In your own opinion, name your favorite Prince album? Why is it your favorite album? Where were you when you first played it?

one of my favorites has to be "The Gold Experience"
i heard the song 319 in the movie "Strip Tease" and fell in love

Haven't we been here...

Talking Book

Sign of the Times.

I think I was probably 14 when I first heard it, maybe 13. It was either 1994 or 95. I bought it on cassette because I didn't have a CD player yet. The thing I remember most was playing it while I was sitting on my bed playing video games and I was totally mesmerized by Play in the Sunshine, Housequake, Dorothy Parker, It, Starfish, Slow Love, and Hot Thing. All of those songs were amazing to me. During Hot Thing, my parents yelled upstairs that it was time to go. Then I remember going out to eat at some restaurant that night with my parents, and the whole time I had Slow Love in my head. That album was the only thing on my mind for weeks.

sign of the times

slm4m said:

Is it me or does this question not really make sense?? Cuz U cant opinionate on a statement. U wouldnt say, "In my opinion I ate noodles 4 dinner last night". Silly.

But anyway...

I dont have a favourite album.

My joint top 3 are;

"Sign of The Times"...- Warners could have said yes 2 Princes planned 3 CD album that was due shortly after Parade and we would have had argueably the Greatest album ever released but instead the following year it was edited and in the end we had 2 settle 4 this classic. (sigh) Life is hard.

"symbol"...- Probably Princes most underrated album. Certainly on level terms with SOTT on quality of music and freshness only 2 be let down by 1 of Princes suckingly suckiest of ideas he ever dared 2 let suck on a Prince pop record. Rap. (puke mungus)

"TheRainbowChildren"...- The first Prince album 4 over seven years and it was a belter. Certainly the most inspired and spiritual Prince album ever. Lots of colour, lots of powerful music altho it seemed 2 me that some of the melodies seemed a bit too familiar and that Prince was being a bit 2 cryptical even 4 his standards.

Yes, bad structure.0

I can't pick 1 I'll pick 3.

Purple Rain- short,sweet, no filler, no cryptic bullshit.

SOTT- If I was Ur Girlfriend-ultimate quirky love song, The Cross-ultimate spiritual rock song, Housequake-ultimate party song, SOTT-ultimate statement song, IT-ultimate sex sex sex and more sex song...this album is just ultimate everything (except Play In The Sunshine)

Gold- back with a vengeance, IMO! Where did that come from?! Endorphinmachine kicks my ass, P Control was like nothing I'd ever heard b4, Gold was moving, TMGITW was the song that made me a fan at age 10, couple songs I don't like (We March) but the rest is great.

Come is also good, in its own dark,moody way...underrated album,IMO.

Third best (2 way tie) Purple Rain & Around the World in a Day. Hey - sorry, 1999 just doesn't wear as well with me as those 3 do.


Sign of the Times is a classic and to me his second best work but not by far from not being in the top spot. Housequake, Forever in my life, I could never take the place of your man, SOTT title track, Adore, If I were U're girlfriend, etc...)...

However, surprize - got to go with LoveSexy (I Wish U Heaven, Anna Stesia, Love Sexy, When 2 R in Love)...come on!... This is the CD that I can put on and enjoy top to finish especially the hypnotic Anna Stesia.

LOVESEXY

Prince had alrady gotten my attention before this, but Lovesexy was the first full album I owned and listened to all the way through. I was about 13 at the time and it took me awhile to process all the sounds (at first I thought it was a bit jumbled).

But shortly thereafter, I began collecting everything and was a full blown fan. This album represents how I feel when I'm doing my very best. It's spiritual, trippy, unified, bold, sexual, deep and funny- everything I love about Prince's greatest work.

I don't know if anything will ever top this.

TRON said:

Ditto, this is pretty much my story too.

LOVESEXY "til my day is done..."

That's awesome feltbluish. How old were you? Was this your first Prince album?

There is no way I can name just one.

My top faves:

Sign O' the Times

Emancipation

Girl 6

Lovesexy

Purple Rain.

Sign O' The Times.
It's a classic, a little bit of everything. As a fan I would loved to have seen the original Crystal Ball released instead, but I can see why it was cut down to a double. Also, if it hadn't been trimmed to a double, we would never have had U Got The Look.
Fav trax: Sign O' The Times, If I Was Your Girlfriend, U Got The Look, The Cross.

The Gold Experience.
Again, it's got a wide range of musical styles (and it kicks ass). Shame Days Of Wild got pulled at at the last minute, but again I can see why - the studio version just sounds weak compared to every live version I've heard.
Fav trax: Dolphin, Endorphinmachine, Shhh, The Most Beautiful Girl In The World.

Around The World In A Day
When I finally got this album I had just started to follow everything the man did. I could not beleive that he could changed direction from Purple Rain like that. I listened to it everyday trying to find some hidden meanings, but just fell in love with his music all over again. So the reason it is so special to me is that it was the first album to really challange me musically.

Mine is a tossup between "Lovesexy" and "1999." Since no one has talked about "1999" yet, I will. This was my first album by any artist. I knew and loved the title track and even had the Backtrax tape with it coupled with "Little Red Corvette." My mom was not big on Prince (in fact she later threated to burn my brother's copy of the Symbol album) so I needed to resort to clandestine methods to get it. I saved up my allowance and slipped the money to my brother who then bought me the tape. It has been a classic to me ever since. The first side is filled with incredibly catchy songs, but from there on it meanders into darker, more experimental territory. I've read someone say that "Let's Pretend We're Married" is the dirtiest song on a top 10 album, and I have to agree. "DMSR" is pure funk. "Automatic" is starkly beautiful. "Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)" is simply masterful. The juxtaposition of raw emotion and cold sterility on this song is very striking and effective. "Free" is the prelude to "Purple Rain." "Lady Cab Driver" lays down the funk thick but is even topped by the next track, "All the Critics Love U in New York," which is perhaps the funkiest recording that Prince has done. It closes with the campy and fun "International Lover." This album stylistically is more suited to me than any album by any artist, as synth and funk are my two favorite genres of music. I owe a lot to this album, as it started me on the musical journey that has continued to this day.

Moonbeam said:

Hey Moonbeam, nice to see you back. I haven't seen you on here for a while, but it's nice to see your comments on here again.

My favorites would have to be Gold Experience and Dirty Mind. Gold Experience for all the reasons everyone else has said (plus it is so fun), and Dirty Mind because that was the cd that got me really into Prince. I had really bad insomnia, and so I turned on the radio and they had a special and they were playing DM in its entirety. I bought it the next day, and have been a Prince fan ever since!
[This message was edited Tue Aug 20 20:23:25 PDT 2002 by monica]

The Rainbow Children - Just love Prince when he is being spiritual.

Sign O The Times for me.I think He Combined the Elements of Himself&also everything else going on in Music rather well here.He took the past&added things that were happening at the time&made it work.also after going through a Hard year in 86 where His Concerts were still tight but I felt His "Parade" Album was very uneven He just wanted to make that Music Statement&I think He did.He made a Album that whenever there is a Debate about His Best or any top 100 of all time debates this Album will always get a nod I truly believe. next up for me is "Dirty Mind" still the most Honest Album he has made IMHO.He found His Voice on that Album to me."1999" is where He found His Sound.He was in the "ZONE" on that Album IMHO.but with Sign o the times He made a Album that could still be talked about for many years to come.

For me, it's got to be .

Like a lot of Prince's music, I didn't really get into this CD at first. It stayed on my CD shelf for a few years, improving with age like a nice bottle of wine. Later, I discovered that musically, it has a richness unlike any other of his 80's or 90's releases.

The song, "Sexy MF" is a great example. His rap is fresh, positive, and full of sexual urgency. The horns are tight! I'm spent by the end of the song, then you get the gentle segue to "Love 2 The 9's." You think you're getting a break with a sweet ballad, then he kicks your ass again midway through with the Mayte - TonyM rap. Then he ends the song with a sweet falsetto.

Needless to say, "The Max" is one of my all-time favorites. It features my favorite Prince singing voice - I call it his true voice - with a tight mix of rap, piano, pantented Prince screams. And when I saw him perform the song live in Oakland, '98, I was hooked. That was when this CD became my favorite Prince CD.

The Kirstie Alley exchange is cute, and I've always felt that it gives a fairly accurate sense of what it would be like to have Prince on the telephone.

What can I say, "Blue Light" and "I Wanna Melt With U" are classics too. In fact, "I Wanna Melt With U" is one of the most quintessential Prince jams I know. If you can't sell that song to a new listener, there's probably NO HOPE!

Later, "The Continental" seals the deal with me, replete with the Carmen Electra rap. That song has probably stirred my bedtime imagination more than any other Prince song.

No review of the CD could be complete without mentioning "And God Created Woman." Even an "atheist" feels religious when listening to this song. Really, it makes me wish I believed in a god, cause that song defines how I feel about the gift of a woman in a man's life.

___

One more thing that defines as my favorite Prince CD of all time:

There is not a single "weak" or bad song on the whole disc. It's packed with 16 great songs. I didn't even mention how great "Damn U" and "The Sacrifice of Victor" are.

Damn, that was/is a great CD!

Sign O The Times - hands down.

It was incredibly exciting to watch Prince branch out into so many different directions and draw from so many different musical styles with this album. Tho he's often shelved in the R&B section at record stores, the album transcended (and embraced) R&B in every way.

When I heard these songs, and found myself attracted to musical styles I otherwise previously avoided. I was amazed by Prince's ecclecticism. I continue to sink my teeth into this album to this day. The whole reason I started listening to vastly different music was becuase of SOTT.

SOTT-P at the quirky,funky apex of his creativity

I could neva get sick of these kinda threads. Like the rst I ain't got ONE lp by the brotha I mean c'mon now,,lets get real. So here we go(In no special orda):

Parade-Read Jill Scott's review. If only they put 'An honest man'(The movie version), Mia Bocca, Alex de paris, Oldfriends4sale, Claire Fisher's strings interludes, Love or $$$ and the rest of the extended/demo versions. Now that would be the cherry of my pie, hell WORST thang being a Prince youngster fan is you don't have his old 'singles/12'inchs/b-sides/outtakes' and etc etc etc etc.

SOTT-Ya'll have just spoke 4 me.

1999-Dark, Clever, Mysterious, DeepBlueFunky, Edgy and a MASTERPIECE.

For you & Prince-I love his STYLE in those 2 lps(Straight 70's r&b/funk/soul).

The Crystal Ball/The truth-Its very GOOD lp. Hear it without bitching and I'm sure you'll LOVE it.

Bonjour,

For me it's, of course, "Sign O' The Times" where Prince shows that he had understood all the faces of the american black music.
"Sign O' The Times" is The Flower of Prince.

1999 - I love the electro-funk sound and his overall attitude during that time.
Sign O' the Times - This was the 1st album I bought and the album that made me a fan (not that there was anything wrong with his previous work). Excellent arrangment and mix of jazz, funk, rock and r&b.

The Rainbow Children. I heard it a couple months before I turned 17 when my stepdad played it one night. I got my own copy now. I've always had respect for Prince but never really a fan until last year.