My people, I just finished watching the Alladin DVD from a couple of years ago. I gotta tell you, I was extremely disappointed. I can't really pinpoint why.

He seemed to be trying really hard, constantly saying "Come on, band. Come on y'all, get on your feet. Come on y'all, sing with me... Turn the house lights up." Very painful to watch.

The music or the arrangements or something was really off.... the vibe was not there.

Seeing something like this is a reminder of how extraordinary he typically is and how hard that is to achieve. But nobody's perfect. It's a major doozy (along with Grafitti Bridge movie, parts of UTCM, and the Scandalous video, which makes me cringe).

What are your thoughts? Am I alone in this?


As always. if you all have discussed this before, pardon. I couldn't find anything in my search.

yeah the search engine isnt working for me either but there is a recent thread on this and a lot of ppl posted

basically from what i recall it was pretty much down the middle...
i happened to love it i thought it was very good and fun 2 watch...considering i bought rave first *shudders*

andykeen said:

u.....ROCK.

SammiJ said:

lol

andykeen...u 2 kind lol

here's the thread...take a look, altavista
http://www.prince.org/msg/7/127092

It's another one of those situations where the DVD doesnt do justice to the performance that night. The band and Prince and the crowd were on fire and it was one of the best shows (and aftershows) I've ever seen. So much great material ended up on the cutting room floor, it's just sad.

I just don't like the fact he didnt do all of "money don't Matter Tonight"
What a Shame!!

altavista said:

Totally agree.

I think it's a great performance.I have turned on 3 other ppl to this dvd and they love it and bought their own copies.

gettoff said:

This is true. Seeing the DVD I was wondering if I was at the same concert? It is one of the worst concerts filmed I've seen.

Its not that bad. I think Strollin and U Want Me is nice, It's only a pity because the quality of the product is not anywhere as good or a reflection of how good Prince is or how great that tour was. Maybe Musicology DVD/CD will be better but I wont hold my breath. Prepare to be underwhelmed and you wont get disappointed.

Love the DVD! as a matter of fact I will give it play right now

SexualSuicide said:

LOVED the ONA shows, but this dvd is NOT a good representation of it at ALL.

You know what, it's not that bad. Quality sucks, but Rave 2000 is much worse, except for some of the guitar playing.

mrdespues said:

although, the only thing that saves the dvd for me is the bonus clip
from the performance of "The Ride".

I love it when he plays Habibi and it's filmed nicely and the song's
kind of electric there.

But if it wasn't for that bonusclip I wouldn't watch the dvd at all.
Seen it two times completely and I can't stand most of it.

gettoff said:

You hit it dead on the nail. The stuff that everyone didn't see is more of the best stuff, especially the Piano part. Prince and the band were HOT that night and everybody who attended felt was was going on, aftershow included.

That DVD is horseshit! H-O-R-S-E-S-H-I-T! The quality is despicable.

The music itself fits nicely onto a 80min CDR. I find myself listening to this more than the ONA Live box set - especially since Eric Leeds and Sheila E are on it. I remember downloading the preview tracks on NPGMC and thinking "Wow, this is gonna be an awsome DVD". But the quality of the DVD wasn't any better than the .wmv files! I like the hand held/bootleg feel to it, but it's just a pity that the quality of the images are so poor.

Boring show.

Why didn't he include his performances of The Rainbow Children or Muse 2 The Pharao? Why no Avalanche or One Nite Alone?

It makes him look as if he has very little faith in his own work by always snubbing it at live shows or on the official DVDs.

The only people buying the DVD will be the fans... does he really think we're bothered about seeing him do Poplife or Take Me With U yet again? Yawn!

And the fact that the best performance (Sometimes It Snows In April) is playing with the credits rolling is such a slap in the face....

I thought the Rave DVD was far, far better. And the fact that he wasn't dressed like an old man on that show helped... The whole ONA look kinda sucked. You ain't dead yet... stop dressing like you're on the way!

What are your thoughts? Am I alone in this?

Don't think of it as a straight-away Prince release with all the usual glitter and glamour. Like the One Nite Alone concert CD set, Prince gave the people what they asked for - sort of.

My suggestion - go back and rewatch it from the perspective of having just come from the main show, and you're at the afterparty. This will make sense. I think he tied some loose ends up by putting on making it have a beginning and ending like a regular concert vid, but it's loose and free-flowing, and has some genuine thriller moments. I like the way he makes the guitar talk at the beginning of 1+1+1=3, and I especially like the combo of Whole Lotta Love/Family Name (although he coulda sung another verse of Whole Lotta...)

He plays The Everlasting Now too fast in concert - it's to Vegasy. But on Gotta Broken Heart Again, I think he even surpasses the high note in The Most Beautiful Girl In the World. That one I love to watch and cue back a coupla times, just to hear those notes. How does he make his voice do that?????

Haven't watched it many times, either. Just lacks... something. Just shows, that a good director can make all the difference. Certainly chopping up the concert didn't help - like most concerts, his are designed to have an ebb and flow, brought about by years of experience of what works, but by cutting out some of the best stuff, that flow is destroyed and the concert just feels a bit... artificial. I think this is proved by the fact that people who were there thought it was a great concert. Nothing wrong with the performance, just the editing and direction.

Well i have to say that I liked the Rave 2000 dvd better than the live at the alladin dvd. Besides all the skipping i have to do with the Larry performances except for the cross, rave 2000 had more splits and guitar action.

live at the alladin had poor quality and poor excitment. Poor choice of songs that they choose to leave in too.

At least i can see him do "nothing compares 2 u" on the rave one.
[Edited 1/6/05 8:24am]

and what with him teasing us with a few seconds of Love Rollercoaster
imho i think the performance is really good although it has been totally edited.

Well, its a poorly produced release, but the performances are awesome (I do wish he'd included the whole show, but I'm sure that it was Prince's perfectionist ways that made him cut much of it). Sure is better than the craptacular Rave Un2 The Year 2000 THAT was a major dissapointment.

gettoff said:

You said it!

My main problem with this DVD is that the sound and video are not 100% in synch...sometimes things will either play before or after the band plays it visually. I thought it was my imagination but I've watched the DVD on a couple of different systems and the same thing happens. Also, I can't stand that 'fake' hand clap sound that is constantly used as a snare beat. Once in a while is fine, but it happens way to much for my taste. And another thing, what's with Prince having to read his lyrics...I went to one of the PPark aftershows this past summer and he has a whole case of lyric sheets and a music stand with his lyrics on stage. I know he has a lot of songs, but you'd think he would just make up something cool if he forgot the words just to keep things interesting. Overall though, I appreciate any live footage but I wish he would invest in a good director once just to make things a little more professional.

JediMaster said:

I totally agree on this! I have watched 'Live at the Alladin' about a week ago and there are some very good performances on that DVD. But what really struck me was the quality of the image.

I had not been bothered by it before, but this time I watched it on a TFT computer screen and the quality was just SO piss poor, I couldn't believe my eyes! Also the audio levels are not stable at all, the volume goes way up and down at times. Damn, such good performances caught so badly on this DVD, a missed opportunity in my opinion. Still, the fanboy in me enjoys to watch it anyway, hehehe!

baabahope said:

Eeee-gaaadss... he was reading lyrics.. now that disappoints.. I'm with you, baabahope..

(i hate when he shows signs of being human.. I prefer my supernatural fantasy much better!)

baabahope said:

Hello! We have every song memorized why doesn't he???

Miguel