Thank YOU, now I really feel like I'm going to collect more of his albums. I'm about to print this guide.... You're right!!!!

Silverchild, this is the 3rd thread I've seen of yours where you're seeking opinions on certain albums. Be aware - on a site like this there's gonna be MANY people recommending EVERY album the man has ever made. If there's one thing about Prince fans it's that we all contradict each other constantly. One man's "Beautiful Strange" is another woman's "Courtin' Time" (don't worry, as you go deeper -- which you inevitably will -- you'll see what I mean)

I wanna suggest the order in which you should delve into Prince. I'm sure nobody else will agree w/ me but I'm gonna do it anyway Forgive me if you already have these or if they've been suggested already. It just seems to me that once you get into the flavor of the first 5 you'll probably decide how to proceed on your own. Most of us proceed by buying the entire catalogue But whatever... these aren't in the order of how I rate them, but rather by my assumption of "newbie enjoyment". I'm sure you already have PR & Hit's B Sides BUT this list assumes you have no Prince albums in your collection at all...

1. 1999 (1982) - a must have, my personal fave of all his albums... unfuckingbeatable

2. PR (1984) - it's a staple, gotta have the popular shit though you may rarely spin it

3. SOTT (1987) - his best album ever, most everyone agrees on this (critics & fans alike)

4. Dirty Mind (1980) - the breakout album, funky FUNKY shit on here. Don't let Sister scare you

5. Hits/B-Sides (1983) - just to round it all out, give you flavor from many eras & the B's are incredible (many of them)

*****

If you already have these, I'd proceed to:


6. Parade (1986) - sounds a little different from anything he'd done to date, still funky (if you can hang w/ this one -- and you will -- you're ready to proceed to ATWIAD)

7. Controversy (1981) - Let's Work will make you wanna impale yourself w/ a bass immediately

8. Prince (1979) - gotta have some old stuff, you'll probably get the urge to hit "repeat"

9. (1992) - bunch of great songs on this one, lots of flavors IMO

10. Musicology (2004) - all around good album, Call My Name is killer, On the Couch is NIIIICE & The Marrying Kind/If I Was the Man In Ur Life will grab you by the throat!

*****

THEN, I'd pick up:

11. Crystal Ball/The Truth (1997/1998) - nice collection, all over the map. The Truth is NICE: if you like this you should try to get One Nite Alone - it's all piano, mostly ballads, gorgeous (may only have been for NPGMC members @ the time)...

12. For You (1978) - finish out the old, great album top to bottom

13. Around the World In a Day (1985) - like Parade, didn't sound like what he'd done before, not a "bad" song on it...

14. Lovesexy (1988) - now a LOT of people have a serious emotional attachment to this album & will me for having it so low on the list. As much as I love it I think you gotta have a rapport going w/ P's stuff to appreciate it. Anna Stesia is lovely, When 2 R In Love/Alphabet St./Eye Know/Lovesexy - all great (Dance On & Positivity suck nuts!)

15. One Nite Alone Live (2002) - you'll enjoy the medley of popular stuff & the instrumentation alone, BUT much of the material on disc 1 is from TRC & it's hard for some to swallow (which is why TRC is regrettably in the "sketchy" section, though I love it). Still, great to hear that band live...

*****

Now it starts to get sketchy, for different reasons. There's hits & misses here but all well worth having...


16. The Rainbow Children (2001) - if you've hung in this far definitely check out this great & interesting album, probably the hardest to swallow of any of his releases b/c the JW doctrine is pretty pronounced here. Though he always talked about God & spirit, his embrace of a particular faith is a definite turnoff for some. But Mellow, Family Name, Digital Garden & She Loves Me 4 Me are all really good. And people swear by 1 + 1 + 1 is 3 (I still don't like it on record but live it's cool)

17. Gold (1995) - overrated IMO but the 2 strongest, unforgettable cuts are Eye Hate U & Shhh. Pussy Control is pretty good too, Endorphine Machine can kick your ass

18. D&P (1991) - not the strongest album, the obvious singles are the highlights along w/ Live 4 Love.

19. Batman (1989) - gotta be in the mood for this one. Vicki Waiting rocks!

20. Graffiti Bridge (1990) - lots of slop on this one but Joy In Repetition & The Question of U are must haves. We Can Funk is the shit too

21. One Night Alone, The Aftershow: It Ain't Over (2002) - again, lots of slop BUT the live version of Joy In Rep will make you cream yourself twice & Dorothy Parker is addictive

22. The Black Album (1994) - worth it for Rockhard alone, LAWD!!!

23. The Vault (1999) - a bit odd but When the Lights Go Down & Extraordinary are awesome, some decent cuts on this one.

24. Rave INto the Joy Fantastic (2001) - a remix of RaveUN. 2 words - Beautiful Strange Man 'O War remix is nice too...

25. Come (1994) - lots of people think this one is a nutsucker but I really like it. Several good songs - Come, Space, Pheromone, Dark, Solo... it's not ordinary Prince for sure but still cool

26. New Power Soul - The One is gorgeous, Come On is FUNKY

27. NEWS (2003) - I love it BUT since it's instrumental the immediacy fades a bit...

*****

The rest are a coin toss (Chaos & Disorder, Emancipation, RaveUN, some others). Happy exploring!



orderswitchedit
[This message was edited Sun Jul 4 0:39:46 2004 by CalhounSq]

CalhounSq said:

Sign O The Times was made in 1987, not 1997. It should be on top of the list.

silverchild said:

Hope it helps, but I guarantee you 50+ people will say how completely wrong I am

CalhounSq said:

I agreed with everything you said except two things:

Dance On and Positivity are great, particularly Dance On.

Live 4 Love is pretty weak except for the guitar solo. Once again Tony M ruins it with the 90s ballistic PE wannabe rapping.

Otherwise, right on!

silverchild said:

Where do I have it listed as 1997? You come up in hea asking what to buy then you gon' try to correct me on some shit you're seeing wrong??!! Come on now

Oh, I see... I have the wrong year for Hit's/B-Sides, got it...

And you're half right - it should be #2 above PR but like I said I'm going by my assumption of newbie enjoyment. I don't mind being wrong



school'emedit.
[This message was edited Sun Jul 4 0:54:03 2004 by CalhounSq]

CalhounSq said:

I'm sorry, but it exactly say that in the first thread you wrote and posted by yourself. SOTT should be wayyyyy above PR . It has him dabbling in different genres. I consider PR, myself, as his most popular and best-selling records of the 80's. Sign O The Times is way varied and different, as I should say wild. You are right about SOTT, IT IS HIS BEST ALBUM EVER!!!!! Though, it sold 2 million copies (SOTT), it's still another popular album, but it should top Purple Rain and probably 1999.

silverchild said:

Yea, but this is where opinions come in In mine, nothing tops 1999. I'd recommend that to anyone as their first Prince album. It just doesn't get better than that for me. And though I know SOTT is indeed a superior album, SOTT is not my all time favorite. But it certainly should be ranked above PR.

Like I said, this ain't according to "best", it's more according to enjoyment. 1999 is an excellent base for all funk to be had pre & post

CalhounSq said:

1999 is a great album with a lot of cool tracks. I just reviewed that album on www.amazon.com and I gave it 5 stars wayyyyy up. Purple Rain is just a classic. I reviewed that one too. But, when it all comes to SOTT, you can't miss a beat. To me, it's Prince ultimate masterwork. All 3 of those albums are masterworks... Don't get me wrong. SOTT has to be an all-time favorite.

Please go on www.amazon.com and rate my 1999 review. My name is Brandon Ousley and the review is called "An Ambitious & Innovative Prince Masterwork". Please read it and rate it.

Thanks.....

1999 is a great album with a lot of cool tracks. I just reviewed that album on www.amazon.com and I gave it 5 stars wayyyyy up. Purple Rain is just a classic. I reviewed that one too. But, when it all comes to SOTT, you can't miss a beat. To me, it's Prince ultimate masterwork. All 3 of those albums are masterworks... Don't get me wrong. SOTT has to be an all-time favorite.

Please go on www.amazon.com and rate my 1999 review. My name is Brandon Ousley and the review is called "An Ambitious & Innovative Prince Masterwork". Please read it and rate it.

Thanks.....

silverchild said:

If you gave it 5 stars that's good enough for me

CalhounSq said:

Will you please read it?

silverchild said:

Okay, okay... tomorrow

"Push" kicks positive ass, not newjack but very early 90's pop (with drum loops odf course) all the same!
"Gett off" is still a killer jam with very cool chorus!
"Pop daddy" is still cool
"DandP" the track has a lovely early 90's ballad sound and the middle is quite gorgeous
"Cream" sick of it but still quite cool
"Jughead"- like silly rapping, this track rules!

then "Money....." is nice but reminds me of stevie 2 much but song is still good!
"Insaitiable"-very weak, it's literally "Scandalous" and that was crap too!
"Live 4 love" is worth it 4 the rap-very,very dated sounding us pop this one

oh yeah "Thunder" is cool but goes on 4 way 2 long!

Can never listen 2 whole album through as sequencing is apalling! "Push" followed by "Insaitiable"? But on their own their good and first 4 go well together! Prince chooses so many diffferent musical directions on this album that poor sequencing is unfortunately bound 2 happen!

Look at the bside HornyPony that song was funny as hell! Y'all got2 loosenup and not tightenup!

STAY AWAY FROM JUGEHEAD!!!!!

The rest of the album is not too bad.

bds70 said:

Push is one of the other offenders, I feel. I know a lot of people like it, but to me it's a slightly less annoying version of Jughead.

There are some good tracks on it but it's the first album where he's chasing trends rather than creating them.

btw,i think "Horny Pony" is crap and I'm glad that it was left off the album.If only Prince had taken "Jughead" off the album,and replaced it with a brilliant song like "Open Book" instead.