Right now i am listening to Mia Bocca, from Jill Jones debut album.

The song is written and produced by Prince, the orchestral arrangements are by Clare Fisher, and the vocals by Jill.

I have said it a few times before, but even after 20 years since its original release, i think this song has the best arrangement EVER on any Prince-production (including his own output).

It seems i never get tired of this song, and every time i listen to it i still am awestruck how the different elements work so well together: the programmed beats, Jills theatrical vocals and the meandering orchestra.

Strange enough, Prince and Clare Fisher have never even met eachother in real life, but the way Princes sober beats and Clare Orchestra 'work together' is pure genius IMO.

The way those elements fall in to place, the build up in the arrangement. Its frightenly perfect...

10 / 10

Raspberry Beret...not neccessarily my favourite Prince song but everytime I hear it I am amazed by the sheer perfection of the whole production.

I'm a composer and arranger myself, and my opinion has always been that if you hear a song and it makes you think "wow, what a great arrangement" - that means it's probably not a great arrangement...

A great arrangement makes you think "wow, what a great song!".

On Prince's earliest albums, the arrangements were functional but not remarkable in any way. The complexity increased during the 80's, and culminated with the "Lovesexy" album, where most of the arrangements overshadowed the actual songs.

During the 90's, in my opinion, Prince found a good balance between interesting arrangements and substantial songwriting. The "Symbol" album, "The Gold Experience" and "Emancipation" has some of the best examples of this.

yeah, the stuff by clare fischer, and lisa & wendy
tho lovesexy's pretty amazing in itself
[Edited 7/27/07 16:23pm]