21 Nights by Prince

21 Nights Reviews

• 
  Paddy

  As captivating as this sumptuous selection of photographs of Prince’s very own Glamorous Life is, it largely feels as if the viewer is always kept at a distance - at the very least, always at arms length. So if you were hoping to be beckoned closer to discover something more of who Prince was as a human being, there’s sadly very little here that will surprise, and maybe that’s the point.
  
  As a Prince fan since 1983, I get it - but the carefully crafted mystique and aura that worked for Prince then, started to crumble in the 90’s due to societal shifts. While it caught him somewhat unawares and took him a hot minute to reorient, he soon realised that a [seemingly] more accessible Prince could yet again bend the media to his will when required.
  
  Tales of his unending well of self-belief and stamina as well as gifting opportunities for those around him to step-up and shine are legendary. So to be summoned to Paisley Park at a moment’s notice was no longer an impossibility and the Media quickly learned never to squander such an invitation if it were ever to come - and while Prince remained as cautious as ever about maintaining a 4th wall where possible, he managed to reforge his public persona from mysterious Howard Hughes-type, to become more a magical Willy Wonka of Funk instead - one could argue he had the respect of both the Media and his peers to a rare and impressive degree in the last decade of his career.
  
  This sense of distance is never more apparent than here in this book - the off-stage shots feel unreal and detached, with an almost dreamlike air to them: one particular shot of Prince hiding behind a gate, while hiding behind dark glasses pretty much sums the book up in one image:
  
  Prince moves thru the world but is seemingly not of it.
  
  But it’s within the live shots where the book comes alive and feels most vital - you can almost hear the music and collective roar of love and approval from the crowd spill from its pages. It’s only here that you feel like you get any sense of connection with the book’s subject - when the music is front and centre. Again, maybe that’s the point.
  
  The overarching issue here is that it rarely feels like it trusts itself enough to let its guard down to peer from behind the artifice - when it does though, it shines. Sadly such unguarded moments are all too few and for that, I highly recommend Afshin Shahidi’s excellent book: “Prince: A Private View” which is [to date] the definitive look behind the proverbial purple curtain in ways rarely seen before.
  
  There’s no denying this is a beautiful book worthy of gracing any coffee table. There’s also no denying Randee St. Nicholas is as gifted in her field as Prince was in his.
  
  Is this a bad book? No.
  
  Is it worth the money? Yes.
  
  Is it essential? [Real talk?] Only if you’re a Prince fan.
  
  But again, maybe the’s the point…
• 
  Tracy

  I need to make a category that says I love you so much, Prince.
• 
  Jason Bootle

  it's been sitting on our bookshelf hiding for some time. I bought it for my wife for her birthday. it was on sale for a fiver at hmv and came with a live post gig session at the indigo on cc'd which is amazing.
  read this review by Mark about the book. what he said...
  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
• 
  Saleena Longmuir

  This is pretty much a photography book with interesting pics interspersed with lyrics of songs from the album, 21 by Prince. Not a lot to it; but interesting and fun.
• 
  Mark Farley

  I know what you are going to say. So don't bother. I realise that it's Prince and this is exactly to be expected but I am going to say it anyway. It's just pages and pages of vivid pretension. Purple pretension at that. The book (at best) is gorgeous and sumptuous and beautiful and stylish, yes. But interesting, no. Insightful, no. Unless by insightful you mean seeing inside the suite at The Dorchester that he stayed at for the duration or the suggestive pictures of the model that is supposed to be a maid, floating around in Agent Provocateur, giving us the impression that she gives more than a turn down service or the many pictures of him getting in and out of random luxury sedans or the numerous ones of his thin Beyonce-esque twin girlfriends/backing dancers/singers/muses that make up the 'full-color photographic essay'. Then yes, it's insightful. Very insightful. There's random bits of lyrics and attempts at poetry with lots of 2's instead of 'to' and capital 'U's instead of 'you's which we have forever come to associate with this enigmatic artist and for anyone who has never imagined seeing the Docklands of Greenwich shot like it was some sort of sultry oasis and centre of a magical happening and not the ghastly concrete wasteland, synonymous for an idiotic waste of millions of taxpayers money, then this book is for you. It's really quite lame how the time log effect used in the book tries to give us the impression that he is always fabulous and immaculate. Even at 4:42am. I mean, come on. Like he's gonna seriously be up at that time and willing to take part in a photo shoot, especially when he has hot twin girls waiting in his bed. For sheer ostentation and opulence and glossy ridiculousness though, the purple one needs to be praised because the finished product is something quite befitting of his legacy. And like his legacy, he has produced too far. The format at thirty s is a little steep and probably should have been more in keeping with the current climate. After all darling, some of us are experiencing a recession. What holds this book up though is the live CD of one of the many shows he did in the Indigo area of the O2, after the main show had finished. It is truly awesome and should always be what Prince should focus on as being his legacy. This is a throwaway live session, performed AFTER he's performed a three-hour show. It's really quite amazing and you have to admire the stamina of the man. I mean, he has those twins to keep happy aswell. But seriously, whether it's soulful blues, an acapella version of 'Alphabet Street' or some rocking funk tat would make even James Brown cry, the man does it all. And exceptionally well. So what the hell, if the book is overpriced and over reaching. That's exactly the lifestyle you buy into, every time you put on 'Lovesexy' or 'Diamonds and Pearls' or when you get right to the end of 'The Black Album' and hear the climaxing cries of the hot runway model he's screwing in the recording booth while taping 'Orgasm'. Because it's all in there, the sweat the passion and the desire of a really great Prince show, showing why he is the best in the business. And God bless the funky little Jesus freak for it.
• 
  Liam

  Since I only paid $4.99 + tax for this book & cd package, I'm not going to bitch too hard- it was worth that much just to hear what Prince sounds like these days. The book is pretty, and pretty forgettable. Imagine a Vanity Fair fashion spread with Prince in it, and you'll have a good idea what it looks like. The cd has enough good music on it to be a worthwhile listen; at the same time, though, it probably will not go down in history as one of Prince's masterworks. I was a bit disappointed, but that is not an unusual occurrence these days. Prince's "Dirty Mind" album was one of the first three records I ever bought, one day in the summer of 1983 (the other two were "Stone Free" by Jimi Hendrix, and "Kiss Me Deadly" by Generation X). He was a big influence on me both musically and sartorially. That being said, while I still regularly listen to the music he recorded in the 1970s and 1980s (though the older I get the more those songs bring to mind memories of my misspent youth, and absent friends...), I have often wondered what the hell Prince was thinking during these last several years. I didn't find any answers to that question in "21 Nights"...
• 
  Scott Woods

  This book engages in a slight deception. Touted as a behind-the-scenes look at Prince offstage, it only accomplishes this goal by definition, meaning almost all of the shots are staged just like every other picture you ever saw of the man. So it's not candid, and in the end not very honest in that respect. So that was a bit of a gyp. I thought I'd be in for some cool shots of him having fun, maybe laughing (we all know he has a strong sense of humor), maybe immersed in some cool conversations with his band, maybe a rehearsal, maybe anything other than Prince-proofed photographs that tell us nothing we didn't already know. While they are stunning pictures, they aren't honest.
  
  As far as the included CD not being up to par for most fans, I have but one question: who is still being surprised by questionable CD content from the man?
  
  So: the CD isn't worth buying the book for, and if you thought you'd see something more personal, you're in for a nasty surprise. If you've ever bought a program book at one of his concerts, you've got a lite version of this book.
• 
  Melissa Lee-Tammeus

  I scored with this one. Published in 2007, it retailed for $50.00. I got it much cheaper and felt I had won the lottery. A coffee table book of the nth degree, this includes a CD of an impromptu session with Prince and NPG which is super fun, along with a cover sleeve. You have to be a Prince fan to appreciate this. The man is beautiful, there is no doubt, and the photographs follow him through London on a 21 day tour. It is a bit contrived - I mean, you are not going to see Prince just waking up eating a donut. You will see him at his best, dressed to the nines with his posse of beautiful people. Loved listening to the CD while flippign through the pictures and reading the lyrics of many of his more obscure music. A book that every Prince fan should have.
• 
  Mariano Hortal

  Tengo que reconocer que todo lo que me he estado perdiendo de PRince me fascina actualmente y estoy intentando llegar a encontrar parte de todo su legado.
  Este "libro" sin embargo, por mucho que se venda como poesía y literatura es, más bien, una sucesión de bellísimas fotos hechas por el fotógrano Randee St Nicholas en las que aparece Prince y su banda en todas las posiciones, cuanto más glamurosas mejor.
  Los poemas en realidad se tratan de letras de canciones, más o menos inéditas. Se lee con interés vago, pero ah, lo bueno es que viene un CD con una recopilación de sus actuaciones en las famosas 21 noches que realizó en el O2; desde el punto de vista musical, esto es indudablemente sugestivo, ahí está la gracia del paquete de lujo.
• 
  Gary Lee

  His Royal Badness...
  
  Indeed.
  
  
  The "book" itself is nothing more than a vanity project from an artist whose entire career has been a vanity project.
  The photos are wonderful -- I'm not sure who's responsible for them, but they reminded me Mick Rock's material.
  The 'poetry' is simply song lyrics reprinted in English, as opposed the usual Prince-speak of "eye"s and "2"s and "4"s and whatnot.
  I can't say anything about the CD included since I browsed the display copy at work, from which said CD was removed.
  
  
• 
  Sydney Campbell

  Oh my gosh it was so cool!!! Just a bunch of pictures of his 21 nights in London, some poetry, and lyrics :-) I love the way he writes stuff... like if he wrote "I want to see you", he would write "Eye want 2 c u". I think that's awesome. Like, a new twist on text language. :-) I love Prince, and anyone who likes him should check this book out. I <3 IT!!!!!!
• 
  Corey Deiterman

  Well what do you expect? It's pictures of Prince. It promises new poetry, but they're really just old lyrics. Some are nice, but Prince has never been the greatest poet. He writes sex rhymes to dance beats. It's a bit disappointing, but the photography is beautiful.
• 
  Mike Jozic

  The book is mostly useless as anything other than a photo essay on Prince's London concerts, but there are lyrics, poetry, and the real gem, the live CD featuring songs from the aforementioned shows. For Prince fans only!
• 
  Kevin

  Not as cool as the Madonna Sex book.
• 
  Jacki Potratz

  Not a lot of content here, but some great pics of Prince and the included CD is hot!!
• 
  Lynlee4

  Not sure what I expected but this wasn't it. The photography was well done but oh so staged.
• 
  Patrick Higgins

  A book full of Prince pictures, if I was gay, I would be touching myself. I'm 100 straight and still contemplated it.
• 
  Jane

  Beautiful pictures and poems throughout
• 
  Chantae

  Pretty coffee table book. Wish is was more of a real book about his work and life, but I'll take what I can get.
• 
  Jacky

  Treasuring this beauty
• 
  Tanya

  Photographs are gorgeous. Not so much the "poetry." And the copy I read didn't have a CD so no comment on the music.
• 
  Karen

  #BestCoffeeTableBooks #BestGiftableCoffeeTableBooks
  
  A photo essay of the Purple One's 21 shows in London in '07. Performance CD included.