I once rented it from the library and listened to it and wasn't impressed. And of course, this wass when I first started being a Princey fan so I wasn't yet aware enough of what I had in my possession. But it's OOP and rare, so if u find it for the right price, then go ahead and get it for collector's sake.

I guess it depends on what you want.

If you want safe Prince that plays the hits and plays to the crowd, then probably no. (That may sound like I'm calling it a bad thing and I don't mean it that way at all).

The main concert definitely takes time to grow on you. The songs from the Rainbow Children are infinitely better played live IMO. There's no narration voice after the first song. I think many people don't like it because it is a compliation of various live shows.

Overall I love the first two discs and think they are brilliant. The aftershow disc starts out as a ten out of ten with Joy in Repetition live. But on that disc, the compliation is an absolute train wreck. The songs don't go together well and it literally feels like the pacthwork that it is.

Even so, I think the first two discs and Joy in Repetition alone make this a very worth while puchase for any Prince fan.

[img:$uid]http://i757.photobucket.com/albums/xx218/MMikeyBee/Prince%20and%20related/P%20mag%20and%20boot%20covers%20and%20ads/onal20cd20set.jpg[/img:$uid]

As Fenwick mentioned, it depends what you want and what your expectations are of a live album.

I really liked this set, till I started to collect all the ONA bootlegs then I never returned to it.

The main "show" is a compilation from different gigs, and there are overdubs, but it's decent enough, I don't like the aftershow, I think it was a very poor choice of gig to put in this set, but that is just my opinion.

If you want a complete Prince collection, then it is a must i guess, it looks good in it's box with the booklet and all.

Initial copies of this set (from NPGMC) came with ONA piano & voice cd too.

Don't be paying over the odds for this box set, if you are patient you can still find it for retail price or less.

I have 3 copies of this box set, I was lucky to find 2 spare mint copies on Ebay for a good price, so I snapped them up, as mentioned above, it is now out of print, so it will be quite rare one day I suppose, which is why I bought the extras.

However, if you like to collect bootlegs, there are ONA shows out there available to download for free that blow this set into the water.

[Edited 3/19/11 10:24am]

what a ? go n get it quick man its brilliant

I love it. The Rainbow Children stuff sounds much better live, and there are some nice stripped down piano bits, and nice talky bits. It's the only official live album, apart from Indigo Nights, as someone else said. Haven't looked at the box or the booklet since I got it, although they're both nice pieces of memorabilia. Get it for the music, though, not the packaging. If you're patient, you'll be able to pick up a copy close to original retail price.

TheDigitalGardener said:

However, if you like to collect bootlegs, there are ONA shows out there available to download for free that blow this set into the water.

There's a fact that always puzzles me... Why oh why do some people consider themselves such big fans of an artist as to join forums devoted to him but yet they start threads asking if certain pieces of the OFFICIAL discography are 'worth buying'...

That said, and keeping on topic, I think it's a very lame set. Not 'a show', as pointed above, and even less 'an aftershow', edited, overdubbed... in a word: NOT the real thing. Of course, we couldn't expect less from someone as addicted to make-up as Prince is, despite he's one of the best live performers of all time.

But, going back to my initial rant, it's a part of the official discography and thus it has to be a part of any fan's collection.

But, as TDG pointed out, if you want to feel the ONA Tour in all its greatness (which is A LOT of greatness) you have to go the bootleg route.

[Edited 3/19/11 12:47pm]

[Edited 3/19/11 12:48pm]

what's edited and overdubbed just out of curiosity? I didn't really get into most of his rainbow stuff at all, never have really, but I loved his revamps of some of his classic material and as a pianist, adored his piano segues.