Have always loved the thrashing on Bob George

Way too many, but I think my favorite solo is in "I Will" from the "Chaos & Disorder" release (1996), absolutely beautiful playing..."Joy In Repetition" solo is superb, but it needed to be turned up in the mix..."Computer Blue" is a Rock n' Funk tour de force with several great solos...

I LOVE the guitar on ELECTRIC CHAIR

Batdance...One Man Jam or whatever the song is on 94 East(Minneapolis Genius)...Let's Go Crazy...Scandalous Sex Suite...Rock Hard In A Funky Place...Poor Goo...The Ride...Alexa De Paris...777-9311...The Walk...Annie Christian...Lady Cab Driver

Shall I go on?

Alexa De Paris, PlectrumElectrum, Crimson and Clover, Let's go crazy, Purple Rain (those two last songs are very popular but that doesn't prevent them from having excellent lead guitar), from the lotus/back to the lotus, Last december, Boom, Fury, Cause and Effect, Endorphinmachine....

I like his guitar work recorded in studio, personally, i prefer the studio recordings than the live ones, because the sound is more polished, clean, and the playing is better (live, rock musicians are often more sloppy, less precise in their playing, and the sound isn't so good).

[Edited 3/28/18 14:03pm]

baldazbiz said:

Way too many, but I think my favorite solo is in "I Will" from the "Chaos & Disorder" release (1996), absolutely beautiful playing..."Joy In Repetition" solo is superb, but it needed to be turned up in the mix..."Computer Blue" is a Rock n' Funk tour de force with several great solos...

Indeed, is quite buried in the mix.

777-9311

Get it Up.

Too many to name, but damn I think he killed those two.

rdhull said:

Get It Up

Yeah totally, and he was doing that to try and challenge Jesse Johnson. Prince's guitar on that whole first album is amazing, plus its him and Fink on the keyboards and he is adding all those chants in Get it up, Cool and The Stick too. "I'll fuck you all night" you know that ain't Morris singing that line, its Prince!

.

I really love his soloin the Holy River too

The soloing on I like it there

The Batdance Solo

Cross, not really a solo, but his guitar work in it in general

The chicken scratch funk bass in Controversy, okay thats a bass, but there is some chugging guitar in that cut too.

I think of some more later, there are so many awesome guitar parts in his career, it is hard to list them all, even his guitar in Act of Contrition is amazing.

TrivialPursuit said:

That's easy.

"The Scandalous Sex Suite" part 2: The Passion.

It's actually "part 3: The Rapture".
Definitely one of, if not the best, Blue Angel studio acrobatic flies.
"Time Waits 4 No One" tells so much with so little.
The "Electric Chair" instrumental is so good it makes me crave for
instrumental-only reissues of his albums.

1988 really was a state of grace.
Don't misunderstand me, he was already a killer by 1978,
but the Lovesexy/Batman years, they're really special when it comes to guitar.
This era soloes evoke me abstract painting.
The approach is totally unique and personal, the scales he uses, the FX pedals,
and most of all, a virtuosity that's never gratuitous, always emotional, hands wired to the brain.
Steve Vai and other chatterboxes can kiss his skinny ass.
It's not about all the things you can do: it's about all the things you choose not to do, even though you could.
Miles Davis knew: “Don't play what's there; play what's not there.”

I know the OP said "not live", but I have to mention Dortmund's "The Cross" and "Purple Rain",
and of course Trojan Horse (Small Club), which ridicules the studio version of "Rave" something severe,
not to mention the usual suspects ("Just My Imagination", "Still Would Stand All Time").

He never quite repeated it, bless him for that.
Not resting on his laurels was one Prince's strengths.
Maybe the most crucial.

bonatoc said:

TrivialPursuit said:

That's easy.

"The Scandalous Sex Suite" part 2: The Passion.

It's actually "part 3: The Rapture".
Definitely one of, if not the best, Blue Angel studio acrobatic flies.
"Time Waits 4 No One" tells so much with so little.
The "Electric Chair" instrumental is so good it makes me crave for
instrumental-only reissues of his albums.

1988 really was a state of grace.
Don't misunderstand me, he was already a killer by 1978,
but the Lovesexy/Batman years, they're really special when it comes to guitar.
This era soloes evoke me abstract painting.
The approach is totally unique and personal, the scales he uses, the FX pedals,
and most of all, a virtuosity that's never gratuitous, always emotional, hands wired to the brain.
Steve Vai and other chatterboxes can kiss his skinny ass.
It's not about all the things you can do: it's about all the things you choose not to do, even though you could.
Miles Davis knew: “Don't play what's there; play what's not there.”

I know the OP said "not live", but I have to mention Dortmund's "The Cross" and "Purple Rain",
and of course Trojan Horse (Small Club), which ridicules the studio version of "Rave" something severe,
not to mention the usual suspects ("Just My Imagination", "Still Would Stand All Time").

He never quite repeated it, bless him for that.
Not resting on his laurels was one Prince's strengths.
Maybe the most crucial.

To continue the naughty off-topic comment":

Re the Dortmund show - it is such a shame that was the night his guitar packed in on Anna Stesia. I'm not sure my 16 year old self would have been able to have coped with a guitar solo just at that moment in time!

I hear you, Simon. But it's also what makes Dortmund exceptional.
Any other pop star would have shied away from a live international TV broadcasting,
especially with such a complex show, where lots of things can go wrong.

Madonna already did it in 1987, with "Ciao Italia: Live From Italy",
but the filming is fairly conventional and the end result tells more about Madonna struggling
with her limitations as a live performer rather than her qualities.
That year, Michael Jackson and Madonna did the first live lead vocal play-backs on stage,
something that has plagued their "live" performances ever since,
allowing every so-called performer that came afterwards to dive into this treachery.

Having the cameras crew and the editing room perform live as well
is just how a live show ought to be. I'm not sure Prince coined it well with "real music by real musicians",
it implies every other music is "fake music". But Prince's commitment to the live performance
still baffles me to this day. He could have stick to "just" being a studio wizard,
but nah, let's give'em the Grandest Concert of them all.

I was just listening to Alexa de Paris. The guitar work on that song is EXQUISITE. It's a 4:55 long guitar solo. I it!!!

bonatoc said:

I hear you, Simon. But it's also what makes Dortmund exceptional.
Any other pop star would have shied away from a live international TV broadcasting,
especially with such a complex show, where lots of things can go wrong.

Madonna already did it in 1987, with "Ciao Italia: Live From Italy",
but the filming is fairly conventional and the end result tells more about Madonna struggling
with her limitations as a live performer rather than her qualities.
That year, Michael Jackson and Madonna did the first live lead vocal play-backs on stage,
something that has plagued their "live" performances ever since,
allowing every so-called performer that came afterwards to dive into this treachery.

Having the cameras crew and the editing room perform live as well
is just how a live show ought to be. I'm not sure Prince coined it well with "real music by real musicians",
it implies every other music is "fake music". But Prince's commitment to the live performance
still baffles me to this day. He could have stick to "just" being a studio wizard,
but nah, let's give'em the Grandest Concert of them all.

Aye...100%

bonatoc said:

I hear you, Simon. But it's also what makes Dortmund exceptional.
Any other pop star would have shied away from a live international TV broadcasting,
especially with such a complex show, where lots of things can go wrong.

Madonna already did it in 1987, with "Ciao Italia: Live From Italy",
but the filming is fairly conventional and the end result tells more about Madonna struggling
with her limitations as a live performer rather than her qualities.
That year, Michael Jackson and Madonna did the first live lead vocal play-backs on stage,
something that has plagued their "live" performances ever since,
allowing every so-called performer that came afterwards to dive into this treachery.

Having the cameras crew and the editing room perform live as well
is just how a live show ought to be. I'm not sure Prince coined it well with "real music by real musicians",
it implies every other music is "fake music". But Prince's commitment to the live performance
still baffles me to this day. He could have stick to "just" being a studio wizard,
but nah, let's give'em the Grandest Concert of them all.

I was unaware that the Bad Tour had a minus-one setup? This wasn't for all dates?

HOLY RIVER

TEMPTATION

WHEN DOVES CRY

[Edited 3/31/18 6:44am]

Too many to choose from, but rarely mentioned shreds:

-Fascination

-Vavoom

-Xpedition

-Cause And Effect

-Glasscutter

-Last December

Probably much more than i could think of right now!

Great, classic ones:

-America 12"

-Computer Blue full length

-Alphabet St.

-Let's Go Crazy

-etc.

I realize live renditions are not allowed in this thread, but i just can't help but once again mention how powerful that solo is from "Days O Wild" at the end of the first NPG Ahdio Show.

Just shuts the whole world out for a good few minutes

Prost!

Genesia said:

No one has mentioned Alexa de Paris?!

YES!!

The one buried under the mix
at the end of Wendy & Lisa's version of "Wonderful Ass" is insane.

"Witness 4 The Prosecution", the raw version (hornless, choirless), is fantastic.
That's Prince's true homage to Jimi.

[Edited 3/31/18 20:46pm]

Amen, on Witness 4 the Prosecution.

Also, I forgot "Clocking the Jizz"! Jazzy ass Funk!

214 said:

baldazbiz said:

Way too many, but I think my favorite solo is in "I Will" from the "Chaos & Disorder" release (1996), absolutely beautiful playing..."Joy In Repetition" solo is superb, but it needed to be turned up in the mix..."Computer Blue" is a Rock n' Funk tour de force with several great solos...

Indeed, is quite buried in the mix.

Look for the bootleg version that begins with the delayed low toms.
I never understood the Graffiti Bridge montage ("Alphabet St." intro).

For me, "Joy In Repetition" is the one with the toms.
The mix is way better, especially in the end.
It's a different balance, and the tape low quality adds to the punch.
The guitars are more up front, and the sound is bootleg dirty,which suits the atmosphere perfectly.
Some pirate tapes are better left dirty. Sometimes the pristine version
can be disappointing. Headphones and your own EQ recommended still.

I wonder if this one is not from a tape I EQ'd,
back in the '89... I was a Prince's bootlegs school dealer,
for a short while. Incredible times to be a Prince fan.
Gems start to pop up, and there's no internet.
Talk about a treasure hunt,
and what astounding discoveries,
year after year.

When it came out, Graffiti Bridge was old news,
and a bit disappointing.

Careful, it's important, "Data Bank" (the sped up "Camille"’d version), "Girl O' My Dreams", this "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got"
and the "We Can Funk" from 1986 are an indivisible tryptic
and deserve to be played in this exact sequence, even if "Girl" came last.
Prince and The Revolution at the top of their chops.
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Baddest Band in the Universe.

[Edited 4/1/18 15:54pm]

mistertonymac said:

I LOVE the guitar on ELECTRIC CHAIR

Me too!!!