I am rebuilding my collection. I so far have:
Emancipation
Gold Experience
Purple Rain
Musicology
Diamonds and Pearls (on cassette, will soon replace with CD)

Which should I go for next?

Also, what do you think about downloading the CD and not get the jacket, art work and lyrics instead of searching out for the traditional CD. I think real player has a site where you can download a single for 49 cents, and the album is sometimes $4.99. Not bad, but I don't want to "cheat". I could download whole album for no charge from kaaza or the like. But this is sort of a new hobby... but let's not get crazy. I will not pay more than 20 bucks for a used CD.

I'd suggest , in following order :
Sign O' The Times , 1999 , Lovesexy , Parade , Dirty Mind , Around The World In A Day




About your question , why should you pay for something you can get for free ?
[Edited 9/26/04 16:57pm]

Dewrede said:

IMHO i would say out of those parade and around the world in a day more than the others
good albums right there

We should compile a difinitive list of what albums to get in what order, I swear this q is asked once a week

Prodigal: go w/ 1999 & SOTT, just grab them both.

Ben: lets get a list going & put it in the FAQ

Go with the downloads until you get the wax buildup removed from your ears.

Dewrede said:

This, plus you must buy the Black Album. The longer you wait, the harder it'll be to find, so get it now from ebay or used record stores. I might add Controversy too. I know it's very similar to Dirty Mind, but in my opinion with stronger songs and better production.

These are your next few, and I think you will be extremely surprised with them all in comparison to the albums you already own.

One Nite Alone studio album

savoirfaire said:

An idea for places to find these albums - aka vinyl not CD are thrift stores. I found Purple Rain, Diamonds and Pearls and a few others, single and 12 inch at one. Also check craigslist.org in your area. People are selling their record collections very inexpensively.

H1

Hey thanks for the tips and I think a FAQ would be an excellent idea.

To answer why buy what I can get for free...
I must admit after being turned on to Prince once again, I did download all I could from ...errr some other sites. Really fell in love with I hate U. (funny uhn?) but the copy I had was cut off at the very end. This song is a little rare and every dayum copy I downloaded was cut off at the same spot.... well dammit, I want to hear the whole thing, so I bought the CD then found other songs I like even better and got all pissed because I realized that Prince was being black balled during this era... there is no way the radio was playing the b/s it was playing during this time and not playing "shhh" and I hate u. So I realize now I need to go out and buy my own to get the full picture.

And I am finding searching out old Prince CD fun. I meet some interesting people at these little neighborhood wrecka stows.

savoirfaire said:

I have thought about this. getting albums that are getting more rare and more expensive.
How do I know if I have a real copy. I have read about people getting a fake copy where the songs are not even the right songs. I don't have to have one of the original bootleg copies... an official warner brothers (to fulfill the contract) will do just fine for me.

prodigalfan said:

hold up now where did u find gold experience?walmart lies like they have non at all

ABeautifulOne said:

Gold Experience is out of print, probably forever. So, you have to find it used somewhere. They sell for under ten bones around here.

thats bullish right there.ive been looking on then net that why

prodigalfan said:

Yes , that's always nicer , i have those lp's from back 'n the day (well starting from Purple rain,
later i bought the previous ones on vynil too ) .
But still mp3's are alright , just to have it nicely organized and ready to play .
[Edited 9/26/04 19:20pm]

ABeautifulOne said:

I heard about Gemm star from this site and took a chance on sending $7.99 plus s/h for a very gently used copy. (I sound like a used car salesman )
My copy came from the UK. No problem and I am quite happy.

NWF said:

gosh I dunno know about this one. This is actually the album that started my turn off to prince. I didn't get into the beatle sound that this album reminded me of.
Then *letme take cover* Kiss came out and I lost complete interest in Prince... would only listen if I heard the songs played on the radio and after the Warner Bros/ Slave fiasco... well you know how often a Prince song was played on the radio.

prodigalfan said:

If those albums turned you off to Prince, maybe you should just stay gone.

WonderU said:

I deserved that.

The rarely mentioned For You album is one of, if not, my all time favorite by him...


It's hard for me to explain why..it just is is...

steevetheeo said:

I like some of the songs on that LP. I haven't heard the whole thing but I know it will be a winner because of the songs I have already heard.