (either 2010 or 2011). Not great quality as it was just video from someone in the audience but good enough. I wish I would have saved it down before it got removed.


Yes there were lots of videos from fans at the time. Wish I saved them too.
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Reply #14 posted 07/08/17 4:29pm

rdhull

avatar

rogifan said:

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

Lover Dreamer and all the variations he played at the time live. Boy was that a great time to see Prince live.

There was an amazing version on YouTube from Europe (either 2010 or 2011). Not great quality as it was just video from someone in the audience but good enough. I wish I would have saved it down before it got removed.

It looked like it was filmed on the 60's Woodstock stage and he was as dynamic in it as he has ever been.

[Edited 7/8/17 17:24pm]

"Climb in my fur."
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Reply #15 posted 07/08/17 5:08pm

GiggityGoo

avatar

I'd put the "Paisley Park" remix and the guitar version of "Crucial" at the top of my list. And "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man".

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Reply #16 posted 07/08/17 5:18pm

ashkenaz

Interactive
Gold
Chaos and Disorder
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Reply #17 posted 07/08/17 5:42pm

Toofunkyinhere

Too many to mention really...

Why You Wanna Treat Me so Bad

Dolphin

The Holy River

Question of U

Batdance

I Will

[Edited 7/8/17 17:44pm]

We're here, might as well get into it.
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Reply #18 posted 07/08/17 8:14pm

rogifan

I read an article after Prince passed saying he was the best guitar player since Hendrix. Of course it was a clickbait headline and it worked as it got over 800 comments. Not surprisingly many of the comments disagreed with the article and listed out all the guitar players they thought were way better than Prince. I found one comment amusing though: someone said at least Prince had the good sense to never try and play Eruption. Um I’m not sure if Prince was a big VH fan but I’m pretty sure if he wanted to play Eruption he could do it. For me because guitar often wasn’t the main focus of his studio work he’s underrated as a guitarist, I think he saved his best guitar playing for live shows and unfortunately very little of that is available on the internet.
Paisley Park is in your heart
#PrinceForever 💜
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Reply #19 posted 07/08/17 11:52pm

daniorU

avatar

bonatoc said:

I think "Witness 4 The Prosecution" (hornless, choirless version) is a real treat in that category.
I'm surprised no one mentioned "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man", which, in its longest form, carries one of the most experimental stuff he's ever done during the extended bridge.

Also, no "Private Joy" outro?

We tend, maybe because of the Purple Rain guitar-hero phenomenon, to always think about Prince's guitar unseparable from distorsion and overdrive, but there's no doubt he was one of the very best rhythm guitar players there ever was. When you start to play the guitar, it's pretty tempting to go for distorsion (and the compression it brings), because it has a kind of redeeming quality: people will have a hard time discerning if your touch is really great or not. I'm not saying Prince hid flaws behind big fat guitar sounds in any way. But it's a shame he didn't do more up-front solos or riffs with a clean sound. I mean his work on the "Where U Were Mine" verses is just fantastic, he goes for the cheapest garagey Telecaster sound, and so he's forced to go for bare, crude expression there.

And don't start me on "Controversy", I mean just focus on the rhythm guitar alone, it's insane. By then he had a acquired a natural finesse and sophistication in details without sacrificing the immediacy of it.

It's pretty difficult, as with most of Princey things, to come up with this particular list. Because there are in reality multiple players in one man, especially if you consider the stylistic changes he went through. You have the young virtuoso ("I'm Yours", "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad", etc.), The master of all pentatonic scales ("God (instrumental)", "Let's Go Crazy"), the lyrical female singer's voice ("Computer Blue", "Purple Rain", "Alexa de Paris"), the heavy metal wunderkind ("Paisley Park", "Temptation", "Shockadelica"), the bluesman ("Sign 'O The Times", "Joy In Repetition", "The Question Of U")...

As a hardcore fan (of a discrete level: there are some serious nutcases amo,gst us, which I'm in awe of), I have a strong preference for the incredible style the "Blue Angel" period brought to the table. Just listen to "The Cross" solo from '88 Dortmund: it borders on the verge of abstract. Of course the most obvious pinnacle being the infamous Small Club's "Just My Imagination", but the Lovesexy era has him at his most inventive: "Anna Stesia", "I Wish U Heaven" and "Positivity" are traversed by phrases and sounds that barely resemble what a guitar would normally do... I hope one day we'll have Deluxe or whatever editions with instrumentals as bonus CDs.

And then there is the over-the-top, exploring territories of the first half of the nineties, with the über wah-wah controlled octave jumps and the up-to-11 overdrives ("The Undertaker" studio sessions, "The Ride" from "The Sacrifice Of Victor"), where Prince went to the limits of expressivity of the instrument, with failed and miraculously successful experiments in equal measure. Very few guitarists pushed the envelope as much as he did.

The last decade saw a return to a kind of classicism in the approach, and even if the use of the whammy bar is questionable (I always admired his bendings and slides for making the guitar sound way MORE elastic than a Floyd Rose), fantastic moments abound.

Really, for me it's too vast a subject and sorry if I can't come up with 15 definitive ones, because there's still one important thing that make the targets constantly move: live, the adrenaline of the performance could bring out alternative, and often better, even more creative work than the studio versions. The definitive example being "Shhh", where you'll be hard pressed to come up with the definitive live take. Just when you think you prefer this particular evening's solo, here comes another with a radically different approach, and then another one years later, that make you reconsider.

Eric, the one with the guitar, sums it best:
"— Mr. Clapton, how does one feel when he's considered the best guitar player in the world?
— I don't know, you'll have to ask Prince."




Clapton never said those words.Its not a real quote.
"We are the New Power Generation,and so are U!"
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Reply #20 posted 07/09/17 1:59am

paolo

Why you wanna treat me so bad?

Gold?

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Reply #21 posted 07/09/17 7:38am

thisisreece

Other contenders:

Joy in Repetition (ONA version)
Last December
The War
Boom
Plectrumelectrum
Colonized Mind
Redhead Stepchild
East
Hundalasiliah!
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Reply #22 posted 07/09/17 5:59pm

214

bonatoc said:

I think "Witness 4 The Prosecution" (hornless, choirless version) is a real treat in that category.
I'm surprised no one mentioned "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man", which, in its longest form, carries one of the most experimental stuff he's ever done during the extended bridge.

Also, no "Private Joy" outro?

We tend, maybe because of the Purple Rain guitar-hero phenomenon, to always think about Prince's guitar unseparable from distorsion and overdrive, but there's no doubt he was one of the very best rhythm guitar players there ever was. When you start to play the guitar, it's pretty tempting to go for distorsion (and the compression it brings), because it has a kind of redeeming quality: people will have a hard time discerning if your touch is really great or not. I'm not saying Prince hid flaws behind big fat guitar sounds in any way. But it's a shame he didn't do more up-front solos or riffs with a clean sound. I mean his work on the "Where U Were Mine" verses is just fantastic, he goes for the cheapest garagey Telecaster sound, and so he's forced to go for bare, crude expression there.

And don't start me on "Controversy", I mean just focus on the rhythm guitar alone, it's insane. By then he had a acquired a natural finesse and sophistication in details without sacrificing the immediacy of it.

It's pretty difficult, as with most of Princey things, to come up with this particular list. Because there are in reality multiple players in one man, especially if you consider the stylistic changes he went through. You have the young virtuoso ("I'm Yours", "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad", etc.), The master of all pentatonic scales ("God (instrumental)", "Let's Go Crazy"), the lyrical female singer's voice ("Computer Blue", "Purple Rain", "Alexa de Paris"), the heavy metal wunderkind ("Paisley Park", "Temptation", "Shockadelica"), the bluesman ("Sign 'O The Times", "Joy In Repetition", "The Question Of U")...

As a hardcore fan (of a discrete level: there are some serious nutcases amo,gst us, which I'm in awe of), I have a strong preference for the incredible style the "Blue Angel" period brought to the table. Just listen to "The Cross" solo from '88 Dortmund: it borders on the verge of abstract. Of course the most obvious pinnacle being the infamous Small Club's "Just My Imagination", but the Lovesexy era has him at his most inventive: "Anna Stesia", "I Wish U Heaven" and "Positivity" are traversed by phrases and sounds that barely resemble what a guitar would normally do... I hope one day we'll have Deluxe or whatever editions with instrumentals as bonus CDs.

And then there is the over-the-top, exploring territories of the first half of the nineties, with the über wah-wah controlled octave jumps and the up-to-11 overdrives ("The Undertaker" studio sessions, "The Ride" from "The Sacrifice Of Victor"), where Prince went to the limits of expressivity of the instrument, with failed and miraculously successful experiments in equal measure. Very few guitarists pushed the envelope as much as he did.

The last decade saw a return to a kind of classicism in the approach, and even if the use of the whammy bar is questionable (I always admired his bendings and slides for making the guitar sound way MORE elastic than a Floyd Rose), fantastic moments abound.

Really, for me it's too vast a subject and sorry if I can't come up with 15 definitive ones, because there's still one important thing that make the targets constantly move: live, the adrenaline of the performance could bring out alternative, and often better, even more creative work than the studio versions. The definitive example being "Shhh", where you'll be hard pressed to come up with the definitive live take. Just when you think you prefer this particular evening's solo, here comes another with a radically different approach, and then another one years later, that make you reconsider.

Eric, the one with the guitar, sums it best:
"— Mr. Clapton, how does one feel when he's considered the best guitar player in the world?
— I don't know, you'll have to ask Prince."


U know i love your posts (and that face) because you always seem very well versed, but that quote is a false one, that didn't happen.

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Reply #23 posted 07/09/17 6:06pm

bonatoc

avatar

Yeah, well. When it's too beautiful too be true, it probably isn't true.

Let's say Prince got God out of depression, which is not small feat.


The Colors R brighter, the Bond is much tighter
No Child's a failure
Until the Blue Sailboat sails him away from his dreams
Don't Ever Lose, Don't Ever Lose
Don't Ever Lose Your Dreams
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Reply #24 posted 07/10/17 9:12am

stpaisios

Bambi

Fury

Joy in Repetition

Anotherloveholenyourhead

I'm Yours

Beautiful Strange

Lion Of Judah

Future Soul Song

This Could B Us

Hardrocklover

Revelation

Deliverance

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Reply #25 posted 07/10/17 1:24pm

stpaisios

I'm dreaming there is somewhere somehow an extended version of 'I HATE U'... that solo at the end is the best thing whole rock era of 90's witnessed.

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Reply #26 posted 07/11/17 2:26am

BlueShakooo

stpaisios said:

I'm dreaming there is somewhere somehow an extended version of 'I HATE U'... that solo at the end is the best thing whole rock era of 90's witnessed.

yeahthat

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Reply #27 posted 07/11/17 2:55am

james

avatar

I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man... I love that guitar solo!

And... The Cross!

[Edited 7/11/17 2:58am]

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Reply #28 posted 07/11/17 2:56am

dodger

rogifan said:

http://www.guitarworld.co...acks/29219 15. “Dreamer” 14. “The Ride” 13. “The Morning Papers 12. “Joy in Repetition” 11. “Electric Chair” 10. "U Got the Look" 9. "Alexa de Paris" 8. “She’s Always in My Hair” 7. “Purple Rain” 6. “When Doves Cry” 5. “Computer Blue” 4. “Let’s Go Crazy” 3. “Lady Cab Driver” 2. “Bambi” 1. “I’m Yours” Anything you’d add or take off this list? Any one you’d re-order? I’d probably add Colonized Mind, Shhh!, I Like It There and Alphabet Street. Maybe When You Were Mine, Fury, Peach and Guitar too. If you can find it check out the 2013 Dakota Jazz show with 3EG. They do a killer version of When You Were Mine and Guitar. Prince’s solo on Guitar kicks major ass. I’d definitely move Dreamer up higher on the list. And I’d probably put Let’s Go Crazy at #1. Yes I’m sure some people are sick of that song and no it’s not the heaviest rock song he recorded but the guitar solo at the end is pure bliss and on a song that topped the Billboard charts no less. Also I think the version he did with 3EG shows what an awesome rock song this is (check out the video from Manchester).

Looks like the list is in chronological order to be fair.

.

I think we'd all pick a different 15 and change it by the day. Mine would have to include the likes of..

.

3 Chains Of Gold

Peach

Dolphin

I Hate U

Shhh

Da Bang

Strays Of The World

I Like It There

The Same December

Anotherlove

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Reply #29 posted 07/11/17 7:50pm

rdhull

avatar

james said:

I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man... I love that guitar solo!



And... The Cross!

[Edited 7/11/17 2:58am]



Especially the live one from the movie
"Climb in my fur."
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