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eamon-martin
Reviews
The Sacrifice of Victor (1995)
As close to the aftershow party as most of us will ever get.
"Prince Live" screams the front of the video box. But if that's what you really want to see, get Sign O'The Times or the Lovesexy videos. What the box should say is "Some Prince But Mostly Other NPG Acts Live". In fairness Prince performs on all of the 9 tracks, but "mereley" as lead guitarist on all but 3.
This video starts with Price funking it up with "The Ride" and finishes with a pretty awesome version of "Peach". He does about 30 seconds of "Jailhouse Rock" somewhere in the middle, but the rest is less about Prince and more about The NPG.
Mavis Staples, The Steeles and Tony B are the main performers elsewhere with a brief blast of "In The Mood" from The NPG Hornz, Prince's brass section. This is not altogether a bad thing. The NPG are the tightest band around and the power of their performance adds much to the quality here.
The show is recorded in London's Underground nightclub and like all of Prince's aftershow parties, the venue is small and completely packed. What doesn't help is the crowded stage area which is small enough as it is. With Prince, the 5 NPG members, the 5 NPG Hornz members, all 4 of The Steeles and 1 Mavis Staples on a stage the size of a large table, it all seems pretty cramped.
Visually this video is nothing to write home about. Musically, it is excellent. To be honest, it is worth watching for "Peach" alone.
The Undertaker (1995)
Prince showcases his prowess on the guitar.
This short is basically an excuse for Prince to showcase his prowess on the guitar. All 7 tracks here are heavily guitar based and a finer example of guitar playing you will be hard pressed to find.
There is a very loose story involved, unhappy girl takes overdose but on hearing Prince's music decides that life is worth living and sticks her fingers down her throat thus averting suicide. This is inter-cut with footage of Prince and his band (drummer and bass guitarist only) playing 7 rip-roaring tunes. But in this case the visuals are nothing and the music is everything.
This is Prince at his funkiest. This is lowdown, bass-heavy, soul/funk as it is meant to be. The songs have few lyrics but both the title track and "The Ride" last for over 10 minutes each. His cover of the Stones' "Honky Tonk Woman" and his own "(Prelude to) Zanalee" are hardly recognisable under the weight of his guitar playing. "Poorgoo" and "Bambi" should be throw away tracks, but are played with such power that you just can't ignore them. All of these tracks are played and recorded live and you can really feel the intensity.
The final track is the studio version of "Dolphin" which nearly comes as light relief after all that has gone before. It's like a wind down after one hell of a workout.
Make no mistake, this is not easy listening background music. Prince once said that he only wanted two words on his tombstone. "Prince : Guitarist" and here he proves that he deserves that epitaph.