One Nite Alone...Live! (2002)


  
Disc One 1. Rainbow Children 2. Muse 2 the Pharaoh 3. Xenophobia 4. Extraordinary 5. Mellow 6. 1+1+1 is 3 7. Other Side of the Pillow 8. Strange Relationship 9. When U Were Mine 10.Avalanche Disc Two 1. Family Name 2. Take Me With U 3. Raspberry Beret 4. Everlasting Now 5. One Nite Alone 6. Adore 7. I Wanna B Your Lover 8. Do Me Baby 9. Condition of the Heart 10.Diamonds and Pearls 11.The Beautiful Ones 12.Nothing Compares 2 U 13.Free 14.Starfish and Coffee 15.Sometimes it Snows in April 16.How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore? 17.Anna Stesia Disc Three 1. Joy in Repitition 2. We Do This 3. Medley: Just Friends (Sunny)/If You Want Me To Stay 4. 2 Nigs United 4 West Compton 5. Alpahbet Street 6. Peach 7. Dorothy Parker 8. Girls and Boys 9. Everlasting Now

 

With all of the Prince albums throughout the years, it’s a shame that it took him so long to release a live album. To my knowledge, this is his first, and only recording of a live performance, or performances as this record contains songs from many performances from his “intimate” The Rainbow Children tour. With a guy like Prince who changes colors faster than a scared chameleon, one can’t be too surprised if a show isn’t what one expects nor desires. Sadly, such is the case here. Since this was his only live album, I personally would have preferred a much higher energy show complete with masses of hits throughout his incredible career. Such is not the case here.

There’s a lot of newer material here. This shouldn’t be too unexpected, since he was, in fact, supporting is The Rainbow Children album, but that record was not one of his strongest, and even during its high points, it’s a much more jazzier record. Don’t get me wrong, the performance here is top notch. Not only is the musicianship wonderful, but Prince himself seems to be having a great time. Although he has appeared shy and aloof at times, he clearly loves his audience and spends a good amount of time on this album talking, singing, and joking with selected members of the crowd.

He throws in a handful of hits, but only a small handful. The same can be said for some of his older, deep-cut fan favorites. Those moments seem too rare however, and much of the songs here seem to be simply extended jam sessions (there are five songs that last in excess of ten minutes). He then goes completely in the opposite direction, playing small snippets on the piano of many of the fan favorites. Nice if you were there, I’m sure, but I can’t help but feel that I wanted more.

There are some artists out there, such as Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, and Rush, that seem to have just as many live recordings as they do studio albums. In those cases, it’s nice to hear differences from album to album. With Prince, however, being this was the only one, I would have much preferred a large ratio of hits to unknowns. As blasphemous as it sounds, I can’t help but think that if I had attended a show with this set list, I would have been bored 90 minutes into the show and got up and walked around. It is a good, well-done record, I just expected, and wanted, something a lot different.

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