Here is a list of the peak-positions from the german album-charts. (source: media control)

1) 5 - Purple Rain
2) 10 - Around The World In A Day
3) 6 - Parade
4) 9 - Sign "O" The Times
5) 3 - Lovesexy
6) 3 - Batman
7) 3 - Graffiti Bridge
8) 8 - Diamonds And Pearls
9) 5 - Love Symbol
10) 20 - The Hits 1
11) 19 - The Hits 2
12) 58 - The Hits / The B-Sides
13) 29 - The Beautiful Experience
14) 9 - Come
15) 49 - Black Album
16) 24 - The Gold Experience
17) 42 - Chaos And Disorder
18) 21 - Emancipation
19) 34 - Newpower Soul
20) 44 - The Vault... Old Friends 4 Sale
21) 53 - Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic
22) 6 - The Very Best Of
23) 93 - N.E.W.S.
24) 4 - Musicology (still on #62 in the 11th week)
note: all others albums like "1999" or "The Rainbow Children" didn't chart!

N.E.W.S. charted but 1999 didn't!?!?!

Cloudbuster said:

That pretty much says it all!

interesting to see that prince has never had a number one album in germany and yet he has had five[u] in the uk!!!.....i wonder how many number one albums he has had in holland?....a long time prince hotbed of followers....anyone know?

In Germany (and in all non-English speaking countries in Europe?) P's commercial career started only in 1984 with the Purple Rain movie + the album, of course. The singles (L G C, P R) were used to introduce him more as a guitar player of rock music than being in the funk tradition (till people found out, of course, what's the real deal...)

All the albums before P R didn't chart respectively had not even been released, I believe, in these countries except "1999" that might have been P's first released album in Germany (with 1999 being a dancefloor/club and party hit, tho.) I think, the early albums were first released in Germany after P R (and as "nice price"). However, most of the people in Germany thought P R his very first album (and film).
The first tour ever in Germany was the '86 Parade tour which was then a very very big event in Germany (with all concert goers knowing 1999 (that was one of the 3 most popular P songs in Germany in the 80's/90's.))

"N.E.W.S." charted in 2003, imo, as a late effect of the ONA-Tour in the winter of 2002 (+ the success of the "very best of P" cd that had charted high before) so that more people were then again interested in something new than had been in preceding years.

(From 1997 to 2003, I'd say, the German media had nearly forgotten about P, except for the Arista interlude (in the winter of 1999) and when he was on tour, there were only very few things about him if at all so that the general public lost interest in P.)

Anyway,
thanks 4 the list!!