Insatiable is the better of the two and the best song off D&P.

I believe it was also a top 20 track when Peach & Black did their greatest songs poll?

[Edited 6/16/21 4:46am]

Scandalous. That vocal is so raw.

cooldayla said:

Insatiable is the better of the two and the best song off D&P.

I believe it was also a top 20 track when Peach & Black did their greatest songs poll?

[Edited 6/16/21 4:46am]

It was in the top 20 songs from the 90s

I'll go with Scandalous. The "Sex Suite" is even trippier.

NoSwan said:

I'll go with Scandalous. The "Sex Suite" is even trippier.

Yessss! And the Sex Suite is so hard to find. Not even on YT?!

Before listening, I would've said Scandalous. But after listening back to back, it's a tough call.

They both have great beats. Scandalous is yet another example of Prince's genius Linn drum programming (with a real snare, a la Lady Cab Driver?). Insatiable features a rock steady Michael Bland, providing one of his finest moments in a Prince recording IMO. The real drums make it sound a little more meaty than Scandalous, and the thought of a person sitting and playing that straight through is pretty impressive.

Scandalous has those gorgeous swirls of dissonance in the keys and the strings that give the song a disorienting feel, which sounds like pure sex. It also has an impassioned, raw-sounding vocal, whereas his vocal on Insatiable is more smooth. He sounds like a "better" singer and songwriter on Insatiable, in terms of sounding more evolved, but the spoken parts harken back to Do Me, Baby, which is kind of a nod to the past. It also has those great Prince background vocals throughout, whereas Scandalous is mostly a lead vocal with minimal background vocals.

The video productions kind of mimic the songs themselves. Scandalous is more sparse, with just Prince, a microphone, and his own pure sexual magnetism. I swear I read a Jon Bream blurb, back in the day, that Kim Basinger was part of the video production, though IMDB says Albert Magnoli was the director. I always imagined him singing to Kim in the video because of that, which gives it a very personal feel, like you're watching a private moment. It seems to be more about Prince tempting the voyeur, with the shots of him staring directly into the camera and interacting with the cameraman (woman?).

Insatiable is a bit more of a production, with a co-star, extras, set pieces, maybe more of a storyboard, etc. Prince is surrounded by his harem of beautiful women, being filmed by another beautiful woman. He seems a little more guarded, like it's "Prince" putting on a show, which he is, as it's the whole point of the video. But the viewer is watching another viewer watching/recording a performance. It has the same exhibitionist/voyeur theme of Scandalous, but in this case the voyeur and exhibitionist are characters we are watching, whereas in Scandalous, Prince is the exhibitionist, and we the viewers are the voyeurs watching him.

So, while Insatiable might showcase "better" songwriting, and video making, Scandalous creates a more layered and rich experience by keeping it simple. I'm going with Scandalous for the win.

"Insatiable" is Prince slightly losing his mojo with ballads. It felt like a stretch, trying too hard.

In contrast, "Scandalous" has life and power in it. The lead in hook to the "ding dong" moment is what's catchy. The chord structure, the synths, it's all well layered and produced.

The expanded Sex Suite is amazing.

While he's known for using his falsetto in a ballad, I think "Insatiable" suffers because of it. It's a decent written song, but his falsetto is ear shattering. It renders the song unremarkable, bland, and uninspired. It fades into the distance even more with something like "Diamonds and Pearls" on the same album.

So for me, "Scandalous" wins by a batmile.

Insatiable

TrivialPursuit said:

Scandalous, no question.

wilmer said:

Spirits rise, spirits fall / Everything you ever dreamed of I'm willing to be ...

And that ends the debate.

Scandalous for sure.

SchlomoThaHomo said:

Insatiable features a rock steady Michael Bland, providing one of his finest moments in a Prince recording IMO. The real drums make it sound a little more meaty than Scandalous, and the thought of a person sitting and playing that straight through is pretty impressive.

It does? . I thought "Insatiable" was non-band, solo track.

My vote goes to Scandalous.

CAL3 said:

SchlomoThaHomo said:

Insatiable features a rock steady Michael Bland, providing one of his finest moments in a Prince recording IMO. The real drums make it sound a little more meaty than Scandalous, and the thought of a person sitting and playing that straight through is pretty impressive.

It does? . I thought "Insatiable" was non-band, solo track.

It doesn't sound like Prince to me. He has a gentler touch on the drumkit, typically. I checked PrinceVault and it says all instruments and voices are credited to "insatiable," believed to be Prince, according to the liner notes. But I just checked the liner notes in Diamonds And Pearls, and it doesn't say that in the credits for Insatiable. The only song credited to Prince solely is Thunder. The credits also say "produced, arranged, composed, and performed, by Prince and the New Power Generation." I still say it's Michael.

tab32792 said:

TrivialPursuit said:

"Insatiable" is Prince slightly losing his mojo with ballads. It felt like a stretch, trying too hard.

In contrast, "Scandalous" has life and power in it. The lead in hook to the "ding dong" moment is what's catchy. The chord structure, the synths, it's all well layered and produced.

The expanded Sex Suite is amazing.

While he's known for using his falsetto in a ballad, I think "Insatiable" suffers because of it. It's a decent written song, but his falsetto is ear shattering. It renders the song unremarkable, bland, and uninspired. It fades into the distance even more with something like "Diamonds and Pearls" on the same album.

So for me, "Scandalous" wins by a batmile.

Jesus Christ lol Tell us how you really feel

You understand how a bulletin board or chat forum works, right? Besides, I'm just trying to maintain.

[Edited 6/17/21 1:11am]

purplepolitician said:

Personal preference: Insatiable, that alt version with kookier spoken parts bumps 2. Scandalous is good 2, loved when he sang it the lone time I saw him live . I remember when I first heard Batman, I was like y come he singing like that, he sick or something?

Insatiable "7" Edit".

[Edited 6/17/21 0:14am]

i never was a fan of that earlier version of insatiable though the album version is one of my all time faves. the early one is just too busy in a way that doesn't serve the song.

edit: just went back and listened and it's not as "busy" as i remember, but something about it just doesn't do it for me. not enough oomph.

[Edited 6/17/21 15:39pm]

Phase3 said:

purplepolitician said:

Personal preference: Insatiable, that alt version with kookier spoken parts bumps 2. Scandalous is good 2, loved when he sang it the lone time I saw him live . I remember when I first heard Batman, I was like y come he singing like that, he sick or something?

That takes me back to the concert I saw.He kinda combined scandalous, Insatiable,and adore in a medley one after the other. Great times

I remeber hearing the boot of this tour and thinking it was a highlight of the concert. My preference for the recorded versions goes to Insatiable.

[Edited 6/17/21 16:46pm]