purplesweat said:

No, it's overrated because Prince has done better before it and after...

Overrated: Parade/Lovesexy/Gold
Underrated: 3121

jtfolden said:

Matter of opinion.

purplesweat said:

You should have remembered that when you told people to stop listing it as overrated.

Overrated: 3121

Underrated: Graffiti Bridge

Overrated: Lovesexy

Underrated: New Power Soul

I realize I'm in a very small minority with those picks, but that's just my opinion.

Overrated
Commercially: Diamonds and pearls
Fan Base: Rainbow children / Come

Underrated:
Commercially: / The gold experience
Fan Base: Chaos and disorder

JoeTyler said:

Based on the info I gathered, I agree with the commerically underrated albums. But it couldn't be helped with TGE. Prince was too wrapped up in Emancipation to really care about promoting an album he'd tried to get across for a few years... not to mention fought to release.

As for Come, I'll be the judge of that once I give the album a few more listens. When I first asked everyone about getting albums, Come didn't come up for a long while. So that gave me the impression that fans underrated it or didn't care too much about it... but I guess that was in comparison to others they consider "must haves" (1999 and SOTT to name a couple).
I'll soon see what's what after I get into it... but it might be a while.

overrated: Controversy and ATWIAD
underrated: Come and Batman and Chaos & Disorder
[Edited 5/7/07 11:13am]

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

I do like Come, I think is an interesting album, with mature lyrics and a dark, sensual production, but I just think that the material, the songs, aren't just as good as the ones on past albums. I've never understood why many fans prefer Come over , TGE or Emancipation.

Overrated by fans--Gold
Overrated by public--Diamonds & Pearls

Underrated by Fans--New Power Soul/Chaos & Disorder
Underrated by public--Prince. the songs get airplay (particularly I wanna be your lover) but it's an album you never really hear about

NDRU said:

I think that's because despite being a very solid, good album, there's nothing particularly stellar or original about it. It's just a very good version of the kind of rock and soul/funk that was very prevalent at the time. There's nothing forward-thinking or boundary pushing about it (like everything that followed for almost a decade). It's the album For You was trying to be. With Prince, he perfected that and needed to get that out of his system.

Overrated: Lovesexy (especially among fans)

Underrated: Chaos and Disorder (I will defend to the death the importance of this album)

RZR said:

yeah, it's kind of "pre-Prince." He hadn't quite found his sound until Dirty Mind.

But song for song it's great.

NWF said:

I wouldn't call it "important" but I do think it's very unfairly bashed.

NDRU said:

Nah, fuck that. It's important because of its to the record company that had been enslaving him.

I have to list 2 in each category
Overrated: Chaos and Disorder and For You
Underrated: Exodus and Emancipation

Same pics as you, NWF!

Overrated: Lovesexy
Underrated: Chaos & Disorder
[Edited 5/7/07 13:08pm]

Overrated (doesn't mean these albums aren't good):

1. 3121. Some good stuff (Fury), mixed with trite, insipid material (Te Amo Corazon) and songs that that sound like a Prince impersonator trying to "do Prince" (Lolita).

2. SOTT. Not because it's not great, but because it's become the crtics darling (mostly for good reason). Almost universally hailed as his best album by the critics, I just think the SOTT mythology by those purportedly in the loop is overkill. Everyone's on the bandwagon.

3. Musicology. A nice comeback to the commercial mainstream. Nice songs, but really tough to get really excited about.

Underrated

1. For You. A personal favorite. Isn't discussed much. Cohesive and really no weak songs, though Prince would go on to more interesting albums.

2. Purple Rain. I know, it's ridiculous to say this because PR really can't be underrated in terms of sales and exposure. But, I think because PR is the masses (the casual fans) link to Prince, a lot hardcore Prince fans seem to directly or indirectly dismiss it. But, it's a tight album, with a stellar set of songs, the weakest being the title track.

3. Controversy. For some reason overshadowed by its early Prince brethren Dirty Mind. It's not perfect, but I think it is somewhat underrated.

4. Around the World in A Day. Seems to be Prince fans' love/hate album. So I guess, underrated to some, overrated to others. I'm in the love camp.

5. The rest of 1999. The singles were great, no doubt. But, the non-singles, IMO, are twice as good. Those who never ventured beyond Little Red Corvette, Delrious, 1999, have missed some of the best Prince songs ever recorded.

6. Emancipation. It's a mess, really. And there's a lot of crap. But within that crap are 10-12 songs that make it all worth it.

NWF said:

I don't hear the music carrying that message, though, except maybe Had U as a sexual metaphor for the WB struggle.

NDRU said:

Well I heard that Dinner With Delores was actually a metaphor for his battle with WB too.

MendesCity said:

Yeah! But that's not to say that these albums are bad. I pretty much dig everything Prince since the very beginning. Here and there I'll come across some weak stuff, but it's better than a whole lot of other artists.

NWF said:

okay, i could hear that. Also, I Rock Therefore I Am.

Overrated: Purple Rain
Underrated: For You

Overrated by fans--Parade
Underrated by populace--Parade

Giovanni777 said:

The Gold Experience is criminally over-rated by the fans here. 'Dolphin' is the biggest pile of plop he's ever done. It's worse than the title track to 'Graffiti Bridge' - it really, really is.

And yes - Newpower Soul is completely under-rated. More than half the songs are fantastic - which is a better ratio than I'd offer the atrocious Emancipation.

Overrated: Dirty Mind/Parade/Musicology/Gold
Underrated: For You/Around the world in a day/Rainbow Children/The Vault
[Edited 5/8/07 11:40am]

krayzie said:

Over rated: Dirty Mind
Under rated: For You

I have two three-way ties
Overrated:

-Purple Rain
-The Batman Soundtrack (I swear that there are people who actually like this and I thought it was a piece of junk)
-Diamonds and Pearls (seriously, there are only three good songs on there)

Underrated:

-Around The World in A Day (an experimental masterpiece)
-3121 (people ache for the old Prince, but I like the maturity that this album represents
-The Gold Experience

An honorable mention for underrated album goes to O+>