The first dent in the armor for me was the New Power Generation single with Tony M on it.

Lovesexy was my peak of fandom. Batman and GB didn't quite live up to it but I was still hardcore and thought he could do no wrong musically.

Then came "Brother With A Purpose." Granted it was Tony rapping to the NPG beat, but Prince greenlighted that bullshit. I knew then, at least in terms of his taste, that he was fallible. And then of course there was Miss Thang and Bambi from TC Ellis, which were pretty heartbreaking.

On/Off - Diamonds And Pearls. Again, the inclusion of Tony was such a miss but didn't shake me completely off. I still kept my loyalty throught the Symbol album but felt like I could be tetering the fuck off if I had to hear one more mush-mouth verse from The Deacon.

On - The Mustang Mix. That one made me feel like I could start comfortably stanning hardcore again and it continued with Love Sign, Letitgo, some of the Come album, and Universal Love.

FULL ON - The Gold Experience. The mystery behind the album, the controversy with the label, the Paisley shows. Glorious.

Sorta Off - Emancipation just plain didn't live up to the hype. Not the album he was "born 2 make."

Off - NPS. Christ, what a letdown. I remember coming home to MPLS from my very first Pride ever, in San Fran, and going straight from the airport to Best Buy so I could get NPS and listen to it in the car. It was like someone farted, turned up the heat, and rolled up the windows. I really thought he could be over after that shit.

For me it was patchy from then to TRC. Some yays some nays. But even the first time I heard TRC (at Paisley with Prince at the door watching us listen), I thought it was time to pack up and get the fuck out. The fucked up conversation between us and Prince and Larry might have had something to do with my initial impression of it though. Larry compared someone being gay to him being a crackhead back in the day and getting cured. I kinda wanted to spit on him.

ON - TRC official release. While some of the lyrics were confounding and downright bad, the passion contained in this album was undeniable. He hadn't sounded this interested in years.

Off - Musicology. I loved the attention he was getting at the time but really wished he had a better album to promote.

On - 3121 - I loved this record for the most part. It sounded like he took his time with it, like he did with TGE. The first album with classics on it since Emancipation for me. Rave title track and CB don't count.

Off - MPLSound - This might be the worst Prince album ever.

On - 20Ten - I loved this fucking record and I still do. For me, it was the best since TRC, in terms of how much play it got. It's nice to not have to feel like you have to TRY to like a record out of respect for the artist and just genuinely be entertained.

OFF:

Lovesexy cover

ON:

Listening to Lovesexy album

OFF:

NPG crap ("Gold N***" etc)

ON:

Listening to other Prince albums

OFF:

Lotu$flower

ON:

The Leno "Guitar" video on Lotu$flower. Also, my Lotu$flower t-shirt. Don't hate me because I got mine!

That's about it. I've liked everything else; at least, nothing else has made me go "Oh NO!".

.

[Edited 7/16/12 14:27pm]

After the great TRC project (album and tour) I was so sick n tired of Prince..jaded, tired, and was just hangin on as a habit that was hard to shake but ready tp hang up the gloves until that Rock N Roll HOF cover of While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Even the nights eralier performances of the three songs he did had me at "ho hum" but I tuned in to the ending and that mfker pulled me all the way back in like it was the 80's again. That shit made me tear up and grab the phone. Yeah there were upsn n downs the past two decades but this was the one that really mattered to me.

I didn't experience a whole lot of Prince's career as it was happening... the majority is retrospect and word of mouth from the veterans hipped me to the general opinion on things...

over 5 years, my appreciation feined maybe... very few times... there were maybe 3 of utter signficance...

I started on 2/5/07 (roughly...)

if I'm being technical, the first couple albums I got kinda freaked me out

Musicology made me wonder if I made a mistake... stopped halfway thru the first time listening to it
The Gold Experience was overwhelming in so many ways and I was equally put off by the fact people told me I was clearly in the wrong place with my naviety

3121 was a good remedy and helped me get back on track... aside did "Gold"

3 months after that...

came across an early cut of "Feel u up" and was so offended by its vulgarity that it took me a while to come back

2 years later...

or rather, December 2008...

I think I had Prince on rotation at least once every day for more than a year at this point... I had enough of hearing the same old stuff with no really new comments...

so I took a much needed break... I sent the next week listening to 2 albums from The Time (sure Prince did the backing vocals and such, but it took some pressure off)...

then maybe a couple months after getting the Batman soundtrack the following October... I stopped listening to Prince because I just wasn't interested anymore

and to be honest, I don't know how I ended up back here singing his praises again... either way, it feels good to be back in that boat