Which of Prince's songs do you think best showcase Prince's vocal abilities?

It's certainly not the only one, but the first that springs to mind for me is Solo.

I have to go with adore.

Seventeen said:

Good choice.

Damn U is another good one especially for showing off his actual range, which he doesn't actually do as much as he could.

It doesn't necessarily showcase his vocals the most, but the song where his vocals touched me most profoundly is Purple Rain. His soulful cries after the guitar solo remains my favourite moment of any song.

PurpleKnight said:

For me, the vocals on the version of this song at the '85 AMA's is gut-wrenching. I seriously had a hard time keeping it together the first time I saw a clip of that performance.

meow85 said:

Yes, this is always the first song I think of when thinking about his vocal ability. Another good example is Solo. The Beautiful Ones is a favourite vocal too, the emotion and delivery is spine tingling.

Perhaps not classified as best but the end part of Its gonna be Lonley is something esle

"God," is beautiful Prince vocals ...so is everything else...

PurpleKnight said:

Co-sign.

meow85 said:

S O L O

Hello everyone! I would like to add my 2 cents by adding TMBG. The climax of the song were he goes very low and then screams to the mountain tops is just great.IMO

Tnice4u said:

Yes, indeed, that one too!

I like his vocal on "Soul Sanctuary"

i wish u heaven
my name is prince
[Edited 1/28/09 9:07am]

Well, in my opinion, he cannot sing for shit

But I really love the way he sings Forever in My Life

ok if were talking about vocals Friend,Lover,Sister,Mother/Wife has his best fallesto at the end, its so high yet controlled.....Adore is my favourite song, but that 2 me sounds like schreeching and isnt controlled, Id even but Call My Name before Adore. I had think about it before answering the question as were not talking about how good the song is, but its the Vocal performance that were rating - Amen

Damn U

TheEnglishGent said:

I love how the song starts off with a fairly soft, pretty falsetto then gradually builds up 'til he's screaming the lyrics.

Alej said:

Strictly speaking, you're right. Prince does not have one of the most beautiful or perfect voices out there. But his voice suits his music just right, and it's in that context I'm asking about.

Princes vocal strength lies with his versality, i think.

The best ones IMO are the songs on which he is using these intense, emotionally charged screams, cries and yells:

Some examples:
- If I was your girlfriend (sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.... Pleeeeaaaaassssuuuhhh...Go to the movies and, crrieeeeeuuuhhhhh together)
- Stil would stand all time (stiiiiillll, stiiiihuuuullll, stiiihulll, stihulllll...)

He also has done some most of the 'prettiest' background vocals / choir vocals in the history of popular music:
- Those sweet, angelic ones on 'Still Waiting'
- Near the end of the Adore there is one repeat of the vocal 'Adddooooorrreeee Yooouuuu' that is plain audio-heaven.

He also is a master of the (electronically) distored vocals and background vocals:
- The Camille voice of course
- Some truelly distinctive background vocals (those background vocals on IIWYG are both rilliant and haunting)
- The Camille-in-overdrive effect on songs like Love or Money and PFunk
- The 'gnome-like' P-funk voices (high, low, in between) on the Lovesexy album.

Finally i would like to say i am not all THAT fond of Princes use of falsetto. I mean, it works great sometimes on soul-ballads like Adore, but on the rockier tracks (Why you wanna treat me so bad, When you were mine, Free, Three Chains of Gold) it just doesnt work: like Sylvester being backed by Queen, or something...
I always love it when Prince is trying to use his 'normal' register in a rather pure, sober way on pop/rock tracks. Somehow it gives those songs more depth.
Examples?
- Purple Rain (of course)
- Money don't matter tonight
- The Morning Papers
[Edited 1/28/09 11:20am]

well, i've seen it a couple times where critics think Do Me Baby is his best vocal performance. it's a good choice, but not a personal fave.

i like the diversity of his range, but i think for me best means what seems most difficult. i prefer his normal register, (too many choices to list in that category so i'll refrain) but i think falsetto is most difficult so my choices would be

-The One
-Somewhere Here On Earth
-Future Baby Mama (it won a grammy for good reason)
-Adore
-the others i can think of right now

Somewhere Here On Earth is great imo.

Betcha By Golly Wow is mindblowing too.

meow85 said:

In that context, I really love Forever in My Life

7 (I am stunned no one's mentioned that vocal performance(s).)

12" Little Red Corvette


His 'whining' through 'She's Always In My Hair.'

I'd have to say Insatiable and Extraordinary and Power Fantastic...

Adore U. Not only his best vocals but the emotions he put into it.

Joy in Repetition
or Ani DiFranco's duet: Providence

Solo is great