When i look at Purple Rain, Around the World in a Day, Parade, Sign O' the Times and Lovesexy, i have to give P props for putting out 5 distinct albums in 5 years. Each album is different from the previous one. During this period, P showed just how talented and versatile he is. Whether you liked the albums as much as Purple Rain or not, P deserves respect and IMHO recognition for his versatility. How many other artists can say they can do that in 5 consecutive years?

wow!i think you may be the first person to ever give those albums props.

i always thought that purple rain thru to lovesexy was very much looked down upon by music lovers and critics.

intresting point.

Agreed.

I remember loving Purple Rain and expecting every album after that to be a Purple Rain Part 2 (I finally gave up after Batman).

What I came to realize was that:
1) Prince seemed to have an inexhuastable talent for re-invention.
2) Each album was get more brilliant with additional rotation--REALLY listen to it.
3) Where Madonna and MJ where boring me to tears with boring ass safe Music (Yes, Madonna was scandelous, but her music was safe and likable pop), Prince was trying to present a message in each of his albums--whether they wher well thought out or not, is beside the point.
4) He quite possibly was crazy.
5) He would never sell out....Well, then there was Diamonds And Pearls.
[Edited 11/20/04 21:10pm]

Credit that one primarily to his band members sharing with him much of the vision.

TheDeacon said:

1971 - The Man Who Sold The World/Hunky Dory
1972 - Ziggy Stardust
1973 - Aladdin Sane/Pin Ups
1974 - Diamond Dogs
1975 - Young Americans
1976 - Station To Station
1977 - Low/"Heroes"

You can put 1999 dirt mind and controversy and the Prince album and the black album too.

I think they are very different from each other. SO you even beat Bowie.

Stripe said:

1969 - Space Oddity
1971 - The Man Who Sold The World/Hunky Dory
1972 - Ziggy Stardust
1973 - Aladdin Sane/Pin Ups
1974 - Diamond Dogs
1975 - Young Americans
1976 - Station To Station
1977 - Low/"Heroes"
1979 - Lodger
1980 - Scary Monsters & Super Creeps

Yes - the 80s were good but inb the 90s, his talent went retrograde. Every bloody album sounded exactly like the last one - until Newpower Soul.

...emaqncipation sounds nothing like the truth sounds nothing like come sounds nothing like karma sutra sounds nothing like diamonds and pearls sounds nothing like THE GOLD EXPERIENCE etc etc

ARE YOU PEOPLE FOR REAL..FUCKIN RETROGRADE?????

oh!its you justin....ahem the gold experience/truth and some of emanciaption is far far far from retrograde!

jonylawson said:

Ooh, you bitch!

It does all sound the same in the main with the same shiny production, Rosie fucking Gaines wailing, terrible experiments with hip-hop...

jonylawson said:

Did you mean "Kamasutra"?

Stripe said:

From a long-time Bowie fan: Pin-ups is warmed over meatloaf; Young Americans pretty much sucks, and Lodger is really 2nd rate (although there are a few good songs on it, it can't compare to the previous 3 albums)

jackflash said:

Long-time Bowie fans are always right!

BinaryJustin said:

hey! i'll take rosies "wailing" over tonys rapping any day!

BinaryJustin said:

Did you not listen to the Gold Expereince?

Lord knows, he definately showed how versatile he is. I know I've complained numerous times about the major style change after "Purple Rain", mainly out of disappointment because I do have my favorites and would have loved to have had more like them. But I will say these are great albums and they are better than most other artists' albums. These are my second favorite crop of Prince albums.

We can actually say that about a lot of P's albums like Batman, Graffiti Bridge and Diamonds and Pearls---simply brilliant how different they sound.

jasontate said:

Wakeup Justin
Gold experience, emancipation, symbol...? Where were you? New power soul?

certainly not micheal jackson lol

i agree. prince tends to keep making himself over time after time. his songs contain messages whether we like them or not, but he makes his point.

I would definitely have to concur with you on that point. Hell, I'd probably would have run out of ideas for any re-invention by the time I had to come up with a 3rd album. Releasing an album every year of the decade is something very rare for a musician on the pop radar.

AsianBomb777 said:

Stripe said:

Can't find any of this in my Prince database.....

Prince is from the old school and is one of the few artists that is still around. The majority of artists released an album a year back in the day. When Prince skipped 1983, I was wondering where the hell he was.

Another artisr who does this is Bob Dylan.....u never knew what next either.....I hope Prince goes more pop on his next effort.....I think he can compete with Neptunes if he put his mind to it.....

The problem with contstant reinvention is that you end up running out of new things to do... I think P suffered from this in the mid to late 90's... Theres nothing wrong with revisiting certain aspects of your work... It worked for U2!

Anyway, I think we have seen the best of Prince. Thats not neccesarily a bad thing. I know I have been waiting for a very long time for Prince to give me that rush that I got back in the day...

Every new album I feel a sense of anticipation, and if Im brutally honest, it has always led to dissapointment... Every release since Gold I guess... Maybe its just my age... Im getting older too...

Musicology was just another potential disapointment, only I didnt rush out to get this one. I could wait without that sense of urgency that I usually have. And I kinda like that album more than other recent stuff purely because I refused to trick myself into thinking 'this time its the one'...

I wouldnt mind if P slowed down now and gave us more quality than quantity.. Let the 80's be what they are - pure genius. Now we should just let our man ply his trade and make decent music... Theres no more need to be ground breaking....

Jon said:

I agree

thesexofit said:

that's why Bob is so great. He doesn't release re-hashed work, he comes up with original songs with lyrics like no one else can or does!