Prince #SAB 085-086 Hypno Paradise

Hypno Paradise

2 CD
Label : Sabotage Records
Catalogue : #SAB 085-086
Disc Length : 70:21 / 57:47
Source : Audience Recording
Sound Quality : EX
Year Of Release : 1999

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Newpower Soul Music Festival Tour
Hanns-Martin-Schleyer Halle, Stuttgart
26th December 1998

Disc 1

1. Push It Up   2. Jam Of The Year   3. Talkin' Loud And Sayin' Nothing   4. Let's Work   5. Delirious   6. Rock N' Roll Is Alive (outro)   7. Purple Rain   8. Little Red Corvette   9. I Would Die 4 U   10. Get Yo Groove On   11. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man   12. Summertime   13. Speech   14. The Christ   15. Computer Blue (including Are You Gonna Go My Way)   16. The Question Of U   17. 2001:Also Sprach Zarathustra   18. Flash Light   19. Talking' Loud And Sayin' Nothing - Hypno Paradise (instrumental jam)   20. Joy And Pain   21. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear - Courtin' Time

Disc 2

1. Come On   2. Instrumental   3. Baby I'm A Star   4. 1999   5. Let's Go Crazy   6. She's Always In My Hair   7. U Got The Look   8. Kiss   9. Gett Off   10. Gett Off (Houstyle)   11. Nothing Compares 2 U   12. Take Me With U   13. Raspberry Beret - Mr. Happy (outro)

GCS Opening Act

14. Groove On   15. Everyday People   16. Stand

COMMENT

A surprisingly good Newpower Soul Festival concert and an excellent audience recording. The quality of the recording is surprisingly impressive and is certainly amongst the 3 best of the short European December 1998 concerts. The audience level is at an absolute minimum for nearly the entire duration of the show, and the first half of the recording is especially audience-free. The sound is very powerful and contains a certain amount of 'kick' which makes it extremely enjoyable, and I'd have no hesitation in saying this one of the best audience recordings from any of the 1998 shows. The show itself is equally impressive, and whilst it is lacking a piano segment, P adds a few numbers which make this show pretty memorable. The first and most obvious is 'Computer Blue' which takes you completely by surprise and is an absolute joy to listen to. This is the only time it appeared on the tour and is performed rather uniquely. It's a bolt out of the blue, it's an evident crowd pleaser and when it kicks in it is THE highlight of the entire tour. P adds a line from Lenny Kravitz 'Are You Gonna Go My Way?' during the first verse, and as if that weren't special enough it is followed by another rarity in the form of an instrumental 'The Question Of U'. Normal service is resumed with '2001:Also Sprach Zarathustra' before there is a lengthy jam segment which incorporates parts from 'Flashlight' (instrumental), the chorus of 'Joy & Pain' along with instrumental portions of 'Talkin Loud & Sayin Nothing' with added keyboard flashes from P bearing a passing resemblance to  'Hypno Paradise' (the version of Hypno Paradise played here is not the track made available via the NPG Music Club, and although the packaging titles the jam as 'Hypno Paradise', it's stretching the truth a little). The remainder of the show is pretty straightforward and certainly short of anything unusual. Without the addition of both 'Computer Blue' and 'The Question Of U', this would have been a very enjoyable concert with a pretty typical set-list, however the fact these 2 tracks are played makes this one of the best, most unique shows of the tour. Add to that the fact the recording is one of the best for it's time - and you have an excellent release by Sabotage. My one tiny query is that 'Purple Rain' seems to end very abruptly, although whether that's down to an edit on Sabotage's part or not I'm unclear. The accompanying booklet is fairly decent with some quality pictures and a report of the show by someone in attendance.


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