4DaFunk Catalog #
4DF 017-018 Release
Year 2005 2CD Length
71:15 / 63:38 Date/Venue Tranenpalast,
Berlin 25th November 1994 (am) Source
Audience Recordings Quality
VG+
Rating
4.25/5.0
Track Listing
Tranenpalast, Berlin 25th November 1994 (am)
Disc 1
1. Instrumental Jam 2. Endorphinmachine 3. The Ride 4. The Jam 5. Shhh 6.
Days Of Wild (including Hair) 7. Now (including Babies Makin’ Babies) 8. The
Most Beautiful Girl In The World 9. Pussy Control 10. Guitar Jam 11. Proud Mary
Disc 2
1. Goldaxxe Intro (including Girls And Boys) 2. Race 3. Super Hero –
Outa-Space 4. Dark (including Letitgo) 5. Billy Jack Bitch 6. 777-9311 7. We
March
Rehearsal for MTV European Music Awards : 23rd November 1994
8. Peach – Race (including Girls And Boys)
Rehearsal for MTV European Music Awards : 24th November 1994
9. Peach
MTV European Music Awards : 25th November 1994 (Broadcast)
10. Peach
Comments Fink's Comments(rates this release 4.25/5.0)
Sourced from Raiders Of The Lost Art’s 1995 release of the same name ‘The
Palace Of Tears’, and released by 4DaFunk under the subtitle of “4DF’s
Touched Up Series” this is another excellent reworking of a classic release with
various flaws corrected. First up I should point out that not all flaws have
been eliminated, but there are limitations as to what can be done – and there
are no complaints from me about the work which has evidently gone in to this
release.
I struggled as to whether to grade this as an EX- recording as it has been
greatly boosted and the audience level is far less noticeable on this particular
release, however it still doesn’t quite make the grade of EX-, but is certainly
head and shoulders above the majority of other VG+ recordings in circulation.
The original Raiders Of The Lost Art release suffered from a number of fades
throughout the show, and these have been expertly removed from the recording so
if you hadn’t heard the original release you will not be aware of where they
were. The recording unfortunately has a few slight dips and is a little hollow
in places. 4DaFunk appear to have corrected a few of these, but some do still
remain – they are minimal but audible.
Small niggles aside this is far removed from the original recording and fresher,
cleaner and vastly more powerful. The show itself is one of a handful performed
during the second half of 1994 and certainly the only performance widely
circulating. It contains no less than 8 tracks from the upcoming Gold Experience
album which the crowd are well versed in as they match Prince word-for-word,
along with 2 tracks from Come. The show begins with a loose instrumental jam
(without Prince onstage) before descending into chaos after 10 minutes when the
technicians can’t fix a problem with Prince’s guitar. Certainly one of those
class bootleg moments occurs when they technician shouts, “If we don’t get his
guitar up in the house he’s not coming out” and “He’s gonna rip me a new
asshole”. Sound problems plague the opening half of the show and Prince is
constantly calling out for various band members to be turned up, or for his
monitor to be louder so he can hear – one suspects partly the reason why
‘Endorphinmachine’ sadly lasts barely the first verse and chorus. The second
half of the show begins with a few samples played on the Goldaxxe before
launching into the familiar ‘Race’. ‘Dark’ is extremely lengthy at over 10
minutes and following ‘Billy Jack Bitch’ Prince picks up the bass for a very
short instrumental ‘777-9311’ before the show closes with ‘We March’.
As with the original Raiders Of The Lost Art release, this includes the various
rehearsals for the MTV Awards. It’s fair to say the quality is no match for the
Tränenpalast recording and they are extremely echoed – however for rarity value
they are very enjoyable and the 2nd rehearsal includes Tom Jones’ introduction
(complete with him forgetting the prop symbol, “Where’s me symbol?”).
The release closes out with the broadcast performance from the award show. So to
sum up – this is certainly a marked improvement over the previous release with a
better quality main show benefiting from various glitches and flaws having been
corrected. Another excellent re-issue of a classic concert in improved quality –
and who could argue with that?