apparently he's been looking into a distribution deal for it. the imports are a grey area. he did a deal in france to release the first disc on it's own with the 3cd set as a limited edition. who knows what he will do in the uk. you might need to save up wheatabix tokens or something

it also looks like the montreux 2009 shows may end up on dvd, but i wouldn't hold your breathe as the coachella dvd never surfaced either. i have clips of 3 coachella tracks and 3 from montreux (all pro shot full songs)

Are you joking? That's the kind of song they'd play whilst eating your KFC bucket on wet miserable day to "cheer you up", to convince you that you are happiest at KFC. If that's not commercial, I really don't know what is.

As mentioned earlier, lots of MJ's work that veered outside of the pop spectrum were previously toned down to appeal to the masses by his producers who didn't think it could translate well.

OK, cheers.

i remember when it came out, it was up and down on HMV and Amazon, at prices that changed almost daily, before it not actually being released at all.

if i ever do save up some pennies, i'd love to get the one night alone set. i got the live at the aladdin DVD a couple of years ago, and its superb. i was never convinced by a lot of the more R&B stuff he did in the 90s, but have a feeling i missed out on a lot of good stuff later on, before musicology came out.

but even then, i suspect maybe a lot of it will be better live, so the one night alone set seems like a good bet. i was tempted at the O2, but couldn't quite stretch to it at the time.

Iain

I think both are great but for me it has to be Michael.

MJ all the way. Prince does nothing for me :yawn::sleep:

Prince, Definitely Prince... I love Michael Jackson but we are talking virtuosic talent here.

Michael Jackson

he had an exclusive deal with target in america to sell the album there. hmv somehow organised someone to buy copies from the store and ship them over, so they imposed an import ban. i got my hard copy from hmv for £12.99, but downloaded the lossless files from the website about a week before it's release

one night alone was expensive in retail stores, but his website members got free copies before it came out, along with the bonus piano solo studio album. the live album was compiled from different DAT recordings throughout the tour, it wasn't remixed or overdubbed. there are two cds compiling the main set, and one has recordings from the nyc aftershow party that lasted a few hours

i got to hear the live album for the first time in his studio in minneapolis, and he played excepts of the afterparty cd at an afterparty i helped organise in london after one of his concerts. prince was in the dj booth telling his dj what tracks to play

the o2 shows were really great, especially all the aftershows. i had tickets to all the shows, both main shows and aftershows. i was front row every night at the aftershows, prince at arms length, or sometimes closer. one night he fell off the stage on purpose for a laugh, right where i was with my friends, we just pushed him back onstage. i've been onstage quite a few times, including at paisley park. it's pretty cool to hang out in the studio and see him jam at his infamous parties. i've even got to see him rehearse in the studio, and soundcheck at a few gigs. i don't think any MJ fans have had experiences like those

i also got to hear the rainbow children album for the first time in the studio, we were given lyric books before the playback. we were the first people to hear the finished album, and kevin smith (silent bob) was there filming us talk about it afterwards for a documentary movie

one time prince even took us to the movies to see minority report. he hired the whole cinema after hours and we went there at 2am. the aircon broke down in the studio and it was so hot so we went to the movies instead

Great replies btw

Has anyone seen the clip of Prince on stage with Michael & James Brown...bizzare

Prince on Larry King:

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...deoid=17582516

bb king also played that night (20th august 1983), playing the first five tracks with the JB's as the opening for james brown, and coming back on for the final track with james brown. i have the full gig. this was a full year before purple rain came out. prince only recorded the version of purple rain that was on the album on 3rd august 1983 (along with i would die 4 u and baby i'm a star - overdubs to all 3 tracks were later added). prince was only really known for 1999 and little red corvette at the time, his other singles were hits on black radio

Love both equally.....couldn't choose.....

Micheal Jackson.

You are missing one key element though, he could not actually read sheet music, which is quite funny really given he was a musician!

If you read J. Randy Tamborelli's biography of him it confirms he was not able to, and instead he would hum or sing into a tape recorder and hire a professional musician to transcribe the melodies.

He therefore had to play instruments by ear, or be shown how the song played out.

michael jackson wasn't a musician he was a singer

prince is a musician, and can't read or write sheet music. neither can paul macartney, nor could john lennon, but it didn't stop them creating some of the greatest songs ever written

but the OP asked who was the most talented, and i think most people are going off topic by getting confused with who they have a preferance for, as no-one could think that MJ was more talented than prince if they knew the subject matter

It's got to be Prince. He was the Bowie of the 80's, re-imaging himself several times, and was never less than interesting. Today, his latest music is back on near top form, and continues to inspire.

I saw Prince in concert twice, and both time he made Michael Jackson look like he was nailed to the floor!

Finally, Prince only sleeps with adults and has never used his money on substance abuse, or negative living.

Scary Monsters
Let's Dance
Tin Machine

I think you'll find that David Bowie was the Bowie of the 80s !

Prince, by light years.

MJ is the most over-rated performer of all time.

as much as i love bowie, and really like the let's dance album, he really wasn't the same in the 80s. the tin machine stuff was utter crap

being a fan of both bowie and prince, i've used the same comparison myself, bowie was a popular and innovative artist in the 70s in the same way as prince was in the 80s, both with music and fashion and fanbase. his music hasn't been the same since, but his fanbase has been pretty loyal like the prince fans

i was fortunate to see bowie play the hammersmith appollo in 2002 the day before prince played three nights there. the venue had just reopened after refurbishment and bowie played a fanclub only gig, with 500 tickets available online and the rest of the tickets were onsale at the box office, so people literally had to queue up outside like in the old days

it really was chock full of his hardcore fans, i met a guy who was at he venue 30 years previously at the last ziggy stardust gig when he killed off ziggy. the venue was legendary for bowie fans and this was the first time he played the venue since that day, as at that time he would typically play stadiums or arenas, but this was a smaller theatre show. he played all the bowie tunes you could think off, all the hits, all the fan favourite album tracks, a three hour set, and the tracks all sounded just like the album versions, no mucking about

i really wished bowie would have turned up as special guest at the prince gigs over the next three days. my next change of seeing bowie was one of his first cancelled gigs after his heart attack at T in the park, so it made seeing him live for the first and only time at that show even more special

whilst bowies later 80's material, along with his 90s and after stuff wasn't a patch on his 70's work, he still gets full marks for trying different things, such as tin machine and his drum and bass music. i didn't like it myself, and likewise many other fans, but he at least tried something different instead of the same old same old. i suppose prince does the same, although he churns music out left right and centre so in the same year he can have a rock, jazz and funk album out to appeal to all markets

Probably Prince.

But Michael Jackson was the best dancer/performer in the world. But not nearly the best artist, imo.

Another vote for Prince here! Both amazingly talented people but Prince has the edge for me definitely! I'm not going to berrate one in order to make the other look good though, that seems a bit pathetic.

Prince for best musician and MJ for best showman/entertainer.

http://www.drfunkenberry.com/wp-cont...009/09/why.mp3

here is a recording of prince rehearsing in his studio in minneapolis yesterday

its cora dunham on drums, her husband josh on bass, morris hayes on keyboards and prince on guitar and vocals

But he did have help. Granted he didn't need the help as much as most but it was there from producers, engineers and the various musicians. Matt Fink's keyboard solo on "Head" or Clare Fischer's string arrangement on "Raspberry Beret" for example. I am nit picking here at your otherwise excellent posts but I do believe it is a mistake to think that anyone ever makes it on their own.

I agree that MJ probably didn't make the most of his musical talent, which seems a bizarre statement considering what he did achieve. This would probably be true of almost anyone if you compared them to someone as prolific as Prince though.

MJ at his best was a better singer and dancer. Prince trumps him on everything else musical, including humour! Here's my favourite online Prince clip, it always makes me smile:
http://uk.video.yahoo.com/watch/5505810

Well..... Graffiti Bridge was a sequel to Purple Rain and it did kind of suck I'm saying this as a huge Prince film fan and especially of that great misunderstood masterpiece "Under the Cherry Moon"

prince got his record deal from demos he recorded himself, playing all the instruments. the people listening to them wanted to sign the band behind it, and were surprised to learn one person played everything

over the years he has had a number of different people playing with him, wendy and lisa in particular are praised for helping prince, but they were only with him for 3 years out of 30. clare fisher has also added some great strings, but if you have been able to hear tracks before and after strings were added, they could have been released without strings and still sounded great. clare didn't work on that many prince tracks, he only did a few (clare is a man) and wasn't involved in raspberry beret or the around the world album at all

i'm only even certain if matt fink actually played the keyboard solo on head, the released version of dirty mind used the demo versions recorded in princes home studio, and prince recorded most, if not all, the instruments. i'm fairly certain that prince recorded that part himself, he's certainly more than capable of doing so. likewise on purple rain, which was recorded live, and wendy's first gig, prince later rerecorded her guitar part. having the original version to compare, it's almost impossible to tell the difference. prince isn't a perfectionist either, he tends to go for the one take and uses it, rather than keep redoing something for the perfect take, as the vibe usually dissapears in repetition

i'd say the 95 era NPG were the most influential, with mike b, sonny t, and tommy b, as they worked together as a band moreso than previous bands, and recorded more as a band in the studio, rather than adding a few parts to prince's tracks

the thing is, prince is more than capable of making entire albums on his own, hit albums at that, he doesn't need anyone else, whereas most other artists do need help, and MJ certainly wasn't able to create an album on his own