In my humble opinion..yes it is.

the song Saviour goes places Purple rain wishes it could. Everything from the confession at the start.."what was i thinkin'..." 2 the guitar solo 2 the Angelic chorus 2 the sexy crooning at the end...WOW..Gosh!!


fair enough Purple rain is a Live song but I say that Saviour knocks it outta the water and deserved more 2 be Prince's signature tune.

that song is so good, so damn genius...it should be as well known as purple Rain and easily should be the song Prince performs closing a concert...what a song.

Undoubtedly stands out on Emancipation because it's the only track featuring the - for me - definitive NPG line up. Real instruments with real instruments! That album would have been so much better if he'd recorded it with the NPG. Listen to the drums on Saviour and then listen to the drum machine/sequencing on filler like Emale.
It's not better than Purple Rain though!

Probably my fave on Emancipation, it was the only one I'd play for ages. It's not Purple Rain now, thats just crazy talk, but overlooked for sure.

cornishdowns said:

It so is

Purple rain was done in another era..granted. However, Saviour is reminiscent of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody..not so much in sounding but just the array of places it goes and the abundance of ingenius sounds merging 2gether...shit that song's hot..Probably P's best ballad/Epic song

I'm with u. I like saviour more than purple rain. Purple rain was never one of my favorite prince songs. And I have felling it is thought so highly because it is the point when many white people got on the ride. And white people being the majority of the population in the US made this song so popular. I would imagine it is not as highly ranked by Prince's soul audience. Saviour just hits me harder. There is certainly not much difference in qualtiy between the two once u get past the popularity/hype of purple rain.

"Whenever I look in your eyes,
I can see a pair of dice....."

i'm listening to saviour as i type this and i must say that its one my favourite song of emancipation along with joint 2 joint.
i love the vibe from this song! the guitar work is great, but what makes the song what it is the synths and keyboards. his voice on it is spot on and the song oozes and drips soul, passion and love.

better than purple rain? hmmm i dunno. the fact that i have to think about it surprises me saviour definatly incorporates more musical ideas, but purple rain is so iconic and such a powerful song, the fact that we still talk about it today is a testament to its status as a amazing song.

that said, i listen to saviour more, but if i were to see prince in concert, i would want him to play purple rain over saviour.

MashedPotatoKid said:

Yeah but thats just cos purple Rain got hyped up...it's nowhere near Prince's best work and just doesn't show what he capable of like Saviour does. If Saviour was hyped up like that people would probably call it Iconic 2 Difference is that it deserves 2 be...

4 me..purple Rain is a great song..but only cos it brings back memories of the film and that kick ass scene at the end..truth be told, if Purple rain wasn't in the film it would be as obscure as say 'Free' from the 1999 album...which is just as powerful but wasn't hyped up..

Most people who like Purple rain have jumped on2 the bandwagon...there's sooooo much more out there 2 get deeper in2.. Even 'It's gonna be Lonely' beats P.Rain...imagine that with some crazy guitar solo's..woweeee

Honestly, I think "The Love We Make" is vastly superior to Saviour, and one of the best songs on Emancipation. The lyrics are very poetic and deeply personal, and the music is haunting, beautiful, and UNDERSTATED.

Saviour has a little too much of that late-'95 NPG bombast for me. During that era he just couldn't help putting these ridiculous blasts of music that ran the scales. A worse example of this is "Strays Of The World." I appreciate him wanting to be more 'musicianly,' but I always found those overproduced guitar-and-harpsichord breaks distracting and jarring. Sometimes you just have to let a song breathe.

Having said all that, I do still like "Saviour," I just don't think it's as good as "The Love We Make" or "Purple Rain." Those songs have more of an emotional kick to me and don't seem so overwrought. "Saviour" is easier to admire, for me, than to truly love.

And to those who say "Purple Rain" is only so well regarded because it's so popular, are you sure you don't dismiss it because it's so popular? If it was a forgotten track on ATWIAD people would be raving over what a lost classic it was. Popularity doesn't change what a good song it was and remains.

Most people who like Purple rain have jumped on2 the bandwagon...there's sooooo much more out there 2 get deeper in2.. Even 'It's gonna be Lonely' beats P.Rain...imagine that with some crazy guitar solo's..woweeee [/quote]

This time you've gone too far! Purple rain: one of the great chord sequences in rock, one of the great guitar songs in Prince's catalogue with some of his greatest, humanistic, anthemic lyrics. Some Prince fans may be sick of it because we've heard it so many times live and because it's one of the songs non-Prince fans most associate himself with but it is churlish to deny that it is a beautiful song. To say that a sugary C-list track like 'It's gonna be lonely', or 'Saviour' for that matter, is superior is.....debatable! Purple Rain strikes a chord and has something universal to say - that's why it's popular. Still, I feel the same way about Raspberry Beret as you do with Purple Rain so I can relate. It's annoying when a song you don't like that much is regarded as his defining work.

cornishdowns said:

Oh please don't hurt me crazy, obsessed Prince fan

Now I know how Mel Gibson felt when he was making Sacrifice of the Christ

LadyB0yCabDriver said:

Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I only want you to have some fun.

cornishdowns said: