donnyenglish said:

Does he sound a bit off key whenever he sings The Breakdown live? He usually sounds perfect, but I have always struggled with this one. Probably a tough song to sing live.

Andy Allo sang background vocals on the studio version. Perhaps he missed her during the live performances.

donnyenglish said:

Does he sound a bit off key whenever he sings The Breakdown live? He usually sounds perfect, but I have always struggled with this one. Probably a tough song to sing live.

i have only heard 2 live versions the montreaux and either denmark or sweden with the 3rd eye girls. i like the montreaux better for the ending, but i like the intro to the other show better. in those 2 version he sounds like he struggling with different parts of the song. which performances r u thinking about?

wavesofbliss said:

Gotta say, I really hated it when he sampled the studio vocals during live performances.

Yeah, it's odd to hear Prince sound less than perfect, but the Montreux performance of Breakdown was very flat vocally. I also felt his 2009 Montreux performance of Empty Room was very off vocally.

MattyJam said:

I too don't see anything wrong with Empty Room. In fact, all the commenters on youtube love that performance.

As for Breakdown, maybe its flat but I think it might be conveying emotion. I remember reading a review of Parade in which the critic stated that P's slightly off singing in Sometimes it Snows in April made it sound more raw and emotional. HIs live versions of that song are more ON, but the emotion conveyed in the recorded version is pretty obvious.

anangellooksdown said:

MattyJam said:

Yeah, it's odd to hear Prince sound less than perfect, but the Montreux performance of Breakdown was very flat vocally. I also felt his 2009 Montreux performance of Empty Room was very off vocally.

Completely agree about the breakdown, but Empty Room Montreux 2009? I'm a vocalist and I didn't hear anything wrong with that at all. If it was a little flat, I think it was intentional, no?

Maybe it´s just me but he looked very sad while singing The Breakdown in Montreux, and it looked like he was holding back tears.

Maybe that played a part in how he sounded ? Or was that part of the show?

This song...I see and hear pure raw emotion.

Lately I avoid listening to the Breakdown, it makes me cry

MattyJam said:

Yeah, it's odd to hear Prince sound less than perfect, but the Montreux performance of Breakdown was very flat vocally. I also felt his 2009 Montreux performance of Empty Room was very off vocally.

Yes ur right, there has been much better performance of Breakdown by Prince.

[Edited 12/27/16 9:22am]

anangellooksdown said:

I think it's a more difficult song to sing.

I agree. It requires a softer voice that is not really for live performances and more suited for the studio. Even the "better" performances of the song sound a bit off to me. That is no knock on his voice, but this is more of a studio song.

donnyenglish said:

Oops, I prefer the live version(s). The energy from this song when he played it in Montreux was unbelievable. I was there that night and I absolutely loved it and i think most there did. After the show it was the one everyone was talking about that was there that night. Many of us who discovered this live, don't dig as much the studio version. I think it loses some of the emotion of the live version.

But, it's all good, as we don't need to have the same view. It's a pity something went wrong with the feed from the Horns. The soundboard bootleg picked them up, but that night the boys were blowing and but the auditorium speakers weren't picking them up right. I can only guess, the mix desk gog caught on the hop, as they weren't meant to be on stage at that show. P had given them the night off. Easily fixed if they realease the DVD officially.

paradise000 said:

I think its a deeply personal song... I'm SO pleased I got to see him do this live. I think this was his last incredible single

I like Montreux 2013 version, maybe his falsetto on repeating 'Breakdown' is on edge to be off but rest is beautiful...

Piano & microphone version on Aotea Centre - ASB Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand (show 1) breaks me down...

aiden said:

I think its a deeply personal song... I'm SO pleased I got to see him do this live. I think this was his last incredible single

Yes it is... on the same album with 'Way Back Home' (my favorite on album) which is noting less beautiful and deeply personal.