Great thread! Very interesting to read the different opinions. I'm probably in the 80s camp - for my money the body of work that he put out up to Lovesexy, at a rate of an album a year for an entire decade is pretty much unsurpassed by just about anyone.

For You
Prince
Dirty Mind
Controversy
1999
Purple Rain
ATWIAD
Parade
SOTT
Lovesexy

Where else in music has any artist put out 10 albums as great as those in as many years?

I think a lot of the thing with music is that often people's favourites are the one's they first hear, that first gets someone into an artist.

I'd have to say I wasn't as keen on a lot of the 90s stuff, but will readily admit that was at least in part to not giving albums enough of a go, after feeling a bit let down with all the lazy journalism 'return to form' reviews.

So basically thought the 90s stuff was patchier, with maybe a good album as a whole coming from each 2 or 3. Emancipation probably had a great single album in it for example.

I didn't think Musicology was quite the return to form promised, but do think 3121 is - my favourite Prince album for years.

Enjoy discovering it all for yourself tho' - but these shows really make me want to revisit old stuff, and give more stuff another crack.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

I'm always crap at describing music, so apologies in advance!

But for me, Parade just works as whole, to listen to from start to finish as a complete work, perhaps more than most. Gapless tracks just playing perfectly into one another.

It's just a great fusion of funk and pop I think, and just effortlessly simple almost, the most obvious track being 'Kiss'. The first side is probably more funk - although funk probably isn't the right word - it's just about as close as you could get to distilling that absolutely pure 'paisley sound'. And then there's Venus De Milo, which is just a beautiful little piano instrumental.

The second side is just great pop - Kiss, Mountains, Anotherloverholenyohead, and finishes with the sublimely beautiful 'Sometimes it snows in April'.

Just opinion, but for me, as I said, really is flawless, and timeless.

Every Prince fan should have Parade & Controversy.

And i make no apologies 4 saying this ..... Batman!!

iain said:

JONI MITCHELL

I totally agree about Parade, though... that albums is good enough to create an incurable Prince obsession.

Okay ... for the last time:

go buy DIRTY MIND
after that buy 1999

These two releases are the most critical releases in Prince's musical development. Dirty Mind and 1999 are without any doubt my favourite two releases.
A lot of the albums after 1988 are important too for Prince's development: The Downward Spiral


And the first two releases of The Time are really great too (The Time / What Time Is It)

jtfolden said:

It must be a pretty short list tho', and unlikely to ever be added to, given that it takes most bands at least a couple of years to come up with a new album.

I must redo my Prince playlist in iTunes before I lost them - I'd managed to whittle it down to 48 tracks, and that was hardly any stuff from the 90s.

iain said:

Thanx... It's so fun how it catches on so quickly. I don't think my 1st "what should I get" thread got this much action.
I think Musicology is better than 3121 just because I seem to go more for the "organic" sound it has. I think 3121 is a little more innovative, examples being the title track, Lolita, Love, The Word & The Dance... even Get on the Boat fits in... but I dunno. It's given me a vibe lately that make me not want to pick it up. I feel kinda bad about that, considering how I loved it when I heard it the first time.

I think I've inspired a few people to check into a few albums they haven't in a while, and that's always good to hear.
I'll most likely have an even distribution of 80's and 90's material in my collection. I'm an 80's buff with both music & movies, so I'm likely to get quite a few 80's albums. I have my eyes on 1999, SOTT & Parade.
As for the 90's, , Emancipation & Rave (although my motivation's kinda waned over time)... I saw an interview just yesterday from 1999 and Prince called it a joyous record and the fact its "produced by Prince" leaves me a tiny bit curious.


I'll be the judge of that . During the course of the name change, I've heard that a lot of fans "got off the ride". Sure, TGE & Come are different from Purple Rain and his hits from the 80's... still doesn't mean he's completely lost his touch, as it seems a lot of people believed (and therefore left).
With the exception of the NPG operators, TGE is a pretty tight album with a number of different messages to send across.

The story with me & that album is complex. We've had a complicated relationship from day 1. It kinda rubbed me the wrong way at first and therefore, I shelved it for a few weeks. I got tempted to pick it up again... and :poof: I understand what it was entailing about Prince... then the music connected with my own life, so becoming my favorite.
Come can probably change that with time, but we'll see. Its a good album to chill with opposed to the overally exciting "Gold Experience"... the list goes on and on and will continue to...

I want to have SOTT in my collection based on the fact everyone says its awesome (much like they did for TGE). That worked out so well, I figure, why not?

iain said:

Yeah, these days either the person/band takes forever to build an album's worth of material or the label screws with them too much.

I never read the threadproperly yesterday ..... i thought those were what u had , now i realise u only have PR,GE,Music ..... etc.

Well i would like to say that IMHO Sign of the times & 1999 are 2 of the greatest albums of all time & i'm saying that as a person who likes all kinds of music from some folk to rap ,Drum N bass through to rock & owns not far off 1000 albums . I am not 1 of those people who just listen to Prince & nothing else (not that thats a bad thing) so my point is i'm a massive Prince fan (like alot of us on here) but also a massive music fan full stop.

4get chronological order & go in this order.....

SOTT ..... masterpiece of different styles.
1999 ..... Funky dance classic
Controversy ..... Probably my favourite opening to any P album (controversy,Sexuality & do me baby)
Parade .... In places very different to any other P album but brilliant
Lovesexy .... still fantastic to listen too .... i no, alphabet ,i wish u heaven ..... (i'll never get bored of these)
Batman ..... u dont even give it a mention BUT The Future & Scandalous are masterpieces.

..... My fave P album of the 90's .....hmmmm , probably ahead of GE ..... then come.

iain said:

Some artists that come pretty close:

David Bowie
The Beatles
The Stones
Parliament / Funkadelic
Earth Wind & Fire
Led Zeppelin
James Brown
Al Green
Sly Stone
Neil Young

AlphabetST1977 said:

Before I get super serious with my collecting where I'm like "I have to track down this one cuz I can't find it anywhere", I'll call 'em as I see 'em. If I see something that's on my list at a local place, I'll get it. I don't care about saving a buck (although getting them used has proved helpful to me).

90% of the people here have told me to go in chronological order. Based on what I have, it just ain't gonna happen, okay? It's good to hear a little something different, though. I think I already have a diverse set of albums. IN the words of my Ecology professor (who uses this scenerio a lot for a lot of things we discuss in class) "If a Prince fan were to stop me on the street and ask what albums I own", he/she'd think my collection is unusual.

I've got 2 from each decade (80's, 90's and 00's). The messages are a bit similar between a few of them, but they're all very different.
Although, PR & ATWIAD sound a little alike.
Come is unlike anything I already own. It has such an interesting feel to it like nothing else... I'm reading the lyrics & I like what I'm reading. It helps make things a little clearer for me, since its difficult to hear what he's singing half the time.
TGE is very different also... but in some tracks, just screams "wow" to me. Shh, P. Control, Dolphin, Hate U & Gold (part of the reason why I considered it besides the constant "prodding" from the people here, thanx guys )... just to name a few, are among the most incredible songs I've ever heard.
Everything I own already gives me something else to look into. Although I'm starting to fall into the same category with the majority here cuz I rarely give 3121 & Musicology a listen anymore (and I've only had them for close to 2 months)... I guess my motivation's gone done cuz they don't scream "wow". Well Musicology does cuz it has so much personality, but I feel lost on the 2 tracks "The Marrying Kind"/"If was the man in ur life"... heh, that alone is kept me from picking it up. He makes it a two-parter by running them into one another... but I just don't get why.

1999, based on the 3 tracks I know relatively well (1999/Little Red Corvette/Let's Pretend we're married), is pure 80's sound... therefore I must have it in my collection (and a lot of people have praised it).
I'm looking at SOTT based on the fact people praise it. I want to see if there's any truth to the raving. not that I doubt u, guys. You haven't steered me wrong yet.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

so you might as well pick up the first two albums, and then you'll have 2 from the 70's as well!

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

Yes, you must have 1999! And I think you'll see we're not lying about SOTT, another must have for any true fan. SOTT is still one of the most respected double albums in music history, along with 1999.

Honestly DreamyPop, you should maybe hold off just a bit on Sign 'O' The Times, and here's why: I like Prince's albums as their own experience, and they're all very different from one another. But if I had to name one "the best," I would say SOTT. It seems like you're very interested in Prince's music as a means of understanding Prince as a person, and connecting with what he's saying. No single album accomplishes that as much as SOTT. It's funky, it's fun, it's brooding, it's deep...Prince reveals more about his innerworking on this album than probably anywhere else. It reflects his world view ("Sign 'O' The Times"), it reflects how he relates to others ("If I Was Your Girlfriend," "Forever In My Life"), it reflects how he honestly perceives himself (nearly every song, in some way).

So the reason I say you may want to wait a bit is because it may cause you to appreciate some of his other albums a bit less. Most of us had years of build-up and getting to know Prince before he released that record. I'm glad you're giving each record a chance to sink in before you pick up more. Maybe you should get one of the earlier records (like Prince or Dirty Mind) to appreciate the way young Prince thought, and how he was struggling to find himself. Dirty Mind was a bit extreme, but it's what he had to do to get people's attention and establish who he was. Once that was taken care of he started really figuring himself out. By SOTT I think he had come to terms with who he was...as a musician, as a superstar, as a person. He had fired the Revolution and had his first real battle with Warner Bros (over 'Crystal Ball'). It's almost as if everything before SOTT was leading up to it, and everything since was somehow hinted at within its 16 tracks.

When you do get it, listen to it when you have some time and can really give it your attention. I'll be interested to see what you think...

renfield said:

Wow... that's all I can say about your post. In fact I'm gonna copy/paste it and save it on my hard drive to keep it in mind.

Most likely, I'll only get the albums I see in stores for a while. Then when I'm getting more desperate, I'll start mail-ordering them and such. So chances are very good that I won't find it easily and I'll mail-order it (along with Emancipation, which I'm still wanting to get a lot).
Not that I ever asked, but I'm glad to hear the whole story about what SOTT stands for. I had no idea it was supposed to be THAT good... and important to Prince. Wow.
Heh, I feel like I'm already appreciating 3121 a lot less than I did initially becuz everything else is just so much better. No offence 2 Prince @ present. And I'm glad to hear that someone really knows & appreciates my approach. I keep so many things in mind when I listen to his material, and I really like songs where he connects with his audience, but more on a personal level, one friend 2 another= TGE (to me).
I most likely won't find it for a while, but when I do, I'll definitely give it every ounce of attention I gave everything that came b4 it (meaning I bought b4 it). I feel like I owe it to Prince so his efforts weren't all 4 nothing. And almost always (we're talking 95% of the time), he shows me a good time. And trust me, you guys will be the first to know.

Emancipation was on sale for 2 euro here in Ireland recently. I bought a copy for a homeless friend of mine who got a new walkman. It's a nice collection but there's nothing really essential on there. The homeless dude liked the spiritual message in one of the tracks but he's already lost it the walkman and the jeans I got for him too. He wants an Arran Jumper now, should I?

Here's another rhetorical question.

Which albums would be good companions to the ones I already own?

[PR/ATWIAD, Come/TGE, Musicology/3121]

Not only because they're chronlogically b4 or after them, but based on their sound.
I already see his brilliance on nearly all of these (3121 is the weakest)... but is there another side to him that I need to own but kinda coincide with these?

And here's an interesting factoid for u guys.
I own 72 CD's (not including 7 mixes I've made), only 6 are Prince albums (7 including "the very best of". I think my collection will be about 12 albums, maybe 15 at most. So I don't think I'll be one of those people who have a big chunk of Prince albums in their collection. Still, I do own more Prince albums than any other single artist... I have that going for me.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

sorry, I'm guessing you're looking for a different answer, but I have to say it again- get SOTT and 1999!

Then go back to the earlier material, to hear a "different" side as you say. If you don't intend to buy everything, I'd say get Dirty Mind and Controversy.

jtfolden said:

Oh please. There are plenty of artists who release albums at astonishing pace, even on major labels. Conor Oberst for instance, or Ryan Adams, etcetera.

iain said:

For You isn't great at all, it isn't even that good. ATWIAD is really uneven, and Controversy contains way too many average and bad songs to be anywhere near "great" (plus it really isn't a great leap forward like previous albums, it's basically DM with better sound).

paisley16 said:

I'm a bit curious as to how far apart Controversy Prince is from 1999 Prince... I get the feeling that they're a lot alike, but their music is about different things.

And with that first statement, you're pretty much telling me "what you're thinking I already know" Couldn't help quoting his lyrics there... that's one of my favorites to quote.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

Not too far imo. I love both, but many will probably tell you Controversy doesn't compare to 1999.

paisley16 said:

I'm guessing u mean that 1999 is miles better than Controversy.

And I believe u...

In the thread where people were ranking his 80's albums, 1999 was just about every list I saw. Someone even commented that another forgot about it and said "replace PR with 1999"... I still think PR is awesome. People are just hard on it cuz it's the album EVERYONE knows about and/or ID's Prince with.

But I still got my loyalties to it cuz right now, its only one of 6 I own. When my collection doubles, it might fall down my ranks below TGE and maybe Come as well... I'll see what happens... but I'll still be crazy about it for quite a while.

I've only heard ATWIAD & Come 3x each, so I don't know where I'll rank them yet. But Come's the most unusual one I own, so different... and the lyrics are definitely unlike any I've seen b4. Especially for Race, Dark and Solo... I've so much to figure out about Solo...

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

Well, so far I think you're doing a good job getting a collection started for each decade... for another 80's album, I'd pick Sign O' The Times, Parade or 1999. I wouldn't bother with anything prior to 1999 until you get that one, though. Prior to that album everything is quite uneven even if they're "classics" and some people love them.

From the 90's, is the closest in feel to the Come/TGE era.

DPR, it's so cool to see the progression you are taking with the albums you are picking up. There is so much music, you can get lost easily in it. Stick to your gut when it comes to picking the CD's you want. I could give you suggestions but I already have them and you have an idea of what you want. I think you'll eventually get all of them or at least hear all of them because Prince is just so damn addicting . I will keep on following your journey. It ain't ova!.

purplecam said:

Aww... I really love u guys and the input you've put on this thread.
I've been taking a tiny break since I gave 3 listens 2 my newest 2 albums... but tonight, I'll put something in and dive back into "the world of Prince"... I miss him.

I'll definitely keep with my gut, but it's always good to hear a little bit about the different albums I'm considering, like their backstories and such. I gives me more things to keep in mind while listening to them.

1999 is still a must. This is just before Prince hit the big time ans was still raw. This has some of the best and most creative music of his career.

The concerts for this tour are also awesome, so I would get this cd next.