Of all of the related Prince albums, which one would have done the best if he had sung on it (excluding instrumentals obviously) and released it as a Prince album? Time, Vanity 6, the Family, Sheila E, Madhouse, Eric Leeds, Mayte, etc.

Smillan said:

Of all of the related Prince albums, which one would have done the best if he had sung on it (excluding instrumentals obviously) and released it as a Prince album? Time, Vanity 6, the Family, Sheila E, Madhouse, Eric Leeds, Mayte, etc.

I think I would love to hear the The Family album most with all vocals done by Prince himself. That would make a great Prince album, I believe.

Exodus by the NPG. Although many view it as a Prince album regardless of him not doing the lead vocals on it.

The second The Time album would be a close second.

the first 2 Time albums the family album, come 2 my house and Elixer actually.

[Edited 1/12/14 6:47am]

Vanity 6 and Elixer obviously: having Prince singing "I'm a nasty girl, I need 7 inches or more" or "I'm a kept woman" would have been priceless

novabrkr said:

Exodus by the NPG. Although many view it as a Prince album regardless of him not doing the lead vocals on it.

The second The Time album would be a close second.

Exodus is a great suggestion. The Time's first two albums would be perfect candidates too.

SuperSoulFighter said:

None. The Time was tailor-made for Morris Day, just like the Vanity. Madhouse, Jill Jones and Mavis Staples albums. That's the great thing about Prince as a writer: he can imagine himself as the person singing the song and then write for that person. Imagine this: he wrote Nasty Girl for Vanity and he wrote The Voice and other songs for Mavis. That's a world of difference! Lots of respect for Prince the songwriter here! Then of course there's albums like Sheila and Appolonia that sound as if he could have made them for anyone. The Family falls somewhere in between. Interesting project, but nothing about Paul or Susannah or Eric that makes it sound as if it was made especially for them. [Edited 1/13/14 16:37pm] [Edited 1/13/14 16:38pm]

He wrote Head and Anna Stesia for himself, that's a world of difference.

The Voice wasn't even written for Mavis but for (and with) Rosie. G-Spot was originally intended for Vanity 6 and it's likely that at least All Day, All Night and Baby You're A Trip were intended to be Prince And The Revolution songs at first. Vanity and Apollonia were interchangeable and half the material on The Glamourous Life was originally intended for Apollonia 6. Jaguar was first offered to Sheena then finally given to Mavis, and Wouldn't You Love To Love Me? was first offered to Michael Jackson then given to Taja. Chocolate was written for The Time then offered to James Brown then finally reassigned to The Time alongside Jerk Out which had also been recorded for The Time, then offered to Mazarati, then reassigned to The Time as well. There are many other similar examples. On the other hand it's true that in some cases P wrote the songs with a specific project in mind. The Family was composed with the specific project in mind and certainly doesn't "fall in between", as it was conceived with the whole "drama" feel to it on purpose. Other albums in that category inculde Romance 1600, the The Time albums, Madhouse and some (but not all) of the Jill Jones tracks among others.

Still, many other times he would just recycle stuff from the vault.

Your statements above, while not entirely false, are absolutely subjective and the result of no scientific approach or objective knowledge of 's creative process.

[Edited 1/13/14 21:06pm]

Thibaut said:

the first 2 Time albums the family album, come 2 my house and Elixer actually.

[Edited 1/12/14 6:47am]

^^ I completely agree about "Elixir"! It's actually quite good - the good songs are way above average for me, but the bad songs are sucky sucky bad bad. But on balance, the goodness outweighs the badness. And the good songs would be sooo much better if a great vocalist performed them -- so I definitely think P should have done this album himself.

Of course he can't sing "Kept Woman" with the lyrics as is (tho' he did have Bria sing about being a "king" and about "you" in "your favorite dress" & being a "stallion"), but those things can be tweaked. Actually, I don't like "Kept Woman," so he could just leave it out or replace it.

SuperSoulFighter said:

None. The Time was tailor-made for Morris Day, just like the Vanity. Madhouse, Jill Jones and Mavis Staples albums. That's the great thing about Prince as a writer: he can imagine himself as the person singing the song and then write for that person. Imagine this: he wrote Nasty Girl for Vanity and he wrote The Voice and other songs for Mavis. That's a world of difference! Lots of respect for Prince the songwriter here! Then of course there's albums like Sheila and Appolonia that sound as if he could have made them for anyone. The Family falls somewhere in between. Interesting project, but nothing about Paul or Susannah or Eric that makes it sound as if it was made especially for them. [Edited 1/13/14 16:37pm] [Edited 1/13/14 16:38pm]

Everything that he writes or produces for other people still sounds like it was meant for him. He might write different for Vanity than for Morris, but it's usually just different versions of him being portrayed. They are caricatures of his personality. Prince being a control freak in contrast to him loving the

Either Prince was a genius at spreading his Minneapolis sound and “princey” lyrics, by keeping traces of himself in it, or he was just not as versatile as many of us wants him to be when it comes to producing and writing for others. I like to think that it’s his way of doing business and his feeding his ego. He wants the world to remember him for more than his name. His legacy is now a part of the DNA of how people think when they make music. Prince could easily have some fun with Vanity and Jill Jones as Camille.