I have just spent the last few weeks re-listening to all of Prince's albums. I've been concentrating mainly on everything after LoveSexy, because almost everything before that is pretty much perfect in my opinion. Batman is not great but at least it's short, and at least it has a kind of conceptual unity about it. Graffiti Bridge sounds much better to me now than it did back in the day. Diamonds and Pearls is a lovely record, if only it weren't for Jughead... Emancipation, I think, is a heavily flawed but brilliant album. Same goes for Crystal Ball. Chaos and Disorder actually really rocks. Rave Un2 has a lot of good tracks and a pretty good feel overall. I really love TRC and same goes for much of Musicology.

The one album I just can't stand to listen to without heavy use of the fast forward button is 0{+>. It just has a really aggravating feel to it.

I don't think it's all TOny M. either. I even quite like his rapping on The Flow.

There's just no continuity to it. All the different styles and moods and annoying segues just don't add up to a good album. All the best Prince albums I think have some kind of continuity about the production and feel of all the tracks. For example, Dirty Mind, Purple Rain, The Black Album, Diamonds and Pearls, Emancipation (Disc 2), Chaos and Disorder, The Rainbow Children, even The Vault.

Of course, Sexy MF, 2 the 9s, the Sacrifice of Victor, and The Flow are all great tracks. But you just can't ever settle down and listen to it without fear of what's coming next...

In my opinion 3 Chains of Gold is FAR AND AWAY the worst track Prince has EVER done. I just can't believe he wrote it. if any of my friends were ever to hear me listening to that track I would die. I was listening to it on headphones and I was still embarrassed.

Personally I also wish he had recorded 7 with a gospel choir rather than multi-tracking his own voice so many times.

What do y'all think?

Sexy MF
Damn U
7

If it weren't for them I'd probably never play it. Some other tracks are okay but it's lacking in number of genuinely great songs.

I think often it comes down to the era in which you pick up an artist's work.

I got into Prince on hearing and was hooked at that time. As a result, I still consider this as one of his most comprehensive and musically challenging albums. In fact, that, and the stuff shortly after it (specifically Gold) are the albums to which I most relate (and which get most air time on my stereo).

There are a couple of 'skip' tracks on it ... The Flow and Eye Wanna Melt ... in particular, but apart from those, best represents for me his ability to transcend and fuse musical genres. I feel his musicianship and songwriting were at their sharpest and freshest then.

I'd be interested to learn if others have found that the album or era which was the first to convert you into a fan, remain your favourite.

L

Levi said:

Diamonds & Pearls got me on board. I still think of it as a fairly solid pop effort but it's no longer a fave of mine. I prefer it to , but I don't play either often anymore.

Levi said:

i got on board with Purple Rain, but my favourite albums are probably The Black Album, Lovesexy and Dirty Mind. I have to say, however, it gets harder and harder for me to say which is my favourite because almost all of his music gives me a lot pleasure. I can't believe how good The Rainbow Children is, for instance. And I just can't stop playing disc 2 of Emancipation.

I hate the segues, Tony M´s rapping, songs like Arrogance and the Flow, but then again, this album contains masterpieces like :

7
And God Created Woman
Sweet Baby
Damn U
Love 2 the 9s ( great until the rap starts )
The Sacrifice of Victor ( the music is so so , but I love the biographical lyrics)

So all in all, it´s a decent album...if it wasn´t for the obvious flaws.

Different strokes for different folks, that's what makes life so worth living!

I happen to love that album, it's one of my favorites! As long as it's pleasing to my ears and feels good to my soul, I don't concern myself with "obvious flaws". If I did that, I probably wouldn't care for too much of anything recorded after Motown moved to Cali.

The Max
Melt with U
The Continental
The Flow
The Sacrifice Of Victor

... are some of his worst tracks ever.

pjcath said:

You DON'T wanna know what I think! Believe Me!

It's not his worst by far, Chaos and Disorder or NPS would hold that (dis) honor, but it is certainly his most uneven. It is a concept album where the concept makes no sense. There are way too many songs about sleeping with underaged princesses and distractions galore (is there any other major mainstream album that features Kirstie Alley in such a prominent role). But, and this is a big but, there are some strong songs on this that save this album from the depths. 7, 2 the 9's, Damn U, And God Created Woman, Sexy MF...hell most albums with 5 songs this strong would be considered classics. Fast forward the phonebox montages, skip any songs which sound like Prince trying to be Princey Prince and the Funky Bunch, and tune out the frequent references to pseudo statuatory relations and you have got a kickass CD!

GottaLetitgo said:

Wake me up before you go go!

I think it was meant to be something of a concept album.

Prince has always had always created utopian worlds, and nations to people those worlds... I see this phase as one of deconstruction, to bring in a new people... the rainbow children.

The "New Power Generation" are system busters. Check out all the fire & destruction imagery, until we reach the smoothness of Emancipation.

got to give props to "And God Created Woman", "The Morning Papers", and "Damn U"

Sexy MF and The Max was all I could tolerate but I like it better than Chaos and Disorder.

While in the military in the early 80s, my roommate had a copy of Uptown. I NEVER listened to any cut except for Head even as my roomie urged me to. Didn't even realize there were other tunes. I jumped on board during the 1999 album after I saw the video on eMpTV. Having grown up on Sly and the Family Stone, I said, "This is it!!!" He's got it! The male/female, black/white, funk/rock balance was all there.

zf

OOPS From previous pst, meant to say "my roommate had a copy of Dirty Mind", not Uptown.

zf

I don't know about that... there're a lot of great songs on

man i love this album, probably his best in the 90's. better than diamonds and pearls

his best album of the nineties is "The Gold Experience" but symbol is a close second behind the second disc of Emancipation

4nowneway said:

yes I agree. I love the symbol album!!!!! to all u haters..... dam u!!!!!

1992-1996

fucken great years

symbol
undertaker
come
gold exp
emancipation
vault
crystal ball
chaos & disorder

pjcath said:

I love 3 Chains O' Gold if nothing else for the guitar work. All it is is Prince doing his version of Bohemian Rhapsody.

I also love bluelight and morning papers even though it seems as if those are two that don't get mentioned that much. I also could do without Tony M though.

Wish there was some way I could go back and erase his contributions on all tracks of P's.

I love

Levi said:

Levi, what do you mean by "comprehensive"? I think that is by far the best representation of what the NPG group from 1990-1994, could do and how much talent they had. If you ask me, Diamonds & Pearls, was essentially a solo Prince album. But with the album, the NPG group performs together as a band. The songwriting, production, and the craftmanship is very eclectic and fresh at the same time. I don't know if its really challenging, but it's really an exciting album that just flows together so consistently and somewhat "conceptually", never coherently. I really don't have any problems with album, even though Prince tries to make failed hip-hop attempts with songs like The Continential or The Flow. Prince is pushing the boundaries here with his mix of eclectic styles, and something he does here that is real surprising is reggae, which is just great to me. So, is one of my favorite P albums.
[Edited 8/21/05 21:39pm]

'Love Symbol' is my favorite Prince album of the 90s.There are at least six songs here that I would consider Prince "classics"...

"And God Created Woman"
"7"
"Sexy MF"
"Damn U"
"The Continental"
"Love 2 The 9s"

Other noteworthy songs include "Blue Light" and "My Name Is Prince".The only song I don't really care for is the chaotic-sounding "Sacrifice Of Victor".The album really should have ended with "3 Chains O Gold",that is a fitting finale.

I played this CD to death back in 1992/93,and I still listen to it more than any other album he released in the 90s.The music is vibrant and inspired.It's a stronger,funkier,more adventurous album than 'Diamonds and Pearls' (a good album that "plays it safe" too often),and I don't even think Tony M's raps are much of a distraction.I like his rap on "Sexy MF".

hmm, it rather goes from "lighter weight," as in, songs with less serious content, to the deadly serious "sacrifice of victor."

i tend to listen to it from about "7" on. and if it weren't for that dreadful segue, in between...

i enjoy it.

I enjoy it too. I think Tony M. does kinda ruin a few tracks, though, but he doesn't bother me as much as hearing Kirstie Alley in the segues.

Like a few other Prince albums, though, this one came out at a particular time in my life that holds great memories, so I love playing it to remember the good times. This was also the album that was one of the main reasons I got together with my wife, so I love it.

Personally, I quite like the album. If it weren't for Tony M, it would be damned-near a masterpiece.

If you think its his worst album, you obviously have never listened to the crap-fest known as New Power Soul