I'm thinking about buying these, but first, I wanted to see what other orgers thought of them. General consensus is that Prince's peak began with "Dirty Mind", but are these worth the price as well?

I'd definitely buy "Prince". It's a solid piece.

"For You" varies. I'd buy it just to complete the collection.
[Edited 1/2/06 14:30pm]

For You is classic!!!
GET IT NOW!!! LOL
that whole album is
Prince at his finest R&B hour...
took a while for
Prince to grow on me
but it finally did
I own it on vinyl
I love the album so much!
"Bambi", "Sexy Dancer" & "It's Gonna Be Lonely"
make the album worth every penny
but it's solid from start to finish!

"Prince" you should definitely get. There's a lot of great music on there:

I Wanna Be Your Lover (the FULL l.p. version, not the edit)
I Feel For You
Sexy Dancer
Bambi
With You
Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad

You won't be disappointed.


As for "For You", well - I just recently started getting into this album over the past year or two, and I'm really loving it, though I think it's mainly because I've spent the past few years trying to make the best of Prince's recent work, and the sound of him at the beginning, all simple and stripped down and naive, sounds really really REALLY refreshing to me. You may not be "ready" for that yet...if you stick with his music for a while, I guarantee you will be.

So "Prince": YES.

"For You": When you're ready for it.

Anxiety said:

i still absolutely adore the first track of for you

Today I got my copy of "For You", and I am very surprised about it - positively. The tracks are smooth, it's "light-funk" (can I say that?) of course not as exciting as some of the later works, but hey, this was the Man's debut. Very smooth, very listenable. You should get it, no question.

The same goes for "Prince". Though I think there ist somewhat too many "ballad-type-stuff" on it, it has gems like "Sexy Dancer" and the long version of "I Wanna Be Your Lover". Not to mention other classics like "Why You Wanna Treat Me so Bad" or "I Feel For You"! And Bambi is great, too.

btw, in the liner notes ("For You"), it is said that "Central Station" (Prince's first band?) later became "Champagne" (with the hit "How 'Bout Us") - now thats cool.

SenseOfDoubt said:

'just as long as we're together' from "for you" was my big awesome classic prince song discovery for last year. all this time, i haven't really noticed what a funky little gem it is.

I think I'll snatch them both up. Thanks, y'all.

truth be told, i generally listen to for you more than prince

People have already sung the praises of Prince ... so I won't repeat.

Just having It's Gonna Be Lonely and Still Waiting (both very poignant and vulnerable Prince songs) is worth it. And of course, I Wanna Be Your Lover is a must have. (I really never dug I Feel for You).


But I'm a huge For You fan too. Just seeing having his starting point as a solo artist is worthwhile. My favorites on this album are Soft and Wet (CLASSIC Prince raunchiness. Love this song and just played it last week. . The lyrics...oh the lyrics) and So Blue, oh my God, such Melancholy. Love it. The others are listenable and tolerable.

Anxiety said:

Yep. I was (for a long time), unsure if I shall get "For You", but I am really glad i did it.

I want to point out the accoustic "Crazy You", the song is just playing at this very moment... in a loop. It sounds "modern" to me, this "water-drop-sound" is very nice. And the P's voice, too...

Unfortunately the running-time is not too long. But who will demand it from a - how old was he then? - 19 year old.

I think especially this very old songs have something very special. Like what Anxiety said before: "and the sound of him at the beginning, all simple and stripped down and naive, sounds really really REALLY refreshing to me". Thats absolutely right! I have now all the "Classic" Prince albums (up to Lovesexy), as well as quite a few comps and musicology (more is to follow), but I see myself always return to his first albums. Even at the time when I just had the Greatest Hits, I usually listened to songs from the first four albums. And the Corvette...

Both albums are worth getting.

I especially like "With You". It's such a short little song but I love the opening line.

I've held your hand so many times
But I still get the feeling I felt the very first time

It sounds a bit like a lullaby !

If you have the internet you can go to amazon.com to hear samples of most albums.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/...c&v=glance

SenseOfDoubt said:

1. His band was "Grand Central" not "Central Station"...
2. Champaign (the band which had a hit with that corny ass "How 'Bout Us") is not Champagne (notice the spelling) and thankfully not Prince related in any way...

Neversin.

Neversin said:

ups, thank you. I mixed up everything. ... though, corny or not, very nice song...

Prince is my #3 all-time fav Prince album
"When We're Dancing Close & Slow" is in the top 5 of my all-time fav Prince songs
"I Wanna Be Your Lover," "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad," & "Sexy Dancer" are tons of fun
"Bambi" is a heavy guitar workout
"With You," "Still Waiting," and "It's Gonna Be Lonely" are very romantical
And "I Feel For You" is a light-poppy feel-good tune

For You is a good album, somewhere near my top 10 all-time Prince favs
I love "Just as Long as We're Together," "My Love is Forever," and the guitar-heavy "I'm Yours"
also has several great short & sweet slow tunes: "Baby," "So Blue," and "Crazy You"

Money well spent. The Prince purist such as myself will pick these up fast, they are relatively cheap. Both are eminently listenable.
For You is a satisfactory if touch lightweight feel of the man to come. The sex is toned down here, but comes up in In Love and the hit single. What u get is some standard late 70s pop/funk with mostly breathy falsetto vocals and a blistering array of synthesisers backing most songs, they were his favourite new toy at the time. Its listenable and quite astonishing considering his age, but not very memorable, more exciting is the inner cover art of him naked behind a huge afro and an even huger guitar on a very dodgy looking 70s bed with satinsheets. Trick photography ensures Prince is seen front on, left and right profile. He also quotes how many instruments he played (some less than conventional such as 'handclapsandfingasnapz') Boy is this narcissitic or what. Easily 6 out of 10 stuff
Prince is much better. Theres more grooves and funk in this album. The ballads donyt work, but the extended mixes of Lover and Sexy Dancer do it for me. Prince loses the cuteness of his predecessor, and Prince is experimenting with metal "Why u wanna treat me so bad" and songs about lesbians "Bambi". The cover work is frothy along with 3 or 4 smoochy forgettable ballads, but gems like Sexy Dancer, Lover and I feel 4 U make this an essential purchase, its a s good as Parade or D and P at least but nix the self indulgence. Why u wanna treat me so bad and Bambi are definitely hinting at the dirty mind prince to come as well.

Both are worth buying, as they also preced the next 3 albums, all of which were a masterpiece in their own right.

"For You" is ok...& it is a good album. I think "Prince" is one of his best.

I just listened to the album Prince yesterday. It's definitely worth your money If you find For You, buy it. I have 25 Prince albums, but I'm still looking for that one .

For You- Good make out music

Prince- Good

Both are must haves, hope you picked them up

It honestly makes no sense not to have either of them. This was the man's genesis, so why would you NOT have it?

has anyone ever seen or heard one of those old prince band albums by Champagne or grand Central? I heard that they made albums on local record labels in minneapolis. The only pre-record deal stuff I have heard is the same ol' 94 East stuff and the Prince stuff on the Studio nights bootlegs.

Snap said:

he wrote/arranged this one
with Chaka Khan in mind
(good friend of mines
told me he relied heavily
on the Ask Rufus album
by Rufus & Chaka Khan
during the making of For You)

DirtyChris said:

interesting...
i'll have to check out that Rufus album
thx

potroastpony said:

I dont know if there was any, apparently, Champagne only went into a studio once, and where that record is unknown, the next time they went to Moonsound as it was cheaper and well thats history. Apparently some of the 94 East stuff may have been recorded in late 75 and some as late as 79, despite the 1977 date most put on it. Either way, Pre For You material is only good from a nostalgic point of view. If For You was a bit unremarkable it was giant strides ahead of this stuff. For You to me is the start of his INDIVIDUAL sound, and Prince is the start of his genius.