Don't get me wrong - I love it, but Crucial has always struck me as "checking all the boxes" for an 80s Prince song. You have the wailing guitar (at least in the released version on CB), Clare Fisher orchestral overdubs, and a climbing Prince vocal.

And hey, it works pretty well.

Mikado said:

Don't get me wrong - I love it, but Crucial has always struck me as "checking all the boxes" for an 80s Prince song. You have the wailing guitar (at least in the released version on CB), Clare Fisher orchestral overdubs, and a climbing Prince vocal.

And hey, it works pretty well.

I didn't know there was such a version.

We don't have this, do we?

databank said:

Mikado said:

Don't get me wrong - I love it, but Crucial has always struck me as "checking all the boxes" for an 80s Prince song. You have the wailing guitar (at least in the released version on CB), Clare Fisher orchestral overdubs, and a climbing Prince vocal.

And hey, it works pretty well.

I didn't know there was such a version.

We don't have this, do we?

Prince Vault mentions it as the last addition to the song, taking place at some point in January 1987.

Mikado said:

databank said:

I didn't know there was such a version.

We don't have this, do we?

Prince Vault mentions it as the last addition to the song, taking place at some point in January 1987.

I know, checking was my first reflex after reading your post. That came as a surprise to me.

not really imo, never felt it that way, doesn't have anything 'prefab' on it. It's fabulous. Actually the opposite may be true: it may have been the blueprint for many later songs of his (Scandalous atd).

Mikado said:

Crucial has always struck me as "checking all the boxes" for an 80s Prince song.

Mikado said:

McD said:

I love the bootleg versions of it (I think I first got them on a pressed CD called Crucial around 1991). Classic Prince, I’d say. Great tune, fab vocal. But... I can’t believe what a mess they made of it on Crystal Ball. The mix is truly appalling. I can’t listen to it. Bootlegs 2 Official 0.

Surprising. I'm in the same situation and I remember that in 98 a friend of mine who also was a longtime fan and I agreed that that 5 minutes edit of pristine Crucial was better than 7 minute of shitty sounding bootleg.

I suspect that you may simply be the victim of a bias of status quo.

I love the original version with the sax.

databank said:

I agreed that that 5 minutes edit of pristine Crucial was better than 7 minute of shitty sounding bootleg.

Oh no, never ever!

Music quality >>> Sound quality

TheFman said:

databank said:

I agreed that that 5 minutes edit of pristine Crucial was better than 7 minute of shitty sounding bootleg.

Oh no, never ever!

Music quality >>> Sound quality

Funnily enough I tend to agree because I'm not an audiophile, I can't hear the difference between mp3 @320 and Flac and I survive with a decent but limited sound system due to the fact that I'm living a nomadic life, but on the other hand there comes a point where shitty sounding bootlegs really tend to spoil my listening pleasure, whether live or studio. + that's maybe just me but I LOVE the way CB sounds, the whole album.

Would LOVE to have Crucial (guitar version), full-length and in pristine quality! Beautiful song, but I'm glad Adore replaced it on SOTT.

I love love love "Crucial". The extended "guitar" version, not the "sax" version. But the lyrics could've used some work. They're kind of clunky.

Probably my favourite P song with "If I Was Your Girlfriend".

Even in the truncated CB version, it is simply gorgeous.

I see the logic but I think songs like "Manic Monday" and "Last Heart" are more by-the-numbers. They're fun, bouncey, cute. But not really much beyond that (though I do love both). "Crucial" feels like a song he had to write before he could get to something like "Adore" or "U Got the Look". Both of those last two songs invoke "Crucial" and it just feels like it was a framework for the type of love songs he wanted to write at that point.

It's a great song.....should have appeared on one of his late-80s albums.

radicalrojo said:

I see the logic but I think songs like "Manic Monday" and "Last Heart" are more by-the-numbers. They're fun, bouncey, cute. But not really much beyond that (though I do love both). "Crucial" feels like a song he had to write before he could get to something like "Adore" or "U Got the Look". Both of those last two songs invoke "Crucial" and it just feels like it was a framework for the type of love songs he wanted to write at that point.

Manic Monday is definitely "by the numbers." 1999, to be exact.

Crucial was best described in The Peach and Black Podcast. I don't remeber if it was Rob Esse or Toejam who said it best. Crucial sounds like a song that if a normal musician tried to compose it, it might have taken a full year to complete, including day long sessions working overtime. This is why Prince has tainted (and spoiled) my look on other artists. I mean, this song has every intstrument and then some, even a sitar! And it sounds so epic. If, say, Whitney Houston released this song back in 1990, this would have charted almost as good "I will always love you" two years prior. To Prince, this is standard two days work and back in the vault. G.O.A.T.

[Edited 4/4/19 14:46pm]

I will never forget the day I bought this and heard it. It's the only version I still listen to.

https://www.amazon.com/Cr...B004XVT4QS

[Edited 4/4/19 17:58pm]

Love that song. I think I first heard it on this boot (of course on vinyl back in the days, below the counter ;=) . That was a great boot actually as well

A classic Prince sound. Lots of connections. Like Eternity, Arms of Orion and Adore had a menage a trois.

Krid said:

That was a great boot actually as well

The very best imo, and better than so many of his regular albums even.

It has always been in my top-3 Prince albums.

But...

it's a 70s style soul ballad with 70s rock guitar parts on it.

Yes, it's lovely and awesome. But also "textbook" Prince. I see what you mean and I've often thought the same.

I've always ALWAYS felt that several if not most of the ballads and slower songs were quite same-ish and interchangeable. The ballads I enjoy are the ones that same drum beat/tempo featured in most of his popular ones. Crucial is fine but I can name 20 other songs that basically sound just like it.

Genesia said:

SoulAlive said:

herb4 said:

TheFman said:

Krid said:

That was a great boot actually as well

The very best imo, and better than so many of his regular albums even.

It has always been in my top-3 Prince albums.

That was a cool boot. If that is the one I am thinking of it, was the one where I first heart in a large room with no light, and girl of my dreams. I did not buy the bootleg at the time as I was travelling and it was $80, but it was such a cool bootleg.