Have Sign O The Times movie on in the background and damn it, "IT" is sooo hot, so much soul, so much....and the thing is, the album version does NOTHING for me; don't care for it; it seems tired and bland.

But here he brings it to LIFE.

What songs that you don't even like on the album versions knock your socks off live?

I don't know if there's songs I don't like, but ones I think that were definitely more exciting live:

- Controversy

- Musicology

- U Got the Look

- The Max (the 2013 versions, specifically. This may be the one I truly never cared for at all in studio form)

- Annie Christian (the punkish version cuts out the dumb Abscam verse and sounds even more possessed)

- All the Critics Love U in New York (specifically, the Montreux '09 version)

- Peach

67Cadillac said:

I don't know if there's songs I don't like, but ones I think that were definitely more exciting live:

- Controversy

- Musicology

- U Got the Look

- The Max (the 2013 versions, specifically. This may be the one I truly never cared for at all in studio form)

- Annie Christian (the punkish version cuts out the dumb Abscam verse and sounds even more possessed)

- All the Critics Love U in New York (specifically, the Montreux '09 version)

- Peach

What's dumb about the Abscam verse?

Gold from palladium ny 94

I wish he'd played IT live more...not sure it went much beyond the SOTT tour. Shame.

Shhh

Fury

Sign O' the times (r'n'r hall of fame 2004)

Something in the water

Anna Stesia (one nite alone)

I do not recall It from the Sign o the Times movie, in fact I dont think it is the movie. Lesser song off the Signs album, but pretty good, think he combined it with Thieves in the Temple during the D and P era, that was a highlight of the concert in that era

D.M.S.R. and 1999 are the first ones that come to my mind

runningbear said:

I do not recall It from the Sign o the Times movie, in fact I dont think it is the movie. Lesser song off the Signs album, but pretty good, think he combined it with Thieves in the Temple during the D and P era, that was a highlight of the concert in that era

I'm glad you don't think "It" is in the movie. Good for you.

Being raised in the Mississippi Delta, home of the Blues, I was raised on life music. Thus, that's one of the reasons why I love Prince's music so much. I can't even name the number of songs that, after I heard them live, I can no longer listen to the studio version. I'm sure that's why I was always more interested in in live boots rather than studio boots. The man was just amazing live. And with that, "Back off the mic chillin'...Now let me hear you sing, 'alright, alright, I think about it baby all da time, alright, alright."

runningbear said:

I do not recall It from the Sign o the Times movie, in fact I dont think it is the movie. Lesser song off the Signs album, but pretty good, think he combined it with Thieves in the Temple during the D and P era, that was a highlight of the concert in that era

It - followed or proceeded Forever In My Life

It- did not sound like the album version.

I've actually come to appreciate the sparsness of the album version over live versions

gandorb said:

I like most of these on album but so much better live ...Shhh ...Something in the Water ...Little Red Corvette (one of the mega hitsthat I liked much better live). ...Beautiful Strange ...all of The Rainbow Children [Edited 9/22/17 17:01pm]

When I rediscovered the 'remixed' studio version of Little Red Corvette I cannot get enough of it

the Cross (not the Christ) but the Cross

IMO "It" is poppin on the album. The ending instrumental, the drum sequencing is just fantastic and so damn funky. No question this song bumps live, especially when he mashed it up with "Theives" in 1992 in London.

I think I might be in the minority in that I don't think any of the Sign o the Times movie versions, great as they are, are better than their album counterparts.

Shhh (x100)

Computer Blue (studio version is great too, but sweaty Prince in that eye mask omgeee!)

There are soooo many more, but I'm sleep-deprived at the moment...

nextedition said:

The albumversion of It is fantastic. Amazing dry funk track. Yes he sings parts of it in the movie, can not say he really did the song.

i agree. i love the controlled tension of that track. it & forever in my life are two that often get seen as the runts of the sott litter, but i love both of them and rate them among the best things on this album.

I couldn't agree more. I like the one he and Rosie did for the Special Olympics (very much so in fact), but i like the more stripped down solo version of the song the most, because as a recording, the production and sadly even Rosie's impressive contributions drown out the basic beauty of the melody.

jdcxc said:

Love Diamonds and Pearls on piano live...not a big fan of the recorded version

NorthC said:

It was also pretty good during the Diamonds and Pearls tour when it was played together with Thieves In the Temple. Others: The Question of U Baby I'm a Star Damn U Bambi Days of Wild Get Wild Laydown Future Soul Song Ohhh... Too many to mention! [Edited 9/24/17 6:56am] [Edited 9/24/17 6:58am]

Future Love Song? I have heard a couple of live versions and those were markedly inferior to the album version IMO. I really like the song, so I am curious to find a really good live version of it. Any suggestions?

NorthC said:

^Third night of the North Sea Jazz Festival, 2011. But maybe I'm a little biased because I hadn't heard the album version yet at that time. But there surely was some magic going on between Prince and the crowd that night. PS: you got the title wrong. [Edited 9/24/17 8:23am]

Thanks for the reference. I'll check it out. For some reason I always get the title of that song wrong even though I prefer the real title .