gandorb said:

Thanx gandorb!

Day 1: March 23
"Purple Rain"
Gotta start with the album that made me a Prince fan for life with its lead single, "When Doves Cry", the first Prince single I ever bought during my junior year in high school in 1984 and saved my allowance to buy the "Purple Rain" vinyl album when it came out months later. I don't think I knew anyone in my high school-- I grew up in the Philippines-- who was a Prince fan like me. I knew I was different then and it's the main reason that drew me to Prince's music. I can't believe I've been a fan for almost 33 years. Listening to the album now, the music still sound as fresh to my ears like it was just released. I can listen to the album beginning to end over and over. Definitely has my vote as the best opener, Let's Go Crazy, and the best closer, Purple Rain, in any Prince album, not to mention its title track one of the greatest rock anthem ever. Of course, after watching the charismatic Prince and his electrifying performances of the songs in the film, it makes listening to the album even much more enjoyable. Never in my wildest dreams then did I think I would get to watch Prince perform live in concert, but that was about to change when my family unexpectedly moved to the U.S. a few years later. But that's a story for another day. :wink:

Day 2: March 24
"1999"
My favorite Prince double album. "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" are the best opening one-two punch tracks-- "1999", possibly the ultimate end-of-the-world party song and in "Little Red Corvette", the classic car metaphor for a woman with the line-- "baby, you're much 2 fast"-- says it all. The third track, "Delirious", a simple yet catchy Prince track where he sings one of my favorite suggestive lyrics -- "my temperature's running hot, baby u got 2 stop, cuz if u don't I'm gonna explode and girl I got a lot". The whole double album oozes with sex and that's just side one. My other favorite tracks of the album are what I consider four essential club tracks clocking at over seven minutes long each-- "Let's Pretend We're Married", DMSR, "Automatic", and "Lady Cab Driver." Casual Prince fans miss out on these hidden gems; one reason I'm not a big fan of greatest hits compilations.

Day 3: March 25
"Around the World in A Day"
Like many, I anticipated Prince's follow-up to "Purple Rain" album. When "Raspberry Beret", the lead single to "Around the World in A Day" came out, it sounded a lot different from anything he released up to that point. And I loved it! "Raspberry Beret" was the last Prince 7" (45rpm) single I bought. And it has my favorite B-side song-- "She's Always in My Hair". I remember listening to Casey Kasem's American Top 40 every week back in the '80s and "Raspberry Beret" stalled at #2 with Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill" keeping it from becoming #1. I love the music video especially with the extended intro. When the album finally came out, like many, I, too, was surprised how much different the album sounds, from the intro to the title song-- the Beatlesque, psychedelic sounds and lyrics-- which I'm sure alienated a lot of his fans. Took me a number of listens to appreciate the album. While it's not one of my favorite Prince albums, I love some of the songs, namely, the aforementioned "Raspberry Beret", "Pop Life", "Condition of the Heart", and "The Ladder."

Day 4: March 26
"Lovesexy"
I have been playing the "Lovesexy" album on loop all day today. Couldn't skip the songs anyhow as Prince meant the album to be heard from beginning to end-- each and every time. This album has a special significance to me as it's the first Prince album I bought when my family moved to the U.S. from the Philippines, and, coincidentally, it was around the time the Lovesexy Tour was going on and saw Prince in concert for the first time at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (which, sadly, closed its doors March of last year and demolished this past September ). So many wonderful memories for me at that place. Growing up, I never thought I'd ever get to see Prince live in concert and looking back, it felt like a dream. It was a surreal experience! I actually bought tickets to see Prince for two consecutive nights but gave a pair of tix to my sister, who's just a year older than me, for one of the nights hoping to get her to become a Prince fan like me. It didn't work although she enjoyed the concert. I guess Prince fams like us are a rare breed, indeed. Back to the album, it has three of my all-time favorite Prince songs, namely, Alphabet Street, Glam Slam, and I Wish U Heaven. I also like the title track and Anna Stetia. More importantly, the album features my favorite album cover-- Prince in the nude. :cool:

Day 5: March 27
"Prince"
Prince's self-titled album-- his second studio album-- has become one of my favorite albums. It features my all-time favorite Prince song, "I Wanna Be Your Lover," which I can listen on repeat all day. The whole album just flows well and I seldom skip any songs from the album whenever I listen to it although I especially crank up the volume whenever "Bambi" comes on. Kudos to Chaka Khan whose version of "I Feel For You" popularized the song and won Prince a Grammy for Best R&B song. I love the fact that Prince sings mostly in falsetto in all the songs of the album. This is definitely one album where I would have loved to have seen Prince perform all the songs live.

Day 6: March 28

I used to love the album when it first came out but the novelty of the "Segues" in the album has worn off over the years-- I find Kirstie Alley's voice increasingly annoying-- and I skip them now whenever I listen to the album. For the purposes of this tribute for Prince, I listened to the album uninterrupted today. The songs sound dated now especially "My Name is Prince" which has that '90's hip hop vibe that Prince tried to emulate but failed badly. The highlight for me during this period was the introduction of Mayte Garcia as Prince's muse. I still like a couple of songs in the album-- "The Morning Papers" and "7". I love the guitar solos in "The Morning Papers" while "7" especially reminded me of my U.S. Army days when I was stationed in Germany and one of my Army buddies used to play the song very loud in the barracks. It always made me smile hearing that song. :)

Day 7: March 29
"Come"
One of Prince's most underrated albums, I felt the "Come" album would have been a bigger hit had it not been released during the most tumultuous time in Prince's career during the '90s when he had the public dispute with Warner Bros and changed his name to a symbol which, sadly, took the spotlight away from his music but the attention was geared toward the name change and Prince was the butt of jokes as to what to call him. Even the album cover for "Come" announced the death of Prince (the name anyway with the years 1958-1993 on it). I thought this album was conceived better than his last couple of albums released before it-- "Diamonds and Pearls" and . I love how it was intimate and personal, with songs like "Papa", "Dark", and "Solo", and I love the other songs in it, too-- from the jazz-infused lead single, "Letitgo", to the dance grooves of the first four songs of the album beginning with the seductive 11-minute title track to the manic "Loose!" Vanity's uncredited moans in "Orgasm" ending with Prince saying "I love you" sealed the deal for me.

Day 8: March 30
"Sign O' The Times"
I can't believe it's been 30 years since this album was released March of 1987. How time flies! And yet, this album, like wine, gets better with time. It's definitely Prince's masterpiece and most diverse album covering many genres of music. This was the last Prince vinyl album I bought in the Philippines before my family moved to the U.S. and I remember it fondly. This album introduced us to Prince's alter ego, Camille, and the first time I played this album and heard the Camille voice, I thought there was something wrong with my record or the turntable because of the sped up voice. Took me a number of listens to get used to it. It's one album where each song could potentially have been a hit song. I can honestly say I love every song of this album and the album with the most number of my all-time favorite Prince songs-- the title track, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, Starfish and Coffee, If I Was Ur Girlfriend, Adore, U Got the Look, Hot Thing, and I Could Never Take the Place of Ur Man.

Day 9: March 31
"Controversy"
This album has a special significance to me. The title track, one of my favorites, asks "am I straight or gay?" and it was a question I struggled for many years. Growing up in a devout Christian household didn't help either as I grew up believing being gay is a sin and an abomination. Listening to Prince's music helped me deal with those struggles-- not to be ashamed-- "Sexuality is all u'll ever need" he declares in one of the tracks. And while my beliefs (or non-belief) and Prince's beliefs have differed in the coming years, I thank Prince for giving me the courage to finally come out to myself, my family and friends and be true to myself.

Day 10: April 1
"Art Official Age"
It's officially April. It was this month last year that Prince unexpectedly passed away. As his first death anniversary approaches it will be increasingly difficult for many, me included, thinking about his last days. I haven't listened to Prince's music this much since his death, as it had been difficult for me especially the first few months after his death which affected my personal life. I managed to make it through day 10 so far in my 30-day pledge of listening to a Prince album each day as my way of paying tribute to him and honoring his life through his music. I hope I can make it through April 21.

I haven't listened to "Art Official Age" album in months. Definitely one of the best albums he released in his last years. Other than the title track, which I'm not fond of, I love every song in this album and listen to it from beginning to end. The song, "Way Back Home", has taken on a new meaning for me after his death. Prince may already have known then when he recorded this album that his time on earth was almost up (a terminal illness perhaps, we may never know, as he was always a private person and I respect him for that, although it had been hard for many of us dealing with his sudden death). This song-- and album as a whole-- his last concept album-- may be his way of dealing with death and his way of saying goodbye to us. In "Way Back Home" he sings--

"So many reasons why I don't belong here but now I am without fear.
I am gonna conquer with no fear until I find my way back home."

He repeats that same sentiment on "affirmation III" repeatedly singing "until I find my way back home" while a female narrator describes his journey home--

"U've probably felt many years in ur former life, u were separate from not only only others, but even urself. Now u can see that was never the case. U are actually everything and anything that u can think of. All of it is U.

Remember there really is only one destination, and that place is U. All of it, everything is U."

Here's hoping Prince found his way back home.

Day 11: April 2
"Batman"
While the film, "Batman", directed by Tim Burton is not the best Batman film (my vote goes to "The Dark Knight" film), it was a decent film with Michael Keaton playing the title character much better than George Clooney or Val Kilmer, and Jack Nicholson playing the demented Joker with gusto, I eagerly went to see "Batman" during the summer of 1989 mainly to hear Prince's songs featured in the film. "Batdance", of course, was a huge hit that summer and became Prince's 4th #1 song with the album spending six weeks at #1 in the album chart. And while I find the song, "Batdance", corny these days, it still is a guilty pleasure song for me, especially the music video which features Prince as "Gemini" (dressed as half-Batman and half-Joker). Prince seemed to relish the role and having fun in the video as well as in the the follow-up single, "Partyman", also one of my favorite songs in the album. The best line from the album, for me, was in the song, "Electric Chair"-- "If a man is considered guilty for what goes on in his mind, then give me the electric chair for all my futur crimes." Undoubtedly, the best track in the album is the seductive "Scandalous." Classic Prince! :cool:

Day 12: April 3
"Graffiti Bridge"
It's been awhile since I listened to the "Graffiti Bridge" album as a whole. I tend to skip some of the songs. Listening to the full album today, I forgot how good the album actually is. My opinion of the album was tainted over the years by how bad the accompanying film for it. Unlike the movies "Purple Rain" and "Under the Cherry Moon", both of which I enjoy watching regularly, I don't even remember the last time I watched the movie, "Graffiti Bridge." I decided to watch the movie again-- this time on Blu-Ray-- this afternoon. The acting, writing, direction and production of the movie was as bad as I remembered but it was good to see Prince and The Time perform some of the songs in the film again. There are two Prince tracks in the album that I really love-- "The Question of U" and "Joy in Repetition". I also like the songs performed by The Time-- "Release It", "Love Machine" and "Shake!" as well as Tevin Campbell's "Round and Round." While the critical and commercial failure of the movie may have ended Prince's film career, that didn't stop him from making direct-to-video vanity projects in the ensuing years (e.g. "Diamonds and Pearls Video Collection" and "3 Chains O' Gold"). :lol:

Day 13: April 4
"For You"
Woah! I just realized Prince's debut album, "For You", will have its 40th anniversary next year since its release in April, 1978. Prince had been releasing an album almost every year since his debut album, some of which are double or triple albums. Quite an amazing output! And we hope to hear more in the years to come from his vault. After almost 40 years, his debut album still impresses me. Not many artists had the distinction of producing, composing, arranging and performing all the songs of their debut album, not to mention playing 27 instruments. Last month, while I was shopping for used CDs at Amoeba Music store in Hollywood, the store DJ was playing Prince's "For You" album to my surprise and delight. The song, "Soft and Wet", his first hit single from the album, remains one of his beloved classic songs. While the album is not often mentioned as a favorite among his fans, I can say it's a better album than many of the other albums he released over the years, some of which are quite uneven. This album, on the other hand, with its funky, old school vibe, I can listen without skipping any of the songs. It's one of my go-to albums when I just want to chill at home.

Day 14: April 5
"Dirty Mind"
When I was in college and studied Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche consisting of the id, ego, and superego, I thought of Prince's music and have always been drawn to him expressing the "id"-- his libido and sexual drive-- and the "Dirty Mind" album has a healthy (or unhealthy?) dose of that beginning with the throbbing beat of the title track as he described his state of mind, singing about his obsession with an ex in "When U Were Mine", his desire to "Do It All Night"-- including explicit acts of giving "Head" and having incestous relationship with his "Sister". And he loved to "Partyup" in "Uptown". He covered all the bases in the album and we can't get enough of it. It's Prince's leanest album-- at only 30 minutes long-- and yet his funkiest and most daring album. "Dirty Mind" was his first album in the '80s and he continued pushing the envelope throughout the decade-- definitely his most creative period.

Day 15: April 6
"Diamonds and Pearls"
Another milestone for one of Prince's albums as 25 years have passed since the release of "Diamonds and Pearls" in October, 1991. Unlike most of his '80s output, however, time has not been good to it. Save for a few songs, the album sounds dated to me now, not to mention I never warmed up to Tony M's rapping. This release was Prince's attempt then to stay current with the increasing popularity of hip hop (especially gangsta rap) in the late '80s/early '90s, also drastically changing his look-- again-- compared to his image in the previous year's "Graffiti Bridge" album and film release. Listening to songs like "Daddy Pop", "Jughead" and "Push" again was torturous. Plus, the message of the album was conflicting-- Prince sings about Jesus saving your soul in the opening track, "Thunder", and then wanting to do "twenty three positions in a one night stand" in "Gett Off". I also find the title track to be quite cheesy these days although the music video for the song is a guilty pleasure with Prince being chased by the paparazzi before singing the song featuring his back-up dancers named "Diamond" and "Pearl". On the plus side, there are some "gems" (pun intended ) in the album. "Cream" has become a Prince classic and a staple song in his concerts over the years. I love the cool vibe of "Strollin'" and "Willing and Able" while "Walk Don't Walk" is whimsical. The sultry "Insatiable" is irresistible and a worthy addition in Prince's long list of classic soulful ballads. His social commentary on "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" is spot on. Lastly, the message of the closer, "Live 4 Love", inspired me to use the song title as my personalized car license plate for 20 years. 8-)

Day 16: April 7
"20Ten"
I only got the chance to listen to the full "20Ten" album when it became available for streaming on Tidal last year-- months after his death. Whatever Prince's reasons may be for not releasing the album in the U.S., it was a missed opportunity as it's a strong album, in my opinion, and could have produced a couple of hit songs for him. "Beginning Endlessly" could easily have been a club hit. I can listen to that track alone all day. The album production, especially his use of Linn drums, harkens back to some of his early '80's releases. "Compassion" reminds me of "Let's Pretend We're Married". My other favorites are Prince crooning on "Future Soul Song", the funky number "Sticky Like Glue" (although I can do without his rapping), the wistful "Walk in Sand" segueing into "Sea of Everything" featuring his signature silky smooth falsetto. I've seen Prince in concert at least four times since 2010 (during his "Welcome 2 America" tour) and wished he had performed some of the songs from this album.

Day 17: April 8
Day 18: April 9
Day 19: April 10
Day 20: April 11
Day 21: April 12
Day 22: April 13
Day 23: April 14
Day 24: April 15
Day 25: April 16
Day 26: April 17
Day 27: April 18
Day 28: April 19
Day 29: April 20
Day 30: April 21

Day 1: March 23
"Purple Rain"
Gotta start with the album that made me a Prince fan for life with its lead single, "When Doves Cry", the first Prince single I ever bought during my junior year in high school in 1984 and saved my allowance to buy the "Purple Rain" vinyl album when it came out months later. I don't think I knew anyone in my high school-- I grew up in the Philippines-- who was a Prince fan like me. I knew I was different then and it's the main reason that drew me to Prince's music. I can't believe I've been a fan for almost 33 years. Listening to the album now, the music still sound as fresh to my ears like it was just released. I can listen to the album beginning to end over and over. Definitely has my vote as the best opener, Let's Go Crazy, and the best closer, Purple Rain, in any Prince album, not to mention its title track one of the greatest rock anthem ever. Of course, after watching the charismatic Prince and his electrifying performances of the songs in the film, it makes listening to the album even much more enjoyable. Never in my wildest dreams then did I think I would get to watch Prince perform live in concert, but that was about to change when my family unexpectedly moved to the U.S. a few years later. But that's a story for another day. :wink:

Day 2: March 24
"1999"
My favorite Prince double album. "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" are the best opening one-two punch tracks-- "1999", possibly the ultimate end-of-the-world party song and in "Little Red Corvette", the classic car metaphor for a woman with the line-- "baby, you're much 2 fast"-- says it all. The third track, "Delirious", a simple yet catchy Prince track where he sings one of my favorite suggestive lyrics -- "my temperature's running hot, baby u got 2 stop, cuz if u don't I'm gonna explode and girl I got a lot". The whole double album oozes with sex and that's just side one. My other favorite tracks of the album are what I consider four essential club tracks clocking at over seven minutes long each-- "Let's Pretend We're Married", DMSR, "Automatic", and "Lady Cab Driver." Casual Prince fans miss out on these hidden gems; one reason I'm not a big fan of greatest hits compilations.

Day 3: March 25
"Around the World in A Day"
Like many, I anticipated Prince's follow-up to "Purple Rain" album. When "Raspberry Beret", the lead single to "Around the World in A Day" came out, it sounded a lot different from anything he released up to that point. And I loved it! "Raspberry Beret" was the last Prince 7" (45rpm) single I bought. And it has my favorite B-side song-- "She's Always in My Hair". I remember listening to Casey Kasem's American Top 40 every week back in the '80s and "Raspberry Beret" stalled at #2 with Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill" keeping it from becoming #1. I love the music video especially with the extended intro. When the album finally came out, like many, I, too, was surprised how much different the album sounds, from the intro to the title song-- the Beatlesque, psychedelic sounds and lyrics-- which I'm sure alienated a lot of his fans. Took me a number of listens to appreciate the album. While it's not one of my favorite Prince albums, I love some of the songs, namely, the aforementioned "Raspberry Beret", "Pop Life", "Condition of the Heart", and "The Ladder."

Day 4: March 26
"Lovesexy"
I have been playing the "Lovesexy" album on loop all day today. Couldn't skip the songs anyhow as Prince meant the album to be heard from beginning to end-- each and every time. This album has a special significance to me as it's the first Prince album I bought when my family moved to the U.S. from the Philippines, and, coincidentally, it was around the time the Lovesexy Tour was going on and saw Prince in concert for the first time at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (which, sadly, closed its doors March of last year and demolished this past September ). So many wonderful memories for me at that place. Growing up, I never thought I'd ever get to see Prince live in concert and looking back, it felt like a dream. It was a surreal experience! I actually bought tickets to see Prince for two consecutive nights but gave a pair of tix to my sister, who's just a year older than me, for one of the nights hoping to get her to become a Prince fan like me. It didn't work although she enjoyed the concert. I guess Prince fams like us are a rare breed, indeed. Back to the album, it has three of my all-time favorite Prince songs, namely, Alphabet Street, Glam Slam, and I Wish U Heaven. I also like the title track and Anna Stetia. More importantly, the album features my favorite album cover-- Prince in the nude. :cool:

Day 5: March 27
"Prince"
Prince's self-titled album-- his second studio album-- has become one of my favorite albums. It features my all-time favorite Prince song, "I Wanna Be Your Lover," which I can listen on repeat all day. The whole album just flows well and I seldom skip any songs from the album whenever I listen to it although I especially crank up the volume whenever "Bambi" comes on. Kudos to Chaka Khan whose version of "I Feel For You" popularized the song and won Prince a Grammy for Best R&B song. I love the fact that Prince sings mostly in falsetto in all the songs of the album. This is definitely one album where I would have loved to have seen Prince perform all the songs live.

Day 6: March 28

I used to love the album when it first came out but the novelty of the "Segues" in the album has worn off over the years-- I find Kirstie Alley's voice increasingly annoying-- and I skip them now whenever I listen to the album. For the purposes of this tribute for Prince, I listened to the album uninterrupted today. The songs sound dated now especially "My Name is Prince" which has that '90's hip hop vibe that Prince tried to emulate but failed badly. The highlight for me during this period was the introduction of Mayte Garcia as Prince's muse. I still like a couple of songs in the album-- "The Morning Papers" and "7". I love the guitar solos in "The Morning Papers" while "7" especially reminded me of my U.S. Army days when I was stationed in Germany and one of my Army buddies used to play the song very loud in the barracks. It always made me smile hearing that song. :)

Day 7: March 29
"Come"
One of Prince's most underrated albums, I felt the "Come" album would have been a bigger hit had it not been released during the most tumultuous time in Prince's career during the '90s when he had the public dispute with Warner Bros and changed his name to a symbol which, sadly, took the spotlight away from his music but the attention was geared toward the name change and Prince was the butt of jokes as to what to call him. Even the album cover for "Come" announced the death of Prince (the name anyway with the years 1958-1993 on it). I thought this album was conceived better than his last couple of albums released before it-- "Diamonds and Pearls" and . I love how it was intimate and personal, with songs like "Papa", "Dark", and "Solo", and I love the other songs in it, too-- from the jazz-infused lead single, "Letitgo", to the dance grooves of the first four songs of the album beginning with the seductive 11-minute title track to the manic "Loose!" Vanity's uncredited moans in "Orgasm" ending with Prince saying "I love you" sealed the deal for me.

Day 8: March 30
"Sign O' The Times"
I can't believe it's been 30 years since this album was released March of 1987. How time flies! And yet, this album, like wine, gets better with time. It's definitely Prince's masterpiece and most diverse album covering many genres of music. This was the last Prince vinyl album I bought in the Philippines before my family moved to the U.S. and I remember it fondly. This album introduced us to Prince's alter ego, Camille, and the first time I played this album and heard the Camille voice, I thought there was something wrong with my record or the turntable because of the sped up voice. Took me a number of listens to get used to it. It's one album where each song could potentially have been a hit song. I can honestly say I love every song of this album and the album with the most number of my all-time favorite Prince songs-- the title track, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, Starfish and Coffee, If I Was Ur Girlfriend, Adore, U Got the Look, Hot Thing, and I Could Never Take the Place of Ur Man.

Day 9: March 31
"Controversy"
This album has a special significance to me. The title track, one of my favorites, asks "am I straight or gay?" and it was a question I struggled for many years. Growing up in a devout Christian household didn't help either as I grew up believing being gay is a sin and an abomination. Listening to Prince's music helped me deal with those struggles-- not to be ashamed-- "Sexuality is all u'll ever need" he declares in one of the tracks. And while my beliefs (or non-belief) and Prince's beliefs have differed in the coming years, I thank Prince for giving me the courage to finally come out to myself, my family and friends and be true to myself.

Day 10: April 1
"Art Official Age"
It's officially April. It was this month last year that Prince unexpectedly passed away. As his first death anniversary approaches it will be increasingly difficult for many, me included, thinking about his last days. I haven't listened to Prince's music this much since his death, as it had been difficult for me especially the first few months after his death which affected my personal life. I managed to make it through day 10 so far in my 30-day pledge of listening to a Prince album each day as my way of paying tribute to him and honoring his life through his music. I hope I can make it through April 21.

I haven't listened to "Art Official Age" album in months. Definitely one of the best albums he released in his last years. Other than the title track, which I'm not fond of, I love every song in this album and listen to it from beginning to end. The song, "Way Back Home", has taken on a new meaning for me after his death. Prince may already have known then when he recorded this album that his time on earth was almost up (a terminal illness perhaps, we may never know, as he was always a private person and I respect him for that, although it had been hard for many of us dealing with his sudden death). This song-- and album as a whole-- his last concept album-- may be his way of dealing with death and his way of saying goodbye to us. In "Way Back Home" he sings--

"So many reasons why I don't belong here but now I am without fear.
I am gonna conquer with no fear until I find my way back home."

He repeats that same sentiment on "affirmation III" repeatedly singing "until I find my way back home" while a female narrator describes his journey home--

"U've probably felt many years in ur former life, u were separate from not only only others, but even urself. Now u can see that was never the case. U are actually everything and anything that u can think of. All of it is U.

Remember there really is only one destination, and that place is U. All of it, everything is U."

Here's hoping Prince found his way back home.

Day 11: April 2
"Batman"
While the film, "Batman", directed by Tim Burton is not the best Batman film (my vote goes to "The Dark Knight" film), it was a decent film with Michael Keaton playing the title character much better than George Clooney or Val Kilmer, and Jack Nicholson playing the demented Joker with gusto, I eagerly went to see "Batman" during the summer of 1989 mainly to hear Prince's songs featured in the film. "Batdance", of course, was a huge hit that summer and became Prince's 4th #1 song with the album spending six weeks at #1 in the album chart. And while I find the song, "Batdance", corny these days, it still is a guilty pleasure song for me, especially the music video which features Prince as "Gemini" (dressed as half-Batman and half-Joker). Prince seemed to relish the role and having fun in the video as well as in the the follow-up single, "Partyman", also one of my favorite songs in the album. The best line from the album, for me, was in the song, "Electric Chair"-- "If a man is considered guilty for what goes on in his mind, then give me the electric chair for all my futur crimes." Undoubtedly, the best track in the album is the seductive "Scandalous." Classic Prince! :cool:

Day 12: April 3
"Graffiti Bridge"
It's been awhile since I listened to the "Graffiti Bridge" album as a whole. I tend to skip some of the songs. Listening to the full album today, I forgot how good the album actually is. My opinion of the album was tainted over the years by how bad the accompanying film for it. Unlike the movies "Purple Rain" and "Under the Cherry Moon", both of which I enjoy watching regularly, I don't even remember the last time I watched the movie, "Graffiti Bridge." I decided to watch the movie again-- this time on Blu-Ray-- this afternoon. The acting, writing, direction and production of the movie was as bad as I remembered but it was good to see Prince and The Time perform some of the songs in the film again. There are two Prince tracks in the album that I really love-- "The Question of U" and "Joy in Repetition". I also like the songs performed by The Time-- "Release It", "Love Machine" and "Shake!" as well as Tevin Campbell's "Round and Round." While the critical and commercial failure of the movie may have ended Prince's film career, that didn't stop him from making direct-to-video vanity projects in the ensuing years (e.g. "Diamonds and Pearls Video Collection" and "3 Chains O' Gold"). :lol:

Day 13: April 4
"For You"
Woah! I just realized Prince's debut album, "For You", will have its 40th anniversary next year since its release in April, 1978. Prince had been releasing an album almost every year since his debut album, some of which are double or triple albums. Quite an amazing output! And we hope to hear more in the years to come from his vault. After almost 40 years, his debut album still impresses me. Not many artists had the distinction of producing, composing, arranging and performing all the songs of their debut album, not to mention playing 27 instruments. Last month, while I was shopping for used CDs at Amoeba Music store in Hollywood, the store DJ was playing Prince's "For You" album to my surprise and delight. The song, "Soft and Wet", his first hit single from the album, remains one of his beloved classic songs. While the album is not often mentioned as a favorite among his fans, I can say it's a better album than many of the other albums he released over the years, some of which are quite uneven. This album, on the other hand, with its funky, old school vibe, I can listen without skipping any of the songs. It's one of my go-to albums when I just want to chill at home.

Day 14: April 5
"Dirty Mind"
When I was in college and studied Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche consisting of the id, ego, and superego, I thought of Prince's music and have always been drawn to him expressing the "id"-- his libido and sexual drive-- and the "Dirty Mind" album has a healthy (or unhealthy?) dose of that beginning with the throbbing beat of the title track as he described his state of mind, singing about his obsession with an ex in "When U Were Mine", his desire to "Do It All Night"-- including explicit acts of giving "Head" and having incestous relationship with his "Sister". And he loved to "Partyup" in "Uptown". He covered all the bases in the album and we can't get enough of it. It's Prince's leanest album-- at only 30 minutes long-- and yet his funkiest and most daring album. "Dirty Mind" was his first album in the '80s and he continued pushing the envelope throughout the decade-- definitely his most creative period.

Day 15: April 6
"Diamonds and Pearls"
Another milestone for one of Prince's albums as 25 years have passed since the release of "Diamonds and Pearls" in October, 1991. Unlike most of his '80s output, however, time has not been good to it. Save for a few songs, the album sounds dated to me now, not to mention I never warmed up to Tony M's rapping. This release was Prince's attempt then to stay current with the increasing popularity of hip hop (especially gangsta rap) in the late '80s/early '90s, also drastically changing his look-- again-- compared to his image in the previous year's "Graffiti Bridge" album and film release. Listening to songs like "Daddy Pop", "Jughead" and "Push" again was torturous. Plus, the message of the album was conflicting-- Prince sings about Jesus saving your soul in the opening track, "Thunder", and then wanting to do "twenty three positions in a one night stand" in "Gett Off". I also find the title track to be quite cheesy these days although the music video for the song is a guilty pleasure with Prince being chased by the paparazzi before singing the song featuring his back-up dancers named "Diamond" and "Pearl". On the plus side, there are some "gems" (pun intended ) in the album. "Cream" has become a Prince classic and a staple song in his concerts over the years. I love the cool vibe of "Strollin'" and "Willing and Able" while "Walk Don't Walk" is whimsical. The sultry "Insatiable" is irresistible and a worthy addition in Prince's long list of classic soulful ballads. His social commentary on "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" is spot on. Lastly, the message of the closer, "Live 4 Love", inspired me to use the song title as my personalized car license plate for 20 years. 8-)

Day 16: April 7
"20Ten"
I only got the chance to listen to the full "20Ten" album when it became available for streaming on Tidal last year-- months after his death. Whatever Prince's reasons may be for not releasing the album in the U.S., it was a missed opportunity as it's a strong album, in my opinion, and could have produced a couple of hit songs for him. "Beginning Endlessly" could easily have been a club hit. I can listen to that track alone all day. The album production, especially his use of Linn drums, harkens back to some of his early '80's releases. "Compassion" reminds me of "Let's Pretend We're Married". My other favorites are Prince crooning on "Future Soul Song", the funky number "Sticky Like Glue" (although I can do without his rapping), the wistful "Walk in Sand" segueing into "Sea of Everything" featuring his signature silky smooth falsetto. I've seen Prince in concert at least four times since 2010 (during his "Welcome 2 America" tour) and wished he had performed some of the songs from this album.

Day 17: April 8
"Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic"
This companion album to "Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic" was released initially through Prince's NPG Music Club where I was a paying member for a couple of years. I looked forward to this album but was disappointed that the remixes of the songs didn't improve upon the original cuts of the former album. The one saving grace of this album, for me anyway, was the inclusion of the song, "Beautiful Strange". I love the guitar solo in that song. I was never a fan of the title track and the remix version made it worse for me. Thankfully, the songs that I love in that album mostly remained unchanged in this release-- "I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore" (possibly his most heartfelt, breakup song), "So Far, So Pleased" (a bouncy pop duet with Gwen Stefani), "The Sun, the Moon and Stars" (I love the reggae vibe of the song), and "Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do" (I love when he sings, "Remember life ain't always what it seems. For each rainy day that comes your way, the sun will come shining and you'll be okay"). A simple yet quite reassuring message! :)

Day 18: April 9
Day 19: April 10
Day 20: April 11
Day 21: April 12
Day 22: April 13
Day 23: April 14
Day 24: April 15
Day 25: April 16
Day 26: April 17
Day 27: April 18
Day 28: April 19
Day 29: April 20
Day 30: April 21

Day 1: March 23
"Purple Rain"
Gotta start with the album that made me a Prince fan for life with its lead single, "When Doves Cry", the first Prince single I ever bought during my junior year in high school in 1984 and saved my allowance to buy the "Purple Rain" vinyl album when it came out months later. I don't think I knew anyone in my high school-- I grew up in the Philippines-- who was a Prince fan like me. I knew I was different then and it's the main reason that drew me to Prince's music. I can't believe I've been a fan for almost 33 years. Listening to the album now, the music still sound as fresh to my ears like it was just released. I can listen to the album beginning to end over and over. Definitely has my vote as the best opener, Let's Go Crazy, and the best closer, Purple Rain, in any Prince album, not to mention its title track one of the greatest rock anthem ever. Of course, after watching the charismatic Prince and his electrifying performances of the songs in the film, it makes listening to the album even much more enjoyable. Never in my wildest dreams then did I think I would get to watch Prince perform live in concert, but that was about to change when my family unexpectedly moved to the U.S. a few years later. But that's a story for another day. :wink:

Day 2: March 24
"1999"
My favorite Prince double album. "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" are the best opening one-two punch tracks-- "1999", possibly the ultimate end-of-the-world party song and in "Little Red Corvette", the classic car metaphor for a woman with the line-- "baby, you're much 2 fast"-- says it all. The third track, "Delirious", a simple yet catchy Prince track where he sings one of my favorite suggestive lyrics -- "my temperature's running hot, baby u got 2 stop, cuz if u don't I'm gonna explode and girl I got a lot". The whole double album oozes with sex and that's just side one. My other favorite tracks of the album are what I consider four essential club tracks clocking at over seven minutes long each-- "Let's Pretend We're Married", DMSR, "Automatic", and "Lady Cab Driver." Casual Prince fans miss out on these hidden gems; one reason I'm not a big fan of greatest hits compilations.

Day 3: March 25
"Around the World in A Day"
Like many, I anticipated Prince's follow-up to "Purple Rain" album. When "Raspberry Beret", the lead single to "Around the World in A Day" came out, it sounded a lot different from anything he released up to that point. And I loved it! "Raspberry Beret" was the last Prince 7" (45rpm) single I bought. And it has my favorite B-side song-- "She's Always in My Hair". I remember listening to Casey Kasem's American Top 40 every week back in the '80s and "Raspberry Beret" stalled at #2 with Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill" keeping it from becoming #1. I love the music video especially with the extended intro. When the album finally came out, like many, I, too, was surprised how much different the album sounds, from the intro to the title song-- the Beatlesque, psychedelic sounds and lyrics-- which I'm sure alienated a lot of his fans. Took me a number of listens to appreciate the album. While it's not one of my favorite Prince albums, I love some of the songs, namely, the aforementioned "Raspberry Beret", "Pop Life", "Condition of the Heart", and "The Ladder."

Day 4: March 26
"Lovesexy"
I have been playing the "Lovesexy" album on loop all day today. Couldn't skip the songs anyhow as Prince meant the album to be heard from beginning to end-- each and every time. This album has a special significance to me as it's the first Prince album I bought when my family moved to the U.S. from the Philippines, and, coincidentally, it was around the time the Lovesexy Tour was going on and saw Prince in concert for the first time at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (which, sadly, closed its doors March of last year and demolished this past September ). So many wonderful memories for me at that place. Growing up, I never thought I'd ever get to see Prince live in concert and looking back, it felt like a dream. It was a surreal experience! I actually bought tickets to see Prince for two consecutive nights but gave a pair of tix to my sister, who's just a year older than me, for one of the nights hoping to get her to become a Prince fan like me. It didn't work although she enjoyed the concert. I guess Prince fams like us are a rare breed, indeed. Back to the album, it has three of my all-time favorite Prince songs, namely, Alphabet Street, Glam Slam, and I Wish U Heaven. I also like the title track and Anna Stetia. More importantly, the album features my favorite album cover-- Prince in the nude. :cool:

Day 5: March 27
"Prince"
Prince's self-titled album-- his second studio album-- has become one of my favorite albums. It features my all-time favorite Prince song, "I Wanna Be Your Lover," which I can listen on repeat all day. The whole album just flows well and I seldom skip any songs from the album whenever I listen to it although I especially crank up the volume whenever "Bambi" comes on. Kudos to Chaka Khan whose version of "I Feel For You" popularized the song and won Prince a Grammy for Best R&B song. I love the fact that Prince sings mostly in falsetto in all the songs of the album. This is definitely one album where I would have loved to have seen Prince perform all the songs live.

Day 6: March 28

I used to love the album when it first came out but the novelty of the "Segues" in the album has worn off over the years-- I find Kirstie Alley's voice increasingly annoying-- and I skip them now whenever I listen to the album. For the purposes of this tribute for Prince, I listened to the album uninterrupted today. The songs sound dated now especially "My Name is Prince" which has that '90's hip hop vibe that Prince tried to emulate but failed badly. The highlight for me during this period was the introduction of Mayte Garcia as Prince's muse. I still like a couple of songs in the album-- "The Morning Papers" and "7". I love the guitar solos in "The Morning Papers" while "7" especially reminded me of my U.S. Army days when I was stationed in Germany and one of my Army buddies used to play the song very loud in the barracks. It always made me smile hearing that song. :)

Day 7: March 29
"Come"
One of Prince's most underrated albums, I felt the "Come" album would have been a bigger hit had it not been released during the most tumultuous time in Prince's career during the '90s when he had the public dispute with Warner Bros and changed his name to a symbol which, sadly, took the spotlight away from his music but the attention was geared toward the name change and Prince was the butt of jokes as to what to call him. Even the album cover for "Come" announced the death of Prince (the name anyway with the years 1958-1993 on it). I thought this album was conceived better than his last couple of albums released before it-- "Diamonds and Pearls" and . I love how it was intimate and personal, with songs like "Papa", "Dark", and "Solo", and I love the other songs in it, too-- from the jazz-infused lead single, "Letitgo", to the dance grooves of the first four songs of the album beginning with the seductive 11-minute title track to the manic "Loose!" Vanity's uncredited moans in "Orgasm" ending with Prince saying "I love you" sealed the deal for me.

Day 8: March 30
"Sign O' The Times"
I can't believe it's been 30 years since this album was released March of 1987. How time flies! And yet, this album, like wine, gets better with time. It's definitely Prince's masterpiece and most diverse album covering many genres of music. This was the last Prince vinyl album I bought in the Philippines before my family moved to the U.S. and I remember it fondly. This album introduced us to Prince's alter ego, Camille, and the first time I played this album and heard the Camille voice, I thought there was something wrong with my record or the turntable because of the sped up voice. Took me a number of listens to get used to it. It's one album where each song could potentially have been a hit song. I can honestly say I love every song of this album and the album with the most number of my all-time favorite Prince songs-- the title track, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, Starfish and Coffee, If I Was Ur Girlfriend, Adore, U Got the Look, Hot Thing, and I Could Never Take the Place of Ur Man.

Day 9: March 31
"Controversy"
This album has a special significance to me. The title track, one of my favorites, asks "am I straight or gay?" and it was a question I struggled for many years. Growing up in a devout Christian household didn't help either as I grew up believing being gay is a sin and an abomination. Listening to Prince's music helped me deal with those struggles-- not to be ashamed-- "Sexuality is all u'll ever need" he declares in one of the tracks. And while my beliefs (or non-belief) and Prince's beliefs have differed in the coming years, I thank Prince for giving me the courage to be true to myself and finally come out to myself, my family and friends.

Day 10: April 1
"Art Official Age"
It's officially April. It was this month last year that Prince unexpectedly passed away. As his first death anniversary approaches it will be increasingly difficult for many, me included, thinking about his last days. I haven't listened to Prince's music this much since his death, as it had been difficult for me especially the first few months after his death which affected my personal life. I managed to make it through day 10 so far in my 30-day pledge of listening to a Prince album each day as my way of paying tribute to him and honoring his life through his music. I hope I can make it through April 21.

I haven't listened to "Art Official Age" album in months. Definitely one of the best albums he released in his last years. Other than the title track, which I'm not fond of, I love the rest of the album particularly "Clouds", "Breakdown", "This Could Be Us" and "Way Back Home". Talking about the song, "Way Back Home", it has taken on a new meaning for me after his death. Prince may already have known then when he recorded this album that his time on earth was almost up (a terminal illness perhaps, we may never know, as he was always a private person and I respect him for that, although it had been hard for many of us dealing with his sudden death). This song-- and album as a whole-- his last concept album-- may be his way of dealing with death and his way of saying goodbye to us. In "Way Back Home" he sings--

"So many reasons why I don't belong here but now I am without fear.
I am gonna conquer with no fear until I find my way back home."

He repeats that same sentiment on "affirmation III" repeatedly singing "until I find my way back home" while a female narrator describes his journey home--

"U've probably felt many years in ur former life, u were separate from not only only others, but even urself. Now u can see that was never the case. U are actually everything and anything that u can think of. All of it is U...Remember there really is only one destination, and that place is U. All of it, everything is U."

Here's hoping Prince found his way back home.

Day 11: April 2
"Batman"
While the film, "Batman", directed by Tim Burton is not the best Batman film (my vote goes to "The Dark Knight" film), it was a decent film with Michael Keaton playing the title character much better than George Clooney or Val Kilmer, and Jack Nicholson playing the demented Joker with gusto, I eagerly went to see "Batman" during the summer of 1989 mainly to hear Prince's songs featured in the film. "Batdance", of course, was a huge hit that summer and became Prince's 4th #1 song with the album spending six weeks at #1 in the album chart. And while I find the song, "Batdance", corny these days, it still is a guilty pleasure song for me, especially the music video which features Prince as "Gemini" (dressed as half-Batman and half-Joker). Prince seemed to relish the role and having fun in the video as well as in the the follow-up single, "Partyman", also one of my favorite songs in the album. My favorite line from the album was in the song, "Electric Chair"-- "If a man is considered guilty for what goes on in his mind, then give me the electric chair for all my future crimes." Undoubtedly, the best track in the album is the seductive "Scandalous." Classic Prince! :cool:

Day 12: April 3
"Graffiti Bridge"
It's been awhile since I listened to the "Graffiti Bridge" album as a whole. I tend to skip some of the songs. Listening to the full album today, I forgot how good the album actually is. My opinion of the album was tainted over the years by how bad the accompanying film for it. Unlike the movies "Purple Rain" and "Under the Cherry Moon", both of which I enjoy watching regularly, I don't even remember the last time I watched the movie, "Graffiti Bridge." I decided to watch the movie again-- this time on Blu-Ray-- this afternoon. The acting, writing, direction and production of the movie was as bad as I remembered but it was good to see Prince and The Time perform some of the songs in the film again. There are two Prince tracks in the album that I really love-- "The Question of U" and "Joy in Repetition". I also like the songs performed by The Time-- "Release It", "Love Machine" and "Shake!" as well as Tevin Campbell's "Round and Round." While the critical and commercial failure of the movie may have ended Prince's film career, that didn't stop him from making direct-to-video vanity projects in the ensuing years (e.g. "Diamonds and Pearls Video Collection" and "3 Chains O' Gold"). :lol:

Day 13: April 4
"For You"
Woah! I just realized Prince's debut album, "For You", will have its 40th anniversary next year since its release in April, 1978. Prince had been releasing an album almost every year since his debut album, some of which are double or triple albums. Quite an amazing output! And we hope to hear more in the years to come from his vault. After almost 40 years, his debut album still impresses me. Not many artists had the distinction of producing, composing, arranging and performing all the songs of their debut album, not to mention playing 27 instruments. Last month, while I was shopping for used CDs at Amoeba Music store in Hollywood, the store DJ was playing Prince's "For You" album to my surprise and delight. The song, "Soft and Wet", his first hit single from the album, remains one of his beloved classic songs. While the album is not often mentioned as a favorite among his fans, I can say it's a better album than many of the other albums he released over the years, some of which are quite uneven. This album, on the other hand, with its funky, old school vibe, I can listen without skipping any of the songs. It's one of my go-to albums when I just want to chill at home.

Day 14: April 5
"Dirty Mind"
When I was in college and studied Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche consisting of the id, ego, and superego, I thought of Prince's music and have always been drawn to him expressing the "id"-- his libido and sexual drive-- and the "Dirty Mind" album has a healthy (or unhealthy?) dose of that beginning with the throbbing beat of the title track as he described his state of mind, singing about his obsession with an ex in "When U Were Mine", his desire to "Do It All Night"-- including explicit acts of giving "Head" and having incestous relationship with his "Sister". And he loved to "Partyup" in "Uptown". He covered all the bases in the album and we can't get enough of it. It's Prince's leanest album-- at only 30 minutes long-- and yet his funkiest and most daring album. "Dirty Mind" was his first album in the '80s and he continued pushing the envelope throughout the decade-- definitely his most creative period.

Day 15: April 6
"Diamonds and Pearls"
Another milestone for one of Prince's albums as 25 years have passed since the release of "Diamonds and Pearls" in October, 1991. Unlike most of his '80s output, however, time has not been good to it. Save for a few songs, the album sounds dated to me now, not to mention I never warmed up to Tony M's rapping. This release was Prince's attempt then to stay current with the increasing popularity of hip hop (especially gangsta rap) in the late '80s/early '90s, also drastically changing his look-- again-- compared to his image in the previous year's "Graffiti Bridge" album and film release. Listening to songs like "Daddy Pop", "Jughead" and "Push" again was torturous. Plus, the message of the album was conflicting-- Prince sings about Jesus saving your soul in the opening track, "Thunder", and then wanting to do "twenty three positions in a one night stand" in "Gett Off". I also find the title track to be quite cheesy these days although the music video for the song is a guilty pleasure with Prince being chased by the paparazzi before singing the song featuring his back-up dancers named "Diamond" and "Pearl". On the plus side, there are some "gems" (pun intended ) in the album. "Cream" has become a Prince classic and a staple song in his concerts over the years. I love the cool vibe of "Strollin'" and "Willing and Able" while "Walk Don't Walk" is whimsical. The sultry "Insatiable" is irresistible and a worthy addition in Prince's long list of classic soulful ballads. His social commentary on "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" is spot on. Lastly, the message of the closer, "Live 4 Love", inspired me to use the song title as my personalized car license plate for 20 years. 8-)

Day 16: April 7
"20Ten"
I only got the chance to listen to the full "20Ten" album when it became available for streaming on Tidal last year-- months after his death. Whatever Prince's reasons may be for not releasing the album in the U.S., it was a missed opportunity as it's a strong album, in my opinion, and could have produced a couple of hit songs for him. "Beginning Endlessly" could easily have been a club hit. I can listen to that track alone all day. The album production, especially his use of Linn drums, harkens back to some of his early '80's releases. "Compassion" reminds me of "Let's Pretend We're Married". My other favorites are Prince crooning on "Future Soul Song", the funky number "Sticky Like Glue" (although I can do without his rapping), the wistful "Walk in Sand" segueing into "Sea of Everything" featuring his signature silky smooth falsetto. I've seen Prince in concert at least four times since 2010 (during his "Welcome 2 America" tour) and wished he had performed some of the songs from this album.

Day 17: April 8
"Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic"
This companion album to "Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic" was released initially through Prince's NPG Music Club where I was a paying member for a couple of years. I looked forward to this album but was disappointed that the remixes of the songs didn't improve upon the original cuts of the former album. The one saving grace of this album, for me anyway, was the inclusion of the song, "Beautiful Strange". I love the guitar solo in that song. I was never a fan of the title track and the remix version made it worse for me. Thankfully, the songs that I love in that album mostly remained unchanged in this release-- "I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore" (possibly his most heartfelt, breakup song), "So Far, So Pleased" (a bouncy pop duet with Gwen Stefani), "The Sun, the Moon and Stars" (I love the reggae vibe of the song), and the uplifting "Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do" (I love when he sings, "Remember life ain't always what it seems. For each rainy day that comes your way, the sun will come shining and you'll be okay"). A simple yet quite reassuring message! :)

Day 18: April 9
"Newpower Soul"
I haven't listened to this album in over a decade. I'll be honest, I didn't follow Prince's music and career closely from the mid-90's to early 2000. I was in the U.S. Army then and when I got out I was studying full-time in college and working at the same time. That was the period when he was releasing albums in his moniker. Many of his releases during that period I bought eventually years later. The "Newpower Soul" album is one of them. Listening to the album again after all these years, like many of his 90's output when he started including hip hop elements in his music (particularly the rapping), they sound dated now. He even had Doug E. Fresh rap in a couple of tracks in this album-- "Push It Up" and "(I Like) Funky Music". What I love about this album, however, are the horn sections featured in the title track as well as in "Mad Sex" and "When U Love Somebody" (can't resist dancing to the beat of these songs). I love the slow songs as well-- can't go wrong with Prince singing falsetto in "Until U're in My Arms Again" and especially, in "The One". Those two are my favorite songs in the album along with "Come On"- I love the groove of the song that reminds me of the incessant beat on "Forever in My Life". 8-)

Day 19: April 10
Day 20: April 11
Day 21: April 12
Day 22: April 13
Day 23: April 14
Day 24: April 15
Day 25: April 16
Day 26: April 17
Day 27: April 18
Day 28: April 19
Day 29: April 20
Day 30: April 21

Day 1: March 23
"Purple Rain"
Gotta start with the album that made me a Prince fan for life with its lead single, "When Doves Cry", the first Prince single I ever bought during my junior year in high school in 1984 and saved my allowance to buy the "Purple Rain" vinyl album when it came out months later. I don't think I knew anyone in my high school-- I grew up in the Philippines-- who was a Prince fan like me. I knew I was different then and it's the main reason that drew me to Prince's music. I can't believe I've been a fan for almost 33 years. Listening to the album now, the music still sound as fresh to my ears like it was just released. I can listen to the album beginning to end over and over. Definitely has my vote as the best opener, Let's Go Crazy, and the best closer, Purple Rain, in any Prince album, not to mention its title track one of the greatest rock anthem ever. Of course, after watching the charismatic Prince and his electrifying performances of the songs in the film, it makes listening to the album even much more enjoyable. Never in my wildest dreams then did I think I would get to watch Prince perform live in concert, but that was about to change when my family unexpectedly moved to the U.S. a few years later. But that's a story for another day. :wink:

Day 2: March 24
"1999"
My favorite Prince double album. "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" are the best opening one-two punch tracks-- "1999", possibly the ultimate end-of-the-world party song and in "Little Red Corvette", the classic car metaphor for a woman with the line-- "baby, you're much 2 fast"-- says it all. The third track, "Delirious", a simple yet catchy Prince track where he sings one of my favorite suggestive lyrics -- "my temperature's running hot, baby u got 2 stop, cuz if u don't I'm gonna explode and girl I got a lot". The whole double album oozes with sex and that's just side one. My other favorite tracks of the album are what I consider four essential club tracks clocking at over seven minutes long each-- "Let's Pretend We're Married", DMSR, "Automatic", and "Lady Cab Driver." Casual Prince fans miss out on these hidden gems; one reason I'm not a big fan of greatest hits compilations.

Day 3: March 25
"Around the World in A Day"
Like many, I anticipated Prince's follow-up to "Purple Rain" album. When "Raspberry Beret", the lead single to "Around the World in A Day" came out, it sounded a lot different from anything he released up to that point. And I loved it! "Raspberry Beret" was the last Prince 7" (45rpm) single I bought. And it has my favorite B-side song-- "She's Always in My Hair". I remember listening to Casey Kasem's American Top 40 every week back in the '80s and "Raspberry Beret" stalled at #2 with Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill" keeping it from becoming #1. I love the music video especially with the extended intro. When the album finally came out, like many, I, too, was surprised how much different the album sounds, from the intro to the title song-- the Beatlesque, psychedelic sounds and lyrics-- which I'm sure alienated a lot of his fans. Took me a number of listens to appreciate the album. While it's not one of my favorite Prince albums, I love some of the songs, namely, the aforementioned "Raspberry Beret", "Pop Life", "Condition of the Heart", and "The Ladder."

Day 4: March 26
"Lovesexy"
I have been playing the "Lovesexy" album on loop all day today. Couldn't skip the songs anyhow as Prince meant the album to be heard from beginning to end-- each and every time. This album has a special significance to me as it's the first Prince album I bought when my family moved to the U.S. from the Philippines, and, coincidentally, it was around the time the Lovesexy Tour was going on and saw Prince in concert for the first time at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (which, sadly, closed its doors March of last year and demolished this past September ). So many wonderful memories for me at that place. Growing up, I never thought I'd ever get to see Prince live in concert and looking back, it felt like a dream. It was a surreal experience! I actually bought tickets to see Prince for two consecutive nights but gave a pair of tix to my sister, who's just a year older than me, for one of the nights hoping to get her to become a Prince fan like me. It didn't work although she enjoyed the concert. I guess Prince fams like us are a rare breed, indeed. Back to the album, it has three of my all-time favorite Prince songs, namely, Alphabet Street, Glam Slam, and I Wish U Heaven. I also like the title track and Anna Stetia. More importantly, the album features my favorite album cover-- Prince in the nude. :cool:

Day 5: March 27
"Prince"
Prince's self-titled album-- his second studio album-- has become one of my favorite albums. It features my all-time favorite Prince song, "I Wanna Be Your Lover," which I can listen on repeat all day. The whole album just flows well and I seldom skip any songs from the album whenever I listen to it although I especially crank up the volume whenever "Bambi" comes on. Kudos to Chaka Khan whose version of "I Feel For You" popularized the song and won Prince a Grammy for Best R&B song. I love the fact that Prince sings mostly in falsetto in all the songs of the album. This is definitely one album where I would have loved to have seen Prince perform all the songs live.

Day 6: March 28

I used to love the album when it first came out but the novelty of the "Segues" in the album has worn off over the years-- I find Kirstie Alley's voice increasingly annoying-- and I skip them now whenever I listen to the album. For the purposes of this tribute for Prince, I listened to the album uninterrupted today. The songs sound dated now especially "My Name is Prince" which has that '90's hip hop vibe that Prince tried to emulate but failed badly. The highlight for me during this period was the introduction of Mayte Garcia as Prince's muse. I still like a couple of songs in the album-- "The Morning Papers" and "7". I love the guitar solos in "The Morning Papers" while "7" especially reminded me of my U.S. Army days when I was stationed in Germany and one of my Army buddies used to play the song very loud in the barracks. It always made me smile hearing that song. :)

Day 7: March 29
"Come"
One of Prince's most underrated albums, I felt the "Come" album would have been a bigger hit had it not been released during the most tumultuous time in Prince's career during the '90s when he had the public dispute with Warner Bros and changed his name to a symbol which, sadly, took the spotlight away from his music but the attention was geared toward the name change and Prince was the butt of jokes as to what to call him. Even the album cover for "Come" announced the death of Prince (the name anyway with the years 1958-1993 on it). I thought this album was conceived better than his last couple of albums released before it-- "Diamonds and Pearls" and . I love how it was intimate and personal, with songs like "Papa", "Dark", and "Solo", and I love the other songs in it, too-- from the jazz-infused lead single, "Letitgo", to the dance grooves of the first four songs of the album beginning with the seductive 11-minute title track to the manic "Loose!" Vanity's uncredited moans in "Orgasm" ending with Prince saying "I love you" sealed the deal for me.

Day 8: March 30
"Sign O' The Times"
I can't believe it's been 30 years since this album was released March of 1987. How time flies! And yet, this album, like wine, gets better with time. It's definitely Prince's masterpiece and most diverse album covering many genres of music. This was the last Prince vinyl album I bought in the Philippines before my family moved to the U.S. and I remember it fondly. This album introduced us to Prince's alter ego, Camille, and the first time I played this album and heard the Camille voice, I thought there was something wrong with my record or the turntable because of the sped up voice. Took me a number of listens to get used to it. It's one album where each song could potentially have been a hit song. I can honestly say I love every song of this album and the album with the most number of my all-time favorite Prince songs-- the title track, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, Starfish and Coffee, If I Was Ur Girlfriend, Adore, U Got the Look, Hot Thing, and I Could Never Take the Place of Ur Man.

Day 9: March 31
"Controversy"
This album has a special significance to me. The title track, one of my favorites, asks "am I straight or gay?" and it was a question I struggled for many years. Growing up in a devout Christian household didn't help either as I grew up believing being gay is a sin and an abomination. Listening to Prince's music helped me deal with those struggles-- not to be ashamed-- "Sexuality is all u'll ever need" he declares in one of the tracks. And while my beliefs (or non-belief) and Prince's beliefs have differed in the coming years, I thank Prince for giving me the courage to be true to myself and finally come out to myself, my family and friends.

Day 10: April 1
"Art Official Age"
It's officially April. It was this month last year that Prince unexpectedly passed away. As his first death anniversary approaches it will be increasingly difficult for many, me included, thinking about his last days. I haven't listened to Prince's music this much since his death, as it had been difficult for me especially the first few months after his death which affected my personal life. I managed to make it through day 10 so far in my 30-day pledge of listening to a Prince album each day as my way of paying tribute to him and honoring his life through his music. I hope I can make it through April 21.

I haven't listened to "Art Official Age" album in months. Definitely one of the best albums he released in his last years. Other than the title track, which I'm not fond of, I love the rest of the album particularly "Clouds", "Breakdown", "This Could Be Us" and "Way Back Home". Talking about the song, "Way Back Home", it has taken on a new meaning for me after his death. Prince may already have known then when he recorded this album that his time on earth was almost up (a terminal illness perhaps, we may never know, as he was always a private person and I respect him for that, although it had been hard for many of us dealing with his sudden death). This song-- and album as a whole-- his last concept album-- may be his way of dealing with death and his way of saying goodbye to us. In "Way Back Home" he sings--

"So many reasons why I don't belong here but now I am without fear.
I am gonna conquer with no fear until I find my way back home."

He repeats that same sentiment on "affirmation III" repeatedly singing "until I find my way back home" while a female narrator describes his journey home--

"U've probably felt many years in ur former life, u were separate from not only only others, but even urself. Now u can see that was never the case. U are actually everything and anything that u can think of. All of it is U...Remember there really is only one destination, and that place is U. All of it, everything is U."

Here's hoping Prince found his way back home.

Day 11: April 2
"Batman"
While the film, "Batman", directed by Tim Burton is not the best Batman film (my vote goes to "The Dark Knight" film), it was a decent film with Michael Keaton playing the title character much better than George Clooney or Val Kilmer, and Jack Nicholson playing the demented Joker with gusto, I eagerly went to see "Batman" during the summer of 1989 mainly to hear Prince's songs featured in the film. "Batdance", of course, was a huge hit that summer and became Prince's 4th #1 song with the album spending six weeks at #1 in the album chart. And while I find the song, "Batdance", corny these days, it still is a guilty pleasure song for me, especially the music video which features Prince as "Gemini" (dressed as half-Batman and half-Joker). Prince seemed to relish the role and having fun in the video as well as in the the follow-up single, "Partyman", also one of my favorite songs in the album. My favorite line from the album was in the song, "Electric Chair"-- "If a man is considered guilty for what goes on in his mind, then give me the electric chair for all my future crimes." Undoubtedly, the best track in the album is the seductive "Scandalous." Classic Prince! :cool:

Day 12: April 3
"Graffiti Bridge"
It's been awhile since I listened to the "Graffiti Bridge" album as a whole. I tend to skip some of the songs. Listening to the full album today, I forgot how good the album actually is. My opinion of the album was tainted over the years by how bad the accompanying film for it. Unlike the movies "Purple Rain" and "Under the Cherry Moon", both of which I enjoy watching regularly, I don't even remember the last time I watched the movie, "Graffiti Bridge." I decided to watch the movie again-- this time on Blu-Ray-- this afternoon. The acting, writing, direction and production of the movie was as bad as I remembered but it was good to see Prince and The Time perform some of the songs in the film again. There are two Prince tracks in the album that I really love-- "The Question of U" and "Joy in Repetition". I also like the songs performed by The Time-- "Release It", "Love Machine" and "Shake!" as well as Tevin Campbell's "Round and Round." While the critical and commercial failure of the movie may have ended Prince's film career, that didn't stop him from making direct-to-video vanity projects in the ensuing years (e.g. "Diamonds and Pearls Video Collection" and "3 Chains O' Gold"). :lol:

Day 13: April 4
"For You"
Woah! I just realized Prince's debut album, "For You", will have its 40th anniversary next year since its release in April, 1978. Prince had been releasing an album almost every year since his debut album, some of which are double or triple albums. Quite an amazing output! And we hope to hear more in the years to come from his vault. After almost 40 years, his debut album still impresses me. Not many artists had the distinction of producing, composing, arranging and performing all the songs of their debut album, not to mention playing 27 instruments. Last month, while I was shopping for used CDs at Amoeba Music store in Hollywood, the store DJ was playing Prince's "For You" album to my surprise and delight. The song, "Soft and Wet", his first hit single from the album, remains one of his beloved classic songs. While the album is not often mentioned as a favorite among his fans, I can say it's a better album than many of the other albums he released over the years, some of which are quite uneven. This album, on the other hand, with its funky, old school vibe, I can listen without skipping any of the songs. It's one of my go-to albums when I just want to chill at home.

Day 14: April 5
"Dirty Mind"
When I was in college and studied Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche consisting of the id, ego, and superego, I thought of Prince's music and have always been drawn to him expressing the "id"-- his libido and sexual drive-- and the "Dirty Mind" album has a healthy (or unhealthy?) dose of that beginning with the throbbing beat of the title track as he described his state of mind, singing about his obsession with an ex in "When U Were Mine", his desire to "Do It All Night"-- including explicit acts of giving "Head" and having incestous relationship with his "Sister". And he loved to "Partyup" in "Uptown". He covered all the bases in the album and we can't get enough of it. It's Prince's leanest album-- at only 30 minutes long-- and yet his funkiest and most daring album. "Dirty Mind" was his first album in the '80s and he continued pushing the envelope throughout the decade-- definitely his most creative period.

Day 15: April 6
"Diamonds and Pearls"
Another milestone for one of Prince's albums as 25 years have passed since the release of "Diamonds and Pearls" in October, 1991. Unlike most of his '80s output, however, time has not been good to it. Save for a few songs, the album sounds dated to me now, not to mention I never warmed up to Tony M's rapping. This release was Prince's attempt then to stay current with the increasing popularity of hip hop (especially gangsta rap) in the late '80s/early '90s, also drastically changing his look-- again-- compared to his image in the previous year's "Graffiti Bridge" album and film release. Listening to songs like "Daddy Pop", "Jughead" and "Push" again was torturous. Plus, the message of the album was conflicting-- Prince sings about Jesus saving your soul in the opening track, "Thunder", and then wanting to do "twenty three positions in a one night stand" in "Gett Off". I also find the title track to be quite cheesy these days although the music video for the song is a guilty pleasure with Prince being chased by the paparazzi before singing the song featuring his back-up dancers named "Diamond" and "Pearl". On the plus side, there are some "gems" (pun intended ) in the album. "Cream" has become a Prince classic and a staple song in his concerts over the years. I love the cool vibe of "Strollin'" and "Willing and Able" while "Walk Don't Walk" is whimsical. The sultry "Insatiable" is irresistible and a worthy addition in Prince's long list of classic soulful ballads. His social commentary on "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" is spot on. Lastly, the message of the closer, "Live 4 Love", inspired me to use the song title as my personalized car license plate for 20 years. 8-)

Day 16: April 7
"20Ten"
I only got the chance to listen to the full "20Ten" album when it became available for streaming on Tidal last year-- months after his death. Whatever Prince's reasons may be for not releasing the album in the U.S., it was a missed opportunity as it's a strong album, in my opinion, and could have produced a couple of hit songs for him. "Beginning Endlessly" could easily have been a club hit. I can listen to that track alone all day. The album production, especially his use of Linn drums, harkens back to some of his early '80's releases. "Compassion" reminds me of "Let's Pretend We're Married". My other favorites are Prince crooning on "Future Soul Song", the funky number "Sticky Like Glue" (although I can do without his rapping), the wistful "Walk in Sand" segueing into "Sea of Everything" featuring his signature silky smooth falsetto. I've seen Prince in concert at least four times since 2010 (during his "Welcome 2 America" tour) and wished he had performed some of the songs from this album.

Day 17: April 8
"Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic"
This companion album to "Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic" was released initially through Prince's NPG Music Club where I was a paying member for a couple of years. I looked forward to this album but was disappointed that the remixes of the songs didn't improve upon the original cuts of the former album. The one saving grace of this album, for me anyway, was the inclusion of the song, "Beautiful Strange". I love the guitar solo in that song. I was never a fan of the title track and the remix version made it worse for me. Thankfully, the songs that I love in that album mostly remained unchanged in this release-- "I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore" (possibly his most heartfelt, breakup song), "So Far, So Pleased" (a bouncy pop duet with Gwen Stefani), "The Sun, the Moon and Stars" (I love the reggae vibe of the song), and the uplifting "Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do" (I love when he sings, "Remember life ain't always what it seems. For each rainy day that comes your way, the sun will come shining and you'll be okay"). A simple yet quite reassuring message! :)

Day 18: April 9
"Newpower Soul"
I haven't listened to this album in over a decade. I'll be honest, I didn't follow Prince's music and career closely from the mid-90's to early 2000. I was in the U.S. Army then and when I got out I was studying full-time in college and working at the same time. That was the period when he was releasing albums in his moniker. Many of his releases during that period I bought eventually years later. The "Newpower Soul" album is one of them. Listening to the album again after all these years, like many of his 90's output when he started including hip hop elements in his music (particularly the rapping), they sound dated now. He even had Doug E. Fresh rap in a couple of tracks in this album-- "Push It Up" and "(I Like) Funky Music". What I love about this album, however, are the horn sections featured in the title track as well as in "Mad Sex" and "When U Love Somebody" (can't resist dancing to the beat of these songs). I love the slow songs as well-- can't go wrong with Prince singing falsetto in "Until U're in My Arms Again" and especially, in "The One". Those two are my favorite songs in the album along with "Come On"- I love the groove of the song that reminds me of the incessant beat on "Forever in My Life". 8-)

Day 19: April 10
"Exodus"
Another Prince release credited to The New Power Generation in the mid'90s when he was the with lead vocals by Sonny T. and Prince under the name Tora Tora (I know it's confusing and even stranger was him sporting a scarf covering his face in some photos I've seen in that period). It's my favorite release from The New Power Generation. I enjoyed listening to this album again after all these years especially the interludes/segues with Prince talking with an Italian accent in one of them-- "Mashed Potato Girl". Also, Prince's voice slowed down to sound deep and talking about a robbery in "New Power Day". I wished Prince did more of these. He definitely had a great sense of humor. My favorite cuts in the album are the the jams-- "Get Wild", "The Good Life", "Return of the Bump Squad" and "The Exodus Has Begun"-- and the bluesy, "Count the Days". Definitely a blast revisiting this album!

Day 20: April 11
Day 21: April 12
Day 22: April 13
Day 23: April 14
Day 24: April 15
Day 25: April 16
Day 26: April 17
Day 27: April 18
Day 28: April 19
Day 29: April 20
Day 30: April 21

Day 1: March 23
"Purple Rain"
Gotta start with the album that made me a Prince fan for life with its lead single, "When Doves Cry", the first Prince single I ever bought during my junior year in high school in 1984 and saved my allowance to buy the "Purple Rain" vinyl album when it came out months later. I don't think I knew anyone in my high school-- I grew up in the Philippines-- who was a Prince fan like me. I knew I was different then and it's the main reason that drew me to Prince's music. I can't believe I've been a fan for almost 33 years. Listening to the album now, the music still sound as fresh to my ears like it was just released. I can listen to the album beginning to end over and over. Definitely has my vote as the best opener, Let's Go Crazy, and the best closer, Purple Rain, in any Prince album, not to mention its title track one of the greatest rock anthem ever. Of course, after watching the charismatic Prince and his electrifying performances of the songs in the film, it makes listening to the album even much more enjoyable. Never in my wildest dreams then did I think I would get to watch Prince perform live in concert, but that was about to change when my family unexpectedly moved to the U.S. a few years later. But that's a story for another day.

Day 2: March 24
"1999"
My favorite Prince double album. "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" are the best opening one-two punch tracks-- "1999", possibly the ultimate end-of-the-world party song and in "Little Red Corvette", the classic car metaphor for a woman with the line-- "baby, you're much 2 fast"-- says it all. The third track, "Delirious", a simple yet catchy Prince track where he sings one of my favorite suggestive lyrics -- "my temperature's running hot, baby u got 2 stop, cuz if u don't I'm gonna explode and girl I got a lot". The whole double album oozes with sex and that's just side one. My other favorite tracks of the album are what I consider four essential club tracks clocking at over seven minutes long each-- "Let's Pretend We're Married", DMSR, "Automatic", and "Lady Cab Driver." Casual Prince fans miss out on these hidden gems; one reason I'm not a big fan of greatest hits compilations.

Day 3: March 25
"Around the World in A Day"
Like many, I anticipated Prince's follow-up to "Purple Rain" album. When "Raspberry Beret", the lead single to "Around the World in A Day" came out, it sounded a lot different from anything he released up to that point. And I loved it! "Raspberry Beret" was the last Prince 7" (45rpm) single I bought. And it has my favorite B-side song-- "She's Always in My Hair". I remember listening to Casey Kasem's American Top 40 every week back in the '80s and "Raspberry Beret" stalled at #2 with Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill" keeping it from becoming #1. I love the music video especially with the extended intro. When the album finally came out, like many, I, too, was surprised how much different the album sounds, from the intro to the title song-- the Beatlesque, psychedelic sounds and lyrics-- which I'm sure alienated a lot of his fans. Took me a number of listens to appreciate the album. While it's not one of my favorite Prince albums, I love some of the songs, namely, the aforementioned "Raspberry Beret", "Pop Life", "Condition of the Heart", and "The Ladder."

Day 4: March 26
"Lovesexy"
I have been playing the "Lovesexy" album on loop all day today. Couldn't skip the songs anyhow as Prince meant the album to be heard from beginning to end-- each and every time. This album has a special significance to me as it's the first Prince album I bought when my family moved to the U.S. from the Philippines, and, coincidentally, it was around the time the Lovesexy Tour was going on and saw Prince in concert for the first time at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (which, sadly, closed its doors March of last year and demolished this past September ). So many wonderful memories for me at that place. Growing up, I never thought I'd ever get to see Prince live in concert and looking back, it felt like a dream. It was a surreal experience! I actually bought tickets to see Prince for two consecutive nights but gave a pair of tix to my sister, who's just a year older than me, for one of the nights hoping to get her to become a Prince fan like me. It didn't work although she enjoyed the concert. I guess Prince fams like us are a rare breed, indeed. Back to the album, it has three of my all-time favorite Prince songs, namely, Alphabet Street, Glam Slam, and I Wish U Heaven. I also like the title track and Anna Stetia. More importantly, the album features my favorite album cover-- Prince in the nude.

Day 5: March 27
"Prince"
Prince's self-titled album-- his second studio album-- has become one of my favorite albums. It features my all-time favorite Prince song, "I Wanna Be Your Lover," which I can listen on repeat all day. The whole album just flows well and I seldom skip any songs from the album whenever I listen to it although I especially crank up the volume whenever "Bambi" comes on. Kudos to Chaka Khan whose version of "I Feel For You" popularized the song and won Prince a Grammy for Best R&B song. I love the fact that Prince sings mostly in falsetto in all the songs of the album. This is definitely one album where I would have loved to have seen Prince perform all the songs live.

Day 6: March 28

I used to love the album when it first came out but the novelty of the "Segues" in the album has worn off over the years-- I find Kirstie Alley's voice increasingly annoying-- and I skip them now whenever I listen to the album. For the purposes of this tribute for Prince, I listened to the album uninterrupted today. The songs sound dated now especially "My Name is Prince" which has that '90's hip hop vibe that Prince tried to emulate but failed badly. The highlight for me during this period was the introduction of Mayte Garcia as Prince's muse. I still like a couple of songs in the album-- "The Morning Papers" and "7". I love the guitar solos in "The Morning Papers" while "7" especially reminded me of my U.S. Army days when I was stationed in Germany and one of my Army buddies used to play the song very loud in the barracks. It always made me smile hearing that song.

Day 7: March 29
"Come"
One of Prince's most underrated albums, I felt the "Come" album would have been a bigger hit had it not been released during the most tumultuous time in Prince's career during the '90s when he had the public dispute with Warner Bros and changed his name to a symbol which, sadly, took the spotlight away from his music but the attention was geared toward the name change and Prince was the butt of jokes as to what to call him. Even the album cover for "Come" announced the death of Prince (the name anyway with the years 1958-1993 on it). I thought this album was conceived better than his last couple of albums released before it-- "Diamonds and Pearls" and . I love how it was intimate and personal, with songs like "Papa", "Dark", and "Solo", and I love the other songs in it, too-- from the jazz-infused lead single, "Letitgo", to the dance grooves of the first four songs of the album beginning with the seductive 11-minute title track to the manic "Loose!" Vanity's uncredited moans in "Orgasm" ending with Prince saying "I love you" sealed the deal for me.

Day 8: March 30
"Sign O' The Times"
I can't believe it's been 30 years since this album was released March of 1987. How time flies! And yet, this album, like wine, gets better with time. It's definitely Prince's masterpiece and most diverse album covering many genres of music. This was the last Prince vinyl album I bought in the Philippines before my family moved to the U.S. and I remember it fondly. This album introduced us to Prince's alter ego, Camille, and the first time I played this album and heard the Camille voice, I thought there was something wrong with my record or the turntable because of the sped up voice. Took me a number of listens to get used to it. It's one album where each song could potentially have been a hit song. I can honestly say I love every song of this album and the album with the most number of my all-time favorite Prince songs-- the title track, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, Starfish and Coffee, If I Was Ur Girlfriend, Adore, U Got the Look, Hot Thing, and I Could Never Take the Place of Ur Man.

Day 9: March 31
"Controversy"
This album has a special significance to me. The title track, one of my favorites, asks "am I straight or gay?" and it was a question I struggled for many years. Growing up in a devout Christian household didn't help either as I grew up believing being gay is a sin and an abomination. Listening to Prince's music helped me deal with those struggles-- not to be ashamed-- "Sexuality is all u'll ever need" he declares in one of the tracks. And while my beliefs (or non-belief) and Prince's beliefs have differed in the coming years, I thank Prince for giving me the courage to be true to myself and finally come out to myself, my family and friends.

Day 10: April 1
"Art Official Age"
It's officially April. It was this month last year that Prince unexpectedly passed away. As his first death anniversary approaches it will be increasingly difficult for many, me included, thinking about his last days. I haven't listened to Prince's music this much since his death, as it had been difficult for me especially the first few months after his death which affected my personal life. I managed to make it through day 10 so far in my 30-day pledge of listening to a Prince album each day as my way of paying tribute to him and honoring his life through his music. I hope I can make it through April 21.

I haven't listened to "Art Official Age" album in months. Definitely one of the best albums he released in his last years. Other than the title track, which I'm not fond of, I love the rest of the album particularly "Clouds", "Breakdown", "This Could Be Us" and "Way Back Home". Talking about the song, "Way Back Home", it has taken on a new meaning for me after his death. Prince may already have known then when he recorded this album that his time on earth was almost up (a terminal illness perhaps, we may never know, as he was always a private person and I respect him for that, although it had been hard for many of us dealing with his sudden death). This song-- and album as a whole-- his last concept album-- may be his way of dealing with death and his way of saying goodbye to us. In "Way Back Home" he sings--

"So many reasons why I don't belong here but now I am without fear.
I am gonna conquer with no fear until I find my way back home."

He repeats that same sentiment on "affirmation III" repeatedly singing "until I find my way back home" while a female narrator describes his journey home--

"U've probably felt many years in ur former life, u were separate from not only only others, but even urself. Now u can see that was never the case. U are actually everything and anything that u can think of. All of it is U...Remember there really is only one destination, and that place is U. All of it, everything is U."

Here's hoping Prince found his way back home.

Day 11: April 2
"Batman"
While the film, "Batman", directed by Tim Burton is not the best Batman film (my vote goes to "The Dark Knight" film), it was a decent film with Michael Keaton playing the title character much better than George Clooney or Val Kilmer, and Jack Nicholson playing the demented Joker with gusto, I eagerly went to see "Batman" during the summer of 1989 mainly to hear Prince's songs featured in the film. "Batdance", of course, was a huge hit that summer and became Prince's 4th #1 song with the album spending six weeks at #1 in the album chart. And while I find the song, "Batdance", corny these days, it still is a guilty pleasure song for me, especially the music video which features Prince as "Gemini" (dressed as half-Batman and half-Joker). Prince seemed to relish the role and having fun in the video as well as in the the follow-up single, "Partyman", also one of my favorite songs in the album. My favorite line from the album was in the song, "Electric Chair"-- "If a man is considered guilty for what goes on in his mind, then give me the electric chair for all my future crimes." Undoubtedly, the best track in the album is the seductive "Scandalous." Classic Prince!

Day 12: April 3
"Graffiti Bridge"
It's been awhile since I listened to the "Graffiti Bridge" album as a whole. I tend to skip some of the songs. Listening to the full album today, I forgot how good the album actually is. My opinion of the album was tainted over the years by how bad the accompanying film for it. Unlike the movies "Purple Rain" and "Under the Cherry Moon", both of which I enjoy watching regularly, I don't even remember the last time I watched the movie, "Graffiti Bridge." I decided to watch the movie again-- this time on Blu-Ray-- this afternoon. The acting, writing, direction and production of the movie was as bad as I remembered but it was good to see Prince and The Time perform some of the songs in the film again. There are two Prince tracks in the album that I really love-- "The Question of U" and "Joy in Repetition". I also like the songs performed by The Time-- "Release It", "Love Machine" and "Shake!" as well as Tevin Campbell's "Round and Round." While the critical and commercial failure of the movie may have ended Prince's film career, that didn't stop him from making direct-to-video vanity projects in the ensuing years (e.g. "Diamonds and Pearls Video Collection" and "3 Chains O' Gold").

Day 13: April 4
"For You"
Woah! I just realized Prince's debut album, "For You", will have its 40th anniversary next year since its release in April, 1978. Prince had been releasing an album almost every year since his debut album, some of which are double or triple albums. Quite an amazing output! And we hope to hear more in the years to come from his vault. After almost 40 years, his debut album still impresses me. Not many artists had the distinction of producing, composing, arranging and performing all the songs of their debut album, not to mention playing 27 instruments. Last month, while I was shopping for used CDs at Amoeba Music store in Hollywood, the store DJ was playing Prince's "For You" album to my surprise and delight. The song, "Soft and Wet", his first hit single from the album, remains one of his beloved classic songs. While the album is not often mentioned as a favorite among his fans, I can say it's a better album than many of the other albums he released over the years, some of which are quite uneven. This album, on the other hand, with its funky, old school vibe, I can listen without skipping any of the songs. It's one of my go-to albums when I just want to chill at home.

Day 14: April 5
"Dirty Mind"
When I was in college and studied Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche consisting of the id, ego, and superego, I thought of Prince's music and have always been drawn to him expressing the "id"-- his libido and sexual drive-- and the "Dirty Mind" album has a healthy (or unhealthy?) dose of that beginning with the throbbing beat of the title track as he described his state of mind, singing about his obsession with an ex in "When U Were Mine", his desire to "Do It All Night"-- including explicit acts of giving "Head" and having incestous relationship with his "Sister". And he loved to "Partyup" in "Uptown". He covered all the bases in the album and we can't get enough of it. It's Prince's leanest album-- at only 30 minutes long-- and yet his funkiest and most daring album. "Dirty Mind" was his first album in the '80s and he continued pushing the envelope throughout the decade-- definitely his most creative period.

Day 15: April 6
"Diamonds and Pearls"
Another milestone for one of Prince's albums as 25 years have passed since the release of "Diamonds and Pearls" in October, 1991. Unlike most of his '80s output, however, time has not been good to it. Save for a few songs, the album sounds dated to me now, not to mention I never warmed up to Tony M's rapping. This release was Prince's attempt then to stay current with the increasing popularity of hip hop (especially gangsta rap) in the late '80s/early '90s, also drastically changing his look-- again-- compared to his image in the previous year's "Graffiti Bridge" album and film release. Listening to songs like "Daddy Pop", "Jughead" and "Push" again was torturous. Plus, the message of the album was conflicting-- Prince sings about Jesus saving your soul in the opening track, "Thunder", and then wanting to do "twenty three positions in a one night stand" in "Gett Off". I also find the title track to be quite cheesy these days although the music video for the song is a guilty pleasure with Prince being chased by the paparazzi before singing the song featuring his back-up dancers named "Diamond" and "Pearl". On the plus side, there are some "gems" (pun intended ) in the album. "Cream" has become a Prince classic and a staple song in his concerts over the years. I love the cool vibe of "Strollin'" and "Willing and Able" while "Walk Don't Walk" is whimsical. The sultry "Insatiable" is irresistible and a worthy addition in Prince's long list of classic soulful ballads. His social commentary on "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" is spot on. Lastly, the message of the closer, "Live 4 Love", inspired me to use the song title as my personalized car license plate for 20 years.

Day 16: April 7
"20Ten"
I only got the chance to listen to the full "20Ten" album when it became available for streaming on Tidal last year-- months after his death. Whatever Prince's reasons may be for not releasing the album in the U.S., it was a missed opportunity as it's a strong album, in my opinion, and could have produced a couple of hit songs for him. "Beginning Endlessly" could easily have been a club hit. I can listen to that track alone all day. The album production, especially his use of Linn drums, harkens back to some of his early '80's releases. "Compassion" reminds me of "Let's Pretend We're Married". My other favorites are Prince crooning on "Future Soul Song", the funky number "Sticky Like Glue" (although I can do without his rapping), the wistful "Walk in Sand" segueing into "Sea of Everything" featuring his signature silky smooth falsetto. I've seen Prince in concert at least four times since 2010 (during his "Welcome 2 America" tour) and wished he had performed some of the songs from this album.

Day 17: April 8
"Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic"
This companion album to "Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic" was released initially through Prince's NPG Music Club where I was a paying member for a couple of years. I looked forward to this album but was disappointed that the remixes of the songs didn't improve upon the original cuts of the former album. The one saving grace of this album, for me anyway, was the inclusion of the song, "Beautiful Strange". I love the guitar solo in that song. I was never a fan of the title track and the remix version made it worse for me. Thankfully, the songs that I love in that album mostly remained unchanged in this release-- "I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore" (possibly his most heartfelt, breakup song), "So Far, So Pleased" (a bouncy pop duet with Gwen Stefani), "The Sun, the Moon and Stars" (I love the reggae vibe of the song), and the uplifting "Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do" (I love when he sings, "Remember life ain't always what it seems. For each rainy day that comes your way, the sun will come shining and you'll be okay"). A simple yet quite reassuring message!

Day 18: April 9
"Newpower Soul"
I haven't listened to this album in over a decade. I'll be honest, I didn't follow Prince's music and career closely from the mid-90's to early 2000. I was in the U.S. Army then and when I got out I was studying full-time in college and working at the same time. That was the period when he was releasing albums in his moniker. Many of his releases during that period I bought eventually years later. The "Newpower Soul" album is one of them. Listening to the album again after all these years, like many of his 90's output when he started including hip hop elements in his music (particularly the rapping), they sound dated now. He even had Doug E. Fresh rap in a couple of tracks in this album-- "Push It Up" and "(I Like) Funky Music". What I love about this album, however, are the horn sections featured in the title track as well as in "Mad Sex" and "When U Love Somebody" (can't resist dancing to the beat of these songs). I love the slow songs as well-- can't go wrong with Prince singing falsetto in "Until U're in My Arms Again" and especially, in "The One". Those two are my favorite songs in the album along with "Come On"- I love the groove of the song that reminds me of the incessant beat on "Forever in My Life".

Day 19: April 10
"Exodus"
Another Prince release credited to The New Power Generation in the mid'90s when he was the with lead vocals by Sonny T. and Prince under the name Tora Tora (I know it's confusing and even stranger was him sporting a scarf covering his face in some photos I've seen in that period). It's my favorite release from The New Power Generation. I enjoyed listening to this album again after all these years especially the interludes/segues with Prince talking with an Italian accent in one of them-- "Mashed Potato Girl". Also, Prince's voice slowed down to sound deep and talking about a robbery in "New Power Day". I wished Prince did more of these. He definitely had a great sense of humor. My favorite cuts in the album are the the jams-- "Get Wild", "The Good Life", "Return of the Bump Squad" and "The Exodus Has Begun"-- and the bluesy, "Count the Days". Definitely a blast revisiting this album!

Day 20: April 11
"One Night Alone..."
Prince's most intimate album with just him on vocals and piano (mostly), listening to this album is what it must have been like in one of his "Piano and a Microphone" shows last year. It's one of those albums I prefer to listen alone, especially now with Prince gone, and makes me appreciate his music more. My favorite songs in the album are "U're Gonna C Me" (which he also rerecorded for the MPLSound album), "Here on Earth", "Objects in the Mirror", and his cover of a Joni Mitchell classic, "A Case of U" (definitely my favorite cover song he did) with its raw emotion and intensity. The last song, an ethereal instrumental track called "Arboretum" ends with the sound of Prince getting up after playing the piano, walking out the room and closing the door behind him.

Day 21: April 12
"N.E.W.S."
This entry is going to be short and sweet as I don't really have much to say about this jazz fusion instrumental album. This is probably the first time I actually listened to the full album as I tend to lose interest listening to it before. I guess it's just not for me. I doubt I will be revisiting it anytime soon. The album, its title an acronym for the four tracks-- "North", "East", "West", and "South"-- each at 14 minutes long-- and supposedly recorded in one day-- is best enjoyed, perhaps, if I was watching Prince and his band performing it live.

Day 22: April 13
Day 23: April 14
Day 24: April 15
Day 25: April 16
Day 26: April 17
Day 27: April 18
Day 28: April 19
Day 29: April 20
Day 30: April 21
[Edited 4/12/17 11:03am]

Day 1: March 23
"Purple Rain"
Gotta start with the album that made me a Prince fan for life with its lead single, "When Doves Cry", the first Prince single I ever bought during my junior year in high school in 1984 and saved my allowance to buy the "Purple Rain" vinyl album when it came out months later. I don't think I knew anyone in my high school-- I grew up in the Philippines-- who was a Prince fan like me. I knew I was different then and it's the main reason that drew me to Prince's music. I can't believe I've been a fan for almost 33 years. Listening to the album now, the music still sound as fresh to my ears like it was just released. I can listen to the album beginning to end over and over. Definitely has my vote as the best opener, Let's Go Crazy, and the best closer, Purple Rain, in any Prince album, not to mention its title track one of the greatest rock anthem ever. Of course, after watching the charismatic Prince and his electrifying performances of the songs in the film, it makes listening to the album even much more enjoyable. Never in my wildest dreams then did I think I would get to watch Prince perform live in concert, but that was about to change when my family unexpectedly moved to the U.S. a few years later. But that's a story for another day. :wink:

Day 2: March 24
"1999"
My favorite Prince double album. "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" are the best opening one-two punch tracks-- "1999", possibly the ultimate end-of-the-world party song and in "Little Red Corvette", the classic car metaphor for a woman with the line-- "baby, you're much 2 fast"-- says it all. The third track, "Delirious", a simple yet catchy Prince track where he sings one of my favorite suggestive lyrics -- "my temperature's running hot, baby u got 2 stop, cuz if u don't I'm gonna explode and girl I got a lot". The whole double album oozes with sex and that's just side one. My other favorite tracks of the album are what I consider four essential club tracks clocking at over seven minutes long each-- "Let's Pretend We're Married", DMSR, "Automatic", and "Lady Cab Driver." Casual Prince fans miss out on these hidden gems; one reason I'm not a big fan of greatest hits compilations.

Day 3: March 25
"Around the World in A Day"
Like many, I anticipated Prince's follow-up to "Purple Rain" album. When "Raspberry Beret", the lead single to "Around the World in A Day" came out, it sounded a lot different from anything he released up to that point. And I loved it! "Raspberry Beret" was the last Prince 7" (45rpm) single I bought. And it has my favorite B-side song-- "She's Always in My Hair". I remember listening to Casey Kasem's American Top 40 every week back in the '80s and "Raspberry Beret" stalled at #2 with Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill" keeping it from becoming #1. I love the music video especially with the extended intro. When the album finally came out, like many, I, too, was surprised how much different the album sounds, from the intro to the title song-- the Beatlesque, psychedelic sounds and lyrics-- which I'm sure alienated a lot of his fans. Took me a number of listens to appreciate the album. While it's not one of my favorite Prince albums, I love some of the songs, namely, the aforementioned "Raspberry Beret", "Pop Life", "Condition of the Heart", and "The Ladder."

Day 4: March 26
"Lovesexy"
I have been playing the "Lovesexy" album on loop all day today. Couldn't skip the songs anyhow as Prince meant the album to be heard from beginning to end-- each and every time. This album has a special significance to me as it's the first Prince album I bought when my family moved to the U.S. from the Philippines, and, coincidentally, it was around the time the Lovesexy Tour was going on and saw Prince in concert for the first time at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (which, sadly, closed its doors March of last year and demolished this past September ). So many wonderful memories for me at that place. Growing up, I never thought I'd ever get to see Prince live in concert and looking back, it felt like a dream. It was a surreal experience! I actually bought tickets to see Prince for two consecutive nights but gave a pair of tix to my sister, who's just a year older than me, for one of the nights hoping to get her to become a Prince fan like me. It didn't work although she enjoyed the concert. I guess Prince fams like us are a rare breed, indeed. Back to the album, it has three of my all-time favorite Prince songs, namely, Alphabet Street, Glam Slam, and I Wish U Heaven. I also like the title track and Anna Stetia. More importantly, the album features my favorite album cover-- Prince in the nude. :cool:

Day 5: March 27
"Prince"
Prince's self-titled album-- his second studio album-- has become one of my favorite albums. It features my all-time favorite Prince song, "I Wanna Be Your Lover," which I can listen on repeat all day. The whole album just flows well and I seldom skip any songs from the album whenever I listen to it although I especially crank up the volume whenever "Bambi" comes on. Kudos to Chaka Khan whose version of "I Feel For You" popularized the song and won Prince a Grammy for Best R&B song. I love the fact that Prince sings mostly in falsetto in all the songs of the album. This is definitely one album where I would have loved to have seen Prince perform all the songs live.

Day 6: March 28

I used to love the album when it first came out but the novelty of the "Segues" in the album has worn off over the years-- I find Kirstie Alley's voice increasingly annoying-- and I skip them now whenever I listen to the album. For the purposes of this tribute for Prince, I listened to the album uninterrupted today. The songs sound dated now especially "My Name is Prince" which has that '90's hip hop vibe that Prince tried to emulate but failed badly. The highlight for me during this period was the introduction of Mayte Garcia as Prince's muse. I still like a couple of songs in the album-- "The Morning Papers" and "7". I love the guitar solos in "The Morning Papers" while "7" especially reminded me of my U.S. Army days when I was stationed in Germany and one of my Army buddies used to play the song very loud in the barracks. It always made me smile hearing that song. :)

Day 7: March 29
"Come"
One of Prince's most underrated albums, I felt the "Come" album would have been a bigger hit had it not been released during the most tumultuous time in Prince's career during the '90s when he had the public dispute with Warner Bros and changed his name to a symbol which, sadly, took the spotlight away from his music but the attention was geared toward the name change and Prince was the butt of jokes as to what to call him. Even the album cover for "Come" announced the death of Prince (the name anyway with the years 1958-1993 on it). I thought this album was conceived better than his last couple of albums released before it-- "Diamonds and Pearls" and . I love how it was intimate and personal, with songs like "Papa", "Dark", and "Solo", and I love the other songs in it, too-- from the jazz-infused lead single, "Letitgo", to the dance grooves of the first four songs of the album beginning with the seductive 11-minute title track to the manic "Loose!" Vanity's uncredited moans in "Orgasm" ending with Prince saying "I love you" sealed the deal for me.

Day 8: March 30
"Sign O' The Times"
I can't believe it's been 30 years since this album was released March of 1987. How time flies! And yet, this album, like wine, gets better with time. It's definitely Prince's masterpiece and most diverse album covering many genres of music. This was the last Prince vinyl album I bought in the Philippines before my family moved to the U.S. and I remember it fondly. This album introduced us to Prince's alter ego, Camille, and the first time I played this album and heard the Camille voice, I thought there was something wrong with my record or the turntable because of the sped up voice. Took me a number of listens to get used to it. It's one album where each song could potentially have been a hit song. I can honestly say I love every song of this album and the album with the most number of my all-time favorite Prince songs-- the title track, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, Starfish and Coffee, If I Was Ur Girlfriend, Adore, U Got the Look, Hot Thing, and I Could Never Take the Place of Ur Man.

Day 9: March 31
"Controversy"
This album has a special significance to me. The title track, one of my favorites, asks "am I straight or gay?" and it was a question I struggled for many years. Growing up in a devout Christian household didn't help either as I grew up believing being gay is a sin and an abomination. Listening to Prince's music helped me deal with those struggles-- not to be ashamed-- "Sexuality is all u'll ever need" he declares in one of the tracks. And while my beliefs (or non-belief) and Prince's beliefs have differed in the coming years, I thank Prince for giving me the courage to be true to myself and finally come out to myself, my family and friends.

Day 10: April 1
"Art Official Age"
It's officially April. It was this month last year that Prince unexpectedly passed away. As his first death anniversary approaches it will be increasingly difficult for many, me included, thinking about his last days. I haven't listened to Prince's music this much since his death, as it had been difficult for me especially the first few months after his death which affected my personal life. I managed to make it through day 10 so far in my 30-day pledge of listening to a Prince album each day as my way of paying tribute to him and honoring his life through his music. I hope I can make it through April 21.

I haven't listened to "Art Official Age" album in months. Definitely one of the best albums he released in his last years. Other than the title track, which I'm not fond of, I love the rest of the album particularly "Clouds", "Breakdown", "This Could Be Us" and "Way Back Home". Talking about the song, "Way Back Home", it has taken on a new meaning for me after his death. Prince may already have known then when he recorded this album that his time on earth was almost up (a terminal illness perhaps, we may never know, as he was always a private person and I respect him for that, although it had been hard for many of us dealing with his sudden death). This song-- and album as a whole-- his last concept album-- may be his way of dealing with death and his way of saying goodbye to us. In "Way Back Home" he sings--

"So many reasons why I don't belong here but now I am without fear.
I am gonna conquer with no fear until I find my way back home."

He repeats that same sentiment on "affirmation III" repeatedly singing "until I find my way back home" while a female narrator describes his journey home--

"U've probably felt many years in ur former life, u were separate from not only only others, but even urself. Now u can see that was never the case. U are actually everything and anything that u can think of. All of it is U...Remember there really is only one destination, and that place is U. All of it, everything is U."

Here's hoping Prince found his way back home.

Day 11: April 2
"Batman"
While the film, "Batman", directed by Tim Burton is not the best Batman film (my vote goes to "The Dark Knight" film), it was a decent film with Michael Keaton playing the title character much better than George Clooney or Val Kilmer, and Jack Nicholson playing the demented Joker with gusto, I eagerly went to see "Batman" during the summer of 1989 mainly to hear Prince's songs featured in the film. "Batdance", of course, was a huge hit that summer and became Prince's 4th #1 song with the album spending six weeks at #1 in the album chart. And while I find the song, "Batdance", corny these days, it still is a guilty pleasure song for me, especially the music video which features Prince as "Gemini" (dressed as half-Batman and half-Joker). Prince seemed to relish the role and having fun in the video as well as in the the follow-up single, "Partyman", also one of my favorite songs in the album. My favorite line from the album was in the song, "Electric Chair"-- "If a man is considered guilty for what goes on in his mind, then give me the electric chair for all my future crimes." Undoubtedly, the best track in the album is the seductive "Scandalous." Classic Prince! :cool:

Day 12: April 3
"Graffiti Bridge"
It's been awhile since I listened to the "Graffiti Bridge" album as a whole. I tend to skip some of the songs. Listening to the full album today, I forgot how good the album actually is. My opinion of the album was tainted over the years by how bad the accompanying film for it. Unlike the movies "Purple Rain" and "Under the Cherry Moon", both of which I enjoy watching regularly, I don't even remember the last time I watched the movie, "Graffiti Bridge." I decided to watch the movie again-- this time on Blu-Ray-- this afternoon. The acting, writing, direction and production of the movie was as bad as I remembered but it was good to see Prince and The Time perform some of the songs in the film again. There are two Prince tracks in the album that I really love-- "The Question of U" and "Joy in Repetition". I also like the songs performed by The Time-- "Release It", "Love Machine" and "Shake!" as well as Tevin Campbell's "Round and Round." While the critical and commercial failure of the movie may have ended Prince's film career, that didn't stop him from making direct-to-video vanity projects in the ensuing years (e.g. "Diamonds and Pearls Video Collection" and "3 Chains O' Gold"). :lol:

Day 13: April 4
"For You"
Woah! I just realized Prince's debut album, "For You", will have its 40th anniversary next year since its release in April, 1978. Prince had been releasing an album almost every year since his debut album, some of which are double or triple albums. Quite an amazing output! And we hope to hear more in the years to come from his vault. After almost 40 years, his debut album still impresses me. Not many artists had the distinction of producing, composing, arranging and performing all the songs of their debut album, not to mention playing 27 instruments. Last month, while I was shopping for used CDs at Amoeba Music store in Hollywood, the store DJ was playing Prince's "For You" album to my surprise and delight. The song, "Soft and Wet", his first hit single from the album, remains one of his beloved classic songs. While the album is not often mentioned as a favorite among his fans, I can say it's a better album than many of the other albums he released over the years, some of which are quite uneven. This album, on the other hand, with its funky, old school vibe, I can listen without skipping any of the songs. It's one of my go-to albums when I just want to chill at home.

Day 14: April 5
"Dirty Mind"
When I was in college and studied Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche consisting of the id, ego, and superego, I thought of Prince's music and have always been drawn to him expressing the "id"-- his libido and sexual drive-- and the "Dirty Mind" album has a healthy (or unhealthy?) dose of that beginning with the throbbing beat of the title track as he described his state of mind, singing about his obsession with an ex in "When U Were Mine", his desire to "Do It All Night"-- including explicit acts of giving "Head" and having incestous relationship with his "Sister". And he loved to "Partyup" in "Uptown". He covered all the bases in the album and we can't get enough of it. It's Prince's leanest album-- at only 30 minutes long-- and yet his funkiest and most daring album. "Dirty Mind" was his first album in the '80s and he continued pushing the envelope throughout the decade-- definitely his most creative period.

Day 15: April 6
"Diamonds and Pearls"
Another milestone for one of Prince's albums as 25 years have passed since the release of "Diamonds and Pearls" in October, 1991. Unlike most of his '80s output, however, time has not been good to it. Save for a few songs, the album sounds dated to me now, not to mention I never warmed up to Tony M's rapping. This release was Prince's attempt then to stay current with the increasing popularity of hip hop (especially gangsta rap) in the late '80s/early '90s, also drastically changing his look-- again-- compared to his image in the previous year's "Graffiti Bridge" album and film release. Listening to songs like "Daddy Pop", "Jughead" and "Push" again was torturous. Plus, the message of the album was conflicting-- Prince sings about Jesus saving your soul in the opening track, "Thunder", and then wanting to do "twenty three positions in a one night stand" in "Gett Off". I also find the title track to be quite cheesy these days although the music video for the song is a guilty pleasure with Prince being chased by the paparazzi before singing the song featuring his back-up dancers named "Diamond" and "Pearl". On the plus side, there are some "gems" (pun intended ) in the album. "Cream" has become a Prince classic and a staple song in his concerts over the years. I love the cool vibe of "Strollin'" and "Willing and Able" while "Walk Don't Walk" is whimsical. The sultry "Insatiable" is irresistible and a worthy addition in Prince's long list of classic soulful ballads. His social commentary on "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" is spot on. Lastly, the message of the closer, "Live 4 Love", inspired me to use the song title as my personalized car license plate for 20 years. 8-)

Day 16: April 7
"20Ten"
I only got the chance to listen to the full "20Ten" album when it became available for streaming on Tidal last year-- months after his death. Whatever Prince's reasons may be for not releasing the album in the U.S., it was a missed opportunity as it's a strong album, in my opinion, and could have produced a couple of hit songs for him. "Beginning Endlessly" could easily have been a club hit. I can listen to that track alone all day. The album production, especially his use of Linn drums, harkens back to some of his early '80's releases. "Compassion" reminds me of "Let's Pretend We're Married". My other favorites are Prince crooning on "Future Soul Song", the funky number "Sticky Like Glue" (although I can do without his rapping), the wistful "Walk in Sand" segueing into "Sea of Everything" featuring his signature silky smooth falsetto. I've seen Prince in concert at least four times since 2010 (during his "Welcome 2 America" tour) and wished he had performed some of the songs from this album.

Day 17: April 8
"Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic"
This companion album to "Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic" was released initially through Prince's NPG Music Club where I was a paying member for a couple of years. I looked forward to this album but was disappointed that the remixes of the songs didn't improve upon the original cuts of the former album. The one saving grace of this album, for me anyway, was the inclusion of the song, "Beautiful Strange". I love the guitar solo in that song. I was never a fan of the title track and the remix version made it worse for me. Thankfully, the songs that I love in that album mostly remained unchanged in this release-- "I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore" (possibly his most heartfelt, breakup song), "So Far, So Pleased" (a bouncy pop duet with Gwen Stefani), "The Sun, the Moon and Stars" (I love the reggae vibe of the song), and the uplifting "Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do" (I love when he sings, "Remember life ain't always what it seems. For each rainy day that comes your way, the sun will come shining and you'll be okay"). A simple yet quite reassuring message! :)

Day 18: April 9
"Newpower Soul"
I haven't listened to this album in over a decade. I'll be honest, I didn't follow Prince's music and career closely from the mid-90's to early 2000. I was in the U.S. Army then and when I got out I was studying full-time in college and working at the same time. That was the period when he was releasing albums in his moniker. Many of his releases during that period I bought eventually years later. The "Newpower Soul" album is one of them. Listening to the album again after all these years, like many of his 90's output when he started including hip hop elements in his music (particularly the rapping), they sound dated now. He even had Doug E. Fresh rap in a couple of tracks in this album-- "Push It Up" and "(I Like) Funky Music". What I love about this album, however, are the horn sections featured in the title track as well as in "Mad Sex" and "When U Love Somebody" (can't resist dancing to the beat of these songs). I love the slow songs as well-- can't go wrong with Prince singing falsetto in "Until U're in My Arms Again" and especially, in "The One". Those two are my favorite songs in the album along with "Come On"- I love the groove of the song that reminds me of the incessant beat on "Forever in My Life". 8-)

Day 19: April 10
"Exodus"
Another Prince release credited to The New Power Generation in the mid'90s when he was the with lead vocals by Sonny T. and Prince under the name Tora Tora (I know it's confusing and even stranger was him sporting a scarf covering his face in some photos I've seen in that period). It's my favorite release from The New Power Generation. I enjoyed listening to this album again after all these years especially the interludes/segues with Prince talking with an Italian accent in one of them-- "Mashed Potato Girl". Also, Prince's voice slowed down to sound deep and talking about a robbery in "New Power Day". I wished Prince did more of these. He definitely had a great sense of humor. My favorite cuts in the album are the the jams-- "Get Wild", "The Good Life", "Return of the Bump Squad" and "The Exodus Has Begun"-- and the bluesy, "Count the Days". Definitely a blast revisiting this album!

Day 20: April 11
"One Night Alone..."
Prince's most intimate album with just him on vocals and piano (mostly), listening to this album is what it must have been like in one of his "Piano and a Microphone" shows last year. It's one of those albums I prefer to listen alone, especially now with Prince gone, and makes me appreciate his music more. My favorite songs in the album are "U're Gonna C Me" (which he also rerecorded for the MPLSound album), "Here on Earth", "Objects in the Mirror", and his cover of a Joni Mitchell classic, "A Case of U" (definitely my favorite cover song he did) with its raw emotion and intensity. The last song, an ethereal instrumental track called "Arboretum" ends with the sound of Prince getting up after playing the piano, walking out the room and closing the door behind him. :-(

Day 21: April 12
"N.E.W.S."
This entry is going to be short and sweet as I don't really have much to say about this jazz fusion instrumental album. This is probably the first time I actually listened to the full album as I tend to lose interest listening to it before. I guess it's just not for me. I doubt I will be revisiting it anytime soon. The album, its title an acronym for the four tracks-- "North", "East", "West", and "South"-- each at 14 minutes long-- and supposedly recorded in one day-- is best enjoyed, perhaps, in smaller doses or if I was watching Prince and his band performing it live.

Day 22: April 13
"Planet Earth"
I love this album! I actually enjoy listening to this album more than his more popular releases in the 2000s-- "Musicology" and "3121"-- both of which are good albums, too. But "Planet Earth" is one of those albums that took me a number of listens to fully appreciate and one day the album just clicked for me and have become one of my favorite Prince albums. I love every track of this album. The title track starts slow with the piano, then builds up as the song continues and rises to a crescendo with the guitar solo in the end, leading to the next song, "Guitar" with it's catchy guitar riff and who can't resist singing along when aprince exclaims-- "I love u baby, but not like I love my guitar." This album has two sultry ballads, "Somewhere Here On Earth" and "Future Baby Mama". I also love the upbeat song, "The One U Wanna C", the funky groove, "Chelsea Rodgers", the little ditty song, "All the Midnights in the World" and the closer, "Resolution" with Revolution alums, Wendy and Lisa. I just realized this album is ten years old this year! Definitely one Prince album that will be a mainstay in my playlist.

Day 23: April 14
Day 24: April 15
Day 25: April 16
Day 26: April 17
Day 27: April 18
Day 28: April 19
Day 29: April 20
Day 30: April 21

Day 1: March 23
"Purple Rain"
Gotta start with the album that made me a Prince fan for life with its lead single, "When Doves Cry", the first Prince single I ever bought during my junior year in high school in 1984 and saved my allowance to buy the "Purple Rain" vinyl album when it came out months later. I don't think I knew anyone in my high school-- I grew up in the Philippines-- who was a Prince fan like me. I knew I was different then and it's the main reason that drew me to Prince's music. I can't believe I've been a fan for almost 33 years. Listening to the album now, the music still sound as fresh to my ears like it was just released. I can listen to the album beginning to end over and over. Definitely has my vote as the best opener, Let's Go Crazy, and the best closer, Purple Rain, in any Prince album, not to mention its title track one of the greatest rock anthem ever. Of course, after watching the charismatic Prince and his electrifying performances of the songs in the film, it makes listening to the album even much more enjoyable. Never in my wildest dreams then did I think I would get to watch Prince perform live in concert, but that was about to change when my family unexpectedly moved to the U.S. a few years later. But that's a story for another day. :wink:

Day 2: March 24
"1999"
My favorite Prince double album. "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" are the best opening one-two punch tracks-- "1999", possibly the ultimate end-of-the-world party song and in "Little Red Corvette", the classic car metaphor for a woman with the line-- "baby, you're much 2 fast"-- says it all. The third track, "Delirious", a simple yet catchy Prince track where he sings one of my favorite suggestive lyrics -- "my temperature's running hot, baby u got 2 stop, cuz if u don't I'm gonna explode and girl I got a lot". The whole double album oozes with sex and that's just side one. My other favorite tracks of the album are what I consider four essential club tracks clocking at over seven minutes long each-- "Let's Pretend We're Married", DMSR, "Automatic", and "Lady Cab Driver." Casual Prince fans miss out on these hidden gems; one reason I'm not a big fan of greatest hits compilations.

Day 3: March 25
"Around the World in A Day"
Like many, I anticipated Prince's follow-up to "Purple Rain" album. When "Raspberry Beret", the lead single to "Around the World in A Day" came out, it sounded a lot different from anything he released up to that point. And I loved it! "Raspberry Beret" was the last Prince 7" (45rpm) single I bought. And it has my favorite B-side song-- "She's Always in My Hair". I remember listening to Casey Kasem's American Top 40 every week back in the '80s and "Raspberry Beret" stalled at #2 with Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill" keeping it from becoming #1. I love the music video especially with the extended intro. When the album finally came out, like many, I, too, was surprised how much different the album sounds, from the intro to the title song-- the Beatlesque, psychedelic sounds and lyrics-- which I'm sure alienated a lot of his fans. Took me a number of listens to appreciate the album. While it's not one of my favorite Prince albums, I love some of the songs, namely, the aforementioned "Raspberry Beret", "Pop Life", "Condition of the Heart", and "The Ladder."

Day 4: March 26
"Lovesexy"
I have been playing the "Lovesexy" album on loop all day today. Couldn't skip the songs anyhow as Prince meant the album to be heard from beginning to end-- each and every time. This album has a special significance to me as it's the first Prince album I bought when my family moved to the U.S. from the Philippines, and, coincidentally, it was around the time the Lovesexy Tour was going on and saw Prince in concert for the first time at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (which, sadly, closed its doors March of last year and demolished this past September ). So many wonderful memories for me at that place. Growing up, I never thought I'd ever get to see Prince live in concert and looking back, it felt like a dream. It was a surreal experience! I actually bought tickets to see Prince for two consecutive nights but gave a pair of tix to my sister, who's just a year older than me, for one of the nights hoping to get her to become a Prince fan like me. It didn't work although she enjoyed the concert. I guess Prince fams like us are a rare breed, indeed. Back to the album, it has three of my all-time favorite Prince songs, namely, Alphabet Street, Glam Slam, and I Wish U Heaven. I also like the title track and Anna Stetia. More importantly, the album features my favorite album cover-- Prince in the nude. :cool:

Day 5: March 27
"Prince"
Prince's self-titled album-- his second studio album-- has become one of my favorite albums. It features my all-time favorite Prince song, "I Wanna Be Your Lover," which I can listen on repeat all day. The whole album just flows well and I seldom skip any songs from the album whenever I listen to it although I especially crank up the volume whenever "Bambi" comes on. Kudos to Chaka Khan whose version of "I Feel For You" popularized the song and won Prince a Grammy for Best R&B song. I love the fact that Prince sings mostly in falsetto in all the songs of the album. This is definitely one album where I would have loved to have seen Prince perform all the songs live.

Day 6: March 28

I used to love the album when it first came out but the novelty of the "Segues" in the album has worn off over the years-- I find Kirstie Alley's voice increasingly annoying-- and I skip them now whenever I listen to the album. For the purposes of this tribute for Prince, I listened to the album uninterrupted today. The songs sound dated now especially "My Name is Prince" which has that '90's hip hop vibe that Prince tried to emulate but failed badly. The highlight for me during this period was the introduction of Mayte Garcia as Prince's muse. I still like a couple of songs in the album-- "The Morning Papers" and "7". I love the guitar solos in "The Morning Papers" while "7" especially reminded me of my U.S. Army days when I was stationed in Germany and one of my Army buddies used to play the song very loud in the barracks. It always made me smile hearing that song. :)

Day 7: March 29
"Come"
One of Prince's most underrated albums, I felt the "Come" album would have been a bigger hit had it not been released during the most tumultuous time in Prince's career during the '90s when he had the public dispute with Warner Bros and changed his name to a symbol which, sadly, took the spotlight away from his music but the attention was geared toward the name change and Prince was the butt of jokes as to what to call him. Even the album cover for "Come" announced the death of Prince (the name anyway with the years 1958-1993 on it). I thought this album was conceived better than his last couple of albums released before it-- "Diamonds and Pearls" and . I love how it was intimate and personal, with songs like "Papa", "Dark", and "Solo", and I love the other songs in it, too-- from the jazz-infused lead single, "Letitgo", to the dance grooves of the first four songs of the album beginning with the seductive 11-minute title track to the manic "Loose!" Vanity's uncredited moans in "Orgasm" ending with Prince saying "I love you" sealed the deal for me.

Day 8: March 30
"Sign O' The Times"
I can't believe it's been 30 years since this album was released March of 1987. How time flies! And yet, this album, like wine, gets better with time. It's definitely Prince's masterpiece and most diverse album covering many genres of music. This was the last Prince vinyl album I bought in the Philippines before my family moved to the U.S. and I remember it fondly. This album introduced us to Prince's alter ego, Camille, and the first time I played this album and heard the Camille voice, I thought there was something wrong with my record or the turntable because of the sped up voice. Took me a number of listens to get used to it. It's one album where each song could potentially have been a hit song. I can honestly say I love every song of this album and the album with the most number of my all-time favorite Prince songs-- the title track, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, Starfish and Coffee, If I Was Ur Girlfriend, Adore, U Got the Look, Hot Thing, and I Could Never Take the Place of Ur Man.

Day 9: March 31
"Controversy"
This album has a special significance to me. The title track, one of my favorites, asks "am I straight or gay?" and it was a question I struggled for many years. Growing up in a devout Christian household didn't help either as I grew up believing being gay is a sin and an abomination. Listening to Prince's music helped me deal with those struggles-- not to be ashamed-- "Sexuality is all u'll ever need" he declares in one of the tracks. And while my beliefs (or non-belief) and Prince's beliefs have differed in the coming years, I thank Prince for giving me the courage to be true to myself and finally come out to myself, my family and friends.

Day 10: April 1
"Art Official Age"
It's officially April. It was this month last year that Prince unexpectedly passed away. As his first death anniversary approaches it will be increasingly difficult for many, me included, thinking about his last days. I haven't listened to Prince's music this much since his death, as it had been difficult for me especially the first few months after his death which affected my personal life. I managed to make it through day 10 so far in my 30-day pledge of listening to a Prince album each day as my way of paying tribute to him and honoring his life through his music. I hope I can make it through April 21.

I haven't listened to "Art Official Age" album in months. Definitely one of the best albums he released in his last years. Other than the title track, which I'm not fond of, I love the rest of the album particularly "Clouds", "Breakdown", "This Could Be Us" and "Way Back Home". Talking about the song, "Way Back Home", it has taken on a new meaning for me after his death. Prince may already have known then when he recorded this album that his time on earth was almost up (a terminal illness perhaps, we may never know, as he was always a private person and I respect him for that, although it had been hard for many of us dealing with his sudden death). This song-- and album as a whole-- his last concept album-- may be his way of dealing with death and his way of saying goodbye to us. In "Way Back Home" he sings--

"So many reasons why I don't belong here but now I am without fear.
I am gonna conquer with no fear until I find my way back home."

He repeats that same sentiment on "affirmation III" repeatedly singing "until I find my way back home" while a female narrator describes his journey home--

"U've probably felt many years in ur former life, u were separate from not only only others, but even urself. Now u can see that was never the case. U are actually everything and anything that u can think of. All of it is U...Remember there really is only one destination, and that place is U. All of it, everything is U."

Here's hoping Prince found his way back home.

Day 11: April 2
"Batman"
While the film, "Batman", directed by Tim Burton is not the best Batman film (my vote goes to "The Dark Knight" film), it was a decent film with Michael Keaton playing the title character much better than George Clooney or Val Kilmer, and Jack Nicholson playing the demented Joker with gusto, I eagerly went to see "Batman" during the summer of 1989 mainly to hear Prince's songs featured in the film. "Batdance", of course, was a huge hit that summer and became Prince's 4th #1 song with the album spending six weeks at #1 in the album chart. And while I find the song, "Batdance", corny these days, it still is a guilty pleasure song for me, especially the music video which features Prince as "Gemini" (dressed as half-Batman and half-Joker). Prince seemed to relish the role and having fun in the video as well as in the the follow-up single, "Partyman", also one of my favorite songs in the album. My favorite line from the album was in the song, "Electric Chair"-- "If a man is considered guilty for what goes on in his mind, then give me the electric chair for all my future crimes." Undoubtedly, the best track in the album is the seductive "Scandalous." Classic Prince! :cool:

Day 12: April 3
"Graffiti Bridge"
It's been awhile since I listened to the "Graffiti Bridge" album as a whole. I tend to skip some of the songs. Listening to the full album today, I forgot how good the album actually is. My opinion of the album was tainted over the years by how bad the accompanying film for it. Unlike the movies "Purple Rain" and "Under the Cherry Moon", both of which I enjoy watching regularly, I don't even remember the last time I watched the movie, "Graffiti Bridge." I decided to watch the movie again-- this time on Blu-Ray-- this afternoon. The acting, writing, direction and production of the movie was as bad as I remembered but it was good to see Prince and The Time perform some of the songs in the film again. There are two Prince tracks in the album that I really love-- "The Question of U" and "Joy in Repetition". I also like the songs performed by The Time-- "Release It", "Love Machine" and "Shake!" as well as Tevin Campbell's "Round and Round." While the critical and commercial failure of the movie may have ended Prince's film career, that didn't stop him from making direct-to-video vanity projects in the ensuing years (e.g. "Diamonds and Pearls Video Collection" and "3 Chains O' Gold"). :lol:

Day 13: April 4
"For You"
Woah! I just realized Prince's debut album, "For You", will have its 40th anniversary next year since its release in April, 1978. Prince had been releasing an album almost every year since his debut album, some of which are double or triple albums. Quite an amazing output! And we hope to hear more in the years to come from his vault. After almost 40 years, his debut album still impresses me. Not many artists had the distinction of producing, composing, arranging and performing all the songs of their debut album, not to mention playing 27 instruments. Last month, while I was shopping for used CDs at Amoeba Music store in Hollywood, the store DJ was playing Prince's "For You" album to my surprise and delight. The song, "Soft and Wet", his first hit single from the album, remains one of his beloved classic songs. While the album is not often mentioned as a favorite among his fans, I can say it's a better album than many of the other albums he released over the years, some of which are quite uneven. This album, on the other hand, with its funky, old school vibe, I can listen without skipping any of the songs. It's one of my go-to albums when I just want to chill at home.

Day 14: April 5
"Dirty Mind"
When I was in college and studied Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche consisting of the id, ego, and superego, I thought of Prince's music and have always been drawn to him expressing the "id"-- his libido and sexual drive-- and the "Dirty Mind" album has a healthy (or unhealthy?) dose of that beginning with the throbbing beat of the title track as he described his state of mind, singing about his obsession with an ex in "When U Were Mine", his desire to "Do It All Night"-- including explicit acts of giving "Head" and having incestous relationship with his "Sister". And he loved to "Partyup" in "Uptown". He covered all the bases in the album and we can't get enough of it. It's Prince's leanest album-- at only 30 minutes long-- and yet his funkiest and most daring album. "Dirty Mind" was his first album in the '80s and he continued pushing the envelope throughout the decade-- definitely his most creative period.

Day 15: April 6
"Diamonds and Pearls"
Another milestone for one of Prince's albums as 25 years have passed since the release of "Diamonds and Pearls" in October, 1991. Unlike most of his '80s output, however, time has not been good to it. Save for a few songs, the album sounds dated to me now, not to mention I never warmed up to Tony M's rapping. This release was Prince's attempt then to stay current with the increasing popularity of hip hop (especially gangsta rap) in the late '80s/early '90s, also drastically changing his look-- again-- compared to his image in the previous year's "Graffiti Bridge" album and film release. Listening to songs like "Daddy Pop", "Jughead" and "Push" again was torturous. Plus, the message of the album was conflicting-- Prince sings about Jesus saving your soul in the opening track, "Thunder", and then wanting to do "twenty three positions in a one night stand" in "Gett Off". I also find the title track to be quite cheesy these days although the music video for the song is a guilty pleasure with Prince being chased by the paparazzi before singing the song featuring his back-up dancers named "Diamond" and "Pearl". On the plus side, there are some "gems" (pun intended ) in the album. "Cream" has become a Prince classic and a staple song in his concerts over the years. I love the cool vibe of "Strollin'" and "Willing and Able" while "Walk Don't Walk" is whimsical. The sultry "Insatiable" is irresistible and a worthy addition in Prince's long list of classic soulful ballads. His social commentary on "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" is spot on. Lastly, the message of the closer, "Live 4 Love", inspired me to use the song title as my personalized car license plate for 20 years. 8-)

Day 16: April 7
"20Ten"
I only got the chance to listen to the full "20Ten" album when it became available for streaming on Tidal last year-- months after his death. Whatever Prince's reasons may be for not releasing the album in the U.S., it was a missed opportunity as it's a strong album, in my opinion, and could have produced a couple of hit songs for him. "Beginning Endlessly" could easily have been a club hit. I can listen to that track alone all day. The album production, especially his use of Linn drums, harkens back to some of his early '80's releases. "Compassion" reminds me of "Let's Pretend We're Married". My other favorites are Prince crooning on "Future Soul Song", the funky number "Sticky Like Glue" (although I can do without his rapping), the wistful "Walk in Sand" segueing into "Sea of Everything" featuring his signature silky smooth falsetto. I've seen Prince in concert at least four times since 2010 (during his "Welcome 2 America" tour) and wished he had performed some of the songs from this album.

Day 17: April 8
"Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic"
This companion album to "Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic" was released initially through Prince's NPG Music Club where I was a paying member for a couple of years. I looked forward to this album but was disappointed that the remixes of the songs didn't improve upon the original cuts of the former album. The one saving grace of this album, for me anyway, was the inclusion of the song, "Beautiful Strange". I love the guitar solo in that song. I was never a fan of the title track and the remix version made it worse for me. Thankfully, the songs that I love in that album mostly remained unchanged in this release-- "I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore" (possibly his most heartfelt, breakup song), "So Far, So Pleased" (a bouncy pop duet with Gwen Stefani), "The Sun, the Moon and Stars" (I love the reggae vibe of the song), and the uplifting "Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do" (I love when he sings, "Remember life ain't always what it seems. For each rainy day that comes your way, the sun will come shining and you'll be okay"). A simple yet quite reassuring message! :)

Day 18: April 9
"Newpower Soul"
I haven't listened to this album in over a decade. I'll be honest, I didn't follow Prince's music and career closely from the mid-90's to early 2000. I was in the U.S. Army then and when I got out I was studying full-time in college and working at the same time. That was the period when he was releasing albums in his moniker. Many of his releases during that period I bought eventually years later. The "Newpower Soul" album is one of them. Listening to the album again after all these years, like many of his 90's output when he started including hip hop elements in his music (particularly the rapping), they sound dated now. He even had Doug E. Fresh rap in a couple of tracks in this album-- "Push It Up" and "(I Like) Funky Music". What I love about this album, however, are the horn sections featured in the title track as well as in "Mad Sex" and "When U Love Somebody" (can't resist dancing to the beat of these songs). I love the slow songs as well-- can't go wrong with Prince singing falsetto in "Until U're in My Arms Again" and especially, in "The One". Those two are my favorite songs in the album along with "Come On"- I love the groove of the song that reminds me of the incessant beat on "Forever in My Life". 8-)

Day 19: April 10
"Exodus"
Another Prince release credited to The New Power Generation in the mid'90s when he was the with lead vocals by Sonny T. and Prince under the name Tora Tora (I know it's confusing and even stranger was him sporting a scarf covering his face in some photos I've seen in that period). It's my favorite release from The New Power Generation. I enjoyed listening to this album again after all these years especially the interludes/segues with Prince talking with an Italian accent in one of them-- "Mashed Potato Girl". Also, Prince's voice slowed down to sound deep and talking about a robbery in "New Power Day". I wished Prince did more of these. He definitely had a great sense of humor. My favorite cuts in the album are the the jams-- "Get Wild", "The Good Life", "Return of the Bump Squad" and "The Exodus Has Begun"-- and the bluesy, "Count the Days". Definitely a blast revisiting this album!

Day 20: April 11
"One Night Alone..."
Prince's most intimate album with just him on vocals and piano (mostly), listening to this album is what it must have been like in one of his "Piano and a Microphone" shows last year. It's one of those albums I prefer to listen alone, especially now with Prince gone, and makes me appreciate his music more. My favorite songs in the album are "U're Gonna C Me" (which he also rerecorded for the MPLSound album), "Here on Earth", "Objects in the Mirror", and his cover of a Joni Mitchell classic, "A Case of U" (definitely my favorite cover song he did) with its raw emotion and intensity. The last song, an ethereal instrumental track called "Arboretum" ends with the sound of Prince getting up after playing the piano, walking out the room and closing the door behind him. :-(

Day 21: April 12
"N.E.W.S."
This entry is going to be short and sweet as I don't really have much to say about this jazz fusion instrumental album. This is probably the first time I actually listened to the full album as I tend to lose interest listening to it before. I guess it's just not for me. I doubt I will be revisiting it anytime soon. The album, its title an acronym for the four tracks-- "North", "East", "West", and "South"-- each at 14 minutes long-- and supposedly recorded in one day-- is best enjoyed, perhaps, in smaller doses or if I was watching Prince and his band performing it live.

Day 22: April 13
"Planet Earth"
I love this album! I actually enjoy listening to this album more than his more popular releases in the 2000s-- "Musicology" and "3121"-- both of which are good albums, too. But "Planet Earth" is one of those albums that took me a number of listens to fully appreciate and one day the album just clicked for me and have become one of my favorite Prince albums. I love every track of this album. The title track starts slow with the piano, then builds up as the song continues and rises to a crescendo with the guitar solo in the end, leading to the next song, "Guitar" with it's catchy guitar riff and who can't resist singing along when Prince exclaims-- "I love u baby, but not like I love my guitar." This album has two sultry ballads, "Somewhere Here On Earth" and "Future Baby Mama". I also love the upbeat song, "The One U Wanna C", the funky groove, "Chelsea Rodgers", the little ditty song, "All the Midnights in the World" and the closer, "Resolution" with Revolution alums, Wendy and Lisa. I just realized this album is ten years old this year! Definitely one Prince album that will be a mainstay in my playlist.

Day 23: April 14
"The Black Album"
In observance of Black Friday, I listened to "The Black Album" today. That's all. ;-)

Day 24: April 15
Day 25: April 16
Day 26: April 17
Day 27: April 18
Day 28: April 19
Day 29: April 20
Day 30: April 21

Day 1: March 23
"Purple Rain"
Gotta start with the album that made me a Prince fan for life with its lead single, "When Doves Cry", the first Prince single I ever bought during my junior year in high school in 1984 and saved my allowance to buy the "Purple Rain" vinyl album when it came out months later. I don't think I knew anyone in my high school-- I grew up in the Philippines-- who was a Prince fan like me. I knew I was different then and it's the main reason that drew me to Prince's music. I can't believe I've been a fan for almost 33 years. Listening to the album now, the music still sound as fresh to my ears like it was just released. I can listen to the album beginning to end over and over. Definitely has my vote as the best opener, Let's Go Crazy, and the best closer, Purple Rain, in any Prince album, not to mention its title track one of the greatest rock anthem ever. Of course, after watching the charismatic Prince and his electrifying performances of the songs in the film, it makes listening to the album even much more enjoyable. Never in my wildest dreams then did I think I would get to watch Prince perform live in concert, but that was about to change when my family unexpectedly moved to the U.S. a few years later. But that's a story for another day. :wink:

Day 2: March 24
"1999"
My favorite Prince double album. "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" are the best opening one-two punch tracks-- "1999", possibly the ultimate end-of-the-world party song and in "Little Red Corvette", the classic car metaphor for a woman with the line-- "baby, you're much 2 fast"-- says it all. The third track, "Delirious", a simple yet catchy Prince track where he sings one of my favorite suggestive lyrics -- "my temperature's running hot, baby u got 2 stop, cuz if u don't I'm gonna explode and girl I got a lot". The whole double album oozes with sex and that's just side one. My other favorite tracks of the album are what I consider four essential club tracks clocking at over seven minutes long each-- "Let's Pretend We're Married", DMSR, "Automatic", and "Lady Cab Driver." Casual Prince fans miss out on these hidden gems; one reason I'm not a big fan of greatest hits compilations.

Day 3: March 25
"Around the World in A Day"
Like many, I anticipated Prince's follow-up to "Purple Rain" album. When "Raspberry Beret", the lead single to "Around the World in A Day" came out, it sounded a lot different from anything he released up to that point. And I loved it! "Raspberry Beret" was the last Prince 7" (45rpm) single I bought. And it has my favorite B-side song-- "She's Always in My Hair". I remember listening to Casey Kasem's American Top 40 every week back in the '80s and "Raspberry Beret" stalled at #2 with Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill" keeping it from becoming #1. I love the music video especially with the extended intro. When the album finally came out, like many, I, too, was surprised how much different the album sounds, from the intro to the title song-- the Beatlesque, psychedelic sounds and lyrics-- which I'm sure alienated a lot of his fans. Took me a number of listens to appreciate the album. While it's not one of my favorite Prince albums, I love some of the songs, namely, the aforementioned "Raspberry Beret", "Pop Life", "Condition of the Heart", and "The Ladder."

Day 4: March 26
"Lovesexy"
I have been playing the "Lovesexy" album on loop all day today. Couldn't skip the songs anyhow as Prince meant the album to be heard from beginning to end-- each and every time. This album has a special significance to me as it's the first Prince album I bought when my family moved to the U.S. from the Philippines, and, coincidentally, it was around the time the Lovesexy Tour was going on and saw Prince in concert for the first time at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (which, sadly, closed its doors March of last year and demolished this past September ). So many wonderful memories for me at that place. Growing up, I never thought I'd ever get to see Prince live in concert and looking back, it felt like a dream. It was a surreal experience! I actually bought tickets to see Prince for two consecutive nights but gave a pair of tix to my sister, who's just a year older than me, for one of the nights hoping to get her to become a Prince fan like me. It didn't work although she enjoyed the concert. I guess Prince fams like us are a rare breed, indeed. Back to the album, it has three of my all-time favorite Prince songs, namely, Alphabet Street, Glam Slam, and I Wish U Heaven. I also like the title track and Anna Stetia. More importantly, the album features my favorite album cover-- Prince in the nude. :cool:

Day 5: March 27
"Prince"
Prince's self-titled album-- his second studio album-- has become one of my favorite albums. It features my all-time favorite Prince song, "I Wanna Be Your Lover," which I can listen on repeat all day. The whole album just flows well and I seldom skip any songs from the album whenever I listen to it although I especially crank up the volume whenever "Bambi" comes on. Kudos to Chaka Khan whose version of "I Feel For You" popularized the song and won Prince a Grammy for Best R&B song. I love the fact that Prince sings mostly in falsetto in all the songs of the album. This is definitely one album where I would have loved to have seen Prince perform all the songs live.

Day 6: March 28

I used to love the album when it first came out but the novelty of the "Segues" in the album has worn off over the years-- I find Kirstie Alley's voice increasingly annoying-- and I skip them now whenever I listen to the album. For the purposes of this tribute for Prince, I listened to the album uninterrupted today. The songs sound dated now especially "My Name is Prince" which has that '90's hip hop vibe that Prince tried to emulate but failed badly. The highlight for me during this period was the introduction of Mayte Garcia as Prince's muse. I still like a couple of songs in the album-- "The Morning Papers" and "7". I love the guitar solos in "The Morning Papers" while "7" especially reminded me of my U.S. Army days when I was stationed in Germany and one of my Army buddies used to play the song very loud in the barracks. It always made me smile hearing that song. :)

Day 7: March 29
"Come"
One of Prince's most underrated albums, I felt the "Come" album would have been a bigger hit had it not been released during the most tumultuous time in Prince's career during the '90s when he had the public dispute with Warner Bros and changed his name to a symbol which, sadly, took the spotlight away from his music but the attention was geared toward the name change and Prince was the butt of jokes as to what to call him. Even the album cover for "Come" announced the death of Prince (the name anyway with the years 1958-1993 on it). I thought this album was conceived better than his last couple of albums released before it-- "Diamonds and Pearls" and . I love how it was intimate and personal, with songs like "Papa", "Dark", and "Solo", and I love the other songs in it, too-- from the jazz-infused lead single, "Letitgo", to the dance grooves of the first four songs of the album beginning with the seductive 11-minute title track to the manic "Loose!" Vanity's uncredited moans in "Orgasm" ending with Prince saying "I love you" sealed the deal for me.

Day 8: March 30
"Sign O' The Times"
I can't believe it's been 30 years since this album was released March of 1987. How time flies! And yet, this album, like wine, gets better with time. It's definitely Prince's masterpiece and most diverse album covering many genres of music. This was the last Prince vinyl album I bought in the Philippines before my family moved to the U.S. and I remember it fondly. This album introduced us to Prince's alter ego, Camille, and the first time I played this album and heard the Camille voice, I thought there was something wrong with my record or the turntable because of the sped up voice. Took me a number of listens to get used to it. It's one album where each song could potentially have been a hit song. I can honestly say I love every song of this album and the album with the most number of my all-time favorite Prince songs-- the title track, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, Starfish and Coffee, If I Was Ur Girlfriend, Adore, U Got the Look, Hot Thing, and I Could Never Take the Place of Ur Man.

Day 9: March 31
"Controversy"
This album has a special significance to me. The title track, one of my favorites, asks "am I straight or gay?" and it was a question I struggled for many years. Growing up in a devout Christian household didn't help either as I grew up believing being gay is a sin and an abomination. Listening to Prince's music helped me deal with those struggles-- not to be ashamed-- "Sexuality is all u'll ever need" he declares in one of the tracks. And while my beliefs (or non-belief) and Prince's beliefs have differed in the coming years, I thank Prince for giving me the courage to be true to myself and finally come out to myself, my family and friends.

Day 10: April 1
"Art Official Age"
It's officially April. It was this month last year that Prince unexpectedly passed away. As his first death anniversary approaches it will be increasingly difficult for many, me included, thinking about his last days. I haven't listened to Prince's music this much since his death, as it had been difficult for me especially the first few months after his death which affected my personal life. I managed to make it through day 10 so far in my 30-day pledge of listening to a Prince album each day as my way of paying tribute to him and honoring his life through his music. I hope I can make it through April 21.

I haven't listened to "Art Official Age" album in months. Definitely one of the best albums he released in his last years. Other than the title track, which I'm not fond of, I love the rest of the album particularly "Clouds", "Breakdown", "This Could Be Us" and "Way Back Home". Talking about the song, "Way Back Home", it has taken on a new meaning for me after his death. Prince may already have known then when he recorded this album that his time on earth was almost up (a terminal illness perhaps, we may never know, as he was always a private person and I respect him for that, although it had been hard for many of us dealing with his sudden death). This song-- and album as a whole-- his last concept album-- may be his way of dealing with death and his way of saying goodbye to us. In "Way Back Home" he sings--

"So many reasons why I don't belong here but now I am without fear.
I am gonna conquer with no fear until I find my way back home."

He repeats that same sentiment on "affirmation III" repeatedly singing "until I find my way back home" while a female narrator describes his journey home--

"U've probably felt many years in ur former life, u were separate from not only only others, but even urself. Now u can see that was never the case. U are actually everything and anything that u can think of. All of it is U...Remember there really is only one destination, and that place is U. All of it, everything is U."

Here's hoping Prince found his way back home.

Day 11: April 2
"Batman"
While the film, "Batman", directed by Tim Burton is not the best Batman film (my vote goes to "The Dark Knight" film), it was a decent film with Michael Keaton playing the title character much better than George Clooney or Val Kilmer, and Jack Nicholson playing the demented Joker with gusto, I eagerly went to see "Batman" during the summer of 1989 mainly to hear Prince's songs featured in the film. "Batdance", of course, was a huge hit that summer and became Prince's 4th #1 song with the album spending six weeks at #1 in the album chart. And while I find the song, "Batdance", corny these days, it still is a guilty pleasure song for me, especially the music video which features Prince as "Gemini" (dressed as half-Batman and half-Joker). Prince seemed to relish the role and having fun in the video as well as in the the follow-up single, "Partyman", also one of my favorite songs in the album. My favorite line from the album was in the song, "Electric Chair"-- "If a man is considered guilty for what goes on in his mind, then give me the electric chair for all my future crimes." Undoubtedly, the best track in the album is the seductive "Scandalous." Classic Prince! :cool:

Day 12: April 3
"Graffiti Bridge"
It's been awhile since I listened to the "Graffiti Bridge" album as a whole. I tend to skip some of the songs. Listening to the full album today, I forgot how good the album actually is. My opinion of the album was tainted over the years by how bad the accompanying film for it. Unlike the movies "Purple Rain" and "Under the Cherry Moon", both of which I enjoy watching regularly, I don't even remember the last time I watched the movie, "Graffiti Bridge." I decided to watch the movie again-- this time on Blu-Ray-- this afternoon. The acting, writing, direction and production of the movie was as bad as I remembered but it was good to see Prince and The Time perform some of the songs in the film again. There are two Prince tracks in the album that I really love-- "The Question of U" and "Joy in Repetition". I also like the songs performed by The Time-- "Release It", "Love Machine" and "Shake!" as well as Tevin Campbell's "Round and Round." While the critical and commercial failure of the movie may have ended Prince's film career, that didn't stop him from making direct-to-video vanity projects in the ensuing years (e.g. "Diamonds and Pearls Video Collection" and "3 Chains O' Gold"). :lol:

Day 13: April 4
"For You"
Woah! I just realized Prince's debut album, "For You", will have its 40th anniversary next year since its release in April, 1978. Prince had been releasing an album almost every year since his debut album, some of which are double or triple albums. Quite an amazing output! And we hope to hear more in the years to come from his vault. After almost 40 years, his debut album still impresses me. Not many artists had the distinction of producing, composing, arranging and performing all the songs of their debut album, not to mention playing 27 instruments. Last month, while I was shopping for used CDs at Amoeba Music store in Hollywood, the store DJ was playing Prince's "For You" album to my surprise and delight. The song, "Soft and Wet", his first hit single from the album, remains one of his beloved classic songs. While the album is not often mentioned as a favorite among his fans, I can say it's a better album than many of the other albums he released over the years, some of which are quite uneven. This album, on the other hand, with its funky, old school vibe, I can listen without skipping any of the songs. It's one of my go-to albums when I just want to chill at home.

Day 14: April 5
"Dirty Mind"
When I was in college and studied Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche consisting of the id, ego, and superego, I thought of Prince's music and have always been drawn to him expressing the "id"-- his libido and sexual drive-- and the "Dirty Mind" album has a healthy (or unhealthy?) dose of that beginning with the throbbing beat of the title track as he described his state of mind, singing about his obsession with an ex in "When U Were Mine", his desire to "Do It All Night"-- including explicit acts of giving "Head" and having incestous relationship with his "Sister". And he loved to "Partyup" in "Uptown". He covered all the bases in the album and we can't get enough of it. It's Prince's leanest album-- at only 30 minutes long-- and yet his funkiest and most daring album. "Dirty Mind" was his first album in the '80s and he continued pushing the envelope throughout the decade-- definitely his most creative period.

Day 15: April 6
"Diamonds and Pearls"
Another milestone for one of Prince's albums as 25 years have passed since the release of "Diamonds and Pearls" in October, 1991. Unlike most of his '80s output, however, time has not been good to it. Save for a few songs, the album sounds dated to me now, not to mention I never warmed up to Tony M's rapping. This release was Prince's attempt then to stay current with the increasing popularity of hip hop (especially gangsta rap) in the late '80s/early '90s, also drastically changing his look-- again-- compared to his image in the previous year's "Graffiti Bridge" album and film release. Listening to songs like "Daddy Pop", "Jughead" and "Push" again was torturous. Plus, the message of the album was conflicting-- Prince sings about Jesus saving your soul in the opening track, "Thunder", and then wanting to do "twenty three positions in a one night stand" in "Gett Off". I also find the title track to be quite cheesy these days although the music video for the song is a guilty pleasure with Prince being chased by the paparazzi before singing the song featuring his back-up dancers named "Diamond" and "Pearl". On the plus side, there are some "gems" (pun intended ) in the album. "Cream" has become a Prince classic and a staple song in his concerts over the years. I love the cool vibe of "Strollin'" and "Willing and Able" while "Walk Don't Walk" is whimsical. The sultry "Insatiable" is irresistible and a worthy addition in Prince's long list of classic soulful ballads. His social commentary on "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" is spot on. Lastly, the message of the closer, "Live 4 Love", inspired me to use the song title as my personalized car license plate for 20 years. 8-)

Day 16: April 7
"20Ten"
I only got the chance to listen to the full "20Ten" album when it became available for streaming on Tidal last year-- months after his death. Whatever Prince's reasons may be for not releasing the album in the U.S., it was a missed opportunity as it's a strong album, in my opinion, and could have produced a couple of hit songs for him. "Beginning Endlessly" could easily have been a club hit. I can listen to that track alone all day. The album production, especially his use of Linn drums, harkens back to some of his early '80's releases. "Compassion" reminds me of "Let's Pretend We're Married". My other favorites are Prince crooning on "Future Soul Song", the funky number "Sticky Like Glue" (although I can do without his rapping), the wistful "Walk in Sand" segueing into "Sea of Everything" featuring his signature silky smooth falsetto. I've seen Prince in concert at least four times since 2010 (during his "Welcome 2 America" tour) and wished he had performed some of the songs from this album.

Day 17: April 8
"Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic"
This companion album to "Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic" was released initially through Prince's NPG Music Club where I was a paying member for a couple of years. I looked forward to this album but was disappointed that the remixes of the songs didn't improve upon the original cuts of the former album. The one saving grace of this album, for me anyway, was the inclusion of the song, "Beautiful Strange". I love the guitar solo in that song. I was never a fan of the title track and the remix version made it worse for me. Thankfully, the songs that I love in that album mostly remained unchanged in this release-- "I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore" (possibly his most heartfelt, breakup song), "So Far, So Pleased" (a bouncy pop duet with Gwen Stefani), "The Sun, the Moon and Stars" (I love the reggae vibe of the song), and the uplifting "Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do" (I love when he sings, "Remember life ain't always what it seems. For each rainy day that comes your way, the sun will come shining and you'll be okay"). A simple yet quite reassuring message! :)

Day 18: April 9
"Newpower Soul"
I haven't listened to this album in over a decade. I'll be honest, I didn't follow Prince's music and career closely from the mid-90's to early 2000. I was in the U.S. Army then and when I got out I was studying full-time in college and working at the same time. That was the period when he was releasing albums in his moniker. Many of his releases during that period I bought eventually years later. The "Newpower Soul" album is one of them. Listening to the album again after all these years, like many of his 90's output when he started including hip hop elements in his music (particularly the rapping), they sound dated now. He even had Doug E. Fresh rap in a couple of tracks in this album-- "Push It Up" and "(I Like) Funky Music". What I love about this album, however, are the horn sections featured in the title track as well as in "Mad Sex" and "When U Love Somebody" (can't resist dancing to the beat of these songs). I love the slow songs as well-- can't go wrong with Prince singing falsetto in "Until U're in My Arms Again" and especially, in "The One". Those two are my favorite songs in the album along with "Come On"- I love the groove of the song that reminds me of the incessant beat on "Forever in My Life". 8-)

Day 19: April 10
"Exodus"
Another Prince release credited to The New Power Generation in the mid'90s when he was the with lead vocals by Sonny T. and Prince under the name Tora Tora (I know it's confusing and even stranger was him sporting a scarf covering his face in some photos I've seen in that period). It's my favorite release from The New Power Generation. I enjoyed listening to this album again after all these years especially the interludes/segues with Prince talking with an Italian accent in one of them-- "Mashed Potato Girl". Also, Prince's voice slowed down to sound deep and talking about a robbery in "New Power Day". I wished Prince did more of these. He definitely had a great sense of humor. My favorite cuts in the album are the the jams-- "Get Wild", "The Good Life", "Return of the Bump Squad" and "The Exodus Has Begun"-- and the bluesy, "Count the Days". Definitely a blast revisiting this album!

Day 20: April 11
"One Night Alone..."
Prince's most intimate album with just him on vocals and piano (mostly), listening to this album is what it must have been like in one of his "Piano and a Microphone" shows last year. It's one of those albums I prefer to listen alone, especially now with Prince gone, and makes me appreciate his music more. My favorite songs in the album are "U're Gonna C Me" (which he also rerecorded for the MPLSound album), "Here on Earth", "Objects in the Mirror", and his cover of a Joni Mitchell classic, "A Case of U" (definitely my favorite cover song he did) with its raw emotion and intensity. The last song, an ethereal instrumental track called "Arboretum" ends with the sound of Prince getting up after playing the piano, walking out the room and closing the door behind him. :-(

Day 21: April 12
"N.E.W.S."
This entry is going to be short and sweet as I don't really have much to say about this jazz fusion instrumental album. This is probably the first time I actually listened to the full album as I tend to lose interest listening to it before. I guess it's just not for me. I doubt I will be revisiting it anytime soon. The album, its title an acronym for the four tracks-- "North", "East", "West", and "South"-- each at 14 minutes long-- and supposedly recorded in one day-- is best enjoyed, perhaps, in smaller doses or if I was watching Prince and his band performing it live.

Day 22: April 13
"Planet Earth"
I love this album! I actually enjoy listening to this album more than his more popular releases in the 2000s-- "Musicology" and "3121"-- both of which are good albums, too. But "Planet Earth" is one of those albums that took me a number of listens to fully appreciate and one day the album just clicked for me and have become one of my favorite Prince albums. I love every track of this album. The title track starts slow with the piano, then builds up as the song continues and rises to a crescendo with the guitar solo in the end, leading to the next song, "Guitar" with it's catchy guitar riff and who can't resist singing along when Prince exclaims-- "I love u baby, but not like I love my guitar." This album has two sultry ballads, "Somewhere Here On Earth" and "Future Baby Mama". I also love the upbeat song, "The One U Wanna C", the funky groove, "Chelsea Rodgers", the little ditty song, "All the Midnights in the World" and the closer, "Resolution" with Revolution alums, Wendy and Lisa. I just realized this album is ten years old this year! Definitely one Prince album that will be a mainstay in my playlist.

Day 23: April 14
"The Black Album"
In observance of Black Friday, I listened to "The Black Album" today. That's all. ;-)

Day 24: April 15
"The Gold Experience"
Arguably, this is Prince's best album in the '90s (his first release as ). Too many songs that I love on this album-- "P. Control", "Endorphinmachine", "Shhh", "Dolphin", "319", "Billy Jack Bitch", and " Hate U". I even like "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" (another cheesy song and title much like "Diamonds and Pearls" and "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold"). I can do without the NPG Operator segues though and always found the title song, "Gold", too trite for my taste.

Day 25: April 16
Day 26: April 17
Day 27: April 18
Day 28: April 19
Day 29: April 20
Day 30: April 21

Day 1: March 23
"Purple Rain"
Gotta start with the album that made me a Prince fan for life with its lead single, "When Doves Cry", the first Prince single I ever bought during my junior year in high school in 1984 and saved my allowance to buy the "Purple Rain" vinyl album when it came out months later. I don't think I knew anyone in my high school-- I grew up in the Philippines-- who was a Prince fan like me. I knew I was different then and it's the main reason that drew me to Prince's music. I can't believe I've been a fan for almost 33 years. Listening to the album now, the music still sound as fresh to my ears like it was just released. I can listen to the album beginning to end over and over. Definitely has my vote as the best opener, Let's Go Crazy, and the best closer, Purple Rain, in any Prince album, not to mention its title track one of the greatest rock anthem ever. Of course, after watching the charismatic Prince and his electrifying performances of the songs in the film, it makes listening to the album even much more enjoyable. Never in my wildest dreams then did I think I would get to watch Prince perform live in concert, but that was about to change when my family unexpectedly moved to the U.S. a few years later. But that's a story for another day.

Day 2: March 24
"1999"
My favorite Prince double album. "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" are the best opening one-two punch tracks-- "1999", possibly the ultimate end-of-the-world party song and in "Little Red Corvette", the classic car metaphor for a woman with the line-- "baby, you're much 2 fast"-- says it all. The third track, "Delirious", a simple yet catchy Prince track where he sings one of my favorite suggestive lyrics -- "my temperature's running hot, baby u got 2 stop, cuz if u don't I'm gonna explode and girl I got a lot". The whole double album oozes with sex and that's just side one. My other favorite tracks of the album are what I consider four essential club tracks clocking at over seven minutes long each-- "Let's Pretend We're Married", DMSR, "Automatic", and "Lady Cab Driver." Casual Prince fans miss out on these hidden gems; one reason I'm not a big fan of greatest hits compilations.

Day 3: March 25
"Around the World in A Day"
Like many, I anticipated Prince's follow-up to "Purple Rain" album. When "Raspberry Beret", the lead single to "Around the World in A Day" came out, it sounded a lot different from anything he released up to that point. And I loved it! "Raspberry Beret" was the last Prince 7" (45rpm) single I bought. And it has my favorite B-side song-- "She's Always in My Hair". I remember listening to Casey Kasem's American Top 40 every week back in the '80s and "Raspberry Beret" stalled at #2 with Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill" keeping it from becoming #1. I love the music video especially with the extended intro. When the album finally came out, like many, I, too, was surprised how much different the album sounds, from the intro to the title song-- the Beatlesque, psychedelic sounds and lyrics-- which I'm sure alienated a lot of his fans. Took me a number of listens to appreciate the album. While it's not one of my favorite Prince albums, I love some of the songs, namely, the aforementioned "Raspberry Beret", "Pop Life", "Condition of the Heart", and "The Ladder."

Day 4: March 26
"Lovesexy"
I have been playing the "Lovesexy" album on loop all day today. Couldn't skip the songs anyhow as Prince meant the album to be heard from beginning to end-- each and every time. This album has a special significance to me as it's the first Prince album I bought when my family moved to the U.S. from the Philippines, and, coincidentally, it was around the time the Lovesexy Tour was going on and saw Prince in concert for the first time at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (which, sadly, closed its doors March of last year and demolished this past September ). So many wonderful memories for me at that place. Growing up, I never thought I'd ever get to see Prince live in concert and looking back, it felt like a dream. It was a surreal experience! I actually bought tickets to see Prince for two consecutive nights but gave a pair of tix to my sister, who's just a year older than me, for one of the nights hoping to get her to become a Prince fan like me. It didn't work although she enjoyed the concert. I guess Prince fams like us are a rare breed, indeed. Back to the album, it has three of my all-time favorite Prince songs, namely, Alphabet Street, Glam Slam, and I Wish U Heaven. I also like the title track and Anna Stetia. More importantly, the album features my favorite album cover-- Prince in the nude.

Day 5: March 27
"Prince"
Prince's self-titled album-- his second studio album-- has become one of my favorite albums. It features my all-time favorite Prince song, "I Wanna Be Your Lover," which I can listen on repeat all day. The whole album just flows well and I seldom skip any songs from the album whenever I listen to it although I especially crank up the volume whenever "Bambi" comes on. Kudos to Chaka Khan whose version of "I Feel For You" popularized the song and won Prince a Grammy for Best R&B song. I love the fact that Prince sings mostly in falsetto in all the songs of the album. This is definitely one album where I would have loved to have seen Prince perform all the songs live.

Day 6: March 28

I used to love the album when it first came out but the novelty of the "Segues" in the album has worn off over the years-- I find Kirstie Alley's voice increasingly annoying-- and I skip them now whenever I listen to the album. For the purposes of this tribute for Prince, I listened to the album uninterrupted today. The songs sound dated now especially "My Name is Prince" which has that '90's hip hop vibe that Prince tried to emulate but failed badly. The highlight for me during this period was the introduction of Mayte Garcia as Prince's muse. I still like a couple of songs in the album-- "The Morning Papers" and "7". I love the guitar solos in "The Morning Papers" while "7" especially reminded me of my U.S. Army days when I was stationed in Germany and one of my Army buddies used to play the song very loud in the barracks. It always made me smile hearing that song.

Day 7: March 29
"Come"
One of Prince's most underrated albums, I felt the "Come" album would have been a bigger hit had it not been released during the most tumultuous time in Prince's career during the '90s when he had the public dispute with Warner Bros and changed his name to a symbol which, sadly, took the spotlight away from his music but the attention was geared toward the name change and Prince was the butt of jokes as to what to call him. Even the album cover for "Come" announced the death of Prince (the name anyway with the years 1958-1993 on it). I thought this album was conceived better than his last couple of albums released before it-- "Diamonds and Pearls" and . I love how it was intimate and personal, with songs like "Papa", "Dark", and "Solo", and I love the other songs in it, too-- from the jazz-infused lead single, "Letitgo", to the dance grooves of the first four songs of the album beginning with the seductive 11-minute title track to the manic "Loose!" Vanity's uncredited moans in "Orgasm" ending with Prince saying "I love you" sealed the deal for me.

Day 8: March 30
"Sign O' The Times"
I can't believe it's been 30 years since this album was released March of 1987. How time flies! And yet, this album, like wine, gets better with time. It's definitely Prince's masterpiece and most diverse album covering many genres of music. This was the last Prince vinyl album I bought in the Philippines before my family moved to the U.S. and I remember it fondly. This album introduced us to Prince's alter ego, Camille, and the first time I played this album and heard the Camille voice, I thought there was something wrong with my record or the turntable because of the sped up voice. Took me a number of listens to get used to it. It's one album where each song could potentially have been a hit song. I can honestly say I love every song of this album and the album with the most number of my all-time favorite Prince songs-- the title track, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, Starfish and Coffee, If I Was Ur Girlfriend, Adore, U Got the Look, Hot Thing, and I Could Never Take the Place of Ur Man.

Day 9: March 31
"Controversy"
This album has a special significance to me. The title track, one of my favorites, asks "am I straight or gay?" and it was a question I struggled for many years. Growing up in a devout Christian household didn't help either as I grew up believing being gay is a sin and an abomination. Listening to Prince's music helped me deal with those struggles-- not to be ashamed-- "Sexuality is all u'll ever need" he declares in one of the tracks. And while my beliefs (or non-belief) and Prince's beliefs have differed in the coming years, I thank Prince for giving me the courage to be true to myself and finally come out to myself, my family and friends.

Day 10: April 1
"Art Official Age"
It's officially April. It was this month last year that Prince unexpectedly passed away. As his first death anniversary approaches it will be increasingly difficult for many, me included, thinking about his last days. I haven't listened to Prince's music this much since his death, as it had been difficult for me especially the first few months after his death which affected my personal life. I managed to make it through day 10 so far in my 30-day pledge of listening to a Prince album each day as my way of paying tribute to him and honoring his life through his music. I hope I can make it through April 21.

I haven't listened to "Art Official Age" album in months. Definitely one of the best albums he released in his last years. Other than the title track, which I'm not fond of, I love the rest of the album particularly "Clouds", "Breakdown", "This Could Be Us" and "Way Back Home". Talking about the song, "Way Back Home", it has taken on a new meaning for me after his death. Prince may already have known then when he recorded this album that his time on earth was almost up (a terminal illness perhaps, we may never know, as he was always a private person and I respect him for that, although it had been hard for many of us dealing with his sudden death). This song-- and album as a whole-- his last concept album-- may be his way of dealing with death and his way of saying goodbye to us. In "Way Back Home" he sings--

"So many reasons why I don't belong here but now I am without fear.
I am gonna conquer with no fear until I find my way back home."

He repeats that same sentiment on "affirmation III" repeatedly singing "until I find my way back home" while a female narrator describes his journey home--

"U've probably felt many years in ur former life, u were separate from not only only others, but even urself. Now u can see that was never the case. U are actually everything and anything that u can think of. All of it is U...Remember there really is only one destination, and that place is U. All of it, everything is U."

Here's hoping Prince found his way back home.

Day 11: April 2
"Batman"
While the film, "Batman", directed by Tim Burton is not the best Batman film (my vote goes to "The Dark Knight" film), it was a decent film with Michael Keaton playing the title character much better than George Clooney or Val Kilmer, and Jack Nicholson playing the demented Joker with gusto, I eagerly went to see "Batman" during the summer of 1989 mainly to hear Prince's songs featured in the film. "Batdance", of course, was a huge hit that summer and became Prince's 4th #1 song with the album spending six weeks at #1 in the album chart. And while I find the song, "Batdance", corny these days, it still is a guilty pleasure song for me, especially the music video which features Prince as "Gemini" (dressed as half-Batman and half-Joker). Prince seemed to relish the role and having fun in the video as well as in the the follow-up single, "Partyman", also one of my favorite songs in the album. My favorite line from the album was in the song, "Electric Chair"-- "If a man is considered guilty for what goes on in his mind, then give me the electric chair for all my future crimes." Undoubtedly, the best track in the album is the seductive "Scandalous." Classic Prince!

Day 12: April 3
"Graffiti Bridge"
It's been awhile since I listened to the "Graffiti Bridge" album as a whole. I tend to skip some of the songs. Listening to the full album today, I forgot how good the album actually is. My opinion of the album was tainted over the years by how bad the accompanying film for it. Unlike the movies "Purple Rain" and "Under the Cherry Moon", both of which I enjoy watching regularly, I don't even remember the last time I watched the movie, "Graffiti Bridge." I decided to watch the movie again-- this time on Blu-Ray-- this afternoon. The acting, writing, direction and production of the movie was as bad as I remembered but it was good to see Prince and The Time perform some of the songs in the film again. There are two Prince tracks in the album that I really love-- "The Question of U" and "Joy in Repetition". I also like the songs performed by The Time-- "Release It", "Love Machine" and "Shake!" as well as Tevin Campbell's "Round and Round." While the critical and commercial failure of the movie may have ended Prince's film career, that didn't stop him from making direct-to-video vanity projects in the ensuing years (e.g. "Diamonds and Pearls Video Collection" and "3 Chains O' Gold").

Day 13: April 4
"For You"
Woah! I just realized Prince's debut album, "For You", will have its 40th anniversary next year since its release in April, 1978. Prince had been releasing an album almost every year since his debut album, some of which are double or triple albums. Quite an amazing output! And we hope to hear more in the years to come from his vault. After almost 40 years, his debut album still impresses me. Not many artists had the distinction of producing, composing, arranging and performing all the songs of their debut album, not to mention playing 27 instruments. Last month, while I was shopping for used CDs at Amoeba Music store in Hollywood, the store DJ was playing Prince's "For You" album to my surprise and delight. The song, "Soft and Wet", his first hit single from the album, remains one of his beloved classic songs. While the album is not often mentioned as a favorite among his fans, I can say it's a better album than many of the other albums he released over the years, some of which are quite uneven. This album, on the other hand, with its funky, old school vibe, I can listen without skipping any of the songs. It's one of my go-to albums when I just want to chill at home.

Day 14: April 5
"Dirty Mind"
When I was in college and studied Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche consisting of the id, ego, and superego, I thought of Prince's music and have always been drawn to him expressing the "id"-- his libido and sexual drive-- and the "Dirty Mind" album has a healthy (or unhealthy?) dose of that beginning with the throbbing beat of the title track as he described his state of mind, singing about his obsession with an ex in "When U Were Mine", his desire to "Do It All Night"-- including explicit acts of giving "Head" and having incestous relationship with his "Sister". And he loved to "Partyup" in "Uptown". He covered all the bases in the album and we can't get enough of it. It's Prince's leanest album-- at only 30 minutes long-- and yet his funkiest and most daring album. "Dirty Mind" was his first album in the '80s and he continued pushing the envelope throughout the decade-- definitely his most creative period.

Day 15: April 6
"Diamonds and Pearls"
Another milestone for one of Prince's albums as 25 years have passed since the release of "Diamonds and Pearls" in October, 1991. Unlike most of his '80s output, however, time has not been good to it. Save for a few songs, the album sounds dated to me now, not to mention I never warmed up to Tony M's rapping. This release was Prince's attempt then to stay current with the increasing popularity of hip hop (especially gangsta rap) in the late '80s/early '90s, also drastically changing his look-- again-- compared to his image in the previous year's "Graffiti Bridge" album and film release. Listening to songs like "Daddy Pop", "Jughead" and "Push" again was torturous. Plus, the message of the album was conflicting-- Prince sings about Jesus saving your soul in the opening track, "Thunder", and then wanting to do "twenty three positions in a one night stand" in "Gett Off". I also find the title track to be quite cheesy these days although the music video for the song is a guilty pleasure with Prince being chased by the paparazzi before singing the song featuring his back-up dancers named "Diamond" and "Pearl". On the plus side, there are some "gems" (pun intended ) in the album. "Cream" has become a Prince classic and a staple song in his concerts over the years. I love the cool vibe of "Strollin'" and "Willing and Able" while "Walk Don't Walk" is whimsical. The sultry "Insatiable" is irresistible and a worthy addition in Prince's long list of classic soulful ballads. His social commentary on "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" is spot on. Lastly, the message of the closer, "Live 4 Love", inspired me to use the song title as my personalized car license plate for 20 years.

Day 16: April 7
"20Ten"
I only got the chance to listen to the full "20Ten" album when it became available for streaming on Tidal last year-- months after his death. Whatever Prince's reasons may be for not releasing the album in the U.S., it was a missed opportunity as it's a strong album, in my opinion, and could have produced a couple of hit songs for him. "Beginning Endlessly" could easily have been a club hit. I can listen to that track alone all day. The album production, especially his use of Linn drums, harkens back to some of his early '80's releases. "Compassion" reminds me of "Let's Pretend We're Married". My other favorites are Prince crooning on "Future Soul Song", the funky number "Sticky Like Glue" (although I can do without his rapping), the wistful "Walk in Sand" segueing into "Sea of Everything" featuring his signature silky smooth falsetto. I've seen Prince in concert at least four times since 2010 (during his "Welcome 2 America" tour) and wished he had performed some of the songs from this album.

Day 17: April 8
"Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic"
This companion album to "Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic" was released initially through Prince's NPG Music Club where I was a paying member for a couple of years. I looked forward to this album but was disappointed that the remixes of the songs didn't improve upon the original cuts of the former album. The one saving grace of this album, for me anyway, was the inclusion of the song, "Beautiful Strange". I love the guitar solo in that song. I was never a fan of the title track and the remix version made it worse for me. Thankfully, the songs that I love in that album mostly remained unchanged in this release-- "I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore" (possibly his most heartfelt, breakup song), "So Far, So Pleased" (a bouncy pop duet with Gwen Stefani), "The Sun, the Moon and Stars" (I love the reggae vibe of the song), and the uplifting "Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do" (I love when he sings, "Remember life ain't always what it seems. For each rainy day that comes your way, the sun will come shining and you'll be okay"). A simple yet quite reassuring message!

Day 18: April 9
"Newpower Soul"
I haven't listened to this album in over a decade. I'll be honest, I didn't follow Prince's music and career closely from the mid-90's to early 2000. I was in the U.S. Army then and when I got out I was studying full-time in college and working at the same time. That was the period when he was releasing albums in his moniker. Many of his releases during that period I bought eventually years later. The "Newpower Soul" album is one of them. Listening to the album again after all these years, like many of his 90's output when he started including hip hop elements in his music (particularly the rapping), they sound dated now. He even had Doug E. Fresh rap in a couple of tracks in this album-- "Push It Up" and "(I Like) Funky Music". What I love about this album, however, are the horn sections featured in the title track as well as in "Mad Sex" and "When U Love Somebody" (can't resist dancing to the beat of these songs). I love the slow songs as well-- can't go wrong with Prince singing falsetto in "Until U're in My Arms Again" and especially, in "The One". Those two are my favorite songs in the album along with "Come On"- I love the groove of the song that reminds me of the incessant beat on "Forever in My Life".

Day 19: April 10
"Exodus"
Another Prince release credited to The New Power Generation in the mid'90s when he was the with lead vocals by Sonny T. and Prince under the name Tora Tora (I know it's confusing and even stranger was him sporting a scarf covering his face in some photos I've seen in that period). It's my favorite release from The New Power Generation. I enjoyed listening to this album again after all these years especially the interludes/segues with Prince talking with an Italian accent in one of them-- "Mashed Potato Girl". Also, Prince's voice slowed down to sound deep and talking about a robbery in "New Power Day". I wished Prince did more of these. He definitely had a great sense of humor. My favorite cuts in the album are the the jams-- "Get Wild", "The Good Life", "Return of the Bump Squad" and "The Exodus Has Begun"-- and the bluesy, "Count the Days". Definitely a blast revisiting this album!

Day 20: April 11
"One Night Alone..."
Prince's most intimate album with just him on vocals and piano (mostly), listening to this album is what it must have been like in one of his "Piano and a Microphone" shows last year. It's one of those albums I prefer to listen alone, especially now with Prince gone, and makes me appreciate his music more. My favorite songs in the album are "U're Gonna C Me" (which he also rerecorded for the MPLSound album), "Here on Earth", "Objects in the Mirror", and his cover of a Joni Mitchell classic, "A Case of U" (definitely my favorite cover song he did) with its raw emotion and intensity. The last song, an ethereal instrumental track called "Arboretum" ends with the sound of Prince getting up after playing the piano, walking out the room and closing the door behind him.

Day 21: April 12
"N.E.W.S."
This entry is going to be short and sweet as I don't really have much to say about this jazz fusion instrumental album. This is probably the first time I actually listened to the full album as I tend to lose interest listening to it before. I guess it's just not for me. I doubt I will be revisiting it anytime soon. The album, its title an acronym for the four tracks-- "North", "East", "West", and "South"-- each at 14 minutes long-- and supposedly recorded in one day-- is best enjoyed, perhaps, in smaller doses or if I was watching Prince and his band performing it live.

Day 22: April 13
"Planet Earth"
I love this album! I actually enjoy listening to this album more than his more popular releases in the 2000s-- "Musicology" and "3121"-- both of which are good albums, too. But "Planet Earth" is one of those albums that took me a number of listens to fully appreciate and one day the album just clicked for me and have become one of my favorite Prince albums. I love every track of this album. The title track starts slow with the piano, then builds up as the song continues and rises to a crescendo with the guitar solo in the end, leading to the next song, "Guitar" with it's catchy guitar riff and who can't resist singing along when Prince exclaims-- "I love u baby, but not like I love my guitar." This album has two sultry ballads, "Somewhere Here On Earth" and "Future Baby Mama". I also love the upbeat song, "The One U Wanna C", the funky groove, "Chelsea Rodgers", the little ditty song, "All the Midnights in the World" and the closer, "Resolution" with Revolution alums, Wendy and Lisa. I just realized this album is ten years old this year! Definitely one Prince album that will be a mainstay in my playlist.

Day 23: April 14
"The Black Album"
In observance of Black Friday, I listened to "The Black Album" today. That's all.

Day 24: April 15
"The Gold Experience"
Arguably, this is Prince's best album in the '90s (his first release as ). Too many songs that I love on this album-- "P. Control", "Endorphinmachine", "Shhh", "Dolphin", "319", "Billy Jack Bitch", and " Hate U". I even like "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" (another cheesy song and title much like "Diamonds and Pearls" and "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold"). I can do without the NPG Operator segues though and always found the title song, "Gold", too trite for my taste.

Day 25: April 16
"The Rainbow Children"
"Just like the sun, the rainbow children rise!" Coincidentally, today I listened to Prince's most spiritual album-- and one of his best albums-- on Easter Sunday. I remember holding a listening party for this album in October, 2001 at a bar in Hollywood organized with other Prince fans I met during that time including J7 from The Bumpsquad based in San Francisco. I lost touch of them when I moved to Chicago the following year. Incidentally, it was a few months after the release of "The Rainbow Children" that I joined the Org-- 2/22/02, to be exact-- all the twos in the date I find interesting-- it wasn't planned, by the way. I loved the album so much then that I chose "rainbowchild" as my username. But I digress. I saw Prince in concert that year at the Kodak Theatre (it's the Dolby Theater now) during the "One Night Alone...Tour" to support the album and, out of the ten times I've gone to see Prince in concert over the years-- first in 1988 and last in 2012-- the "One Night Alone...Tour" concert was my favorite. It was a treat to hear Prince sing many songs from the album including hearing him do the narration with the Darth Vader voice. I love the whole album, even "The Wedding Feast" but my favorite songs are the title track, "Muse 2 the Pharaoh", "The Work Pt. 1", "Mellow", "1+1+1 is 3", "She Loves Me 4 Me", "Family Name", "The Everlasting Now", and "Last December". I'm not gonna lie, but hearing the song, "Last December" tonight teared me up a bit as it dawned on me that the first anniversary of Prince's death is just a few days away.

Day 26: April 17
Day 27: April 18
Day 28: April 19
Day 29: April 20
Day 30: April 21
[Edited 4/16/17 19:39pm]

mrdxw1213 said:

March 24 - I decided to listen to Around the World in a Day and boy what a trip it was. I absolutely love the title track with the synth line at the end. It really feels like we're taking a trip in Prince's world of music. Then we go to Paisley Park which really paints the picture of a Utopia some sorts. Then you have Condition of the Heart which is a nice little song and then of course Rasberry Beret. What can I say about that song that hast already been said. Everything just goes well together, it's a prime example of Prince in his creative element. Then there's Tambourine which I've grown quite fond of over the past year. I think the Drum Machine is just wonderful in the song. Next is the dreaded side 2. Now I've seen a lot of criticism on this Side but I actually like it quite a bit. It starts off with America, a song tackling things such as Communism and Patriotism. The guitar on this is sharp and I honestly think this is another time showing Prince just at his absolute best. Pop life follows and this song is still amazing. The delay with the vocals between the left and right side is still a little trippy but genius and fits the song. The closers are The Ladder and Temptation. The Ladder is a good song, and Temptation I love because it reminds me of the middle of the Purple Rain concerts. "The type of Temptation that makes you wanna do THAANNGGS" Overall love this album and give it a 7.5/10

1. "Nice little song" ???

2. "Drum machine"? What's the matter with you? It's all Prince on drums (and tamborine)!

Day 1: March 23
"Purple Rain"
Gotta start with the album that made me a Prince fan for life with its lead single, "When Doves Cry", the first Prince single I ever bought during my junior year in high school in 1984 and saved my allowance to buy the "Purple Rain" vinyl album when it came out months later. I don't think I knew anyone in my high school-- I grew up in the Philippines-- who was a Prince fan like me. I knew I was different then and it's the main reason that drew me to Prince's music. I can't believe I've been a fan for almost 33 years. Listening to the album now, the music still sound as fresh to my ears like it was just released. I can listen to the album beginning to end over and over. Definitely has my vote as the best opener, Let's Go Crazy, and the best closer, Purple Rain, in any Prince album, not to mention its title track one of the greatest rock anthem ever. Of course, after watching the charismatic Prince and his electrifying performances of the songs in the film, it makes listening to the album even much more enjoyable. Never in my wildest dreams then did I think I would get to watch Prince perform live in concert, but that was about to change when my family unexpectedly moved to the U.S. a few years later. But that's a story for another day. :wink:

Day 2: March 24
"1999"
My favorite Prince double album. "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" are the best opening one-two punch tracks-- "1999", possibly the ultimate end-of-the-world party song and in "Little Red Corvette", the classic car metaphor for a woman with the line-- "baby, you're much 2 fast"-- says it all. The third track, "Delirious", a simple yet catchy Prince track where he sings one of my favorite suggestive lyrics -- "my temperature's running hot, baby u got 2 stop, cuz if u don't I'm gonna explode and girl I got a lot". The whole double album oozes with sex and that's just side one. My other favorite tracks of the album are what I consider four essential club tracks clocking at over seven minutes long each-- "Let's Pretend We're Married", DMSR, "Automatic", and "Lady Cab Driver." Casual Prince fans miss out on these hidden gems; one reason I'm not a big fan of greatest hits compilations.

Day 3: March 25
"Around the World in A Day"
Like many, I anticipated Prince's follow-up to "Purple Rain" album. When "Raspberry Beret", the lead single to "Around the World in A Day" came out, it sounded a lot different from anything he released up to that point. And I loved it! "Raspberry Beret" was the last Prince 7" (45rpm) single I bought. And it has my favorite B-side song-- "She's Always in My Hair". I remember listening to Casey Kasem's American Top 40 every week back in the '80s and "Raspberry Beret" stalled at #2 with Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill" keeping it from becoming #1. I love the music video especially with the extended intro. When the album finally came out, like many, I, too, was surprised how much different the album sounds, from the intro to the title song-- the Beatlesque, psychedelic sounds and lyrics-- which I'm sure alienated a lot of his fans. Took me a number of listens to appreciate the album. While it's not one of my favorite Prince albums, I love some of the songs, namely, the aforementioned "Raspberry Beret", "Pop Life", "Condition of the Heart", and "The Ladder."

Day 4: March 26
"Lovesexy"
I have been playing the "Lovesexy" album on loop all day today. Couldn't skip the songs anyhow as Prince meant the album to be heard from beginning to end-- each and every time. This album has a special significance to me as it's the first Prince album I bought when my family moved to the U.S. from the Philippines, and, coincidentally, it was around the time the Lovesexy Tour was going on and saw Prince in concert for the first time at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (which, sadly, closed its doors March of last year and demolished this past September ). So many wonderful memories for me at that place. Growing up, I never thought I'd ever get to see Prince live in concert and looking back, it felt like a dream. It was a surreal experience! I actually bought tickets to see Prince for two consecutive nights but gave a pair of tix to my sister, who's just a year older than me, for one of the nights hoping to get her to become a Prince fan like me. It didn't work although she enjoyed the concert. I guess Prince fams like us are a rare breed, indeed. Back to the album, it has three of my all-time favorite Prince songs, namely, Alphabet Street, Glam Slam, and I Wish U Heaven. I also like the title track and Anna Stetia. More importantly, the album features my favorite album cover-- Prince in the nude. :cool:

Day 5: March 27
"Prince"
Prince's self-titled album-- his second studio album-- has become one of my favorite albums. It features my all-time favorite Prince song, "I Wanna Be Your Lover," which I can listen on repeat all day. The whole album just flows well and I seldom skip any songs from the album whenever I listen to it although I especially crank up the volume whenever "Bambi" comes on. Kudos to Chaka Khan whose version of "I Feel For You" popularized the song and won Prince a Grammy for Best R&B song. I love the fact that Prince sings mostly in falsetto in all the songs of the album. This is definitely one album where I would have loved to have seen Prince perform all the songs live.

Day 6: March 28

I used to love the album when it first came out but the novelty of the "Segues" in the album has worn off over the years-- I find Kirstie Alley's voice increasingly annoying-- and I skip them now whenever I listen to the album. For the purposes of this tribute for Prince, I listened to the album uninterrupted today. The songs sound dated now especially "My Name is Prince" which has that '90's hip hop vibe that Prince tried to emulate but failed badly. The highlight for me during this period was the introduction of Mayte Garcia as Prince's muse. I still like a couple of songs in the album-- "The Morning Papers" and "7". I love the guitar solos in "The Morning Papers" while "7" especially reminded me of my U.S. Army days when I was stationed in Germany and one of my Army buddies used to play the song very loud in the barracks. It always made me smile hearing that song. :)

Day 7: March 29
"Come"
One of Prince's most underrated albums, I felt the "Come" album would have been a bigger hit had it not been released during the most tumultuous time in Prince's career during the '90s when he had the public dispute with Warner Bros and changed his name to a symbol which, sadly, took the spotlight away from his music but the attention was geared toward the name change and Prince was the butt of jokes as to what to call him. Even the album cover for "Come" announced the death of Prince (the name anyway with the years 1958-1993 on it). I thought this album was conceived better than his last couple of albums released before it-- "Diamonds and Pearls" and . I love how it was intimate and personal, with songs like "Papa", "Dark", and "Solo", and I love the other songs in it, too-- from the jazz-infused lead single, "Letitgo", to the dance grooves of the first four songs of the album beginning with the seductive 11-minute title track to the manic "Loose!" Vanity's uncredited moans in "Orgasm" ending with Prince saying "I love you" sealed the deal for me.

Day 8: March 30
"Sign O' The Times"
I can't believe it's been 30 years since this album was released March of 1987. How time flies! And yet, this album, like wine, gets better with time. It's definitely Prince's masterpiece and most diverse album covering many genres of music. This was the last Prince vinyl album I bought in the Philippines before my family moved to the U.S. and I remember it fondly. This album introduced us to Prince's alter ego, Camille, and the first time I played this album and heard the Camille voice, I thought there was something wrong with my record or the turntable because of the sped up voice. Took me a number of listens to get used to it. It's one album where each song could potentially have been a hit song. I can honestly say I love every song of this album and the album with the most number of my all-time favorite Prince songs-- the title track, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, Starfish and Coffee, If I Was Ur Girlfriend, Adore, U Got the Look, Hot Thing, and I Could Never Take the Place of Ur Man.

Day 9: March 31
"Controversy"
This album has a special significance to me. The title track, one of my favorites, asks "am I straight or gay?" and it was a question I struggled for many years. Growing up in a devout Christian household didn't help either as I grew up believing being gay is a sin and an abomination. Listening to Prince's music helped me deal with those struggles-- not to be ashamed-- "Sexuality is all u'll ever need" he declares in one of the tracks. And while my beliefs (or non-belief) and Prince's beliefs have differed in the coming years, I thank Prince for giving me the courage to be true to myself and finally come out to myself, my family and friends.

Day 10: April 1
"Art Official Age"
It's officially April. It was this month last year that Prince unexpectedly passed away. As his first death anniversary approaches it will be increasingly difficult for many, me included, thinking about his last days. I haven't listened to Prince's music this much since his death, as it had been difficult for me especially the first few months after his death which affected my personal life. I managed to make it through day 10 so far in my 30-day pledge of listening to a Prince album each day as my way of paying tribute to him and honoring his life through his music. I hope I can make it through April 21.

I haven't listened to "Art Official Age" album in months. Definitely one of the best albums he released in his last years. Other than the title track, which I'm not fond of, I love the rest of the album particularly "Clouds", "Breakdown", "This Could Be Us" and "Way Back Home". Talking about the song, "Way Back Home", it has taken on a new meaning for me after his death. Prince may already have known then when he recorded this album that his time on earth was almost up (a terminal illness perhaps, we may never know, as he was always a private person and I respect him for that, although it had been hard for many of us dealing with his sudden death). This song-- and album as a whole-- his last concept album-- may be his way of dealing with death and his way of saying goodbye to us. In "Way Back Home" he sings--

"So many reasons why I don't belong here but now I am without fear.
I am gonna conquer with no fear until I find my way back home."

He repeats that same sentiment on "affirmation III" repeatedly singing "until I find my way back home" while a female narrator describes his journey home--

"U've probably felt many years in ur former life, u were separate from not only only others, but even urself. Now u can see that was never the case. U are actually everything and anything that u can think of. All of it is U...Remember there really is only one destination, and that place is U. All of it, everything is U."

Here's hoping Prince found his way back home.

Day 11: April 2
"Batman"
While the film, "Batman", directed by Tim Burton is not the best Batman film (my vote goes to "The Dark Knight" film), it was a decent film with Michael Keaton playing the title character much better than George Clooney or Val Kilmer, and Jack Nicholson playing the demented Joker with gusto, I eagerly went to see "Batman" during the summer of 1989 mainly to hear Prince's songs featured in the film. "Batdance", of course, was a huge hit that summer and became Prince's 4th #1 song with the album spending six weeks at #1 in the album chart. And while I find the song, "Batdance", corny these days, it still is a guilty pleasure song for me, especially the music video which features Prince as "Gemini" (dressed as half-Batman and half-Joker). Prince seemed to relish the role and having fun in the video as well as in the the follow-up single, "Partyman", also one of my favorite songs in the album. My favorite line from the album was in the song, "Electric Chair"-- "If a man is considered guilty for what goes on in his mind, then give me the electric chair for all my future crimes." Undoubtedly, the best track in the album is the seductive "Scandalous." Classic Prince! :cool:

Day 12: April 3
"Graffiti Bridge"
It's been awhile since I listened to the "Graffiti Bridge" album as a whole. I tend to skip some of the songs. Listening to the full album today, I forgot how good the album actually is. My opinion of the album was tainted over the years by how bad the accompanying film for it. Unlike the movies "Purple Rain" and "Under the Cherry Moon", both of which I enjoy watching regularly, I don't even remember the last time I watched the movie, "Graffiti Bridge." I decided to watch the movie again-- this time on Blu-Ray-- this afternoon. The acting, writing, direction and production of the movie was as bad as I remembered but it was good to see Prince and The Time perform some of the songs in the film again. There are two Prince tracks in the album that I really love-- "The Question of U" and "Joy in Repetition". I also like the songs performed by The Time-- "Release It", "Love Machine" and "Shake!" as well as Tevin Campbell's "Round and Round." While the critical and commercial failure of the movie may have ended Prince's film career, that didn't stop him from making direct-to-video vanity projects in the ensuing years (e.g. "Diamonds and Pearls Video Collection" and "3 Chains O' Gold"). :lol:

Day 13: April 4
"For You"
Woah! I just realized Prince's debut album, "For You", will have its 40th anniversary next year since its release in April, 1978. Prince had been releasing an album almost every year since his debut album, some of which are double or triple albums. Quite an amazing output! And we hope to hear more in the years to come from his vault. After almost 40 years, his debut album still impresses me. Not many artists had the distinction of producing, composing, arranging and performing all the songs of their debut album, not to mention playing 27 instruments. Last month, while I was shopping for used CDs at Amoeba Music store in Hollywood, the store DJ was playing Prince's "For You" album to my surprise and delight. The song, "Soft and Wet", his first hit single from the album, remains one of his beloved classic songs. While the album is not often mentioned as a favorite among his fans, I can say it's a better album than many of the other albums he released over the years, some of which are quite uneven. This album, on the other hand, with its funky, old school vibe, I can listen without skipping any of the songs. It's one of my go-to albums when I just want to chill at home.

Day 14: April 5
"Dirty Mind"
When I was in college and studied Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche consisting of the id, ego, and superego, I thought of Prince's music and have always been drawn to him expressing the "id"-- his libido and sexual drive-- and the "Dirty Mind" album has a healthy (or unhealthy?) dose of that beginning with the throbbing beat of the title track as he described his state of mind, singing about his obsession with an ex in "When U Were Mine", his desire to "Do It All Night"-- including explicit acts of giving "Head" and having incestous relationship with his "Sister". And he loved to "Partyup" in "Uptown". He covered all the bases in the album and we can't get enough of it. It's Prince's leanest album-- at only 30 minutes long-- and yet his funkiest and most daring album. "Dirty Mind" was his first album in the '80s and he continued pushing the envelope throughout the decade-- definitely his most creative period.

Day 15: April 6
"Diamonds and Pearls"
Another milestone for one of Prince's albums as 25 years have passed since the release of "Diamonds and Pearls" in October, 1991. Unlike most of his '80s output, however, time has not been good to it. Save for a few songs, the album sounds dated to me now, not to mention I never warmed up to Tony M's rapping. This release was Prince's attempt then to stay current with the increasing popularity of hip hop (especially gangsta rap) in the late '80s/early '90s, also drastically changing his look-- again-- compared to his image in the previous year's "Graffiti Bridge" album and film release. Listening to songs like "Daddy Pop", "Jughead" and "Push" again was torturous. Plus, the message of the album was conflicting-- Prince sings about Jesus saving your soul in the opening track, "Thunder", and then wanting to do "twenty three positions in a one night stand" in "Gett Off". I also find the title track to be quite cheesy these days although the music video for the song is a guilty pleasure with Prince being chased by the paparazzi before singing the song featuring his back-up dancers named "Diamond" and "Pearl". On the plus side, there are some "gems" (pun intended ) in the album. "Cream" has become a Prince classic and a staple song in his concerts over the years. I love the cool vibe of "Strollin'" and "Willing and Able" while "Walk Don't Walk" is whimsical. The sultry "Insatiable" is irresistible and a worthy addition in Prince's long list of classic soulful ballads. His social commentary on "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" is spot on. Lastly, the message of the closer, "Live 4 Love", inspired me to use the song title as my personalized car license plate for 20 years. 8-)

Day 16: April 7
"20Ten"
I only got the chance to listen to the full "20Ten" album when it became available for streaming on Tidal last year-- months after his death. Whatever Prince's reasons may be for not releasing the album in the U.S., it was a missed opportunity as it's a strong album, in my opinion, and could have produced a couple of hit songs for him. "Beginning Endlessly" could easily have been a club hit. I can listen to that track alone all day. The album production, especially his use of Linn drums, harkens back to some of his early '80's releases. "Compassion" reminds me of "Let's Pretend We're Married". My other favorites are Prince crooning on "Future Soul Song", the funky number "Sticky Like Glue" (although I can do without his rapping), the wistful "Walk in Sand" segueing into "Sea of Everything" featuring his signature silky smooth falsetto. I've seen Prince in concert at least four times since 2010 (during his "Welcome 2 America" tour) and wished he had performed some of the songs from this album.

Day 17: April 8
"Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic"
This companion album to "Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic" was released initially through Prince's NPG Music Club where I was a paying member for a couple of years. I looked forward to this album but was disappointed that the remixes of the songs didn't improve upon the original cuts of the former album. The one saving grace of this album, for me anyway, was the inclusion of the song, "Beautiful Strange". I love the guitar solo in that song. I was never a fan of the title track and the remix version made it worse for me. Thankfully, the songs that I love in that album mostly remained unchanged in this release-- "I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore" (possibly his most heartfelt, breakup song), "So Far, So Pleased" (a bouncy pop duet with Gwen Stefani), "The Sun, the Moon and Stars" (I love the reggae vibe of the song), and the uplifting "Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do" (I love when he sings, "Remember life ain't always what it seems. For each rainy day that comes your way, the sun will come shining and you'll be okay"). A simple yet quite reassuring message! :)

Day 18: April 9
"Newpower Soul"
I haven't listened to this album in over a decade. I'll be honest, I didn't follow Prince's music and career closely from the mid-90's to early 2000. I was in the U.S. Army then and when I got out I was studying full-time in college and working at the same time. That was the period when he was releasing albums in his moniker. Many of his releases during that period I bought eventually years later. The "Newpower Soul" album is one of them. Listening to the album again after all these years, like many of his 90's output when he started including hip hop elements in his music (particularly the rapping), they sound dated now. He even had Doug E. Fresh rap in a couple of tracks in this album-- "Push It Up" and "(I Like) Funky Music". What I love about this album, however, are the horn sections featured in the title track as well as in "Mad Sex" and "When U Love Somebody" (can't resist dancing to the beat of these songs). I love the slow songs as well-- can't go wrong with Prince singing falsetto in "Until U're in My Arms Again" and especially, in "The One". Those two are my favorite songs in the album along with "Come On"- I love the groove of the song that reminds me of the incessant beat on "Forever in My Life". 8-)

Day 19: April 10
"Exodus"
Another Prince release credited to The New Power Generation in the mid'90s when he was the with lead vocals by Sonny T. and Prince under the name Tora Tora (I know it's confusing and even stranger was him sporting a scarf covering his face in some photos I've seen in that period). It's my favorite release from The New Power Generation. I enjoyed listening to this album again after all these years especially the interludes/segues with Prince talking with an Italian accent in one of them-- "Mashed Potato Girl". Also, Prince's voice slowed down to sound deep and talking about a robbery in "New Power Day". I wished Prince did more of these. He definitely had a great sense of humor. My favorite cuts in the album are the the jams-- "Get Wild", "The Good Life", "Return of the Bump Squad" and "The Exodus Has Begun"-- and the bluesy, "Count the Days". Definitely a blast revisiting this album!

Day 20: April 11
"One Night Alone..."
Prince's most intimate album with just him on vocals and piano (mostly), listening to this album is what it must have been like in one of his "Piano and a Microphone" shows last year. It's one of those albums I prefer to listen alone, especially now with Prince gone, and makes me appreciate his music more. My favorite songs in the album are "U're Gonna C Me" (which he also rerecorded for the MPLSound album), "Here on Earth", "Objects in the Mirror", and his cover of a Joni Mitchell classic, "A Case of U" (definitely my favorite cover song he did) with its raw emotion and intensity. The last song, an ethereal instrumental track called "Arboretum" ends with the sound of Prince getting up after playing the piano, walking out the room and closing the door behind him. :-(

Day 21: April 12
"N.E.W.S."
This entry is going to be short and sweet as I don't really have much to say about this jazz fusion instrumental album. This is probably the first time I actually listened to the full album as I tend to lose interest listening to it before. I guess it's just not for me. I doubt I will be revisiting it anytime soon. The album, its title an acronym for the four tracks-- "North", "East", "West", and "South"-- each at 14 minutes long-- and supposedly recorded in one day-- is best enjoyed, perhaps, in smaller doses or if I was watching Prince and his band performing it live.

Day 22: April 13
"Planet Earth"
I love this album! I actually enjoy listening to this album more than his more popular releases in the 2000s-- "Musicology" and "3121"-- both of which are good albums, too. But "Planet Earth" is one of those albums that took me a number of listens to fully appreciate and one day the album just clicked for me and have become one of my favorite Prince albums. I love every track of this album. The title track starts slow with the piano, then builds up as the song continues and rises to a crescendo with the guitar solo in the end, leading to the next song, "Guitar" with it's catchy guitar riff and who can't resist singing along when Prince exclaims-- "I love u baby, but not like I love my guitar." This album has two sultry ballads, "Somewhere Here On Earth" and "Future Baby Mama". I also love the upbeat song, "The One U Wanna C", the funky groove, "Chelsea Rodgers", the little ditty song, "All the Midnights in the World" and the closer, "Resolution" with Revolution alums, Wendy and Lisa. I just realized this album is ten years old this year! Definitely one Prince album that will be a mainstay in my playlist.

Day 23: April 14
"The Black Album"
In observance of Black Friday, I listened to "The Black Album" today. That's all. ;-)

Day 24: April 15
"The Gold Experience"
Arguably, this is Prince's best album in the '90s (his first release as ). Too many songs that I love on this album-- "P. Control", "Endorphinmachine", "Shhh", "Dolphin", "319", "Billy Jack Bitch", and " Hate U". I even like "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" (another cheesy song and title much like "Diamonds and Pearls" and "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold"). I can do without the NPG Operator segues though and always found the title song, "Gold", too trite for my taste.

Day 25: April 16
"The Rainbow Children"
"Just like the sun, the rainbow children rise!" Coincidentally, I listened to Prince's most spiritual album-- and one of his best albums-- today, on Easter Sunday. I remember organizing a listening party for this album in October, 2001 at a bar in Hollywood with other Prince fans I met during that time. I lost touch of them when I moved to Chicago the following year. Incidentally, it was a few months after the release of "The Rainbow Children" that I joined the Org-- 2/22/02, to be exact-- all the twos in the date I find interesting-- it wasn't planned, by the way. My love for the album then was the reason I chose "rainbowchild" as my username. But I digress. I saw Prince in concert that year at the Kodak Theatre (it's the Dolby Theater now) during the "One Night Alone...Tour" to support the album and, out of the ten times I've gone to see Prince in concert over the years-- first in 1988 and last in 2012-- the "One Night Alone...Tour" concert was my favorite. It was a treat to hear Prince sing many songs from the album including hearing him do the narration with the Darth Vader voice. I love the whole album, even "The Wedding Feast" but my favorite songs are the title track, "Muse 2 the Pharaoh", "The Work Pt. 1", "Mellow", "1+1+1 is 3", "She Loves Me 4 Me", "Family Name", "The Everlasting Now", and "Last December". I'm not gonna lie, but hearing the song, "Last December" tonight teared me up a bit as it dawned on me that the first anniversary of Prince's death is just a few days away. :-(

Day 26: April 17
"Indigo Nights"
I love this live CD from Prince's aftershows at IndigO2 club during his 21-date residency at the O2 arena and included in the "21 Nights" book. Listening to him perform "3121" reminded me of the time I flew to Vegas from Chicago mainly to attend a couple of his shows at Club 3121 during his residency at Rio Las Vegas in the Fall of 2006. I took my mom to a Celine Dion concert and, to her surprise, after I dropped my mom at the hotel after the show, I told her I'm going to see Prince, whose shows then started around midnight. One of the highlight for me was getting to see him perform "Black Sweat" live, my favorite song from the "3121" album. Also, I love the intimate setting at the club where fans can dance along as he performed and I could see Prince much closer. I also enjoyed the part where Prince would invite his fans onstage including some celebrities that come to his shows and make them sing and dance along with him. Some of my favorite songs he performed on this CD are "Girls & Boys", "The Song of the Heart", "Satisfied", "Beggin' Woman Blues", "Rock Steady", "Alphabet St." and "The One". I hope we'll get to see official releases of his many concerts and tours over the years-- including the aftershows-- both audio and video recordings. Nothing like watching Prince perform live and I would love to revisit them again soon.

Day 27: April 18
Day 28: April 19
Day 29: April 20
Day 30: April 21

Day 1: March 23
"Purple Rain"
Gotta start with the album that made me a Prince fan for life with its lead single, "When Doves Cry", the first Prince single I ever bought during my junior year in high school in 1984 and saved my allowance to buy the "Purple Rain" vinyl album when it came out months later. I don't think I knew anyone in my high school-- I grew up in the Philippines-- who was a Prince fan like me. I knew I was different then and it's the main reason that drew me to Prince's music. I can't believe I've been a fan for almost 33 years. Listening to the album now, the music still sound as fresh to my ears like it was just released. I can listen to the album beginning to end over and over. Definitely has my vote as the best opener, Let's Go Crazy, and the best closer, Purple Rain, in any Prince album, not to mention its title track one of the greatest rock anthem ever. Of course, after watching the charismatic Prince and his electrifying performances of the songs in the film, it makes listening to the album even much more enjoyable. Never in my wildest dreams then did I think I would get to watch Prince perform live in concert, but that was about to change when my family unexpectedly moved to the U.S. a few years later. But that's a story for another day. :wink:

Day 2: March 24
"1999"
My favorite Prince double album. "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" are the best opening one-two punch tracks-- "1999", possibly the ultimate end-of-the-world party song and in "Little Red Corvette", the classic car metaphor for a woman with the line-- "baby, you're much 2 fast"-- says it all. The third track, "Delirious", a simple yet catchy Prince track where he sings one of my favorite suggestive lyrics -- "my temperature's running hot, baby u got 2 stop, cuz if u don't I'm gonna explode and girl I got a lot". The whole double album oozes with sex and that's just side one. My other favorite tracks of the album are what I consider four essential club tracks clocking at over seven minutes long each-- "Let's Pretend We're Married", DMSR, "Automatic", and "Lady Cab Driver." Casual Prince fans miss out on these hidden gems; one reason I'm not a big fan of greatest hits compilations.

Day 3: March 25
"Around the World in A Day"
Like many, I anticipated Prince's follow-up to "Purple Rain" album. When "Raspberry Beret", the lead single to "Around the World in A Day" came out, it sounded a lot different from anything he released up to that point. And I loved it! "Raspberry Beret" was the last Prince 7" (45rpm) single I bought. And it has my favorite B-side song-- "She's Always in My Hair". I remember listening to Casey Kasem's American Top 40 every week back in the '80s and "Raspberry Beret" stalled at #2 with Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill" keeping it from becoming #1. I love the music video especially with the extended intro. When the album finally came out, like many, I, too, was surprised how much different the album sounds, from the intro to the title song-- the Beatlesque, psychedelic sounds and lyrics-- which I'm sure alienated a lot of his fans. Took me a number of listens to appreciate the album. While it's not one of my favorite Prince albums, I love some of the songs, namely, the aforementioned "Raspberry Beret", "Pop Life", "Condition of the Heart", and "The Ladder."

Day 4: March 26
"Lovesexy"
I have been playing the "Lovesexy" album on loop all day today. Couldn't skip the songs anyhow as Prince meant the album to be heard from beginning to end-- each and every time. This album has a special significance to me as it's the first Prince album I bought when my family moved to the U.S. from the Philippines, and, coincidentally, it was around the time the Lovesexy Tour was going on and saw Prince in concert for the first time at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (which, sadly, closed its doors March of last year and demolished this past September ). So many wonderful memories for me at that place. Growing up, I never thought I'd ever get to see Prince live in concert and looking back, it felt like a dream. It was a surreal experience! I actually bought tickets to see Prince for two consecutive nights but gave a pair of tix to my sister, who's just a year older than me, for one of the nights hoping to get her to become a Prince fan like me. It didn't work although she enjoyed the concert. I guess Prince fams like us are a rare breed, indeed. Back to the album, it has three of my all-time favorite Prince songs, namely, Alphabet Street, Glam Slam, and I Wish U Heaven. I also like the title track and Anna Stetia. More importantly, the album features my favorite album cover-- Prince in the nude. :cool:

Day 5: March 27
"Prince"
Prince's self-titled album-- his second studio album-- has become one of my favorite albums. It features my all-time favorite Prince song, "I Wanna Be Your Lover," which I can listen on repeat all day. The whole album just flows well and I seldom skip any songs from the album whenever I listen to it although I especially crank up the volume whenever "Bambi" comes on. Kudos to Chaka Khan whose version of "I Feel For You" popularized the song and won Prince a Grammy for Best R&B song. I love the fact that Prince sings mostly in falsetto in all the songs of the album. This is definitely one album where I would have loved to have seen Prince perform all the songs live.

Day 6: March 28

I used to love the album when it first came out but the novelty of the "Segues" in the album has worn off over the years-- I find Kirstie Alley's voice increasingly annoying-- and I skip them now whenever I listen to the album. For the purposes of this tribute for Prince, I listened to the album uninterrupted today. The songs sound dated now especially "My Name is Prince" which has that '90's hip hop vibe that Prince tried to emulate but failed badly. The highlight for me during this period was the introduction of Mayte Garcia as Prince's muse. I still like a couple of songs in the album-- "The Morning Papers" and "7". I love the guitar solos in "The Morning Papers" while "7" especially reminded me of my U.S. Army days when I was stationed in Germany and one of my Army buddies used to play the song very loud in the barracks. It always made me smile hearing that song. :)

Day 7: March 29
"Come"
One of Prince's most underrated albums, I felt the "Come" album would have been a bigger hit had it not been released during the most tumultuous time in Prince's career during the '90s when he had the public dispute with Warner Bros and changed his name to a symbol which, sadly, took the spotlight away from his music but the attention was geared toward the name change and Prince was the butt of jokes as to what to call him. Even the album cover for "Come" announced the death of Prince (the name anyway with the years 1958-1993 on it). I thought this album was conceived better than his last couple of albums released before it-- "Diamonds and Pearls" and . I love how it was intimate and personal, with songs like "Papa", "Dark", and "Solo", and I love the other songs in it, too-- from the jazz-infused lead single, "Letitgo", to the dance grooves of the first four songs of the album beginning with the seductive 11-minute title track to the manic "Loose!" Vanity's uncredited moans in "Orgasm" ending with Prince saying "I love you" sealed the deal for me.

Day 8: March 30
"Sign O' The Times"
I can't believe it's been 30 years since this album was released March of 1987. How time flies! And yet, this album, like wine, gets better with time. It's definitely Prince's masterpiece and most diverse album covering many genres of music. This was the last Prince vinyl album I bought in the Philippines before my family moved to the U.S. and I remember it fondly. This album introduced us to Prince's alter ego, Camille, and the first time I played this album and heard the Camille voice, I thought there was something wrong with my record or the turntable because of the sped up voice. Took me a number of listens to get used to it. It's one album where each song could potentially have been a hit song. I can honestly say I love every song of this album and the album with the most number of my all-time favorite Prince songs-- the title track, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, Starfish and Coffee, If I Was Ur Girlfriend, Adore, U Got the Look, Hot Thing, and I Could Never Take the Place of Ur Man.

Day 9: March 31
"Controversy"
This album has a special significance to me. The title track, one of my favorites, asks "am I straight or gay?" and it was a question I struggled for many years. Growing up in a devout Christian household didn't help either as I grew up believing being gay is a sin and an abomination. Listening to Prince's music helped me deal with those struggles-- not to be ashamed-- "Sexuality is all u'll ever need" he declares in one of the tracks. And while my beliefs (or non-belief) and Prince's beliefs have differed in the coming years, I thank Prince for giving me the courage to be true to myself and finally come out to myself, my family and friends.

Day 10: April 1
"Art Official Age"
It's officially April. It was this month last year that Prince unexpectedly passed away. As his first death anniversary approaches it will be increasingly difficult for many, me included, thinking about his last days. I haven't listened to Prince's music this much since his death, as it had been difficult for me especially the first few months after his death which affected my personal life. I managed to make it through day 10 so far in my 30-day pledge of listening to a Prince album each day as my way of paying tribute to him and honoring his life through his music. I hope I can make it through April 21.

I haven't listened to "Art Official Age" album in months. Definitely one of the best albums he released in his last years. Other than the title track, which I'm not fond of, I love the rest of the album particularly "Clouds", "Breakdown", "This Could Be Us" and "Way Back Home". Talking about the song, "Way Back Home", it has taken on a new meaning for me after his death. Prince may already have known then when he recorded this album that his time on earth was almost up (a terminal illness perhaps, we may never know, as he was always a private person and I respect him for that, although it had been hard for many of us dealing with his sudden death). This song-- and album as a whole-- his last concept album-- may be his way of dealing with death and his way of saying goodbye to us. In "Way Back Home" he sings--

"So many reasons why I don't belong here but now I am without fear.
I am gonna conquer with no fear until I find my way back home."

He repeats that same sentiment on "affirmation III" repeatedly singing "until I find my way back home" while a female narrator describes his journey home--

"U've probably felt many years in ur former life, u were separate from not only only others, but even urself. Now u can see that was never the case. U are actually everything and anything that u can think of. All of it is U...Remember there really is only one destination, and that place is U. All of it, everything is U."

Here's hoping Prince found his way back home.

Day 11: April 2
"Batman"
While the film, "Batman", directed by Tim Burton is not the best Batman film (my vote goes to "The Dark Knight" film), it was a decent film with Michael Keaton playing the title character much better than George Clooney or Val Kilmer, and Jack Nicholson playing the demented Joker with gusto, I eagerly went to see "Batman" during the summer of 1989 mainly to hear Prince's songs featured in the film. "Batdance", of course, was a huge hit that summer and became Prince's 4th #1 song with the album spending six weeks at #1 in the album chart. And while I find the song, "Batdance", corny these days, it still is a guilty pleasure song for me, especially the music video which features Prince as "Gemini" (dressed as half-Batman and half-Joker). Prince seemed to relish the role and having fun in the video as well as in the the follow-up single, "Partyman", also one of my favorite songs in the album. My favorite line from the album was in the song, "Electric Chair"-- "If a man is considered guilty for what goes on in his mind, then give me the electric chair for all my future crimes." Undoubtedly, the best track in the album is the seductive "Scandalous." Classic Prince! :cool:

Day 12: April 3
"Graffiti Bridge"
It's been awhile since I listened to the "Graffiti Bridge" album as a whole. I tend to skip some of the songs. Listening to the full album today, I forgot how good the album actually is. My opinion of the album was tainted over the years by how bad the accompanying film for it. Unlike the movies "Purple Rain" and "Under the Cherry Moon", both of which I enjoy watching regularly, I don't even remember the last time I watched the movie, "Graffiti Bridge." I decided to watch the movie again-- this time on Blu-Ray-- this afternoon. The acting, writing, direction and production of the movie was as bad as I remembered but it was good to see Prince and The Time perform some of the songs in the film again. There are two Prince tracks in the album that I really love-- "The Question of U" and "Joy in Repetition". I also like the songs performed by The Time-- "Release It", "Love Machine" and "Shake!" as well as Tevin Campbell's "Round and Round." While the critical and commercial failure of the movie may have ended Prince's film career, that didn't stop him from making direct-to-video vanity projects in the ensuing years (e.g. "Diamonds and Pearls Video Collection" and "3 Chains O' Gold"). :lol:

Day 13: April 4
"For You"
Woah! I just realized Prince's debut album, "For You", will have its 40th anniversary next year since its release in April, 1978. Prince had been releasing an album almost every year since his debut album, some of which are double or triple albums. Quite an amazing output! And we hope to hear more in the years to come from his vault. After almost 40 years, his debut album still impresses me. Not many artists had the distinction of producing, composing, arranging and performing all the songs of their debut album, not to mention playing 27 instruments. Last month, while I was shopping for used CDs at Amoeba Music store in Hollywood, the store DJ was playing Prince's "For You" album to my surprise and delight. The song, "Soft and Wet", his first hit single from the album, remains one of his beloved classic songs. While the album is not often mentioned as a favorite among his fans, I can say it's a better album than many of the other albums he released over the years, some of which are quite uneven. This album, on the other hand, with its funky, old school vibe, I can listen without skipping any of the songs. It's one of my go-to albums when I just want to chill at home.

Day 14: April 5
"Dirty Mind"
When I was in college and studied Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche consisting of the id, ego, and superego, I thought of Prince's music and have always been drawn to him expressing the "id"-- his libido and sexual drive-- and the "Dirty Mind" album has a healthy (or unhealthy?) dose of that beginning with the throbbing beat of the title track as he described his state of mind, singing about his obsession with an ex in "When U Were Mine", his desire to "Do It All Night"-- including explicit acts of giving "Head" and having incestous relationship with his "Sister". And he loved to "Partyup" in "Uptown". He covered all the bases in the album and we can't get enough of it. It's Prince's leanest album-- at only 30 minutes long-- and yet his funkiest and most daring album. "Dirty Mind" was his first album in the '80s and he continued pushing the envelope throughout the decade-- definitely his most creative period.

Day 15: April 6
"Diamonds and Pearls"
Another milestone for one of Prince's albums as 25 years have passed since the release of "Diamonds and Pearls" in October, 1991. Unlike most of his '80s output, however, time has not been good to it. Save for a few songs, the album sounds dated to me now, not to mention I never warmed up to Tony M's rapping. This release was Prince's attempt then to stay current with the increasing popularity of hip hop (especially gangsta rap) in the late '80s/early '90s, also drastically changing his look-- again-- compared to his image in the previous year's "Graffiti Bridge" album and film release. Listening to songs like "Daddy Pop", "Jughead" and "Push" again was torturous. Plus, the message of the album was conflicting-- Prince sings about Jesus saving your soul in the opening track, "Thunder", and then wanting to do "twenty three positions in a one night stand" in "Gett Off". I also find the title track to be quite cheesy these days although the music video for the song is a guilty pleasure with Prince being chased by the paparazzi before singing the song featuring his back-up dancers named "Diamond" and "Pearl". On the plus side, there are some "gems" (pun intended ) in the album. "Cream" has become a Prince classic and a staple song in his concerts over the years. I love the cool vibe of "Strollin'" and "Willing and Able" while "Walk Don't Walk" is whimsical. The sultry "Insatiable" is irresistible and a worthy addition in Prince's long list of classic soulful ballads. His social commentary on "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" is spot on. Lastly, the message of the closer, "Live 4 Love", inspired me to use the song title as my personalized car license plate for 20 years. 8-)

Day 16: April 7
"20Ten"
I only got the chance to listen to the full "20Ten" album when it became available for streaming on Tidal last year-- months after his death. Whatever Prince's reasons may be for not releasing the album in the U.S., it was a missed opportunity as it's a strong album, in my opinion, and could have produced a couple of hit songs for him. "Beginning Endlessly" could easily have been a club hit. I can listen to that track alone all day. The album production, especially his use of Linn drums, harkens back to some of his early '80's releases. "Compassion" reminds me of "Let's Pretend We're Married". My other favorites are Prince crooning on "Future Soul Song", the funky number "Sticky Like Glue" (although I can do without his rapping), the wistful "Walk in Sand" segueing into "Sea of Everything" featuring his signature silky smooth falsetto. I've seen Prince in concert at least four times since 2010 (during his "Welcome 2 America" tour) and wished he had performed some of the songs from this album.

Day 17: April 8
"Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic"
This companion album to "Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic" was released initially through Prince's NPG Music Club where I was a paying member for a couple of years. I looked forward to this album but was disappointed that the remixes of the songs didn't improve upon the original cuts of the former album. The one saving grace of this album, for me anyway, was the inclusion of the song, "Beautiful Strange". I love the guitar solo in that song. I was never a fan of the title track and the remix version made it worse for me. Thankfully, the songs that I love in that album mostly remained unchanged in this release-- "I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore" (possibly his most heartfelt, breakup song), "So Far, So Pleased" (a bouncy pop duet with Gwen Stefani), "The Sun, the Moon and Stars" (I love the reggae vibe of the song), and the uplifting "Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do" (I love when he sings, "Remember life ain't always what it seems. For each rainy day that comes your way, the sun will come shining and you'll be okay"). A simple yet quite reassuring message! :)

Day 18: April 9
"Newpower Soul"
I haven't listened to this album in over a decade. I'll be honest, I didn't follow Prince's music and career closely from the mid-90's to early 2000. I was in the U.S. Army then and when I got out I was studying full-time in college and working at the same time. That was the period when he was releasing albums in his moniker. Many of his releases during that period I bought eventually years later. The "Newpower Soul" album is one of them. Listening to the album again after all these years, like many of his 90's output when he started including hip hop elements in his music (particularly the rapping), they sound dated now. He even had Doug E. Fresh rap in a couple of tracks in this album-- "Push It Up" and "(I Like) Funky Music". What I love about this album, however, are the horn sections featured in the title track as well as in "Mad Sex" and "When U Love Somebody" (can't resist dancing to the beat of these songs). I love the slow songs as well-- can't go wrong with Prince singing falsetto in "Until U're in My Arms Again" and especially, in "The One". Those two are my favorite songs in the album along with "Come On"- I love the groove of the song that reminds me of the incessant beat on "Forever in My Life". 8-)

Day 19: April 10
"Exodus"
Another Prince release credited to The New Power Generation in the mid'90s when he was the with lead vocals by Sonny T. and Prince under the name Tora Tora (I know it's confusing and even stranger was him sporting a scarf covering his face in some photos I've seen in that period). It's my favorite release from The New Power Generation. I enjoyed listening to this album again after all these years especially the interludes/segues with Prince talking with an Italian accent in one of them-- "Mashed Potato Girl". Also, Prince's voice slowed down to sound deep and talking about a robbery in "New Power Day". I wished Prince did more of these. He definitely had a great sense of humor. My favorite cuts in the album are the the jams-- "Get Wild", "The Good Life", "Return of the Bump Squad" and "The Exodus Has Begun"-- and the bluesy, "Count the Days". Definitely a blast revisiting this album!

Day 20: April 11
"One Night Alone..."
Prince's most intimate album with just him on vocals and piano (mostly), listening to this album is what it must have been like in one of his "Piano and a Microphone" shows last year. It's one of those albums I prefer to listen alone, especially now with Prince gone, and makes me appreciate his music more. My favorite songs in the album are "U're Gonna C Me" (which he also rerecorded for the MPLSound album), "Here on Earth", "Objects in the Mirror", and his cover of a Joni Mitchell classic, "A Case of U" (definitely my favorite cover song he did) with its raw emotion and intensity. The last song, an ethereal instrumental track called "Arboretum" ends with the sound of Prince getting up after playing the piano, walking out the room and closing the door behind him. :-(

Day 21: April 12
"N.E.W.S."
This entry is going to be short and sweet as I don't really have much to say about this jazz fusion instrumental album. This is probably the first time I actually listened to the full album as I tend to lose interest listening to it before. I guess it's just not for me. I doubt I will be revisiting it anytime soon. The album, its title an acronym for the four tracks-- "North", "East", "West", and "South"-- each at 14 minutes long-- and supposedly recorded in one day-- is best enjoyed, perhaps, in smaller doses or if I was watching Prince and his band performing it live.

Day 22: April 13
"Planet Earth"
I love this album! I actually enjoy listening to this album more than his more popular releases in the 2000s-- "Musicology" and "3121"-- both of which are good albums, too. But "Planet Earth" is one of those albums that took me a number of listens to fully appreciate and one day the album just clicked for me and have become one of my favorite Prince albums. I love every track of this album. The title track starts slow with the piano, then builds up as the song continues and rises to a crescendo with the guitar solo in the end, leading to the next song, "Guitar" with it's catchy guitar riff and who can't resist singing along when Prince exclaims-- "I love u baby, but not like I love my guitar." This album has two sultry ballads, "Somewhere Here On Earth" and "Future Baby Mama". I also love the upbeat song, "The One U Wanna C", the funky groove, "Chelsea Rodgers", the little ditty song, "All the Midnights in the World" and the closer, "Resolution" with Revolution alums, Wendy and Lisa. I just realized this album is ten years old this year! Definitely one Prince album that will be a mainstay in my playlist.

Day 23: April 14
"The Black Album"
In observance of Black Friday, I listened to "The Black Album" today. That's all. ;-)

Day 24: April 15
"The Gold Experience"
Arguably, this is Prince's best album in the '90s (his first release as ). Too many songs that I love on this album-- "P. Control", "Endorphinmachine", "Shhh", "Dolphin", "319", "Billy Jack Bitch", and " Hate U". I even like "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" (another cheesy song and title much like "Diamonds and Pearls" and "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold"). I can do without the NPG Operator segues though and always found the title song, "Gold", too trite for my taste.

Day 25: April 16
"The Rainbow Children"
"Just like the sun, the rainbow children rise!" Coincidentally, I listened to Prince's most spiritual album-- and one of his best albums-- today, on Easter Sunday. I remember organizing a listening party for this album in October, 2001 at a bar in Hollywood with other Prince fans I met during that time. I lost touch of them when I moved to Chicago the following year. Incidentally, it was a few months after the release of "The Rainbow Children" that I joined the Org-- 2/22/02, to be exact-- all the twos in the date I find interesting-- it wasn't planned, by the way. My love for the album then was the reason I chose "rainbowchild" as my username. But I digress. I saw Prince in concert that year at the Kodak Theatre (it's the Dolby Theater now) during the "One Night Alone...Tour" to support the album and, out of the ten times I've gone to see Prince in concert over the years-- first in 1988 and last in 2012-- the "One Night Alone...Tour" concert was my favorite. It was a treat to hear Prince sing many songs from the album including hearing him do the narration with the Darth Vader voice. I love the whole album, even "The Wedding Feast" but my favorite songs are the title track, "Muse 2 the Pharaoh", "The Work Pt. 1", "Mellow", "1+1+1 is 3", "She Loves Me 4 Me", "Family Name", "The Everlasting Now", and "Last December". I'm not gonna lie, but hearing the song, "Last December" tonight teared me up a bit as it dawned on me that the first anniversary of Prince's death is just a few days away. :-(

Day 26: April 17
"Indigo Nights"
I love this live CD from Prince's aftershows at IndigO2 club during his 21-date residency at the O2 arena and included in the "21 Nights" book. Listening to him perform "3121" reminded me of the time I flew to Vegas from Chicago mainly to attend a couple of his shows at Club 3121 during his residency at Rio Las Vegas in the Fall of 2006. I took my mom to a Celine Dion concert and, to her surprise, after I dropped my mom at the hotel after the show, I told her I'm going to see Prince, whose shows then started around midnight. One of the highlight for me was getting to see him perform "Black Sweat" live, my favorite song from the "3121" album. Also, I love the intimate setting at the club where fans can dance along as he performed and I could see Prince much closer. I also enjoyed the part where Prince would invite his fans onstage including some celebrities that come to his shows and make them sing and dance along with him. Some of my favorite songs he performed on this CD are "Girls & Boys", "The Song of the Heart", "Satisfied", "Beggin' Woman Blues", "Rock Steady", "Alphabet St." and "The One". I hope we'll get to see official releases of his many concerts and tours over the years-- including the aftershows-- both audio and video recordings. Nothing like watching Prince perform live and I would love to revisit them again soon.

Day 27: April 18
"Musicology"
I have moved around over the years-- from the Philippines to the U.S. in my teens settling in Los Angeles in the late '80s, joined the U.S. Army in the '90s and was stationed in Germany, Texas and Virginia, then back to L.A. to finish my college. Work and personal relationships have taken me from L.A. to Chicago then Charlotte in the last 15 years. One thing had been constant in my life all that time-- Prince's music. It's amazing how much I remember certain Prince albums and their significance in my life. "Musicology" was the first Prince album that was released during my ten year residency in Chicago. As always, I looked forward to a new Prince release. "Musicology" was considered a Prince comeback album by the mainstream media even though he never stopped releasing an album almost every year since 1978; maybe because it was his most successful album since the fallout from his public dispute with Warner Bros and the resulting name change to a symbol and reverting back to Prince in the 2000s. His induction in the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame weeks before the release of the album also helped improve his image. I love the title track and the accompanying music video for it. It has an old school funk vibe influenced by Earth, Wind and Fire, and James Brown as he mentioned in the song, which segued into the hilarious "Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance". Prince may have stopped cursing since joining the Jehovah's Witnesses in 2001 but the risqué factor in his music-- although tamer-- was still present in his songs such as "Call My Name" and "On the Couch". The guitar-laden rock song, "Cinnamon Girl" packs a punch and was also released with a music video-- one of his best-- starring Keisha Castle-Hughes as Prince sings about the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. I love "The Marrying Kind/If Eye Was the Man in Ur Life" pairing. Two of his most earnest romantic songs. The nostalgic "Reflection" where Prince sings about the good old days "when we would compare whose Afro was the roundest" made me take a pause as well and reflect on my life and journey as a Prince fan.

Day 28: April 19
Day 29: April 20
Day 30: April 21

Day 1: March 23
"Purple Rain"
Gotta start with the album that made me a Prince fan for life with its lead single, "When Doves Cry", the first Prince single I ever bought during my junior year in high school in 1984 and saved my allowance to buy the "Purple Rain" vinyl album when it came out months later. I don't think I knew anyone in my high school-- I grew up in the Philippines-- who was a Prince fan like me. I knew I was different then and it's the main reason that drew me to Prince's music. I can't believe I've been a fan for almost 33 years. Listening to the album now, the music still sound as fresh to my ears like it was just released. I can listen to the album beginning to end over and over. Definitely has my vote as the best opener, Let's Go Crazy, and the best closer, Purple Rain, in any Prince album, not to mention its title track one of the greatest rock anthem ever. Of course, after watching the charismatic Prince and his electrifying performances of the songs in the film, it makes listening to the album even much more enjoyable. Never in my wildest dreams then did I think I would get to watch Prince perform live in concert, but that was about to change when my family unexpectedly moved to the U.S. a few years later. But that's a story for another day. :wink:

Day 2: March 24
"1999"
My favorite Prince double album. "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" are the best opening one-two punch tracks-- "1999", possibly the ultimate end-of-the-world party song and in "Little Red Corvette", the classic car metaphor for a woman with the line-- "baby, you're much 2 fast"-- says it all. The third track, "Delirious", a simple yet catchy Prince track where he sings one of my favorite suggestive lyrics -- "my temperature's running hot, baby u got 2 stop, cuz if u don't I'm gonna explode and girl I got a lot". The whole double album oozes with sex and that's just side one. My other favorite tracks of the album are what I consider four essential club tracks clocking at over seven minutes long each-- "Let's Pretend We're Married", DMSR, "Automatic", and "Lady Cab Driver." Casual Prince fans miss out on these hidden gems; one reason I'm not a big fan of greatest hits compilations.

Day 3: March 25
"Around the World in A Day"
Like many, I anticipated Prince's follow-up to "Purple Rain" album. When "Raspberry Beret", the lead single to "Around the World in A Day" came out, it sounded a lot different from anything he released up to that point. And I loved it! "Raspberry Beret" was the last Prince 7" (45rpm) single I bought. And it has my favorite B-side song-- "She's Always in My Hair". I remember listening to Casey Kasem's American Top 40 every week back in the '80s and "Raspberry Beret" stalled at #2 with Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill" keeping it from becoming #1. I love the music video especially with the extended intro. When the album finally came out, like many, I, too, was surprised how much different the album sounds, from the intro to the title song-- the Beatlesque, psychedelic sounds and lyrics-- which I'm sure alienated a lot of his fans. Took me a number of listens to appreciate the album. While it's not one of my favorite Prince albums, I love some of the songs, namely, the aforementioned "Raspberry Beret", "Pop Life", "Condition of the Heart", and "The Ladder."

Day 4: March 26
"Lovesexy"
I have been playing the "Lovesexy" album on loop all day today. Couldn't skip the songs anyhow as Prince meant the album to be heard from beginning to end-- each and every time. This album has a special significance to me as it's the first Prince album I bought when my family moved to the U.S. from the Philippines, and, coincidentally, it was around the time the Lovesexy Tour was going on and saw Prince in concert for the first time at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (which, sadly, closed its doors March of last year and demolished this past September ). So many wonderful memories for me at that place. Growing up, I never thought I'd ever get to see Prince live in concert and looking back, it felt like a dream. It was a surreal experience! I actually bought tickets to see Prince for two consecutive nights but gave a pair of tix to my sister, who's just a year older than me, for one of the nights hoping to get her to become a Prince fan like me. It didn't work although she enjoyed the concert. I guess Prince fams like us are a rare breed, indeed. Back to the album, it has three of my all-time favorite Prince songs, namely, Alphabet Street, Glam Slam, and I Wish U Heaven. I also like the title track and Anna Stetia. More importantly, the album features my favorite album cover-- Prince in the nude. :cool:

Day 5: March 27
"Prince"
Prince's self-titled album-- his second studio album-- has become one of my favorite albums. It features my all-time favorite Prince song, "I Wanna Be Your Lover," which I can listen on repeat all day. The whole album just flows well and I seldom skip any songs from the album whenever I listen to it although I especially crank up the volume whenever "Bambi" comes on. Kudos to Chaka Khan whose version of "I Feel For You" popularized the song and won Prince a Grammy for Best R&B song. I love the fact that Prince sings mostly in falsetto in all the songs of the album. This is definitely one album where I would have loved to have seen Prince perform all the songs live.

Day 6: March 28

I used to love the album when it first came out but the novelty of the "Segues" in the album has worn off over the years-- I find Kirstie Alley's voice increasingly annoying-- and I skip them now whenever I listen to the album. For the purposes of this tribute for Prince, I listened to the album uninterrupted today. The songs sound dated now especially "My Name is Prince" which has that '90's hip hop vibe that Prince tried to emulate but failed badly. The highlight for me during this period was the introduction of Mayte Garcia as Prince's muse. I still like a couple of songs in the album-- "The Morning Papers" and "7". I love the guitar solos in "The Morning Papers" while "7" especially reminded me of my U.S. Army days when I was stationed in Germany and one of my Army buddies used to play the song very loud in the barracks. It always made me smile hearing that song. :)

Day 7: March 29
"Come"
One of Prince's most underrated albums, I felt the "Come" album would have been a bigger hit had it not been released during the most tumultuous time in Prince's career during the '90s when he had the public dispute with Warner Bros and changed his name to a symbol which, sadly, took the spotlight away from his music but the attention was geared toward the name change and Prince was the butt of jokes as to what to call him. Even the album cover for "Come" announced the death of Prince (the name anyway with the years 1958-1993 on it). I thought this album was conceived better than his last couple of albums released before it-- "Diamonds and Pearls" and . I love how it was intimate and personal, with songs like "Papa", "Dark", and "Solo", and I love the other songs in it, too-- from the jazz-infused lead single, "Letitgo", to the dance grooves of the first four songs of the album beginning with the seductive 11-minute title track to the manic "Loose!" Vanity's uncredited moans in "Orgasm" ending with Prince saying "I love you" sealed the deal for me.

Day 8: March 30
"Sign O' The Times"
I can't believe it's been 30 years since this album was released March of 1987. How time flies! And yet, this album, like wine, gets better with time. It's definitely Prince's masterpiece and most diverse album covering many genres of music. This was the last Prince vinyl album I bought in the Philippines before my family moved to the U.S. and I remember it fondly. This album introduced us to Prince's alter ego, Camille, and the first time I played this album and heard the Camille voice, I thought there was something wrong with my record or the turntable because of the sped up voice. Took me a number of listens to get used to it. It's one album where each song could potentially have been a hit song. I can honestly say I love every song of this album and the album with the most number of my all-time favorite Prince songs-- the title track, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, Starfish and Coffee, If I Was Ur Girlfriend, Adore, U Got the Look, Hot Thing, and I Could Never Take the Place of Ur Man.

Day 9: March 31
"Controversy"
This album has a special significance to me. The title track, one of my favorites, asks "am I straight or gay?" and it was a question I struggled for many years. Growing up in a devout Christian household didn't help either as I grew up believing being gay is a sin and an abomination. Listening to Prince's music helped me deal with those struggles-- not to be ashamed-- "Sexuality is all u'll ever need" he declares in one of the tracks. And while my beliefs (or non-belief) and Prince's beliefs have differed in the coming years, I thank Prince for giving me the courage to be true to myself and finally come out to myself, my family and friends.

Day 10: April 1
"Art Official Age"
It's officially April. It was this month last year that Prince unexpectedly passed away. As his first death anniversary approaches it will be increasingly difficult for many, me included, thinking about his last days. I haven't listened to Prince's music this much since his death, as it had been difficult for me especially the first few months after his death which affected my personal life. I managed to make it through day 10 so far in my 30-day pledge of listening to a Prince album each day as my way of paying tribute to him and honoring his life through his music. I hope I can make it through April 21.

I haven't listened to "Art Official Age" album in months. Definitely one of the best albums he released in his last years. Other than the title track, which I'm not fond of, I love the rest of the album particularly "Clouds", "Breakdown", "This Could Be Us" and "Way Back Home". Talking about the song, "Way Back Home", it has taken on a new meaning for me after his death. Prince may already have known then when he recorded this album that his time on earth was almost up (a terminal illness perhaps, we may never know, as he was always a private person and I respect him for that, although it had been hard for many of us dealing with his sudden death). This song-- and album as a whole-- his last concept album-- may be his way of dealing with death and his way of saying goodbye to us. In "Way Back Home" he sings--

"So many reasons why I don't belong here but now I am without fear.
I am gonna conquer with no fear until I find my way back home."

He repeats that same sentiment on "affirmation III" repeatedly singing "until I find my way back home" while a female narrator describes his journey home--

"U've probably felt many years in ur former life, u were separate from not only only others, but even urself. Now u can see that was never the case. U are actually everything and anything that u can think of. All of it is U...Remember there really is only one destination, and that place is U. All of it, everything is U."

Here's hoping Prince found his way back home.

Day 11: April 2
"Batman"
While the film, "Batman", directed by Tim Burton is not the best Batman film (my vote goes to "The Dark Knight" film), it was a decent film with Michael Keaton playing the title character much better than George Clooney or Val Kilmer, and Jack Nicholson playing the demented Joker with gusto, I eagerly went to see "Batman" during the summer of 1989 mainly to hear Prince's songs featured in the film. "Batdance", of course, was a huge hit that summer and became Prince's 4th #1 song with the album spending six weeks at #1 in the album chart. And while I find the song, "Batdance", corny these days, it still is a guilty pleasure song for me, especially the music video which features Prince as "Gemini" (dressed as half-Batman and half-Joker). Prince seemed to relish the role and having fun in the video as well as in the the follow-up single, "Partyman", also one of my favorite songs in the album. My favorite line from the album was in the song, "Electric Chair"-- "If a man is considered guilty for what goes on in his mind, then give me the electric chair for all my future crimes." Undoubtedly, the best track in the album is the seductive "Scandalous." Classic Prince! :cool:

Day 12: April 3
"Graffiti Bridge"
It's been awhile since I listened to the "Graffiti Bridge" album as a whole. I tend to skip some of the songs. Listening to the full album today, I forgot how good the album actually is. My opinion of the album was tainted over the years by how bad the accompanying film for it. Unlike the movies "Purple Rain" and "Under the Cherry Moon", both of which I enjoy watching regularly, I don't even remember the last time I watched the movie, "Graffiti Bridge." I decided to watch the movie again-- this time on Blu-Ray-- this afternoon. The acting, writing, direction and production of the movie was as bad as I remembered but it was good to see Prince and The Time perform some of the songs in the film again. There are two Prince tracks in the album that I really love-- "The Question of U" and "Joy in Repetition". I also like the songs performed by The Time-- "Release It", "Love Machine" and "Shake!" as well as Tevin Campbell's "Round and Round." While the critical and commercial failure of the movie may have ended Prince's film career, that didn't stop him from making direct-to-video vanity projects in the ensuing years (e.g. "Diamonds and Pearls Video Collection" and "3 Chains O' Gold"). :lol:

Day 13: April 4
"For You"
Woah! I just realized Prince's debut album, "For You", will have its 40th anniversary next year since its release in April, 1978. Prince had been releasing an album almost every year since his debut album, some of which are double or triple albums. Quite an amazing output! And we hope to hear more in the years to come from his vault. After almost 40 years, his debut album still impresses me. Not many artists had the distinction of producing, composing, arranging and performing all the songs of their debut album, not to mention playing 27 instruments. Last month, while I was shopping for used CDs at Amoeba Music store in Hollywood, the store DJ was playing Prince's "For You" album to my surprise and delight. The song, "Soft and Wet", his first hit single from the album, remains one of his beloved classic songs. While the album is not often mentioned as a favorite among his fans, I can say it's a better album than many of the other albums he released over the years, some of which are quite uneven. This album, on the other hand, with its funky, old school vibe, I can listen without skipping any of the songs. It's one of my go-to albums when I just want to chill at home.

Day 14: April 5
"Dirty Mind"
When I was in college and studied Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche consisting of the id, ego, and superego, I thought of Prince's music and have always been drawn to him expressing the "id"-- his libido and sexual drive-- and the "Dirty Mind" album has a healthy (or unhealthy?) dose of that beginning with the throbbing beat of the title track as he described his state of mind, singing about his obsession with an ex in "When U Were Mine", his desire to "Do It All Night"-- including explicit acts of giving "Head" and having incestous relationship with his "Sister". And he loved to "Partyup" in "Uptown". He covered all the bases in the album and we can't get enough of it. It's Prince's leanest album-- at only 30 minutes long-- and yet his funkiest and most daring album. "Dirty Mind" was his first album in the '80s and he continued pushing the envelope throughout the decade-- definitely his most creative period.

Day 15: April 6
"Diamonds and Pearls"
Another milestone for one of Prince's albums as 25 years have passed since the release of "Diamonds and Pearls" in October, 1991. Unlike most of his '80s output, however, time has not been good to it. Save for a few songs, the album sounds dated to me now, not to mention I never warmed up to Tony M's rapping. This release was Prince's attempt then to stay current with the increasing popularity of hip hop (especially gangsta rap) in the late '80s/early '90s, also drastically changing his look-- again-- compared to his image in the previous year's "Graffiti Bridge" album and film release. Listening to songs like "Daddy Pop", "Jughead" and "Push" again was torturous. Plus, the message of the album was conflicting-- Prince sings about Jesus saving your soul in the opening track, "Thunder", and then wanting to do "twenty three positions in a one night stand" in "Gett Off". I also find the title track to be quite cheesy these days although the music video for the song is a guilty pleasure with Prince being chased by the paparazzi before singing the song featuring his back-up dancers named "Diamond" and "Pearl". On the plus side, there are some "gems" (pun intended ) in the album. "Cream" has become a Prince classic and a staple song in his concerts over the years. I love the cool vibe of "Strollin'" and "Willing and Able" while "Walk Don't Walk" is whimsical. The sultry "Insatiable" is irresistible and a worthy addition in Prince's long list of classic soulful ballads. His social commentary on "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" is spot on. Lastly, the message of the closer, "Live 4 Love", inspired me to use the song title as my personalized car license plate for 20 years. 8-)

Day 16: April 7
"20Ten"
I only got the chance to listen to the full "20Ten" album when it became available for streaming on Tidal last year-- months after his death. Whatever Prince's reasons may be for not releasing the album in the U.S., it was a missed opportunity as it's a strong album, in my opinion, and could have produced a couple of hit songs for him. "Beginning Endlessly" could easily have been a club hit. I can listen to that track alone all day. The album production, especially his use of Linn drums, harkens back to some of his early '80's releases. "Compassion" reminds me of "Let's Pretend We're Married". My other favorites are Prince crooning on "Future Soul Song", the funky number "Sticky Like Glue" (although I can do without his rapping), the wistful "Walk in Sand" segueing into "Sea of Everything" featuring his signature silky smooth falsetto. I've seen Prince in concert at least four times since 2010 (during his "Welcome 2 America" tour) and wished he had performed some of the songs from this album.

Day 17: April 8
"Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic"
This companion album to "Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic" was released initially through Prince's NPG Music Club where I was a paying member for a couple of years. I looked forward to this album but was disappointed that the remixes of the songs didn't improve upon the original cuts of the former album. The one saving grace of this album, for me anyway, was the inclusion of the song, "Beautiful Strange". I love the guitar solo in that song. I was never a fan of the title track and the remix version made it worse for me. Thankfully, the songs that I love in that album mostly remained unchanged in this release-- "I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore" (possibly his most heartfelt, breakup song), "So Far, So Pleased" (a bouncy pop duet with Gwen Stefani), "The Sun, the Moon and Stars" (I love the reggae vibe of the song), and the uplifting "Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do" (I love when he sings, "Remember life ain't always what it seems. For each rainy day that comes your way, the sun will come shining and you'll be okay"). A simple yet quite reassuring message! :)

Day 18: April 9
"Newpower Soul"
I haven't listened to this album in over a decade. I'll be honest, I didn't follow Prince's music and career closely from the mid-90's to early 2000. I was in the U.S. Army then and when I got out I was studying full-time in college and working at the same time. That was the period when he was releasing albums in his moniker. Many of his releases during that period I bought eventually years later. The "Newpower Soul" album is one of them. Listening to the album again after all these years, like many of his 90's output when he started including hip hop elements in his music (particularly the rapping), they sound dated now. He even had Doug E. Fresh rap in a couple of tracks in this album-- "Push It Up" and "(I Like) Funky Music". What I love about this album, however, are the horn sections featured in the title track as well as in "Mad Sex" and "When U Love Somebody" (can't resist dancing to the beat of these songs). I love the slow songs as well-- can't go wrong with Prince singing falsetto in "Until U're in My Arms Again" and especially, in "The One". Those two are my favorite songs in the album along with "Come On"- I love the groove of the song that reminds me of the incessant beat on "Forever in My Life". 8-)

Day 19: April 10
"Exodus"
Another Prince release credited to The New Power Generation in the mid'90s when he was the with lead vocals by Sonny T. and Prince under the name Tora Tora (I know it's confusing and even stranger was him sporting a scarf covering his face in some photos I've seen in that period). It's my favorite release from The New Power Generation. I enjoyed listening to this album again after all these years especially the interludes/segues with Prince talking with an Italian accent in one of them-- "Mashed Potato Girl". Also, Prince's voice slowed down to sound deep and talking about a robbery in "New Power Day". I wished Prince did more of these. He definitely had a great sense of humor. My favorite cuts in the album are the the jams-- "Get Wild", "The Good Life", "Return of the Bump Squad" and "The Exodus Has Begun"-- and the bluesy, "Count the Days". Definitely a blast revisiting this album!

Day 20: April 11
"One Night Alone..."
Prince's most intimate album with just him on vocals and piano (mostly), listening to this album is what it must have been like in one of his "Piano and a Microphone" shows last year. It's one of those albums I prefer to listen alone, especially now with Prince gone, and makes me appreciate his music more. My favorite songs in the album are "U're Gonna C Me" (which he also rerecorded for the MPLSound album), "Here on Earth", "Objects in the Mirror", and his cover of a Joni Mitchell classic, "A Case of U" (definitely my favorite cover song he did) with its raw emotion and intensity. The last song, an ethereal instrumental track called "Arboretum" ends with the sound of Prince getting up after playing the piano, walking out the room and closing the door behind him. :-(

Day 21: April 12
"N.E.W.S."
This entry is going to be short and sweet as I don't really have much to say about this jazz fusion instrumental album. This is probably the first time I actually listened to the full album as I tend to lose interest listening to it before. I guess it's just not for me. I doubt I will be revisiting it anytime soon. The album, its title an acronym for the four tracks-- "North", "East", "West", and "South"-- each at 14 minutes long-- and supposedly recorded in one day-- is best enjoyed, perhaps, in smaller doses or if I was watching Prince and his band performing it live.

Day 22: April 13
"Planet Earth"
I love this album! I actually enjoy listening to this album more than his more popular releases in the 2000s-- "Musicology" and "3121"-- both of which are good albums, too. But "Planet Earth" is one of those albums that took me a number of listens to fully appreciate and one day the album just clicked for me and have become one of my favorite Prince albums. I love every track of this album. The title track starts slow with the piano, then builds up as the song continues and rises to a crescendo with the guitar solo in the end, leading to the next song, "Guitar" with it's catchy guitar riff and who can't resist singing along when Prince exclaims-- "I love u baby, but not like I love my guitar." This album has two sultry ballads, "Somewhere Here On Earth" and "Future Baby Mama". I also love the upbeat song, "The One U Wanna C", the funky groove, "Chelsea Rodgers", the little ditty song, "All the Midnights in the World" and the closer, "Resolution" with Revolution alums, Wendy and Lisa. I just realized this album is ten years old this year! Definitely one Prince album that will be a mainstay in my playlist.

Day 23: April 14
"The Black Album"
In observance of Black Friday, I listened to "The Black Album" today. That's all. ;-)

Day 24: April 15
"The Gold Experience"
Arguably, this is Prince's best album in the '90s (his first release as ). Too many songs that I love on this album-- "P. Control", "Endorphinmachine", "Shhh", "Dolphin", "319", "Billy Jack Bitch", and " Hate U". I even like "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" (another cheesy song and title much like "Diamonds and Pearls" and "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold"). I can do without the NPG Operator segues though and always found the title song, "Gold", too trite for my taste.

Day 25: April 16
"The Rainbow Children"
"Just like the sun, the rainbow children rise!" Coincidentally, I listened to Prince's most spiritual album-- and one of his best albums-- today, on Easter Sunday. I remember organizing a listening party for this album in October, 2001 at a bar in Hollywood with other Prince fans I met during that time. I lost touch of them when I moved to Chicago the following year. Incidentally, it was a few months after the release of "The Rainbow Children" that I joined the Org-- 2/22/02, to be exact-- all the twos in the date I find interesting-- it wasn't planned, by the way. My love for the album then was the reason I chose "rainbowchild" as my username. But I digress. I saw Prince in concert that year at the Kodak Theatre (it's the Dolby Theater now) during the "One Night Alone...Tour" to support the album and, out of the ten times I've gone to see Prince in concert over the years-- first in 1988 and last in 2012-- the "One Night Alone...Tour" concert was my favorite. It was a treat to hear Prince sing many songs from the album including hearing him do the narration with the Darth Vader voice. I love the whole album, even "The Wedding Feast" but my favorite songs are the title track, "Muse 2 the Pharaoh", "The Work Pt. 1", "Mellow", "1+1+1 is 3", "She Loves Me 4 Me", "Family Name", "The Everlasting Now", and "Last December". I'm not gonna lie, but hearing the song, "Last December" tonight teared me up a bit as it dawned on me that the first anniversary of Prince's death is just a few days away. :-(

Day 26: April 17
"Indigo Nights"
I love this live CD from Prince's aftershows at IndigO2 club during his 21-date residency at the O2 arena and included in the "21 Nights" book. Listening to him perform "3121" reminded me of the time I flew to Vegas from Chicago mainly to attend a couple of his shows at Club 3121 during his residency at Rio Las Vegas in the Fall of 2006. I took my mom to a Celine Dion concert and, to her surprise, after I dropped my mom at the hotel after the show, I told her I'm going to see Prince, whose shows then started around midnight. One of the highlight for me was getting to see him perform "Black Sweat" live, my favorite song from the "3121" album. Also, I love the intimate setting at the club where fans can dance along as he performed and I could see Prince much closer. I also enjoyed the part where Prince would invite his fans onstage including some celebrities that come to his shows and make them sing and dance along with him. Some of my favorite songs he performed on this CD are "Girls & Boys", "The Song of the Heart", "Satisfied", "Beggin' Woman Blues", "Rock Steady", "Alphabet St." and "The One". I hope we'll get to see official releases of his many concerts and tours over the years-- including the aftershows-- both audio and video recordings. Nothing like watching Prince perform live and I would love to revisit them again soon.

Day 27: April 18
"Musicology"
I have moved around over the years-- from the Philippines to the U.S. in my teens settling in Los Angeles in the late '80s, joined the U.S. Army in the '90s and was stationed in Germany, Texas and Virginia, then back to L.A. to finish my college. Work and personal relationships have taken me from L.A. to Chicago then Charlotte in the last 15 years. One thing had been constant in my life all that time-- Prince's music. It's amazing how much I remember certain Prince albums and their significance in my life. "Musicology" was the first Prince album that was released during my ten year residency in Chicago. As always, I looked forward to a new Prince release. "Musicology" was considered a Prince comeback album by the mainstream media even though he never stopped releasing an album almost every year since 1978; maybe because it was his most successful album since the fallout from his public dispute with Warner Bros and the resulting name change to a symbol and reverting back to Prince in the 2000s. His induction in the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame weeks before the release of the album also helped improve his image. I love the title track and the accompanying music video for it. It has an old school funk vibe influenced by Earth, Wind and Fire, and James Brown as he mentioned in the song, which segued into the hilarious "Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance". Prince may have stopped cursing since joining the Jehovah's Witnesses in 2001 but the risqué factor in his music-- although tamer-- was still present in his songs such as "Call My Name" and "On the Couch". The guitar-laden rock song, "Cinnamon Girl" packs a punch and was also released with a music video-- one of his best-- starring Keisha Castle-Hughes as Prince sings about the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. I love "The Marrying Kind/If Eye Was the Man in Ur Life" pairing. Two of his most earnest romantic songs. The nostalgic "Reflection" where Prince sings about the good old days "when we would compare whose Afro was the roundest" made me take a pause as well and reflect on my life and journey as a Prince fan.

Day 28: April 19
"Lotusflow3r"
I'm in a great mood today especially with the unexpected release of a new Prince track last night-- "Deliverance". What a pleasant surprise! I downloaded it on iTunes last night and have been listening to the song non-stop. I love the song! I love the back-up choir in the song which gives the song a gospel vibe. Long live Prince! Took a break today to listen to the "Lotusflow3r" album, which was part of a 3CD set released exclusively through Target stores in 2009 which include the albums, "MPLSound" and "Elixer"-- the latter by Prince protégée Bria Valente. Picked up my copy on release day and months later, I was back at Target and to my surprise, saw them being sold at a discounted price (couple of bucks each);I bought several more copies to give away. One of my fondest memories about this album was Prince having a one-night event at L.A. Live-- 3 concerts at 3 different venues all in one night to promote the release of the album. Quite a remarkable feat-- only Prince would attempt something like that! Coincidentally, I was in L.A. that time on vacation to visit my mom and managed to get tix of the sold out event for one of the venues-- at Nokia Theatre (now called Microsoft Theater). It was my first and only time watching a show at that venue and had a blast. I would have loved to have gone to all 3 venues that night (the other two were held at Club Nokia-- now named The Novo by Microsoft-- and The Conga Room-- I read the show started there way past midnight). Hope we get official live recordings of that historic night. While I love the whole album, I especially enjoyed the blistering, guitar-driven songs-- "Boom", "Colonized Mind", "Dreamer" and his cover version of "Crimson and Clover".

Day 29: April 20
Day 30: April 21

Day 1: March 23
"Purple Rain"
Gotta start with the album that made me a Prince fan for life with its lead single, "When Doves Cry", the first Prince single I ever bought during my junior year in high school in 1984 and saved my allowance to buy the "Purple Rain" vinyl album when it came out months later. I don't think I knew anyone in my high school-- I grew up in the Philippines-- who was a Prince fan like me. I knew I was different then and it's the main reason that drew me to Prince's music. I can't believe I've been a fan for almost 33 years. Listening to the album now, the music still sound as fresh to my ears like it was just released. I can listen to the album beginning to end over and over. Definitely has my vote as the best opener, Let's Go Crazy, and the best closer, Purple Rain, in any Prince album, not to mention its title track one of the greatest rock anthem ever. Of course, after watching the charismatic Prince and his electrifying performances of the songs in the film, it makes listening to the album even much more enjoyable. Never in my wildest dreams then did I think I would get to watch Prince perform live in concert, but that was about to change when my family unexpectedly moved to the U.S. a few years later. But that's a story for another day. :wink:

Day 2: March 24
"1999"
My favorite Prince double album. "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" are the best opening one-two punch tracks-- "1999", possibly the ultimate end-of-the-world party song and in "Little Red Corvette", the classic car metaphor for a woman with the line-- "baby, you're much 2 fast"-- says it all. The third track, "Delirious", a simple yet catchy Prince track where he sings one of my favorite suggestive lyrics -- "my temperature's running hot, baby u got 2 stop, cuz if u don't I'm gonna explode and girl I got a lot". The whole double album oozes with sex and that's just side one. My other favorite tracks of the album are what I consider four essential club tracks clocking at over seven minutes long each-- "Let's Pretend We're Married", DMSR, "Automatic", and "Lady Cab Driver." Casual Prince fans miss out on these hidden gems; one reason I'm not a big fan of greatest hits compilations.

Day 3: March 25
"Around the World in A Day"
Like many, I anticipated Prince's follow-up to "Purple Rain" album. When "Raspberry Beret", the lead single to "Around the World in A Day" came out, it sounded a lot different from anything he released up to that point. And I loved it! "Raspberry Beret" was the last Prince 7" (45rpm) single I bought. And it has my favorite B-side song-- "She's Always in My Hair". I remember listening to Casey Kasem's American Top 40 every week back in the '80s and "Raspberry Beret" stalled at #2 with Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill" keeping it from becoming #1. I love the music video especially with the extended intro. When the album finally came out, like many, I, too, was surprised how much different the album sounds, from the intro to the title song-- the Beatlesque, psychedelic sounds and lyrics-- which I'm sure alienated a lot of his fans. Took me a number of listens to appreciate the album. While it's not one of my favorite Prince albums, I love some of the songs, namely, the aforementioned "Raspberry Beret", "Pop Life", "Condition of the Heart", and "The Ladder."

Day 4: March 26
"Lovesexy"
I have been playing the "Lovesexy" album on loop all day today. Couldn't skip the songs anyhow as Prince meant the album to be heard from beginning to end-- each and every time. This album has a special significance to me as it's the first Prince album I bought when my family moved to the U.S. from the Philippines, and, coincidentally, it was around the time the Lovesexy Tour was going on and saw Prince in concert for the first time at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (which, sadly, closed its doors March of last year and demolished this past September ). So many wonderful memories for me at that place. Growing up, I never thought I'd ever get to see Prince live in concert and looking back, it felt like a dream. It was a surreal experience! I actually bought tickets to see Prince for two consecutive nights but gave a pair of tix to my sister, who's just a year older than me, for one of the nights hoping to get her to become a Prince fan like me. It didn't work although she enjoyed the concert. I guess Prince fams like us are a rare breed, indeed. Back to the album, it has three of my all-time favorite Prince songs, namely, Alphabet Street, Glam Slam, and I Wish U Heaven. I also like the title track and Anna Stetia. More importantly, the album features my favorite album cover-- Prince in the nude. :cool:

Day 5: March 27
"Prince"
Prince's self-titled album-- his second studio album-- has become one of my favorite albums. It features my all-time favorite Prince song, "I Wanna Be Your Lover," which I can listen on repeat all day. The whole album just flows well and I seldom skip any songs from the album whenever I listen to it although I especially crank up the volume whenever "Bambi" comes on. Kudos to Chaka Khan whose version of "I Feel For You" popularized the song and won Prince a Grammy for Best R&B song. I love the fact that Prince sings mostly in falsetto in all the songs of the album. This is definitely one album where I would have loved to have seen Prince perform all the songs live.

Day 6: March 28

I used to love the album when it first came out but the novelty of the "Segues" in the album has worn off over the years-- I find Kirstie Alley's voice increasingly annoying-- and I skip them now whenever I listen to the album. For the purposes of this tribute for Prince, I listened to the album uninterrupted today. The songs sound dated now especially "My Name is Prince" which has that '90's hip hop vibe that Prince tried to emulate but failed badly. The highlight for me during this period was the introduction of Mayte Garcia as Prince's muse. I still like a couple of songs in the album-- "The Morning Papers" and "7". I love the guitar solos in "The Morning Papers" while "7" especially reminded me of my U.S. Army days when I was stationed in Germany and one of my Army buddies used to play the song very loud in the barracks. It always made me smile hearing that song. :)

Day 7: March 29
"Come"
One of Prince's most underrated albums, I felt the "Come" album would have been a bigger hit had it not been released during the most tumultuous time in Prince's career during the '90s when he had the public dispute with Warner Bros and changed his name to a symbol which, sadly, took the spotlight away from his music but the attention was geared toward the name change and Prince was the butt of jokes as to what to call him. Even the album cover for "Come" announced the death of Prince (the name anyway with the years 1958-1993 on it). I thought this album was conceived better than his last couple of albums released before it-- "Diamonds and Pearls" and . I love how it was intimate and personal, with songs like "Papa", "Dark", and "Solo", and I love the other songs in it, too-- from the jazz-infused lead single, "Letitgo", to the dance grooves of the first four songs of the album beginning with the seductive 11-minute title track to the manic "Loose!" Vanity's uncredited moans in "Orgasm" ending with Prince saying "I love you" sealed the deal for me.

Day 8: March 30
"Sign O' The Times"
I can't believe it's been 30 years since this album was released March of 1987. How time flies! And yet, this album, like wine, gets better with time. It's definitely Prince's masterpiece and most diverse album covering many genres of music. This was the last Prince vinyl album I bought in the Philippines before my family moved to the U.S. and I remember it fondly. This album introduced us to Prince's alter ego, Camille, and the first time I played this album and heard the Camille voice, I thought there was something wrong with my record or the turntable because of the sped up voice. Took me a number of listens to get used to it. It's one album where each song could potentially have been a hit song. I can honestly say I love every song of this album and the album with the most number of my all-time favorite Prince songs-- the title track, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, Starfish and Coffee, If I Was Ur Girlfriend, Adore, U Got the Look, Hot Thing, and I Could Never Take the Place of Ur Man.

Day 9: March 31
"Controversy"
This album has a special significance to me. The title track, one of my favorites, asks "am I straight or gay?" and it was a question I struggled for many years. Growing up in a devout Christian household didn't help either as I grew up believing being gay is a sin and an abomination. Listening to Prince's music helped me deal with those struggles-- not to be ashamed-- "Sexuality is all u'll ever need" he declares in one of the tracks. And while my beliefs (or non-belief) and Prince's beliefs have differed in the coming years, I thank Prince for giving me the courage to be true to myself and finally come out to myself, my family and friends.

Day 10: April 1
"Art Official Age"
It's officially April. It was this month last year that Prince unexpectedly passed away. As his first death anniversary approaches it will be increasingly difficult for many, me included, thinking about his last days. I haven't listened to Prince's music this much since his death, as it had been difficult for me especially the first few months after his death which affected my personal life. I managed to make it through day 10 so far in my 30-day pledge of listening to a Prince album each day as my way of paying tribute to him and honoring his life through his music. I hope I can make it through April 21.

I haven't listened to "Art Official Age" album in months. Definitely one of the best albums he released in his last years. Other than the title track, which I'm not fond of, I love the rest of the album particularly "Clouds", "Breakdown", "This Could Be Us" and "Way Back Home". Talking about the song, "Way Back Home", it has taken on a new meaning for me after his death. Prince may already have known then when he recorded this album that his time on earth was almost up (a terminal illness perhaps, we may never know, as he was always a private person and I respect him for that, although it had been hard for many of us dealing with his sudden death). This song-- and album as a whole-- his last concept album-- may be his way of dealing with death and his way of saying goodbye to us. In "Way Back Home" he sings--

"So many reasons why I don't belong here but now I am without fear.
I am gonna conquer with no fear until I find my way back home."

He repeats that same sentiment on "affirmation III" repeatedly singing "until I find my way back home" while a female narrator describes his journey home--

"U've probably felt many years in ur former life, u were separate from not only only others, but even urself. Now u can see that was never the case. U are actually everything and anything that u can think of. All of it is U...Remember there really is only one destination, and that place is U. All of it, everything is U."

Here's hoping Prince found his way back home.

Day 11: April 2
"Batman"
While the film, "Batman", directed by Tim Burton is not the best Batman film (my vote goes to "The Dark Knight" film), it was a decent film with Michael Keaton playing the title character much better than George Clooney or Val Kilmer, and Jack Nicholson playing the demented Joker with gusto, I eagerly went to see "Batman" during the summer of 1989 mainly to hear Prince's songs featured in the film. "Batdance", of course, was a huge hit that summer and became Prince's 4th #1 song with the album spending six weeks at #1 in the album chart. And while I find the song, "Batdance", corny these days, it still is a guilty pleasure song for me, especially the music video which features Prince as "Gemini" (dressed as half-Batman and half-Joker). Prince seemed to relish the role and having fun in the video as well as in the the follow-up single, "Partyman", also one of my favorite songs in the album. My favorite line from the album was in the song, "Electric Chair"-- "If a man is considered guilty for what goes on in his mind, then give me the electric chair for all my future crimes." Undoubtedly, the best track in the album is the seductive "Scandalous." Classic Prince! :cool:

Day 12: April 3
"Graffiti Bridge"
It's been awhile since I listened to the "Graffiti Bridge" album as a whole. I tend to skip some of the songs. Listening to the full album today, I forgot how good the album actually is. My opinion of the album was tainted over the years by how bad the accompanying film for it. Unlike the movies "Purple Rain" and "Under the Cherry Moon", both of which I enjoy watching regularly, I don't even remember the last time I watched the movie, "Graffiti Bridge." I decided to watch the movie again-- this time on Blu-Ray-- this afternoon. The acting, writing, direction and production of the movie was as bad as I remembered but it was good to see Prince and The Time perform some of the songs in the film again. There are two Prince tracks in the album that I really love-- "The Question of U" and "Joy in Repetition". I also like the songs performed by The Time-- "Release It", "Love Machine" and "Shake!" as well as Tevin Campbell's "Round and Round." While the critical and commercial failure of the movie may have ended Prince's film career, that didn't stop him from making direct-to-video vanity projects in the ensuing years (e.g. "Diamonds and Pearls Video Collection" and "3 Chains O' Gold"). :lol:

Day 13: April 4
"For You"
Woah! I just realized Prince's debut album, "For You", will have its 40th anniversary next year since its release in April, 1978. Prince had been releasing an album almost every year since his debut album, some of which are double or triple albums. Quite an amazing output! And we hope to hear more in the years to come from his vault. After almost 40 years, his debut album still impresses me. Not many artists had the distinction of producing, composing, arranging and performing all the songs of their debut album, not to mention playing 27 instruments. Last month, while I was shopping for used CDs at Amoeba Music store in Hollywood, the store DJ was playing Prince's "For You" album to my surprise and delight. The song, "Soft and Wet", his first hit single from the album, remains one of his beloved classic songs. While the album is not often mentioned as a favorite among his fans, I can say it's a better album than many of the other albums he released over the years, some of which are quite uneven. This album, on the other hand, with its funky, old school vibe, I can listen without skipping any of the songs. It's one of my go-to albums when I just want to chill at home.

Day 14: April 5
"Dirty Mind"
When I was in college and studied Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche consisting of the id, ego, and superego, I thought of Prince's music and have always been drawn to him expressing the "id"-- his libido and sexual drive-- and the "Dirty Mind" album has a healthy (or unhealthy?) dose of that beginning with the throbbing beat of the title track as he described his state of mind, singing about his obsession with an ex in "When U Were Mine", his desire to "Do It All Night"-- including explicit acts of giving "Head" and having incestous relationship with his "Sister". And he loved to "Partyup" in "Uptown". He covered all the bases in the album and we can't get enough of it. It's Prince's leanest album-- at only 30 minutes long-- and yet his funkiest and most daring album. "Dirty Mind" was his first album in the '80s and he continued pushing the envelope throughout the decade-- definitely his most creative period.

Day 15: April 6
"Diamonds and Pearls"
Another milestone for one of Prince's albums as 25 years have passed since the release of "Diamonds and Pearls" in October, 1991. Unlike most of his '80s output, however, time has not been good to it. Save for a few songs, the album sounds dated to me now, not to mention I never warmed up to Tony M's rapping. This release was Prince's attempt then to stay current with the increasing popularity of hip hop (especially gangsta rap) in the late '80s/early '90s, also drastically changing his look-- again-- compared to his image in the previous year's "Graffiti Bridge" album and film release. Listening to songs like "Daddy Pop", "Jughead" and "Push" again was torturous. Plus, the message of the album was conflicting-- Prince sings about Jesus saving your soul in the opening track, "Thunder", and then wanting to do "twenty three positions in a one night stand" in "Gett Off". I also find the title track to be quite cheesy these days although the music video for the song is a guilty pleasure with Prince being chased by the paparazzi before singing the song featuring his back-up dancers named "Diamond" and "Pearl". On the plus side, there are some "gems" (pun intended ) in the album. "Cream" has become a Prince classic and a staple song in his concerts over the years. I love the cool vibe of "Strollin'" and "Willing and Able" while "Walk Don't Walk" is whimsical. The sultry "Insatiable" is irresistible and a worthy addition in Prince's long list of classic soulful ballads. His social commentary on "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" is spot on. Lastly, the message of the closer, "Live 4 Love", inspired me to use the song title as my personalized car license plate for 20 years. 8-)

Day 16: April 7
"20Ten"
I only got the chance to listen to the full "20Ten" album when it became available for streaming on Tidal last year-- months after his death. Whatever Prince's reasons may be for not releasing the album in the U.S., it was a missed opportunity as it's a strong album, in my opinion, and could have produced a couple of hit songs for him. "Beginning Endlessly" could easily have been a club hit. I can listen to that track alone all day. The album production, especially his use of Linn drums, harkens back to some of his early '80's releases. "Compassion" reminds me of "Let's Pretend We're Married". My other favorites are Prince crooning on "Future Soul Song", the funky number "Sticky Like Glue" (although I can do without his rapping), the wistful "Walk in Sand" segueing into "Sea of Everything" featuring his signature silky smooth falsetto. I've seen Prince in concert at least four times since 2010 (during his "Welcome 2 America" tour) and wished he had performed some of the songs from this album.

Day 17: April 8
"Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic"
This companion album to "Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic" was released initially through Prince's NPG Music Club where I was a paying member for a couple of years. I looked forward to this album but was disappointed that the remixes of the songs didn't improve upon the original cuts of the former album. The one saving grace of this album, for me anyway, was the inclusion of the song, "Beautiful Strange". I love the guitar solo in that song. I was never a fan of the title track and the remix version made it worse for me. Thankfully, the songs that I love in that album mostly remained unchanged in this release-- "I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore" (possibly his most heartfelt, breakup song), "So Far, So Pleased" (a bouncy pop duet with Gwen Stefani), "The Sun, the Moon and Stars" (I love the reggae vibe of the song), and the uplifting "Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do" (I love when he sings, "Remember life ain't always what it seems. For each rainy day that comes your way, the sun will come shining and you'll be okay"). A simple yet quite reassuring message! :)

Day 18: April 9
"Newpower Soul"
I haven't listened to this album in over a decade. I'll be honest, I didn't follow Prince's music and career closely from the mid-90's to early 2000. I was in the U.S. Army then and when I got out I was studying full-time in college and working at the same time. That was the period when he was releasing albums in his moniker. Many of his releases during that period I bought eventually years later. The "Newpower Soul" album is one of them. Listening to the album again after all these years, like many of his 90's output when he started including hip hop elements in his music (particularly the rapping), they sound dated now. He even had Doug E. Fresh rap in a couple of tracks in this album-- "Push It Up" and "(I Like) Funky Music". What I love about this album, however, are the horn sections featured in the title track as well as in "Mad Sex" and "When U Love Somebody" (can't resist dancing to the beat of these songs). I love the slow songs as well-- can't go wrong with Prince singing falsetto in "Until U're in My Arms Again" and especially, in "The One". Those two are my favorite songs in the album along with "Come On"- I love the groove of the song that reminds me of the incessant beat on "Forever in My Life". 8-)

Day 19: April 10
"Exodus"
Another Prince release credited to The New Power Generation in the mid'90s when he was the with lead vocals by Sonny T. and Prince under the name Tora Tora (I know it's confusing and even stranger was him sporting a scarf covering his face in some photos I've seen in that period). It's my favorite release from The New Power Generation. I enjoyed listening to this album again after all these years especially the interludes/segues with Prince talking with an Italian accent in one of them-- "Mashed Potato Girl". Also, Prince's voice slowed down to sound deep and talking about a robbery in "New Power Day". I wished Prince did more of these. He definitely had a great sense of humor. My favorite cuts in the album are the the jams-- "Get Wild", "The Good Life", "Return of the Bump Squad" and "The Exodus Has Begun"-- and the bluesy, "Count the Days". Definitely a blast revisiting this album!

Day 20: April 11
"One Night Alone..."
Prince's most intimate album with just him on vocals and piano (mostly), listening to this album is what it must have been like in one of his "Piano and a Microphone" shows last year. It's one of those albums I prefer to listen alone, especially now with Prince gone, and makes me appreciate his music more. My favorite songs in the album are "U're Gonna C Me" (which he also rerecorded for the MPLSound album), "Here on Earth", "Objects in the Mirror", and his cover of a Joni Mitchell classic, "A Case of U" (definitely my favorite cover song he did) with its raw emotion and intensity. The last song, an ethereal instrumental track called "Arboretum" ends with the sound of Prince getting up after playing the piano, walking out the room and closing the door behind him. :-(

Day 21: April 12
"N.E.W.S."
This entry is going to be short and sweet as I don't really have much to say about this jazz fusion instrumental album. This is probably the first time I actually listened to the full album as I tend to lose interest listening to it before. I guess it's just not for me. I doubt I will be revisiting it anytime soon. The album, its title an acronym for the four tracks-- "North", "East", "West", and "South"-- each at 14 minutes long-- and supposedly recorded in one day-- is best enjoyed, perhaps, in smaller doses or if I was watching Prince and his band performing it live.

Day 22: April 13
"Planet Earth"
I love this album! I actually enjoy listening to this album more than his more popular releases in the 2000s-- "Musicology" and "3121"-- both of which are good albums, too. But "Planet Earth" is one of those albums that took me a number of listens to fully appreciate and one day the album just clicked for me and have become one of my favorite Prince albums. I love every track of this album. The title track starts slow with the piano, then builds up as the song continues and rises to a crescendo with the guitar solo in the end, leading to the next song, "Guitar" with it's catchy guitar riff and who can't resist singing along when Prince exclaims-- "I love u baby, but not like I love my guitar." This album has two sultry ballads, "Somewhere Here On Earth" and "Future Baby Mama". I also love the upbeat song, "The One U Wanna C", the funky groove, "Chelsea Rodgers", the little ditty song, "All the Midnights in the World" and the closer, "Resolution" with Revolution alums, Wendy and Lisa. I just realized this album is ten years old this year! Definitely one Prince album that will be a mainstay in my playlist.

Day 23: April 14
"The Black Album"
In observance of Black Friday, I listened to "The Black Album" today. That's all. ;-)

Day 24: April 15
"The Gold Experience"
Arguably, this is Prince's best album in the '90s (his first release as ). Too many songs that I love on this album-- "P. Control", "Endorphinmachine", "Shhh", "Dolphin", "319", "Billy Jack Bitch", and " Hate U". I even like "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" (another cheesy song and title much like "Diamonds and Pearls" and "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold"). I can do without the NPG Operator segues though and always found the title song, "Gold", too trite for my taste.

Day 25: April 16
"The Rainbow Children"
"Just like the sun, the rainbow children rise!" Coincidentally, I listened to Prince's most spiritual album-- and one of his best albums-- today, on Easter Sunday. I remember organizing a listening party for this album in October, 2001 at a bar in Hollywood with other Prince fans I met during that time. I lost touch of them when I moved to Chicago the following year. Incidentally, it was a few months after the release of "The Rainbow Children" that I joined the Org-- 2/22/02, to be exact-- all the twos in the date I find interesting-- it wasn't planned, by the way. My love for the album then was the reason I chose "rainbowchild" as my username. But I digress. I saw Prince in concert that year at the Kodak Theatre (it's the Dolby Theater now) during the "One Night Alone...Tour" to support the album and, out of the ten times I've gone to see Prince in concert over the years-- first in 1988 and last in 2012-- the "One Night Alone...Tour" concert was my favorite. It was a treat to hear Prince sing many songs from the album including hearing him do the narration with the Darth Vader voice. I love the whole album, even "The Wedding Feast" but my favorite songs are the title track, "Muse 2 the Pharaoh", "The Work Pt. 1", "Mellow", "1+1+1 is 3", "She Loves Me 4 Me", "Family Name", "The Everlasting Now", and "Last December". I'm not gonna lie, but hearing the song, "Last December" tonight teared me up a bit as it dawned on me that the first anniversary of Prince's death is just a few days away. :-(

Day 26: April 17
"Indigo Nights"
I love this live CD from Prince's aftershows at IndigO2 club during his 21-date residency at the O2 arena and included in the "21 Nights" book. Listening to him perform "3121" reminded me of the time I flew to Vegas from Chicago mainly to attend a couple of his shows at Club 3121 during his residency at Rio Las Vegas in the Fall of 2006. I took my mom to a Celine Dion concert and, to her surprise, after I dropped my mom at the hotel after the show, I told her I'm going to see Prince, whose shows then started around midnight. One of the highlight for me was getting to see him perform "Black Sweat" live, my favorite song from the "3121" album. Also, I love the intimate setting at the club where fans can dance along as he performed and I could see Prince much closer. I also enjoyed the part where Prince would invite his fans onstage including some celebrities that come to his shows and make them sing and dance along with him. Some of my favorite songs he performed on this CD are "Girls & Boys", "The Song of the Heart", "Satisfied", "Beggin' Woman Blues", "Rock Steady", "Alphabet St." and "The One". I hope we'll get to see official releases of his many concerts and tours over the years-- including the aftershows-- both audio and video recordings. Nothing like watching Prince perform live and I would love to revisit them again soon.

Day 27: April 18
"Musicology"
I have moved around over the years-- from the Philippines to the U.S. in my teens settling in Los Angeles in the late '80s, joined the U.S. Army in the '90s and was stationed in Germany, Texas and Virginia, then back to L.A. to finish my college. Work and personal relationships have taken me from L.A. to Chicago then Charlotte in the last 15 years. One thing had been constant in my life all that time-- Prince's music. It's amazing how much I remember certain Prince albums and their significance in my life. "Musicology" was the first Prince album that was released during my ten year residency in Chicago. As always, I looked forward to a new Prince release. "Musicology" was considered a Prince comeback album by the mainstream media even though he never stopped releasing an album almost every year since 1978; maybe because it was his most successful album since the fallout from his public dispute with Warner Bros and the resulting name change to a symbol and reverting back to Prince in the 2000s. His induction in the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame weeks before the release of the album also helped improve his image. I love the title track and the accompanying music video for it. It has an old school funk vibe influenced by Earth, Wind and Fire, and James Brown as he mentioned in the song, which segued into the hilarious "Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance". Prince may have stopped cursing since joining the Jehovah's Witnesses in 2001 but the risqué factor in his music-- although tamer-- was still present in his songs such as "Call My Name" and "On the Couch". The guitar-laden rock song, "Cinnamon Girl" packs a punch and was also released with a music video-- one of his best-- starring Keisha Castle-Hughes as Prince sings about the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. I love "The Marrying Kind/If Eye Was the Man in Ur Life" pairing. Two of his most earnest romantic songs. The nostalgic "Reflection" where Prince sings about the good old days "when we would compare whose Afro was the roundest" made me take a pause as well and reflect on my life and journey as a Prince fan.

Day 28: April 19
"Lotusflow3r"
I'm in a great mood today especially with the unexpected release of a new Prince track last night-- "Deliverance". What a pleasant surprise! I downloaded it on iTunes last night and have been listening to the song non-stop. I love the song! I love the back-up choir in the song which gives the song a gospel vibe. Long live Prince! Took a break today to listen to the "Lotusflow3r" album, which was part of a 3CD set released exclusively through Target stores in 2009 which include the albums, "MPLSound" and "Elixer"-- the latter by Prince protégée Bria Valente. Picked up my copy on release day and months later, I was back at Target and to my surprise, saw them being sold at a discounted price (couple of bucks each);I bought several more copies to give away. One of my fondest memories about this album was Prince having a one-night event at L.A. Live-- 3 concerts at 3 different venues all in one night to promote the release of the album. Quite a remarkable feat-- only Prince would attempt something like that! Coincidentally, I was in L.A. that time on vacation to visit my mom and managed to get tix of the sold out event for one of the venues-- at Nokia Theatre (now called Microsoft Theater). It was my first and only time watching a show at that venue and had a blast. I would have loved to have gone to all 3 venues that night (the other two were held at Club Nokia-- now named The Novo by Microsoft-- and The Conga Room-- I read the show started there way past midnight). Hope we get official live recordings of that historic night. While I love the whole album, I especially enjoyed the blistering, guitar-driven songs-- "Boom", "Colonized Mind", "Dreamer" and his cover version of "Crimson and Clover".

Day 29: April 20
"HitNRun Phase One" and "HitNRun Phase Two"
Well, that was quick! Prince's "Deliverance" song was pulled from iTunes after one day because Prince's estate is contesting its release. Glad I got to download the song at least before it got yanked out. Talk about a hit-and-run. Incidentally, I listened to both "HitNRun" albums today-- Prince's last official albums released during his lifetime-- both albums a collection of new, previously released, remixed, and long unreleased songs . While I generally like the songs on "Phase One" album, mainly the second half of the album-- "X's Face", "Hardrocklover", "1000 X's and O's" and "June", I wasn't a fan of the production of many of the songs on the album (I don't know how much of them had to do with Joshua Welton's input). On the other hand, I love the "Phase Two" album especially the songs "Baltimore", "RocknRoll Love Affair", "2Y.2D.", "Look At Me, Look At U", "Stare", "Xtraloveable", "Groovy Potential", "When She Comes", "Black Muse", "Revelation" and "Big City". I think I named most of the songs in the album. I didn't realize how much I love the album until I listened to it again today.

Day 30: April 21

Day 1: March 23
"Purple Rain"
Gotta start with the album that made me a Prince fan for life with its lead single, "When Doves Cry", the first Prince single I ever bought during my junior year in high school in 1984 and saved my allowance to buy the "Purple Rain" vinyl album when it came out months later. I don't think I knew anyone in my high school-- I grew up in the Philippines-- who was a Prince fan like me. I knew I was different then and it's the main reason that drew me to Prince's music. I can't believe I've been a fan for almost 33 years. Listening to the album now, the music still sound as fresh to my ears like it was just released. I can listen to the album beginning to end over and over. Definitely has my vote as the best opener, Let's Go Crazy, and the best closer, Purple Rain, in any Prince album, not to mention its title track one of the greatest rock anthem ever. Of course, after watching the charismatic Prince and his electrifying performances of the songs in the film, it makes listening to the album even much more enjoyable. Never in my wildest dreams then did I think I would get to watch Prince perform live in concert, but that was about to change when my family unexpectedly moved to the U.S. a few years later. But that's a story for another day. :wink:

Day 2: March 24
"1999"
My favorite Prince double album. "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" are the best opening one-two punch tracks-- "1999", possibly the ultimate end-of-the-world party song and in "Little Red Corvette", the classic car metaphor for a woman with the line-- "baby, you're much 2 fast"-- says it all. The third track, "Delirious", a simple yet catchy Prince track where he sings one of my favorite suggestive lyrics -- "my temperature's running hot, baby u got 2 stop, cuz if u don't I'm gonna explode and girl I got a lot". The whole double album oozes with sex and that's just side one. My other favorite tracks of the album are what I consider four essential club tracks clocking at over seven minutes long each-- "Let's Pretend We're Married", DMSR, "Automatic", and "Lady Cab Driver."

Day 3: March 25
"Around the World in A Day"
Like many, I anticipated Prince's follow-up to "Purple Rain" album. When "Raspberry Beret", the lead single to "Around the World in A Day" came out, it sounded a lot different from anything he released up to that point. And I loved it! "Raspberry Beret" was the last Prince 7" (45rpm) single I bought. And it has my favorite B-side song-- "She's Always in My Hair". I remember listening to Casey Kasem's American Top 40 every week back in the '80s and "Raspberry Beret" stalled at #2 with Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill" keeping it from becoming #1. I love the music video especially with the extended intro. When the album finally came out, like many, I, too, was surprised how much different the album sounds, from the intro to the title song-- the Beatlesque, psychedelic sounds and lyrics-- which I'm sure alienated a lot of his fans. Took me a number of listens to appreciate the album. While it's not one of my favorite Prince albums, I love some of the songs, namely, the aforementioned "Raspberry Beret", "Pop Life", "Condition of the Heart", and "The Ladder."

Day 4: March 26
"Lovesexy"
I have been playing the "Lovesexy" album on loop all day today. Couldn't skip the songs anyhow as Prince meant the album to be heard from beginning to end-- each and every time. This album has a special significance to me as it's the first Prince album I bought when my family moved to the U.S. from the Philippines, and, coincidentally, it was around the time the Lovesexy Tour was going on and saw Prince in concert for the first time at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (which, sadly, closed its doors March of last year and demolished this past September ). So many wonderful memories for me at that place. Growing up, I never thought I'd ever get to see Prince live in concert and looking back, it felt like a dream. It was a surreal experience! I actually bought tickets to see Prince for two consecutive nights but gave a pair of tix to my sister, who's just a year older than me, for one of the nights hoping to get her to become a Prince fan like me. It didn't work although she enjoyed the concert. I guess Prince fams like us are a rare breed, indeed. Back to the album, it has three of my all-time favorite Prince songs, namely, Alphabet Street, Glam Slam, and I Wish U Heaven. I also like the title track and Anna Stetia. More importantly, the album features my favorite album cover-- Prince in the nude. 8-)

Day 5: March 27
"Prince"
Prince's self-titled album-- his second studio album-- has become one of my favorite albums. It features my all-time favorite Prince song, "I Wanna Be Your Lover," which I can listen on repeat all day. The whole album just flows well and I seldom skip any songs from the album whenever I listen to it although I especially crank up the volume whenever "Bambi" comes on. Kudos to Chaka Khan whose version of "I Feel For You" popularized the song and won Prince a Grammy for Best R&B song. I love the fact that Prince sings mostly in falsetto in all the songs of the album. This is definitely one album where I would have loved to have seen Prince perform all the songs live.

Day 6: March 28

I used to love the album when it first came out but the novelty of the "Segues" in the album has worn off over the years-- I find Kirstie Alley's voice increasingly annoying-- and I skip them now whenever I listen to the album. For the purposes of this tribute for Prince, I listened to the album uninterrupted today. The songs sound dated now especially "My Name is Prince" which has that '90's hip hop vibe that Prince tried to emulate but failed badly. The highlight for me during this period was the introduction of Mayte Garcia as Prince's muse. I still like a couple of songs in the album-- "The Morning Papers" and "7". I love the guitar solos in "The Morning Papers" while "7" especially reminded me of my U.S. Army days when I was stationed in Germany and one of my Army buddies used to play the song very loud in the barracks. It always made me smile hearing that song. :)

Day 7: March 29
"Come"
One of Prince's most underrated albums, I felt the "Come" album would have been a bigger hit had it not been released during the most tumultuous time in Prince's career during the '90s when he had the public dispute with Warner Bros and changed his name to a symbol which, sadly, took the spotlight away from his music but the attention was geared toward the name change and Prince was the butt of jokes as to what to call him. Even the album cover for "Come" announced the death of Prince (the name anyway with the years 1958-1993 on it). I thought this album was conceived better than his last couple of albums released before it-- "Diamonds and Pearls" and . I love how it was intimate and personal, with songs like "Papa", "Dark", and "Solo", and I love the other songs in it, too-- from the jazz-infused lead single, "Letitgo", to the dance grooves of the first four songs of the album beginning with the seductive 11-minute title track to the manic "Loose!" Vanity's uncredited moans in "Orgasm" ending with Prince saying "I love you" sealed the deal for me.

Day 8: March 30
"Sign O' The Times"
I can't believe it's been 30 years since this album was released March of 1987. How time flies! And yet, this album, like wine, gets better with time. It's definitely Prince's masterpiece and most diverse album covering many genres of music. This was the last Prince vinyl album I bought in the Philippines before my family moved to the U.S. and I remember it fondly. This album introduced us to Prince's alter ego, Camille, and the first time I played this album and heard the Camille voice, I thought there was something wrong with my record or the turntable because of the sped up voice. Took me a number of listens to get used to it. It's one album where each song could potentially have been a hit song. I can honestly say I love every song of this album and the album with the most number of my all-time favorite Prince songs-- the title track, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, Starfish and Coffee, If I Was Ur Girlfriend, Adore, U Got the Look, Hot Thing, and I Could Never Take the Place of Ur Man.

Day 9: March 31
"Controversy"
This album has a special significance to me. The title track, one of my favorites, asks "am I straight or gay?" and it was a question I struggled for many years. Growing up in a devout Christian household didn't help either as I grew up believing being gay is a sin and an abomination. Listening to Prince's music helped me deal with those struggles-- not to be ashamed-- "Sexuality is all u'll ever need" he declares in one of the tracks. And while my beliefs (or non-belief) and Prince's beliefs have differed in the coming years, I thank Prince for giving me the courage to be true to myself and finally come out to my family and friends.

Day 10: April 1
"Art Official Age"
It's officially April. It was this month last year that Prince unexpectedly passed away. As his first death anniversary approaches it will be increasingly difficult for many, me included, thinking about his last days. I haven't listened to Prince's music this much since his death, as it had been difficult for me especially the first few months after his death which affected my personal life. I managed to make it through day 10 so far in my 30-day pledge of listening to a Prince album each day as my way of paying tribute to him and honoring his life through his music. I hope I can make it through April 21.

I haven't listened to "Art Official Age" album in months. Definitely one of the best albums he released in his last years. Other than the title track, which I'm not fond of, I love the rest of the album particularly "Clouds", "Breakdown", "This Could Be Us" and "Way Back Home". Talking about the song, "Way Back Home", it has taken on a new meaning for me after his death. Prince may already have known then when he recorded this album that his time on earth was almost up (a terminal illness perhaps, we may never know, as he was always a private person and I respect him for that, although it had been hard for many of us dealing with his sudden death). This song-- and album as a whole-- his last concept album-- may be his way of dealing with death and his way of saying goodbye to us. In "Way Back Home" he sings--

"So many reasons why I don't belong here but now I am without fear.
I am gonna conquer with no fear until I find my way back home."

He repeats that same sentiment on "affirmation III" repeatedly singing "until I find my way back home" while a female narrator describes his journey home--

"U've probably felt many years in ur former life, u were separate from not only only others, but even urself. Now u can see that was never the case. U are actually everything and anything that u can think of. All of it is U...Remember there really is only one destination, and that place is U. All of it, everything is U."

Here's hoping Prince found his way back home.

Day 11: April 2
"Batman"
While the film, "Batman", directed by Tim Burton is not the best Batman film (my vote goes to "The Dark Knight" film), it was a decent film with Michael Keaton playing the title character much better than George Clooney or Val Kilmer, and Jack Nicholson playing the demented Joker with gusto, I eagerly went to see "Batman" during the summer of 1989 mainly to hear Prince's songs featured in the film. "Batdance", of course, was a huge hit that summer and became Prince's 4th #1 song with the album spending six weeks at #1 in the album chart. And while I find the song, "Batdance", corny these days, it still is a guilty pleasure song for me, especially the music video which features Prince as "Gemini" (dressed as half-Batman and half-Joker). Prince seemed to relish the role and having fun in the video as well as in the the follow-up single, "Partyman", also one of my favorite songs in the album. My favorite line from the album was in the song, "Electric Chair"-- "If a man is considered guilty for what goes on in his mind, then give me the electric chair for all my future crimes." Undoubtedly, the best track in the album is the seductive "Scandalous." Classic Prince! :cool:

Day 12: April 3
"Graffiti Bridge"
It's been awhile since I listened to the "Graffiti Bridge" album as a whole. I tend to skip some of the songs. Listening to the full album today, I forgot how good the album actually is. My opinion of the album was tainted over the years by how bad the accompanying film for it. Unlike the movies "Purple Rain" and "Under the Cherry Moon", both of which I enjoy watching regularly, I don't even remember the last time I watched the movie, "Graffiti Bridge." I decided to watch the movie again-- this time on Blu-Ray-- this afternoon. The acting, writing, direction and production of the movie was as bad as I remembered but it was good to see Prince and The Time perform some of the songs in the film again. There are two Prince tracks in the album that I really love-- "The Question of U" and "Joy in Repetition". I also like the songs performed by The Time-- "Release It", "Love Machine" and "Shake!" as well as Tevin Campbell's "Round and Round." While the critical and commercial failure of the movie may have ended Prince's film career, that didn't stop him from making direct-to-video vanity projects in the ensuing years (e.g. "Diamonds and Pearls Video Collection" and "3 Chains O' Gold"). :lol:

Day 13: April 4
"For You"
Woah! I just realized Prince's debut album, "For You", will have its 40th anniversary next year since its release in April, 1978. Prince had been releasing an album almost every year since his debut album, some of which are double or triple albums. Quite an amazing output! And we hope to hear more in the years to come from his vault. After almost 40 years, his debut album still impresses me. Not many artists had the distinction of producing, composing, arranging and performing all the songs of their debut album, not to mention playing 27 instruments. Last month, while I was shopping for used CDs at Amoeba Music store in Hollywood, the store DJ was playing Prince's "For You" album to my surprise and delight. The song, "Soft and Wet", his first hit single from the album, remains one of his beloved classic songs. While the album is not often mentioned as a favorite among his fans, I can say it's a better album than many of the other albums he released over the years, some of which are quite uneven. This album, on the other hand, with its funky, old school vibe, I can listen without skipping any of the songs. It's one of my go-to albums when I just want to chill at home.

Day 14: April 5
"Dirty Mind"
When I was in college and studied Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche consisting of the id, ego, and superego, I thought of Prince's music and have always been drawn to him expressing the "id"-- his libido and sexual drive-- and the "Dirty Mind" album has a healthy (or unhealthy?) dose of that beginning with the throbbing beat of the title track as he described his state of mind, singing about his obsession with an ex in "When U Were Mine", his desire to "Do It All Night"-- including explicit acts of giving "Head" and having incestous relationship with his "Sister". And he loved to "Partyup" in "Uptown". He covered all the bases in the album and we can't get enough of it. It's Prince's leanest album-- at only 30 minutes long-- and yet his funkiest and most daring album. "Dirty Mind" was his first album in the '80s and he continued pushing the envelope throughout the decade-- definitely his most creative period.

Day 15: April 6
"Diamonds and Pearls"
Another milestone for one of Prince's albums as 25 years have passed since the release of "Diamonds and Pearls" in October, 1991. Unlike most of his '80s output, however, time has not been good to it. Save for a few songs, the album sounds dated to me now, not to mention I never warmed up to Tony M's rapping. This release was Prince's attempt then to stay current with the increasing popularity of hip hop (especially gangsta rap) in the late '80s/early '90s, also drastically changing his look-- again-- compared to his image in the previous year's "Graffiti Bridge" album and film release. Listening to songs like "Daddy Pop", "Jughead" and "Push" again was torturous. Plus, the message of the album was conflicting-- Prince sings about Jesus saving your soul in the opening track, "Thunder", and then wanting to do "twenty three positions in a one night stand" in "Gett Off". I also find the title track to be quite cheesy these days although the music video for the song is a guilty pleasure with Prince being chased by the paparazzi before singing the song featuring his back-up dancers named "Diamond" and "Pearl". On the plus side, there are some "gems" (pun intended ) in the album. "Cream" has become a Prince classic and a staple song in his concerts over the years. I love the cool vibe of "Strollin'" and "Willing and Able" while "Walk Don't Walk" is whimsical. The sultry "Insatiable" is irresistible and a worthy addition in Prince's long list of classic soulful ballads. His social commentary on "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" is spot on. Lastly, the message of the closer, "Live 4 Love", inspired me to use the song title as my personalized car license plate for 20 years. 8-)

Day 16: April 7
"20Ten"
I only got the chance to listen to the full "20Ten" album when it became available for streaming on Tidal last year-- months after his death. Whatever Prince's reasons may be for not releasing the album in the U.S., it was a missed opportunity as it's a strong album, in my opinion, and could have produced a couple of hit songs for him. "Beginning Endlessly" could easily have been a club hit. I can listen to that track alone all day. The album production, especially his use of Linn drums, harkens back to some of his early '80's releases. "Compassion" reminds me of "Let's Pretend We're Married". My other favorites are Prince crooning on "Future Soul Song", the funky number "Sticky Like Glue" (although I can do without his rapping), the wistful "Walk in Sand" segueing into "Sea of Everything" featuring his signature silky smooth falsetto. I've seen Prince in concert at least four times since 2010 (during his "Welcome 2 America" tour) and wished he had performed some of the songs from this album.

Day 17: April 8
"Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic"
This companion album to "Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic" was released initially through Prince's NPG Music Club where I was a paying member for a couple of years. I looked forward to this album but was disappointed that the remixes of the songs didn't improve upon the original cuts of the former album. The one saving grace of this album, for me anyway, was the inclusion of the song, "Beautiful Strange". I love the guitar solo in that song. I was never a fan of the title track and the remix version made it worse for me. Thankfully, the songs that I love in "Rave Un2" album mostly remained unchanged in this release-- "I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore" (possibly his most heartfelt, breakup song), "So Far, So Pleased" (a bouncy pop duet with Gwen Stefani), "The Sun, the Moon and Stars" (I love the reggae vibe of the song), and the uplifting "Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do".

Day 18: April 9
"Newpower Soul"
I haven't listened to this album in over a decade. I'll be honest, I didn't follow Prince's music and career closely from the mid-90's to early 2000. I was in the U.S. Army then and when I got out I was studying full-time in college and working at the same time. That was the period when he was releasing albums in his moniker. Many of his releases during that period I bought eventually years later. The "Newpower Soul" album is one of them. Listening to the album again after all these years, like many of his 90's output when he started including hip hop elements in his music (particularly the rapping), they sound dated now. He even had Doug E. Fresh rap in a couple of tracks in this album-- "Push It Up" and "(I Like) Funky Music". What I love about this album, however, are the horn sections featured in the title track as well as in "Mad Sex" and "When U Love Somebody" (can't resist dancing to the beat of these songs). I love the slow songs as well-- can't go wrong with Prince singing falsetto in "Until U're in My Arms Again" and especially, in "The One". Those two are my favorite songs in the album along with "Come On"- I love the groove of the song that reminds me of the incessant beat on "Forever in My Life". 8-)

Day 19: April 10
"Exodus"
Another Prince release credited to The New Power Generation in the mid'90s when he was the with lead vocals by Sonny T. and Prince under the name Tora Tora (I know it's confusing and even stranger was him sporting a scarf covering his face in some photos I've seen in that period). It's my favorite release from The New Power Generation. I enjoyed listening to this album again after all these years especially the interludes/segues with Prince talking with an Italian accent in one of them-- "Mashed Potato Girl". Also, Prince's voice slowed down to sound deep and talking about a robbery in "New Power Day". I wished Prince did more of these. He definitely had a great sense of humor. My favorite cuts in the album are the the jams-- "Get Wild", "The Good Life", "Return of the Bump Squad" and "The Exodus Has Begun"-- and the bluesy, "Count the Days". Definitely a blast revisiting this album!

Day 20: April 11
"One Night Alone..."
Prince's most intimate album with just him on vocals and piano (mostly), listening to this album is what it must have been like in one of his "Piano and a Microphone" shows last year. It's one of those albums I prefer to listen alone, especially now with Prince gone, and makes me appreciate his music more. My favorite songs in the album are "U're Gonna C Me" (which he also rerecorded for the MPLSound album), "Here on Earth", "Objects in the Mirror", and his cover of a Joni Mitchell classic, "A Case of U" (definitely my favorite cover song he did) with its raw emotion and intensity. The last song, an ethereal instrumental track called "Arboretum" ends with the sound of Prince getting up after playing the piano, walking out the room and closing the door behind him. :-(

Day 21: April 12
"N.E.W.S."
This entry is going to be short and sweet as I don't really have much to say about this jazz fusion instrumental album. This is probably the first time I actually listened to the full album as I tend to lose interest listening to it before. I guess it's just not for me. I doubt I will be revisiting it anytime soon. The album, its title an acronym for the four tracks-- "North", "East", "West", and "South"-- each at 14 minutes long-- and supposedly recorded in one day-- is best enjoyed, perhaps, in smaller doses or if I was watching Prince and his band performing it live.

Day 22: April 13
"Planet Earth"
I love this album! I actually enjoy listening to this album more than his more popular releases in the 2000s-- "Musicology" and "3121"-- both of which are good albums, too. But "Planet Earth" is one of those albums that took me a number of listens to fully appreciate and one day the album just clicked for me and have become one of my favorite Prince albums. I love every track of this album. The title track starts slow with the piano, then builds up as the song continues and rises to a crescendo with the guitar solo in the end, leading to the next song, "Guitar" with it's catchy guitar riff and who can't resist singing along when Prince exclaims-- "I love u baby, but not like I love my guitar." This album has two sultry ballads, "Somewhere Here On Earth" and "Future Baby Mama". I also love the upbeat song, "The One U Wanna C", the funky groove, "Chelsea Rodgers", the little ditty song, "All the Midnights in the World" and the closer, "Resolution" with Revolution alums, Wendy and Lisa. I just realized this album is ten years old this year! Definitely one Prince album that will be a mainstay in my playlist.

Day 23: April 14
"The Black Album"
In observance of Black Friday, I listened to "The Black Album" today. That's all. ;-)

Day 24: April 15
"The Gold Experience"
Arguably, this is Prince's best album in the '90s (his first release as ). Too many songs that I love on this album-- "P. Control", "Endorphinmachine", "Shhh", "Dolphin", "319", "Billy Jack Bitch", and " Hate U". I even like "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" (another cheesy song and title much like "Diamonds and Pearls" and "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold"). I can do without the NPG Operator segues though and always found the title song, "Gold", too trite for my taste.

Day 25: April 16
"The Rainbow Children"
"Just like the sun, the rainbow children rise!" Coincidentally, I listened to Prince's most spiritual album-- and one of his best albums-- today, on Easter Sunday. I remember organizing a listening party for this album in October, 2001 at a bar in Hollywood with other Prince fans I met during that time. I lost touch of them when I moved to Chicago the following year. Incidentally, it was a few months after the release of "The Rainbow Children" that I joined the Org-- 2/22/02, to be exact-- all the twos in the date I find interesting-- it wasn't planned, by the way. My love for the album then was the reason I chose "rainbowchild" as my username. But I digress. I saw Prince in concert that year at the Kodak Theatre (it's the Dolby Theater now) during the "One Night Alone...Tour" to support the album and, out of the ten times I've gone to see Prince in concert over the years-- first in 1988 and last in 2012-- the "One Night Alone...Tour" concert was my favorite. It was a treat to hear Prince sing many songs from the album including hearing him do the narration with the Darth Vader voice. I love the whole album, even "The Wedding Feast" but my favorite songs are the title track, "Muse 2 the Pharaoh", "The Work Pt. 1", "Mellow", "1+1+1 is 3", "She Loves Me 4 Me", "Family Name", "The Everlasting Now", and "Last December". I'm not gonna lie, but hearing the song, "Last December" tonight teared me up a bit as it dawned on me that the first anniversary of Prince's death is just a few days away. :-(

Day 26: April 17
"Indigo Nights"
I love this live CD from Prince's aftershows at IndigO2 club during his 21-date residency at the O2 arena and included in the "21 Nights" book. Listening to him perform "3121" reminded me of the time I flew to Vegas from Chicago mainly to attend a couple of his shows at Club 3121 during his residency at Rio Las Vegas in the Fall of 2006. I took my mom to a Celine Dion concert and, to her surprise, after I dropped my mom at the hotel after the show, I told her I'm going to see Prince, whose shows then started around midnight. One of the highlight for me was getting to see him perform "Black Sweat" live, my favorite song from the "3121" album. Also, I love the intimate setting at the club where fans can dance along as he performed and I could see Prince much closer. I also enjoyed the part where Prince would invite his fans onstage including some celebrities that come to his shows and make them sing and dance along with him. Some of my favorite songs he performed on this CD are "Girls & Boys", "The Song of the Heart", "Satisfied", "Beggin' Woman Blues", "Rock Steady", "Alphabet St." and "The One". I hope we'll get to see official releases of his many concerts and tours over the years-- including the aftershows-- both audio and video recordings. Nothing like watching Prince perform live and I would love to revisit them again soon.

Day 27: April 18
"Musicology"
I have moved around over the years-- from the Philippines to the U.S. in my teens settling in Los Angeles in the late '80s, joined the U.S. Army in the '90s and was stationed in Germany, Texas and Virginia, then back to L.A. to finish my college. Work and personal relationships have taken me from L.A. to Chicago then Charlotte in the last 15 years. One thing had been constant in my life all that time-- Prince's music. It's amazing how much I remember certain Prince albums and their significance in my life. "Musicology" was the first Prince album that was released during my ten year residency in Chicago. As always, I looked forward to a new Prince release. "Musicology" was considered a Prince comeback album by the mainstream media even though he never stopped releasing an album almost every year since 1978; maybe because it was his most successful album since the fallout from his public dispute with Warner Bros and the resulting name change to a symbol and reverting back to Prince in the 2000s. His induction in the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame weeks before the release of the album also helped improve his image. I love the title track and the accompanying music video for it. It has an old school funk vibe influenced by Earth, Wind and Fire, and James Brown as he mentioned in the song, which segued into the hilarious "Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance". Prince may have stopped cursing since joining the Jehovah's Witnesses in 2001 but the risqué factor in his music-- although tamer-- was still present in his songs such as "Call My Name" and "On the Couch". The guitar-laden rock song, "Cinnamon Girl" packs a punch and was also released with a music video-- one of his best-- starring Keisha Castle-Hughes as Prince sings about the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. I love "The Marrying Kind/If Eye Was the Man in Ur Life" pairing. Two of his most earnest romantic songs. The nostalgic "Reflection" where Prince sings about the good old days "when we would compare whose Afro was the roundest" made me take a pause as well and reflect on my life and journey as a Prince fan.

Day 28: April 19
"Lotusflow3r"
I'm in a great mood today especially with the unexpected release of a new Prince track last night-- "Deliverance". What a pleasant surprise! I downloaded it on iTunes last night and have been listening to the song non-stop. I love the song! I love the back-up choir in the song which gives the song a gospel vibe. Long live Prince! Took a break today to listen to the "Lotusflow3r" album, which was part of a 3CD set released exclusively through Target stores in 2009 which include the albums, "MPLSound" and "Elixer"-- the latter by Prince protégée Bria Valente. Picked up my copy on release day and months later, I was back at Target and to my surprise, saw them being sold at a discounted price (couple of bucks each);I bought several more copies to give away. One of my fondest memories about this album was Prince having a one-night event at L.A. Live-- 3 concerts at 3 different venues all in one night to promote the release of the album. Quite a remarkable feat-- only Prince would attempt something like that! Coincidentally, I was in L.A. that time on vacation to visit my mom and managed to get tix of the sold out event for one of the venues-- at Nokia Theatre (now called Microsoft Theater). It was my first and only time watching a show at that venue and had a blast. I would have loved to have gone to all 3 venues that night (the other two were held at Club Nokia-- now named The Novo by Microsoft-- and The Conga Room-- I read the show started there way past midnight). Hope we get official live recordings of that historic night. While I love the whole album, I especially enjoyed the blistering, guitar-driven songs-- "Boom", "Colonized Mind", "Dreamer" and his cover version of "Crimson and Clover".

Day 29: April 20
"HitNRun Phase One" and "HitNRun Phase Two"
Well, that was quick! Prince's "Deliverance" song was pulled from iTunes after one day because Prince's estate is contesting its release. Glad I got to download the song at least before it got yanked out. Talk about a hit-and-run. Incidentally, I listened to both "HitNRun" albums today-- Prince's last official albums released during his lifetime-- both albums a collection of new, previously released, remixed, and long unreleased songs . While I generally like the songs on "Phase One" album, mainly the second half of the album-- "X's Face", "Hardrocklover", "1000 X's and O's" and "June", I wasn't a fan of the production of many of the songs on the album (I don't know how much of them had to do with Joshua Welton's input). On the other hand, I love the "Phase Two" album especially the songs "Baltimore", "RocknRoll Love Affair", "2Y.2D.", "Look At Me, Look At U", "Stare", "Xtraloveable", "Groovy Potential", "When She Comes", "Black Muse", "Revelation" and "Big City". I think I named most of the songs in the album. I didn't realize how much I love the album until I listened to it again today.

Day 30: April 21
"Parade (Music from the Motion Picture "Under the Cherry Moon")"

"With love, there is no death." - Christopher Tracy

I saved the best for last-- my favorite Prince album and film. 8-)

"We had fun, didn't we?"
Yes, Prince, we did. We had so much fun. Thanks for the music! Thanks for the memories! Thanks for everything!