I am going to say...The Gold Experience. The anticipation of that album was building for well over a year, it was like nothing he ever did before. Excellent album. Long Live the 1995 NPG!!!

What album exceeded your expectation??

there are two that i own that i didnt think i'd like
the rainbow children...im in to jazzyish chillout music and the mix i got from that album blew me away im in love with that album..plus it gives me a good laugh when i hit the wedding feast. lol

and the other was lovesexy..i thought from what i had heard on the board that it might've been a tad overrated, so i made the assumption that it wasnt gunna be all that...then i gave it a listen and i love it...and lucky that i love all the tracks cuz it would be a pain in the ass to fast forward or rewind thru the track lol

edit: come 2 think of it...controversy had the same effect on me too
[Edited 1/30/05 19:06pm]

Graffiti Bridge. A lot of the songs were still very unimpressive, but there was a lot of good music in the 17 tracks, and the CD on the whole sounded just right.

Parade.
I hadn't expected to like it so much that we would become joined at the hip until Sign O'The Times came out.

Come - it received almost unanimously negative reviews, and seemed to have been written off as a half-hearted contractual obligation album. I thought it was the first album he'd released since SOTT that was successful at being simultaneously adventurous and enjoyable. It's probably my second favourite Prince record.

Batman, Diamonds And Pearls, Love Symbol and Rainbow Children.

MUSICOLOGY


I was expecting to really really really suck.

It was actually o.k. Boring as hell, but o.k.

It would definately be "Batman". After being extremely disappointed with the albums that followed "Purple Rain", "Batman" was cold, dark, and futuristic. Even though it wasn't his best, it was kinda like a brief return to the "old Prince".

TRC... folks had me thinking it was gonna be gospel or something

The Rainbow Children

I was dreading another "New Power Soul" or "Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic".
Added to that we got strange reports from people who had listened to it
at the celebration.

By the time it was released, it took me 6 hours to download on my then
very slow connection. I had never had such low expectations about any
Prince album before.

Then when I finally pressed "play", I was overwhelmed by the organic
pulse of the album. From out of nowhere, the music scattered in any and
all directions. There were a multitude of live instruments, choirs,
tweaked vocals, and bends in the music that caught you off guard.

I think the first time I listened to TRC, my mood shifted constantly from

to to to to to to to

Come

Batman

TRC

...Yeah, The Rainbow Children, for sure...

Come

The Rainbow Children!!!
after years of insipid half-baked R&B this album had atmosphere and a strong identity somehow; it worked as a whole. I didn't read many positive reviews at the time (the strange deep voice had many foaming at the mouth) so had low expectations perhaps.
This album hit me like a jazzed up Lovesexy, spirtual. I love it. Musicology is different matter however....

Everything new exceeded my expectations up to Lovesexy. Since then only TRC did the trick. AFter the great run in the eighties, none of the nineties albums matched never mind exceeded them although some were better than others - which is the best I can say for Gold.

Yep, Rainbow Children has it again - I'd pretty much given up on the little tyke upto that point, I was happy to buy the new releases, but I didn't think there would be much worth listening to on them, TRC was a nice surprise

I'd have to say TRC too.
And Gold actually. I had been cut-off from all the goings-on in '93-'94, and hadn't heard anything new. The only track I heard of Gold was I Hate U, which left me nonplussed to say the least, so this was the FIRST album which I didn't buy immediately (except the Hits of course, which I still don't own!). Gradually it grew on me of course, and now I love most of it.

Although I suppose not properly a Prince album, Exodus. Come was a dark, down kind-of album, I thought, where has Prince's sense of humour gone? And then I heard Exodus and laughed my head off at the segues while loving the deep funk of the actual songs.

Also, was surprised how good the album Prince was when I finally got around to hearing it.

Lovesexy and TRC also, both fall into the bracket of albums I didn't get on the first listen but grew and grew on me very quickly.

TRC

Chaos & Disorder

Come

Rainbow Children

Musicology.

Novabreaker said:

Aye! That's the first P album I've really liked since The Truth. I thought One Nite Alone (studio album) was pretty nice but not one I kept going back to.

Wow, now that is a tough one, especially 4 us snobbish Prince fans who expect every Prince album 2 be perfect.

Ok, I'm still thinking.....and thinking....and thiking.....ok, let me see....exceeded my expections. Meaning, I didn't expect much from it...hmmm, still thinking...I would have 2 say - The Gold Experience He had some great songs on that album and the music was awesome. From the rock inspried P-control to the funky - Billy Jack Bitch. I thought the underrated single, "Gold" was going to be a huge hit. That song is so powerful.

for me it was the love symbol album. I just got it like a week ago and i'm in love with it. Truly beautiful.

Crystal Ball

I could never find it and I rarely heard anyone speak of it other than
"track-listing, configurations, blah, blah, blah" but when I finally got
my hands on it I fell in love with CDs 1&2 and I like CD3

Now this is one of my favorite albums

I would say Parade and SOTT...he just kept raising the bar...

Recently only Gold turned out more solid than I thought

AsianBoi777 said:

LOL. Me too.

I am convinced the he just needs to make and album of ballads, His ballads are on point on Musicology. But sometimes the faster songs are hit and miss.

Purple Rain -- I honestly didn't think he could top 1999. And 1999 is still my favorite, but Purple Rain far exceeded any of my expectations. Whoa! I didn't see that coming.

thecableguy said:

I've gotta agree. I had loads of albums on CD, but got in2 a m8s car and he put on The Gold Experience on tape (yep, THAT long ago!). I was like WHOA what IS this?

The Gold Experience. Definitely. Good album. Even embarrased myself when I bought groceries in a shop which came to £3.19p and the assistant said, "THREE NINETEEN PLEASE" - could I help myself? Hell no...