SpiritOtter said:

JoeTyler said:

I don't like that 96-12 division

96-00 (best album, Rave)

01-03 (best album, Rainbow Children)

04-08 (best album: 3121)

09-... (best album, Lotus)

[Edited 8/6/12 7:03am]

Joe,

What you don't like about the 1996-2012 division? And of those albums you listed above, which is your current favourite and why?

love,

Spirit

hmm, too many different eras and sounds during the non-Warner (96-12) years

I couldn't pick just one album of the 78-94 period either...

3121 is, by far, my fav Prince album since the Come/Gold Experience years...

daddypig said:

The rainbow children and 20ten are up there with other prince classics form the eighties. If warners had released them in this peroid they would have been huge

Lay off the crack, man. That shit is apparently destroying your mind already.

Lotusflow3r (single disc)

Why? The instrumental playing is great, arrangements are good, songwriting is decent, and singing is ok. The intro track, Colonized Mind, Feel Better..., and $ are my favorites. It's sort of like The Rainbow Children, but without the atrocious lyrics.

TRC has arguably Prince's best instrumental performances on a studio album of his whole career, but the sexist, possibly racist, and angry lyrics make it unlistenable for me. (I have a version of the TRC that has the first 3 tracks removed, which is a BIG improvement).

Three-way tie for second:

The Truth

Musicology

Xpectation

96-2012...

I'd have to say my favorite in that time period is 3121. I remember the day I popped it into my CD player and it just starts out... funky. Super funky. Not to mention Camille comes back which is always a good thing. I must've bumped Black Sweat all throughout the year and that track actually got a lot of my not-into-Prince friends into him for a minute. I love the synths he chose to use in that song... reminds me of a combination of old school west coast rap and NIN (the synth during the chorus sounds like some of the synths in "God Given" of Year Zero). That's definitely one of my favorite Prince songs. Period. Incence is a nice little song to catch your breath to while you're fucking. I read over in another topic a lot of people dislike the song Love but I love it! It kinda reminds me of Michael Jackson a little bit and should have definitely been a single. Overall, it's just a nicely put together album that works on all levels. I will admit I don't live every song on that album but they're never enough to make me want to skip over them like I do with other albums. It's a very nice album as a whole. I dig it.

Of all the other albums you provided in this time capsule, this is how I would rank them.

Lotus Flow3r

(MPLSound)

(The Slaughterhouse)

(The Chocolate Invasion)

N.E.W.S.

The Rainbow Children

Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic

Emancipation

The Truth

Musicology

N/A: (don't have em)

One Nite Alone (Piano)

Planet Earth

2010

Does MPLSound count, as it was included with Lotus Flow3r? edit

[Edited 8/7/12 22:50pm]

Oh, and if we're going to include Chocolate Invasion and Slaughterhouse edit

[Edited 8/7/12 22:54pm]

Emancipation has to be the best, a lot of throwaways, but still a lot of keepers.

Emancipation, easily.

3121 and lotus are good consistent record. Emancipation has alot of trash but some wonderful stuff too.

my fav songs from this era would be:

Somebody's Somebody

Soul Sanctuary

Emancipation

Dreamin About U

Love
Musicology

Fury

Black Sweat

Dreamer

Colonized Mind

Sticky Like Glue

The Everlasting now
When eye lay my hands on u

Thus, it appears that Emancipation, The Rainbow Children, 3121 and Lotus Flow3r are amongst the fan favourites, which makes sense, although I am slightly surprised how well Emancipation is faring. It has an excellent set of songs within the 3 discs, but I do enjoy listening to an artistic vision as it was designed and I always felt that, perhaps, Prince got a touch 'overwhelmed' with the 60 minutes/3 discs criteria he (and only he) had set himself. That said, given that many fans seem to disagree about the perfect 1 or 2-disc Emancipation album, perhaps he was right to release it as he did, in all it's glory. It is probably time I revisit the recordings; it might even fare better in the summer, not that London is enjoying its best summer.

1996 | Emancipation 4 votes

1998 | The Truth

1999 | Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic

2001 | The Rainbow Children 3 votes

2002 | One Nite Alone (Piano)

2003 | N.E.W.S.

2004 | Musicology

2006 | 3121 4 votes

2007 | Planet Earth 1 vote

2009 | Lotus Flow3r 4 votes

2010 | 2010 1 vote

love,

Spirit

1. The Rainbow Children

2. Planet Earth

3. One Nite Alone (Piano)

4. The Truth

5. Emancipation

6. 3121

7. Musicology

8. Lotusflow3r

9. Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic

10. 2010

11. News

Player319 said:

1. The Rainbow Children

2. Planet Earth

3. One Nite Alone (Piano)

4. The Truth

5. Emancipation

6. 3121

7. Musicology

8. Lotusflow3r

9. Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic

10. 2010

11. News

Aw, I really liked News... My personal list (if broken down that way) would probably be:

1) Emancipation

2) LotusFlow3r

3) Rainbow Children

4) 3121

5) Planet Earth (which I always felt was just 3121 - Part II)

6) One Night Alone

7) The Truth

8) News

9) MPLSound (if you don't consider that a part of LotusFlow3r)

10) Musicology

11) 20ten

12) Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic

Even then, I don't hate the last few of these albums, they just aren't as good as whats on top in my opinion Except maybe Rave. That had a few good songs but the rest made me wanna hurl (something you won't hear me say often about Prince.)

MPLSound I just love the raw dance and funk of it, the 80s jams feel with the drum machines and the ballads, deeply satisfying music, Its the album Prince finds that reaching into his past can still inspire him with a great album now.

It seems as if freedom was not good for our Princey...

Adorecream said:

MPLSound I just love the raw dance and funk of it, the 80s jams feel with the drum machines and the ballads, deeply satisfying music, Its the album Prince finds that reaching into his past can still inspire him with a great album now.

I know right? It sounds like a kid in a candy store at times. Like Prince opened Pro Tools, then said. Remember all those synths I used to go crazy over? Yeah lets do that. A few hours later, he had an album done and he closed the candy store. (Hence No More Candy 4 U). Like it's not as good as some of his other albums, but you could tell he had fun making it, and it really shows and adds to the album as a result for me.