This is posted by a clubmember. I thought it should be seen. It will be deleted from the site momentarily, but, good or bad, I wanted to see what you guys thought.


"The point had nothing to do with the added "forums," "retail section" or whatever else was added to the site.

My comments were about the Live at the Aladdin DVD.

This isn't the entire concert. The concert was around 3 hours long. This DVD is 1 hr. & 12 minutes. How is it a bonus for NPGMC members when it's available in stores also? So I don't buy that.

I can understand editing parts of the concert out, but come on, it's 1 hr. & 12 minutes. It's not even 90 minutes. Most movies/concert movies are around that length. I don't see the reason why it was edited. Regardless of it's 72 minute length, 90 minute length, or 120 minute length, the price would still be the same. So, the CONSUMERS lose.

After reading the tracklist and viewing other concerts on the tour (audio & video) I can "positively" say that this DVD isn't half of what it should be. For whatever reason Prince doesn't release his best concerts, outtakes, or previously unreleased material. Maybe the vault isn't as thick as we're lead to believe? Even Crystal Ball came out and that was filled with 5% outtake classics and 95% 1990's NPG outtakes. We got "How U Wanna Be Done (remix) when we wanted "Rebirth of the Flesh." We got a different version of "Dark" when we wanted "Moonbeam Levels." We got a bad version of "Crucial" with no horns from Eric Leeds.

I'm a big Prince fan, and i'll always buy what he puts out. Therefore, since I spend my money on offiicial material, I believe it's well in my right to voice my honest opinion of it, good or bad. Life is about questioning things, not accepting anything at face value no matter how big a "fan" you are of anyone. I spent my $17.98, I viewed the DVD, I enjoyed it, but still feel like it should be a lot longer and higher quality. Especially after seeing the full tracklist of what was played that night. Power Fantastic! Alphabet Street! Why would we get "Pass the Peas" instead? I've read the excuse that "this DVD presents material not on the ONA Box Set." So what? People that have that material on CD don't want to see a concert of that material? Since when was "Power Fantastic" on the box set? Never.

I can't help but feel ripped off. If the moderators want to censor opinions, go ahead. It's Prince's board. If he wants to ignore the obvious then go ahead and keep doing the same things over and over and over. I'll go to Prince.org or somewhere else, or i'll stop buying material. No big deal.

If you saw the ONA show from Japan on video i'm sure you'd have a different opinion... why not put that on the Retail Section for "fans?""

but yyyep, it's gon' get deleted within seconds, sad to say. instead of deletin mere honest commentary like this the npgmc really needs to focus on what the fuck they're really about and perhaps read stuff like this...

wow. i posted a very similiar post a few weeks ago and it was chopped except i wasn't worked up like this fella was. i was actually quite complimentary and had a bit of tact. still tho, i questioned Prince's decisions and i got axed. i wonder if you can hear a tree fall in the forest if nobody is around to hear it?

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Already gone.

All very valid points. He was right to make them.

It's more like, Can you hear a tree fall in the forest if you won't turn off your chainsaw?

Seriously, I can see both sides of this issue, which seems to me a non-issue, though it's becoming more and more unavoidable of a discussion...

First off, lemme just say I really enjoyed what I saw on the big screen on Monday night. Sorry. Those of you who know me know I'm not a "Fam", a member of the "Positivity Police", and I don't even like purple otter pops, so don't even START with me on the purple kool-aid...but what can I say, I liked it. I liked the music, I liked the performances, the annoying hokey garbage usually associated with a Prince video was kept to a minimum, and it was better than I thought it would be.

Do I think the film quality was dodgey? Yeah.

Of course, i was watching something made for TV screens being projected on the big screen, and I haven't watched the DVD at home yet, so I have to reserve judgment - but there were times, on the big screen at least, that the show looked like a so-so video download from Kazaa. (Not, of course, that I download video content from Kazaa, ho ho ho...actually, I DON'T, but not because I wouldn't...my PC is just too crappy for it to be enjoyable)

Did the film quality get in the way of my enjoyment of the show? Nope. Of course, I'm not an audio/videophile. I judge on what I consider to be content, not mechanics. My technical eye is very pedestrian, and unapologetically so at that. If you can convey the message, I don't care how crisp or fuzzy it is, as long as I get the message.

But that's just ME, and my subjective tastes.

Is the length and editing of the video disappointing? Well, sure.

Maybe they should have called the DVD "Scenes from the Aladdin" or "ONA: HighLites", or some other title that made it clear that this was a series of selections, and not an accurate depiction of the actual concert experience.

But the question I have to ask, on behalf of casual fans or folks just buying this at Best Buy because "oh cool, Prince is doing a Zep song", is this: Who freakin' CARES about the "proper" set list, other than the dyed in the wool fans???

I don't think this DVD was packaged with the completist-collector-encyclopedic, all-knowing Prince-ologist in mind. I think it's something that got slapped together to make a few bucks, period.

If I have an issue with this, it's that there are tons of designers and cinematographers and creative folks who are also Prince fans who would KILL to help him turn out a kick-ass product, and when I look at something like Bjork's latest series of live DVDs, I can't help but think that Prince could do something along the same lines, simply in terms of quality and a feeling that designing archival product could indeed be a labor of love from NPG to the fans.

That said, I really think this is more of an afterthought project that was only released because it looked somewhat presentable and they thought they could make a few bucks on it, especially if they told all the NPGMC members to buy it on a specific day if they wanted prompt service...and they were right, they surely made a few bucks that way.

I think there are unofficial documents of the ONA tour that are far superior to this DVD on certain levels. On the other hand, I enjoy this DVD as well, and it was a lousy fifteen bucks - same price as most new CDs in the wrecka stow.

In the overall picture, yes, there's lots of room for improvement. But is this DVD cause for grief and outrage? I dunno, I'm just not feeling it...

Anxiety said:

You always make sense, Anx. I didn't particularly post this here for it to be another rant about the DVD, especially since there were a bunch of threads dedicated to it over there already. I was speaking more to the deleting of stuff on the club site. Some of the stuff I get to read before it goes away and some of it is pretty good. I know it's P site. I know they can censor and delete whatever they want, but it still bothers me. As far as the DVD, I loved the way it sounded. I wish I could buy the audio and you, of all people, know that's a lot coming from me.

all right think about it. maybe Prince wanted the whole One Nite Alone thing to be a multi-phase project.

First the ONA piano cd, then the ONA Tour, then the ONA...Live album and now the ONA dvd. that's four high quality pieces of a project that has served us very well. ok the dvd could use better picture quality but jeez we have been spoiled the past year and a half.
job well done, i say Prince!

and you know what, i like the idea that the dvd has songs not on the live cd. it kinda rounds it out.

milty said:

But there were songs on the DVD that were also on the CD, right? Different performances, sure, but the whole "not available on the CD" schpiel isn't exactly 100 percent true, is it?

And to Stymie:

I'm really proud of you for posting a well thought out viewpoint from NPGMC on here - good looking out! - sadly, it's the only way some of the more constructive feedback and dialog from over there will ever get seen. More and more, I make it a practice to never write more than a couple of lines if I post on NPGMC, because what's the point in putting the effort into writing out my thoughts if they're just gonna get wiped off the slate ninety seconds later anyway?

I guess I agree with a lot of the sentiment behind folks' dissatisfaction with the DVD, but I can't help it - I don't feel "burnt" by buying this product, and I enjoy the music on it. Can't fake the funk, and I can't fake not feeling the funk if I do (and why would I?).

On the other hand, if these are the standards by which we can expect future video product from NPG...well, ick.

While I totally respect the persons feelings who originally wrote this, I have to say that the Aladdin DVD works for me. The ONA Live CD was cool, but I really wished there had been the imagery to go alone w/ it. I even said such in a thread here back when it was the topic of conversation.

NOT to say that the commments that started this tread are such, the thing is this, my conversation on that topic was not that Prince sucked and is stupid because he didn't include imagery. As like alot of other people here, I simply explained why it would have been over the top to have included the imagery along with the music. Then, look what happened; Prince comes out w/ the last show of the ONA tour on DVD.


Approximately half of the songs on the DVD were not on the ONA CD that he put out earlier. Nor were they performed at the 2 ONA concerts I was fortunate to attend. So, that AND being able to SEE Prince and the NPG vibing off each other makes the Aladdin DVD gold to me. As much as I enjoy hearing his music, I'm in heaven to also be able to see him performing it; live concert or DVD.

I believe he is listening to fans. He is also sorting out the negative criticism from the positive. When he sees that the positive criticism AND his wishes for his legacy are in alignment,he then sees that his personal interests are safe and an opportunity exist where he can give us what we want, we get it. Or, a little better said, what we get since his Emancipation is a balancing act between the positive criticism from us fans and the respect he has for himself and his gift of music.


I am of the "It Ain't Over" camp. Meaning, there IS more to come. We just need to let go of expectations, wishes, desires and just settle in for THE RIDE. If we won't let go of our expectations, etc, then at the very least be positive in how we put them across to him. We CAN have our cake and eat it to. It just depends on us

Y'all know how Prince is. The cycle starts w/ Prince himself, or, it could be us fans or it could be from a member in his band. Basically it goes like this: Someone in his TIGHT band will do something on their instrument that just touches his soul to the core. In response, he gets hyped and becomes more inspired to reach out to us, then he reaches out. In response, we react wildly to him reaching out to us. He receives us and becomes more inspired thus pushing his band even harder. The band responds to him pushing harder then one of them strokes his soul again and the cycle repeats itself over and over and over again. Y'all know how it works.

More then ever before, genuine positive criticism is the way to get what we want...or, more of what we want now that Prince is free to do whatever he pleases. We need to reckonize!

I come to this discussion with little in the way of preconceived ideas or expectations for the DVD. Hell, I didn't even expect there to be a DVD of ONA after the mega 3-disc audio package. But I do want to say that this DVD product from Prince, a veteran perfectionist, confuses me with its shortcomings.

Compared to the overall quality of the ONA Live CD, the DVD falls well short of this standard. From the bootleg video/audio quality to the truncated setlist - it hardly stands as a decent tribute to a very fine concert. Releasing this DVD version of ONA Live makes you wonder "why?" Why these songs and not others that were played equally well, why the limited quality, how does "Pop Life" get chosen as the opening cut, and how is it that 4 of 14 tracks (the better ones I might add) are not even Prince originals?

Adding to the strangeness of the DVD, we get the "bonus" track - The Ride. We all like bonus material, like the bonus aftershow disc from ONA Live, and The Ride is one of my favorite cuts on the disc, but arbitrarily separating it from the rest of the truncated playlist, and calling it a "bonus" seems odd to me. A bonus might have been backstage footage or an aftershow cut - not an essential performance like The Ride that was part of the concert that the DVD purports to represent.

I'm not angry, I'm just completely confused. After so much care, control, and perfectionism from this veteran musician, how do we end up with this DVD?

By the way, I want only the best for Prince. His hard work and mastery of his craft have been an inspiration for me. It's funny, sometimes I think my inability to understand his choices and messages it part of my attraction to his art - I guess I like the challenge.

TheMax said:

i don't regard Prince as a perfectionist at all. in fact, i believe a few of his best songs had imperfections on them and i do believe he opted to keep those imperfections on those songs. if anything, he is no way near a perfectionist that say MJ is or Madonna maybe. i recall an interview where he said that he one dau would release a live album but he is never happy with how a song turns out. i think he said something like "i'm always looking to change a song around". or something like that.

TheMax said:

I have to agree with you. My first thought while viewing this DVD was I can't believe he released this. He's a perfectionist and this is something I didn't expect from him at all.

I was disappointed with the picture quality of the dvd like many, but hey I only paid $15.00 for it and it's better than nothing. I was just shocked he approved the DVD because of his past standards.

Much Love,
LoLinex

it's not just the forums, either. In the chatrooms, if you say anything with the PPs in the room that they don't like, they ban you, no questions asked.

Max, I felt the same way monday night. I put my thoughts to rest in the fact that Prince is a perfectionist. And, he had his reasons for the DVD being the way it is. Those reasons may be known as time goes on maybe not. In the meantime, I am happy I have one more thing to add to my Prince collection that had his blessing in being released. I view this DVD the sort of the way I view my girlfriend's 3 young boys...they don't understand today why I have them do the things I have them doing and sometimes they "hate" me for it. Years down the road, they'll understand why and appreciate what I did for them back when.

In Prince's case, in time, perhaps we will understand why he did the DVD this way and at the same time HE will appreciate how he did it because his past is not haunting him like it might be haunting his peers who did back then what seemed to be the logical thing to do at the time. Did that make sense?

Yes, I understand your point, but truly wonder if there is a "method to the madness."

I passed on buying the DVD as well now because of the response from others on here.

What NPGMC did with showing it on the big screen for members was really nice, and I think thats getting overlooked.

But it's baffling why they would rather spend most of their time deleting posts instead of listening to fans comments and considering what they have to say.

stymie said:

it's a shame, i tell ya...keep on coverin your ears and avoidin the commentary from your remainin fanbase and diggin that ever-widenin hole for yourself, mr. nelson...ain't gonna getcha nowhere.

Nice thoughts, everyone. I'm kinda in shock over the fact that this DVD has been available for me to purchase for 8 or 9 days (and I could go to Best Buy right now, if I were so inclined) and I really don't have any desire to see it.

I don't think Prince is a control freak. I mean, wouldn't a control freak millionaire hire someone to do some damn landscaping at Paisley or some shit? I'm kidding, but I'm not.

I don't know...yeah, the audio sounded great, based on the 3/4 or so of the DVD that they played at Paisley. But I wouldn't really expect anything else...the ONA tour, especially towards the end, was FANFUCKINGTASTIC. However, it's not like there's a bonus "audio" disc in there or something, and I don't feel like going to the trouble of figuring out how to convert the DVD audio files to a CD so I can just pop it in and enjoy the music. I'm tired of doing all the work, and this release seems lazy and half-assed.

I think it's totally valid to feel irritated and fed up over this DVD, and I think it's just as valid to think that it's fine (or better) just the way it is. Personally, I think that especially considering the fact that we all eat it up regardless, this is the best the NPGMC will ever do. They appear to be completely disinterested in actually doing anything that requires effort, unless you're talking about deleting shit offa that ugly-ass site.

Just my penny.

*The "I reserve the right to go out and buy it if and when I have the inclination" edit.*
[This message was edited Wed Aug 20 14:22:59 PDT 2003 by theblueangel]

80 mins is indeed short. But once again, the tracklisting for this thing was posted and confirmed months ago. Judging from the previews people should have known that this wasn't going to be a visual throwdown. If anyone wanted to see the full show and wanted the best audio and visual experience, he/she should have flown his/her ass to Las Vegas on December 15, 2002. What is the bonus? You had the opporunity to get it a few days early. But everyone should have known what they were getting into in advance.

Welcome to the dawn: Prince has promised a whole lot since his introduction into the entertainment business. There are no guarantees. In the end, no one really gets what they want but Prince. Nothing new. Funny as hell that many who complain are the first in line to "get fucked" when the opportunity presents itself. But the internet geeks have to go somewhere to cry. No place better than the org, huh? Please complainers, shit or get off the fucking pot.
[This message was edited Wed Aug 20 14:20:21 PDT 2003 by StinkyWeaselTeats]

Unfortunately, experience should have taught us by now that Prince, for all of his talent, has never come across as a videophile. Fortunately, neither am I so it usually works out ok.

Despite the deletions over at the npgmc, they do seem to listen. Last year people complained about heavy handed overdubs, we got minimal overdubs; Last year people asked for a DVD, this year we got one, people wanted "Reflection" posted up again, it was. Hopefully, they're still listening.

still, 1 hr & 12 min of dvd is 1 hr & 12 min more than no dvd...

LadyCabDriver said:

I've never been banned and never felt that I wasn't allowed to speak my mind which I already did. Perhaps, unlike some here who obviously find it funny to diss NPGMC(see hteir emoticons), my view of freedom of speech does not only consist on agressive criticism...

Universaluv said:

Yes, he's listening and reacting! When TRC was released, some complained that the lyrics were too preachy and the narration was excessive (guilty as charged) - then he followed with the completely intrumental Xpectation, NEWS, and LA afterscreening. He hasn't laid down any more JW doctrine since!

TheMax said:

Xpectation is a great album. I listen to it ALOT.

TheMax said:

What was Avalanche - a feel good song?

thedoorkeeper said:

So you would rather he only made feel good songs that offended noone? That sounds wonderful!

thedoorkeeper said:

Yes indeed, what was Avalanche? It was an stunningly beautiful song - as beautiful a melody as Prince has ever created - that was absolutely ruined by lyrics. What a waste. And please don't even start with a defense of that tripe, or I'll report this thread to the moderators for a prompt transfer to the P&R forum!