What are some albums that eventually grew on you and some albums that, by contrast, eventually wore off on you?

Parade grew on me after awhile, now it's one of my faves.

About 20 years ago I finally saved up enough money from mowing lawns and headed for the mall to get a new Prince record. I grabbed the For You lp and was so disappointed that I wanted to take it back. But within a few weeks I fell in love with it and have loved it ever since.

Growers:

1999
Parade
Black Album


Wearers:


The Gold Experience
Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic

Wearers:

1999 (not all of it, but all of the singles on it -- enough!)
Come (except for the title cut)
Chaos and Disorder (from day one)

Growers:
Parade
Lovesexy
Batman
Around the World in a Day

Everything else falls in between (mostly in the liked it immediately catagory)

New Power Soul took a while to grow on me, and Diamonds and Pearls wore off on me.

growers:

COME: oh my lord. i bought this when it first came out and i HATED it. i just considered it debris from prince's WB hissy fit and thought of it as half-hearted studio doodles that he didn't give a crap about and hoped would fail for warners. years later, i threw it in my stereo one boring day, just to kinda give it one more chance, and i LOVED it. now it's one of my favorite prince albums and i think it's one of his most important overlooked gems.

TRC: i know there's more to this album than i am able to appreciate. i appreciate it musically, but thematically, i think it's difficult listening. if i can get past that darth vader/fat albert narrator breaking into the songs, then i think one day i'll really dig it. but it continues to grow on me, and i love the live versions of TRC songs that i have.


wear-offs:

MUSICOLOGY: i flipped over this album on the first listen and it was all i could listen to the first couple of weeks i owned it. now....eh...it's gotten really stale. i think i'll pick it up in a few months or years and appreciate it on some other level, but for now, i think i burnt out on it really quickly.

THE BLACK ALBUM: i think the novelty of this being prince's 'naughty bootleg' upped the value of this album a lot, and the feeling of it being something kinda subversive and underground that we weren't supposed to listen to fueled my love of this album. don't get me wrong - i still love the black album - but it seems a little flat and surfacy to me these days, like it was all recorded on one creative level, as opposed to all the different colors we come to expect from a prince album. and i can kinda appreciate that. but i have to be in the mood to hear it these days, and that mood isn't something i experience frequently anymore.

Anxiety said:

Hater!

Cloudbuster said:

Sign of The Times

Everything else sucks

One that grew on me was "Around The World In A Day". One that wore off was "Diamonds and Pearls".

Growers:

The Vault

Batman

Lovesexy

Wore Offs:

Controversy

ATWIAD

Parade

Rave Into The Joy Fantastic

Wore off

Musicology
N.E.W.S.
Rainbow Children
Rave UN2 the Joy Fantastic


Grew On

Chaos & Disorder
Come

growers ,..... ATWIAD eventually one o' my faves !

wearers ,..... musicology n' rave .

growers:

Controversy
Gold Experience
Come
Lovesexy

wearers:

Parade
o(+>

I'll only comment on the albums that have worn off on me.

The Symbol Album...Aside from Damn U,7,The Morning Papers and And God Created Woman,I can't listen to this album.It sounds so dated to me.

Same with most of Diamonds & Pearls and Grafitti Bridge...Willing & Able,Walk,Don't Walk,Insatiable on D&P while The Question of U,Joy In Repetition and Theives In The Temple on GB are the only songs I can listen to.

This time period is my least favorite of his.

There are only a handful of songs on Emancipation that I like and even less on Rave.

Growers: somehow less obvious but funkiest 80's albums:

1. The Black Album
2. Dirty Mind
3. Controversy


Wearers: clearly most of the "recent" stuff. I liked those at first, but it didn't last:

1. The Truth
Must be the most pretentious record in pop history. Lazy, uninspired, not a single catchy line or melody. There must be a reason why it wasn't released as a proper album, imo.

2. Musicology
Too obvious. Predictable.

3. Emancipation
Showing off. Polished and irritating sound overall. Too few good tracks.

4. One Nite Alone Live
Different sources ruin the flow of the record, the piano medley is way too long, and the NPGMC advertising is out of place. Besides, It Ain't Over is a true disgrace (except for Dorothy Parker maybe).

5. Xpectation
Apart from Xpedition, lame attempt at funk-infused jazz. Madhouse and NEWS are definitely more challenging. Yes, I said NEWS.

Now I am sounding like EVM.
[Edited 5/2/05 4:57am]

Anxiety said:

Mutiny said:

EvilWhiteMules said:

What are you talking about?

The Growers:
Prince
ATWIAD
Parade (now tied for my all time favorite)
SOTT
Lovesexy
C & D

The Wearers:
D & P
Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic
TRC

everything wears off for a time, but like an old friend i havent seen, im glad to hear from them.

A few of his albums grew on me then wore off a bit actually , Lovesexy and ATWIAD I wasnt sure about at first , then I've gone through periods where i thought they were excellent but as I've listened to them more they've become less remarkable again .

Grew on me-Around the world in a day, Parade
Wore off- Sign of the Times and I don't listen to them as much as I once did but I don't hate them I just need lots of breaks from them.

grower: atwiad

wearers: pr, d & p, sott

I hate to say it, but I've kind of burnt myself out on "Sign O' The Times", and after several recent listens, I now think there's actually quite a bit of filler on it as opposed to before where I thought it was sheer perfection. It's still his eclectic peak but probably not what I'd consider his best album anymore (unless I give it a break for a good while, so it'll sound fresher after a long wait).

"1999" has definitely grown on me. I used to always shut it off after the first four tracks because I couldn't stand how lengthy "D.M.S.R." and "Automatic" were, but eventually I came to be able to stomach their length and appreciate them for the wonderfully experimental and futuristic pieces they truly are, and once I made it through those songs, I listened to everything else afterwards and have come to the conclusion that this album as a whole is a grandly exceptional and innovative work, and explores several dimensions of Prince's persona in ways more intriguing than any other record I currently own of his.

Growers:

Lovesexy When I first bought it I thought it was boring and couldn't see what everyone was raving about. Then one day months later I put it on to give it sort of a second try. Now it's one of my faves.

the third disc of Emancipation I still don't like the entire album, or even the entire third disc, but it's got enough good on it to make it spin-worthy.

Dirty Mind Same story as Lovesexy. Thought it was dull and couldn't see the point. Oh, how wrong I was!

Wearers:

Purple Rain It was my first album of his, but I've just heard it too damn much. Even the best songs get tiresome after repeated listenings.

1999 Same deal here.

I never thought I could ever like 1999, as an R&B fan and mostly cause of the cold beats.
But now I'm lovin'it more everytime I listen to it. So really a 'grow' album for me.