By far and by a landslide this is the most overrated

Wayyyy overrated.

Most Underrated.

V10LETBLUES said:

By far and by a landslide this is the most overrated

Wayyyy overrated.

Most Underrated.

interesting. Which, if any, songs do you like on TGE?

FrenchGuy said:

i don't know if you do it for shock value or if it's a honest (snobbish?) thought, but why some people would say "Purple Rain" is overrated???? Sure, it has "Take Me With U" , but it deserves all the credits it gets!! Even the B-sides are the best ever ("17 Days", "Another Lonely Christmas", "God")... And I honestly want you to prove me what makes it overrated?? Because its 'mainstream' Prince music?? The movie?? The songs????? It's not my favorite album but I find weird that REAL Prince 'fans' hate it...

I'll take a stab at answering that. This is an intriguing thread, but if it has a flaw it lies in the ambiguous interpretation of "overrated". Imho hardly any of his albums are rated highly enough by the general public, and I don't think Purple Rain is his MOST "overrated" album under any criteria. But when it comes to discussions among fans, or critics who happen to know his work well, it's natural to measure individual albums relative to Prince's entire oeuvre. Now I happen to rate ATWIAD, Parade, SOTT and Lovesexy, as superior albums to Purple Rain. I also happen to think one of the reasons the album is commonly considered to tower over much of his 90s and early 2000s output is simply that it's shorter and tighter, whereas I don't mind flawed gems. To take the extreme example of a maligned album like Graffiti Bridge: sure it's got its low points, but it has almost twice as many songs as Purple Rain, and for my tastes there's a 9 track album lurking within it to compete with PR--Joy in Repetition, Question of U and Thieves in the Temple, at the very least, are among the highlights of his career imho.

For the record, my vote for his MOST overrated is a tie between Dirty Mind and 20Ten. Dirty Mind's controversial nature was important for his career, but it's musically banal (by Prince standards)). 20Ten isn't rated all that highly I suppose, but some fans love it, while imho the majority of the tracks are among the most insipid he's every released.

[Edited 2/15/11 4:04am]

PlusSign said:

FrenchGuy said:

i don't know if you do it for shock value or if it's a honest (snobbish?) thought, but why some people would say "Purple Rain" is overrated???? Sure, it has "Take Me With U" , but it deserves all the credits it gets!! Even the B-sides are the best ever ("17 Days", "Another Lonely Christmas", "God")... And I honestly want you to prove me what makes it overrated?? Because its 'mainstream' Prince music?? The movie?? The songs????? It's not my favorite album but I find weird that REAL Prince 'fans' hate it...

I'll take a stab at answering that. This is an intriguing thread, but if it has a flaw it lies in the ambiguous interpretation of "overrated". Imho hardly any of his albums are rated highly enough by the general public, and I don't think Purple Rain is his MOST "overrated" album under any criteria. But when it comes to discussions among fans, or critics who happen to know his work well, it's natural to measure individual albums relative to Prince's entire oeuvre. Now I happen to rate ATWIAD, Parade, SOTT and Lovesexy, as superior albums to Purple Rain. I also happen to think one of the reasons the album is commonly considered to tower over much of his 90s and early 2000s output is simply that it's shorter and tighter, whereas I don't mind flawed gems. To take the extreme example of a maligned album like Graffiti Bridge: sure it's got its low points, but it has almost twice as many songs as Purple Rain, and for my tastes there's a 9 track album lurking within it to compete with PR--Joy in Repetition, Question of U and Thieves in the Temple, at the very least, are among the highlights of his career imho.

For the record, my vote for his MOST overrated is a tie between Dirty Mind and 20Ten. Dirty Mind's controversial nature was important for his career, but it's musically banal (by Prince standards)). 20Ten isn't rated all that highly I suppose, but some fans love it, while imho the majority of the tracks are among the most insipid he's every released.

[Edited 2/15/11 4:04am]

I agree that with graffiti bridge, Prince had enough material to come up with a album comparable to Purple rain but unfortuantely he didnt include some songs that should have been included (pink cashmere, girl o my dreams) and included some useless songs. But yeah some of his best work is there on albums like Graffiti Bridge and Emancipation despite the lack of quality control

hhhhdmt said:

V10LETBLUES said:

By far and by a landslide this is the most overrated

Wayyyy overrated.

interesting. Which, if any, songs do you like on TGE?

Ok for fans of this album this may sound harsh, but I really do hate this album.

To me, this album epitomizes the "stupidity" for lack of a better word of the 90's era.

I find most everything about it cringe worthy. From the cringe-worthy segues, to cringe-worthy songs.

I'll give "Pussy Control" a pass. "Shhh" is the standout. "Eye Hate U" I like for the Eric Leeds "Mix" The Eric leeds Mix is the only one I ever listen to. I think that version is a classic.

Other than that, I think it is just terrible. To me it has the same dumbed down vibe as "The Rainbow Children"

As flawed as Come is, I'll take Come over this mess any day.

[Edited 2/16/11 7:19am]

novabrkr said:

Underrated: The Vault... Old Friends 4 Sale

Overrated: Diamonds & Pearls

Agree!

V10LETBLUES said:

hhhhdmt said:

interesting. Which, if any, songs do you like on TGE?

Ok for fans of this album this may sound harsh, but I really do hate this album.

To me, this album epitomizes the "stupidity" for lack of a better word of the 90's era.

I find most everything about it cringe worthy. From the cringe-worthy segues, to cringe-worthy songs.

I'll give "Pussy Control" a pass. "Shy" is the standout. "Eye Hate U" I like for the Eric Leeds "Mix" The Eric leeds Mix is the only one I ever listen to. I think that version is a classic.

Other than that, I think it is just terrible. To me it has the same dumbed down vibe as "The Rainbow Children"

As flawed as Come is, I'll take Come over this mess any day.

[Edited 2/15/11 10:18am]

Spinlight said:

Around the World in a Day set a precedent for piecemeal, slapped-together albums that lacked consistency.

Planet Earth is one. Graffiti Bridge is (an exceptionally well-executed) one. There's others, too. The Black Album is that way. I feel it's not that those albums lack good songs but that the coherence isn't there. The albums feel like greatest hits compilations almost. They just happened to be the best tracks that were being worked on at the time as opposed to albums like Parade where all the songs sounded like they were written for that album.

I agree regarding Graffiti Bridge and Planet Earth...

On the other hand: Some of my favorite albums were the inconsistent ones - for the sheer joy of creative diversity and musicianship they show.

Favorite slapped-together albums:

Prince: Sign O the Times

Beatles: White Album

Queen: A Night at the Opera

Beastie Boys: Paul's Boutique

hhhhdmt said:

SoulAlive said:

Underrated: 'Love Symbol' (many of these songs are classics,in my book)

Overrated: 'Around The World In A Day' (this is a fan favorite but I find some of these songs to be boring)

agreed!. 7, And God Created Woman, Blue Light, Love 2 the 9's are all classics IMO

The Continental,Damn U,Sexy MF....just one amazing tune after another.

V10LETBLUES said:

hhhhdmt said:

interesting. Which, if any, songs do you like on TGE?

Ok for fans of this album this may sound harsh, but I really do hate this album.

To me, this album epitomizes the "stupidity" for lack of a better word of the 90's era.

I find most everything about it cringe worthy. From the cringe-worthy segues, to cringe-worthy songs.

I'll give "Pussy Control" a pass. "Shy" is the standout. "Eye Hate U" I like for the Eric Leeds "Mix" The Eric leeds Mix is the only one I ever listen to. I think that version is a classic.

Other than that, I think it is just terrible. To me it has the same dumbed down vibe as "The Rainbow Children"

As flawed as Come is, I'll take Come over this mess any day.

[Edited 2/15/11 10:18am]

As a whole..the album is alright...it is just a bit overbearing at times and loud..alot of chaos.

Underrated: Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic (Not his best, but probably his most hated, and it is in my top 10 Prince albums.)

Overrated: The Black Album (A decent album, but nothing really great.)

wow,

do I really have to defend

The Black Album,

Around the World In A Day

The Gold Experience.

Those 3 are Prince masterpieces, stand out pices of art...

I'll give Black Album a 9 and the other two a 10 out of 10!

Masterpieces, especially compared with 1996 > 2010.

Don't hurt me by telling I'm wrong.

I think this is overrated but I really like this album. I just see it referenced a lot. Well I change my mind..IT'S A GOOD ALBUM.. and it deserves praise....so nevermind I just wanted to put up a picture...

[Edited 2/16/11 18:33pm]

underated: Black Album

overated: Purple Rain

JoeTyler said:

MAINSTREAM

Underrated (poor sales/high quality): Black Album

Overrated (high sales/average quality): Batman

FANS

Underrated (Musicology)

Overrated (The Rainbow Children)

Co-sign

Underrated

Batman

Lotusflow3r

3121

The Gold Experience

Overrated

The Rainbow Children

Parade

SOTT

Dirty Mind

Musicology

ufoclub said:

I'd agree that Lovesexy and Parade are overrated considering the impression they made when I first put the needle to the record.

But I'd say Black Album is the most underrated... based on critic reviews and general low enthusiasm from fans (there is a minority that love it, but I think it's a minority).

Black Album is my all time favorite Prince album. It was from the moment I first heard a cassette bootleg from a DJ, in college, in 1988. And what happened with it in the following year was incredible. U2 putting it on their best of the year list in the celeb Rolling Stone poll.... I agree.

Has he ever hit the dramatic party vibe of Le Grind, the creative peak of Bob George, or the deep underground vibe of Superfunky or Rockhard on a single album since? Not in my opinion.

Exactly my sentiments!

Overrated:

Diamonds and Pearls

Imo too smooth and slick...

UNDERRATED: DIRTY MIND... though some rate it as high as I do...

OVERRATED: Diamonds and Pearls

Diamonds and Pearls isn't overrated. It's more underrated because I haven't heard much love for it on prince forums.

802 said:

Diamonds and Pearls isn't overrated. It's more underrated because I haven't heard much love for it on prince forums.

But it was a multi platnium album and at the time, was highly accepted. only half of all the songs are actually good...most people just feel like they get an overdose of Tony M

The logical answer is his most popular is the most overrated, and the least popular the most underrated.

just1lousydime said:

802 said:

Diamonds and Pearls isn't overrated. It's more underrated because I haven't heard much love for it on prince forums.

and at the time, was highly accepted

By music critics.

hhhhdmt said:

SoulAlive said:

Underrated: 'Love Symbol' (many of these songs are classics,in my book)

Overrated: 'Around The World In A Day' (this is a fan favorite but I find some of these songs to be boring)

agreed!. 7, And God Created Woman, Blue Light, Love 2 the 9's are all classics IMO

Blue Light, completely underrated. So hot...

I agree TGE most overrated.

TRC most underated. Although actually, when in discussion all TRC lovers surface.

Underrated:

LoveSymbol

3121

LotusFlow3r

Overrated:

The Gold Expierience (I can't stand it, the only songs i like on it are P Control and Dolphin)

Underrated:
Emancipation (F'ing epic album)

^ wow how can a Prince fan not like the songs Gold or I Hate U.....

I am surprised some people dont like Endorphinmachine, its absolute classic Prince, one of his finest moments IMO

It might just be me, but this is getting ridiculous. Not all Prince fans are "one size fits all". there isn't a prerequisite to being a fan. You don't have to be a Purple Rain fan, you don't have to love 1999, and you don't have to bow down at his feet in order to have a valid opinion. Because, last time I checked, aka 3 minutes ago, an opinion is personal. I don't understand why people get so legitimately offended when other fans don't like the same song/album/era that they do. It's not about YOU, so grow up.

just1lousydime said:

It might just be me, but this is getting ridiculous. Not all Prince fans are "one size fits all". there isn't a prerequisite to being a fan. You don't have to be a Purple Rain fan, you don't have to love 1999, and you don't have to bow down at his feet in order to have a valid opinion. Because, last time I checked, aka 3 minutes ago, an opinion is personal. I don't understand why people get so legitimately offended when other fans don't like the same song/album/era that they do. It's not about YOU, so grow up.

Exactly!

There is a lot of variety of different music tastes with Prince fans, than there is with most other artists. Pretty much every Queen fan thinks that Bohemian Rhapsody is their greatest song, that's not so with Purple Rain. But I think that some people "hate" that song because most people love it. But you can like Purple Rain without it being your favourite Prince song, it's not my favourite personally. If you said that a Queen song another than Bohemian Rhapsody is your favourite, you would probably be kicked out of their forum.

People should realise that everyone here has got a different opinion.

[Edited 2/21/11 13:18pm]