I've always thought of Prince as the multi-instrumentalist first, great guitarist, average bassist, good keyboarist, decent drummer, average percussionist, but lately I've been more in awe with him as a vocalist. Especially when he adlibs vocally like on the end of "Somewhere Here On Earth",
"When Doves Cry", "Diamonds And Pears" (him and Rosie perfect blend" and his vocal riffing with Buddy Guy on the song "The Ride" from the Dallas Aftershow during the One Nite Alone Tour. Just curious what other people's thoughts about Prince's talent to do vocal riffing. It's amazing that he has shown consistent improvement in his singin throughout his career and hasn't fallen off like other people.

would Darth Vader on TRC count? seems as if most critics did not dig that though.

Does version 4 of Soul Psychodelicide count?

bashraka said:

That's nonsense. He hasn't improved w/ vocals over the years. There's a lot of higher notes he can't hit like he could 10 or 15 years ago. That happens with some of the best voices the industry has seen. Most artists lose the ability to singer higher as time goes on, especially once you hit the 50 mark or so. Even George Michael, who is still one of the top five male voices in the industry, skips a few of his ad-libs that are super-high-screaming-range (like the beginning of howls on "Everything She Wants"). Even in vocal warmups before the show, the background singers keep going up a half step in their La La's, and George once jokingly stopped them and said, "Fucking no, you're going to try and get me to crack".

Prince is no different. His vocal delivery, while solid, has diminished in range over the years. He can still do a falsetto fine, but do just hit a high note normally isn't something on his radar. It's not a disparaging comment, it's just biology.

As far as his best vocal riffing, etc - "When Doves Cry" shows a lot of control. "Others Here With Us" is quite trying and bold. "God" is a vocal jumping jacks exercise. "Kiss" is a good one for that. The latter part of "Adore" has yet to be matched by anything he's done.

The extended portion of "Thieves In the Temple" is primo.

"Joy In Repetition" would have to be up there as well, without a doubt.

what is the meaning of life ernestwell?

stichdoll said:

Some of what you said I agree with, but to say he hasn't improved with vocals over the years is a bit harsh. Take "The Rainbow Children" and "Musicology" for instance. Listen to his vocal performances on tunes like "Little Red Corvette" and "1999" then compare them to songs like "Mellow", "Call My Name", "Marrying Kind/If I Was The Man In Ur Life" and tell me otherwise. I agree to a certain extent he has lost some magic like the Planet Earth album, it sounds like he strained to belt, but for the most part compared to other singers like George Michael, he always had the knack for experimenting and challenging himself to sing in different timbres, accents, deliveries and techniques.

ernestsewell said:

bashraka said: