Thanx 4 the incredible review, as I'm absorbing the new box set and it's good 2 see someone dissected ONA Live so damn well that this needs 2 be in UPTOWN or the New York Times. Brendan I read most of it @ work earlier 2day an I'm saving the rest 4 2morrow. Good reading.

Thanks for the compliment, but I must confess: It's ONLY 7472 words. I took the liberty of rounding up.

Seriously, though, there is no such thing is too long. It’s very possible I have repetition in my review and it could be tightened up, though. But somebody else could write a 25,000 word review and it might be too brief. All depends on the context and the intended audience.

There have been entire books dedicated to critiquing a single album or film. Topic-specific magazines have reviews far longer than this.

This is a 3-hour album and I've barely scratched the surface of the kind of detail that is possible. Take for instance the collective insight on this release that will be posted here and elsewhere on the Internet over the coming 3 months? Those collected works will dwarf my tiny little insight. C:



Honestly, I was more apprehensive than excited about this box set. I thought it would be just another disappointment and another HUGE wasted opportunity. I mean this is his first official live album and based upon some of his recent bands, concerts and maneuvers, I thought it would likely end up being a pale embarrassment to his greatest live works; something akin to the mediocrity that is that DVD from the Paisley Park Pay-Per-View show. I haven't even watched this once all the way through yet, and I was at that show in person.

Here's my encounter with this box set:

1st Listen: The sound quality is great and some of my apprehension soothed, but I certainly don't feel like this is anything important or even close to most of the great live bootlegs I cherish.

2nd Listen: Um, wait a second here, this might need closer inspection. In your best Morris Day voice: "Somebody bring me a pair headphones!"

3rd Listen: On no he didn't.

4th Listen: OH YES HE DID! Type, type, type...

I cannot tell you how shocked and pleased I am that I can without any hype or reservation proudly recommend this collection to any hard-core lover of music.

However, as is true of all art, some will hate it, some will be bored with it, and that's cool. But I'd put my money on the majority connecting with it in a BIG way.

Brendan

Brendan, that was one of the best reviews I've ever read. When you said on another thread that you were going to have a lengthy review of the Box Set, I had a feeling that your review was going to be worth reading and you didn't disappoint. You made me want this CD even more than ever. Thank you so much for your review.

Peace

I truly enjoyed your review!!!
Thanks for taking the time!!!
Great work!

purplecam said:

You're VERY kind. I'm humbled by the compliments on this thread. I'm not exactly sure how to respond to them without looking like I'm trying to draw attention to myself, so this is going to be the one and only time I'm going to respond directly to the very generous responses.

But I want to at least take this one shot at thanking everyone for their feedback, good or bad. I'd like to thank each of you individually, but it would make this thread a ridiculous piece of pomposity and I'm not sure how everyone feels about private org notes.

I wish I could pay you all the $5.00 I promised you if you said something nice about my writing. But I'll have to renege, as I didn't think that many people would take me up on my offer.

Thanks again. I'm sending this back to everyone who spent time this.

Brendan

man damn that review was tight.

After reading that review, it is obvious what needs to be done...I NEED MY ONA BOX SET!!!

Thanks Brendan!

Can somebody be nice enough 2 copy and past the reviews of "The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker", "Muse Of The Pharaoh" and "Mellow" 4 me LOL I could've went through that if I didn't have a headache.

LOL Nice review altho I didn't read it.

Thanks for taking the time to put together such a well-written and illuminating review (or sneak preview for those of us still caught in the netherworld of "ONA Live -- In Progress").

After DC (2 nights), the Celebration (3 nights), London
(2 nights, plus the Marquee after-concert), Osaka (plus the Triangle after-party) and Nagoya (and Las Vegas coming up!), it's killing me that my box hasn't arrived yet. But, your review does a lot to ease the pain of anticipation.

On the other hand, your review of Disc 3 has me kicking myself for not making the decision -- when I had the chance -- to hop on Amtrak and catch the NYC show and after-concert. Arrrgh!

Great review and thanks for your effort!

If now only my ONA Live would arrive!

From what I can tell hearing bits and pieces of it...it sounds like they probably took all of the tracks out of the soundboard, sent them into a multitrack recorder did some (not much) post production.

comeon said:

Most likely this WAS really recorded direct to dat from the stereo mix of the FOH board, like it says. Those DATs were then fed into a protools or similar program and additional overdubs were recorded digitally onto open tracks and then final mixes were done from all that.

By the way - that's a big fish!
[This message was edited Wed Dec 11 16:04:17 PST 2002 by Jestyr]

That uis an excellent review!

I decided not to raed until after I had thoroughly listened to the set a number of times. having now done so, I must say I agree 99% with your review.

I simply cannot understand how some people have a negative opinion of this set. Oh well, their loss.

My only complaint is that the audience participation parts are not loud enough. There appears to have been no crowd microphone. This is only a minor quibble though.

cheers

bkw said:

Thanks, bkw.

I agree with you on the crowd noise. I should have mentioned in the review how the crowd has for the most part been placed in the background. Oh, they can be heard for sure, especially with headphones, but they are rarely if ever loud enough to encroach on the listener’s ability to hear each and every instrument almost perfectly. I love this perfection, but admittedly would have liked a few more moments of the audience -- especially at the start -- being allowed to be obnoxious and rise to the foreground so that we could all feel the level of enjoyment around us for a few short seconds. A minor point to be improved for the next live release.

But for the most part I’m glad the crowd isn’t allowed to takeover much. For example, just listen at about 1:55 point of “Adore” and you can hear some woman just completely lose control of her mind for about 25 seconds. It’s loud enough to be noticeable if I want to enjoy a laugh, but it is quiet enough that if I want to ignore it and just listen to the music I can also do that.

It’s all a matter of taste, and I certainly fall on the side of not needing constant cheering to feel like I’m hearing a live recording.

If people haven't heard this release on state-of-the-art equipment, they haven't really heard this release in its fullness.

Cheers

Interesting that he chose not to release 'The Work pt. 1' on this?

Anji said:

Probably cause it sounds terrible live (like the studio)

for reference, check the Leno show of Prince singing The Work Pt. 1...

goodness, no wonder he hit a second night

bkw said:

Because they are assholes and aren't man enough to say that it's a good set in front of their "boo on Prince" buddies,point blank. They just need something to quibble about. You should see some of the fools on ng's talking about "it sounds flat" "he only jams for the aftershow" blah blah blah. Dorks with washboard abs, the lot of em.

Big ups. Thank you for the time and effort (and nicely turned phrases).