I think the live versions of Days of Wild (with the exception of the BeautifulExperience performance) are a yawn conceptually in comparison to the studio one which is the most freakish combo of laid-back-too-cool-for-you vocals with retro analog synth funk pulses...

the idea of wild guitars to the front over live drums is....OLD. OLD SCHOOL!

The arrangements of many of his live performances are OLD SCHOOL.

Take for example Play in the Sunshine. Anyone could bust out with the live version of that... but the studio version is so weird in its laid back hyper yet sleepy production....

What if then leaked version isn't actually the final mix that will be on the released CD? Do we know for sure it is?

As I posted on the big 3121 thread, it was the last song added to the album.

Even though I prefer the harder live version, the studio version is great too.

livewire said:

But your assumption that it's supposed to be New Wave strikes me as an apologetic stretch. I love New Wave too and it sounds more like a flubbed rocker coming across as badly mixed and emotionless pop, save for the guitar playing. And using the logic of not hating a cat for being a dog, you could use that line of reasoning for every song that's lacking in merit by claiming it's weakness is its (supposed) unrecognized genius. Of course, if you like the song, which obviously you do, it's a win situation and I agree some people aren't 'getting' Fury but imho, it's because there's not much to get. That said, like a good many of the songs on this record, I'm sure they'll sound better live.
[Edited 3/8/06 15:01pm]

ufoclub said:

Listen, we'll only know how good this album is when it's released to the general public, not scrutinised by a bunch of Prince uber-geeks (myself included) wanking over every note on the internet comparing versions over and over again.

As you were.
[Edited 3/9/06 2:20am]

ufoclub said:

Funny, I love both the studio version and live versions of Play in the Sunshine, but I when I hear the studio version I don't even think about the live version being better. He got the best out of the song in the studio AND in the live setting. What I am saying is, I think he got the most out of the song live but he didn't get the max out of the studio version, they didn't necessarily have to sound identical.

metalorange said:

I don't know. I like the live version of I Could Never Take The Place... much better than the sterile studio version. Isn't this the same thing? Prince is a great live performer so his live versions will always wreck studio versions.

This thread should be interesting stuff to analyse for a shrink.. lol..

I actually prefer the studio version to the live version of Days of Wild any and every day of the week.

One of the biggest kicks about the live performance was the reaction of non-prince fan guitar heads. It was so exciting to hear them just wowed by his playing and then not to have that translate at all on the disc is just disappointing. No guitar head is ever going to listen to this track and think about what an excellent guitarist Prince really is.

Well it took me a quick moment to like the SNL version of Fury but I did. Once I heard the studio version, I dug it instantly. No matter how the song is performed, the song is just great. It has a great groove and can get stuck in your head easily.

This is what gets me. As long time Prince fans, we should KNOW that Prince's live stuff will almost always be better than the studio stuff. There are exceptions like Satisified sounded better on 3121 than on the NAACP Awards last year. People should have been better prepared for this song not to sound like a super hard rocker. It doesn't make the song bad, it just takes the song into another direction. If you don't dig it then you don't but if you dig it like I did then keep on groovin but don't set yourself up for disappointment. It's been happening too much in the last several years. We got to keep the party movin!
[Edited 3/8/06 16:49pm]
[Edited 3/8/06 16:51pm]

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I thought about that a couple of days after the SNL performance. I knew the studio version wasn't going to sound like that and there may be more disappointment after that SNL show reruns on the 25th. I'm glad he did the song but a part of me wished that he hadn't done it because of the comparisons that would come along with it. That's just the way it is I guess.
[Edited 3/8/06 16:57pm]

Do you fucking have ears on the side of your fucking head!!!

Much better than the live version!

Yea, piss on rock and roll and see if I care.

metalorange said:[quote]Even if Fury could be classed as new wave, I still prefer it as a live rock track!

Prince has rarely laid the guitar on heavy in the actual album releases. I believe he has stated that too much guitar clutters the record. Disagree or not, I much prefer his live renditions of ICNTTPOYM, The Cross, purple rain (that one was actually sort of live), Endorphanmachine, etc to the album versions. But I do appreciate the album cuts and Fury is just fine in my eyes. I look forward to the many great renditions we'll get to see him do live in the years to come.

i just wanna know... where'd jimi go?

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Yes, yes, and yes.

I do like both versions, but I must say, I was hoping prince was going to rock out on this one and he didn't.

When it comes to the studio, Prince always seems to shy away from turning out a real heavy rock song. He seems to over produce, and in the process, often waters his rock songs down to pop songs.

Endorphine, Damned if I do, Million Days, Fury....sure they all have rock guitar elements to them, but they are all essentially pop songs, where they they could have been GREAT rock songs.

We know he can do it, just look at the live Whole Lotta Love and 2002 Sign O The times, but when he reaches the studio, he can't seem to help himself from reaching for the cowbells and antique synths.

I think the nearest he has got in the studio is Chaos & Disorder and parts of Temptation, Live 4 Love and The Cross.

He's made very few actual rock songs on record. I'm talking bass, drums, guitar and guitar. Fury would have been a real dazzler had he not pissed all over it's potential. Of course, he meant to make it lamer in the studio, it's his homage to over produced, underplayed tunes.

Number23 said:

i'm in!!!

he did do "The Undertaker"

Wall said:

ufoclub said:

Wow. I completely disagree on both counts, ESPECIALLY DoW! I think that song is so much funkier in its live incarnation, and I find the studio version to be a tepid bore by comparison.

JediMaster said:

to further clarify what it is I'm appreciating: original texture of the choice of the studio mix/production...

the live versions have a more conventional texture and emotional goal... but the studio versions are so peculiar and in the long run, so much more intriguing to me.

XxAxX said:

We've got five years, what a suprise.

I have to admit that I was disappointed this didn't translate like the live performance but I will say I am not hating this song. I love it whatever way it comes

Number23 said:

- Wow...he really said that? Brian Eno is very famous/respected

GustavoRibas said:

I have no doubt Eno would be a Prince fan as I certainly think Prince deserves such a remark, but do you have a link or more specific, such as issue/month? I've never heard that and a big fan of Eno as well as Prince.

wall said:

co-sign

Searching on Google, I found a very interesting Brian Eno quote:

"Artists who don't censor their own work. Picasso is one, Miles Davis is another, Prince is another. They're all people who just put it out, and have almost no critical self-censorship. They say, 'Let the market decide; let the world decide.' You might not be the best person to judge it.

That's a kind of humility, actually: it's a mixture of arrogance, which says, 'I know I'm fucking good.' But a humility, which says, 'I'm not the person to decide.'"
- Brian Eno

I found it here: http://www.musicthoughts.com/t/122

At this moment i am not sure which version of Fury is better: the snl-version or the one on the record. I havent listened to both tracks enough (and only from crappy pc speakers to judge about that.

But what i find a bit strange is that some people her say that the vocals on the recorded version are dull and liveless compared to those on the live version. To my ears his style of singing on both versions is the same, the vocals on the live version probably sound a bit more lively because they are...well...live, and because of the different arrangement used on the live version.

Just listen to these two versions one after another and i think you will hear that.