I’m going with the general consensus on this one. Come On is the best song I’ve heard on this album so far. Not peak Prince, but it’s good. Come On: 4/5
"Come On": A little of the Camille mojo rubs off on this one. Kirky J. does his best to block it, but he's not entirely successful. 3.8/5
Today's song is "The One", written and produced by Prince, with both credits attributed to The New Power Generation; orchestra arrangements by Claire Fisher. The New Power Generation – The One Lyrics | Genius Lyrics "The One" was recorded at Paisley Park in November 1996, with the orchestra being recorded in L.A. sometime between mid-1997 and Spring 1998. : all vocals and instruments except: Rhonda Smith: fretless bass Kirk Johnson: drum programming NPG Orchestra: orchestra with uncertain involvement from: Rev. Scott - rhythm guitar (credited, but uncertain involvement) Mr. Hayes - keyboards (credited, but uncertain involvement) "The One" was released as a promo single (video directed by Mayté) and it was later released as the seventh track of the Come On CD single/EP. "The One" was often performed live up until 2016, sometimes in medley with other songs ("The Question of U" and "Fallin'"). A live version appears on an NPG Ahdio download as well as on the album Indigo Nights. I'll try to link to this latter below.
Here's "The One/The Question of U"from Indigo Nights: it starts at about 1:00:30 below. Recorded in London on 22nd September 2007; released on September 30th, 1988. Prince: vocals, guitar Morris Hayes & Renato Neto: keyboards Greg Boyer: trombone Mike Phillips: saxophone Lee Hogans: trumpet Josh Dunham: bass guitar Cora Coleman-Dunham: drums
Great vocal performance on this one: very high vocals and Prince sounds great. The song itself has a gloomy melancholy to it that I don't think the lyrics quite match up with -- this goes even double for the live version, where the pathos is somehow magnified. The lyric is well-written but it doesn't match with the music. The orchestra enhances the track, as usual, and this is a nice bit of soul balladry from Prince that we haven't heard ten thousand times before: but ultimately, the whole thing feels like less than the sum of its parts (and Kirk Johnson's drums are as usually listless and dull.) The nods towards exotic vaguely Eastern textures are nice. 3.3/5
A minute-long intro for the song is too long, but strangely that's the most interesting part of the video! All of the elements of the song are OK, but for some reason once they've been in the blender it comes out as boring - 2/5
The One A top class Prince balled. Great vocal, brilliant strings and Rhonda's bass give it a special zing. 5/5
The One - this is lovely- a much better ballad than most of what we have been listening to during this mid-90's period. The fretless bass gives everything air, the sweeping strings add atmosphere and a really good vocal. I'm not even that bothered by Kirk's drum programming on this one - it doesn't need anything more sophisticated. The live version was usually played as a medley with both Alicia Key's 'Fallin' and 'The Quesion Of U' - and often featured some great gospel-esque vocals from Prince. There is a hard to find NPG Remix of this, which is only contained (in full) on a limited edition of the Come On maxi CD. It will have you thinking that Kirk's original beats are a work of genius... Album version: 4/5 Indigo Nights version: 3.5/5
The One "Oh, yes I am" I love this song! It's a perfect play with Prince's vocals, synths (fake harp), great bass, Clare's orchestra, the middle eastern vibe and the (fake) flute. A love song for Mayte. It sounds like he's telling Mayte that he has changed and he isn't the old Prince anymore. He is the one. The song is a bit long and after 5 minutes, where the orchestra and bass gets the floor, I would edit it. An edited version (around 4 minutes) was released as a promo cd. And, again, why didn't Prince use actually harps and flute...? That shouldn't be that hard? Still, it's an amazing song! The One (remix) on the Come On EP is good too, but the beats and the female vocal 'echo' spoil the magic. Prince performed the song quite a lot from 1998 onwards. I always liked the medley (like @Tricky By Name already mentioned). I prefer the 2002 medley to the later 2007/Indigo Nights medley). The 2002 medley (including Take Five) sounds something like this (16 minutes of greatness on a Sunday afternoon): This is a minor 5 out of 5 (the edit is a 5 out of 5)
Prince obviously liked it as it was (ahem) the one song from this era that he kept playing live. For me, I think 'The One" is good but not great. I like it well enough but it is far from a favourite. Certainly, one of the better songs on this album. 3.5/5
The One... A tad over-dramatic for my tastes, but it is quite well done. I dig the Middle Eastern sounds and Prince does a good job here. 3/5
"The One": Sounds like Prince was actually engaged for this one, especially given the quality of his vocal, which reminds us what a great voice he had. It's not a deep listening experience, and I wouldn't call it moving, but neither is he just going through the motions. One of the few keepers here. 3.8/5
"The One"---one of only two Prince singles I ever heard new on terrestrial radio post-"Beautiful Girl"---on a midwest station iirc, while I was driving the Chicago-Madison line for work. (The other was "Cinnamon Girl" on a sort of "adult alternative" station in LA) I don't recall it sounding out of place in its time. A decent radio-y RnB ballad. I like what the bass is doing a LOT but don't find the slow intense pacing and orchestrations working as well as they need to to hit me with the emotion he's trying for. But unlike a lot of this cd, he IS trying here. RATING: 3.5/5
Too late to make the count for "Come On" but I like it, even with that kind of jerky shuffle beat that often makes me feel uneasy, like I don't know WHICH way the ol' funky body is supposed to be moving. Like the near-Camille vocal, it would not have sounded out of place as a bonus vault track on the SOTT set, and that's gotta be good. Still, it would not have been one of the BEST SOTT vault tracks. So RATING 3.75/5
