Personally i consider The Gold Experience as Princes last great album.

I know, there are some people who rave about The Rainbow Children, but for me thats an album that irritates me beyond anything.

Personally my favourite albums since 1995 (in terms of listening pleasure) are all obligational or obscure albums. They are:

Chaos and Disorder: apart from the 2 last songs, i hear a Prince who is just enjoying himself playin music, vivid, lively.

The Vault - Old friends 4 sale: the same goes up for this album. Prince sounds like he is having fun playing blues and jazz in a band-setting.

One Nite Alone (vocals and piano): Nice to hear him this way for a turn, intimate, sober, and i think he succeeds better with this then he did with 'The Truth'.

Mine best cd is purple rain and plannet earth cd to.

My favourites are and will be....

1 The Rainbow Children (a masterpiece)
2 Planet Earth
3 3121
4 One Nite Alone
5 The Truth
6 The Vault

My fav's since '95 are

1) Chaos & Disorder
2) The Vault
3) Musicology

not in any particular order...

let's skip down memory lane, shall we?

"Gold" single - Heard the b-side, and thought it was terrible.. first Prince song to EVER make me think twice.. but, i loved the album, and passed it off as a throwaway
Exodus - When i first got it, LOVED the artwork, but the music was somewhat of a letdown. As i grew older, i began to appreciate it ALOT more.
Girl 6 - While not a proper album, we all bought it.. when i first heard it, i thought "She Spoke 2 Me" was KILLER, but the other new tracks were lame.. especially the title track
Chaos & Disorder - Found out about it from that old "Prince Family" hotline, and was excited.. then heard "Dinner With Delores" on the radio, and thought "yeeah, this album will be nice!".. finally bought a copy, LOVED the cover.. and the music.. sort of underwhelmed.. but, it was a "contract" album, so i passed it off and waited for the next one...
Emancipation - i was VERY excited about this album, from the magazine interviews, the concert that aired on MTV, BET, VH1.. it was even MORE exciting going into the store, buying it, taking it home, and listening to all of it.. but.. i kept trying to find a track that i genuinely liked as a whole, and couldn't.. the music left a poor aftertaste that took years to get rid of
Crystal Ball/The Truth/Kamasutra - A nice package, diverse.. it was fun hearing this stuff for the first time, and i pull it out every now and then.. time made me forget how pissed off i was when i saw it on sale in shops and hadn't received MY copy yet.. at least i got a t-shirt!
Newpowersoul - While i got it as a surprise gift from a girl who had a crush on me, i was totally disappointed by the album.. when she came over and gave it to me, and i listened to it for the first time, i had to force a smile.. she probably thought "why is he into THIS guy? this music is terrible!"
The Vault - Would blast "It's About That Walk" & "Sarah" in my car when it was released, but haven't listened to the album in years
Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic - i bought into the hype, and i TRIED to like it, but i was kidding myself. the album sucked, and hasn't aged well
Rainbow Children - Hated it the first time i heard it at PP, and haven't liked it since
One Night Alone - Had it's charm, but no. Still play a few tracks, but it's charmless
One Nite Alone.. Live - Awful. Listened to it once
Xpectation - Some of it is kind of nice, but no.
C-NOTE - Listened to it once, never again
The Chocolate Invasion - Rehash of NPGMC stuff. Didn't like them when they were released to the club, and still don't
The Slaughterhouse - See above
N.E.W.S - Bland, listened to twice, and filed away somewhere
Musicology - Was really excited about this one.. only to be letdown yet again..
3121 - I actually ENJOYED this album.. and still play it quite a bit
Planet Earth - Hasn't really sparked the "wow" factor yet.

so yeah..
1. 3121
2. Crystal Ball
3. Exodus

Either The Rainbow Children or 3121

The Rainbow Children, Musicology, 3121 and Planet Earth.

I drove 600 miles yesterday during a trip down the Music Highway between Nashville,Tn and Memphis,TN. In the CD player was Planet Earth,Musicology,3121,TRC, and Rave. After I get the real PE on Tuesday,I will replace the fake one and leave the rest.

1996- Chaos and Disorder- Greatest Prince album you have never heard.
1996- Emancipation- Soul music for the 90s
1997- Crystal Ball- Some of you talk about filler? Crystal Ball was filler on steroids. Hated it !
1997 - The Truth -Some of the best Prince music of the 1990s. Its shame it was released in that manner because it was excellent.
1998 NPS- Excellent album with few moments of WTF. This album will come back to haunt all of us when Prince is gone.
1999- Rave- Fun diverse album that most miss because they think they are a music critic.
2001-TRC- Prince's "Fuck U" album done with a spiritual flavor. The last 3 songs are neo-classic Prince.
2004- Musicology- The Rise and Fall of Prince you say ? Don't call it a comeback cause Ive been here for years !
2006- 3121- Neo-Funk classic
2007- Planet Earth-

New Power Soul
The Rainbow Children
3121

These are some of Prince's most enjoyable & listenable albums all the way through.

All of them, really, until "Musicology", "3121" & "Planet eatrh" who r just commercial fill-ins 4 me.

enjoyed most and most often:


Planet Earth
Musicology


and I suppose 2/3 of Emancipation for about 2 months after it came out.

in no particular order, these three...

The Rainbow Children
3121
Come (some of us heard Come after TGE)

honorable personal mention...

Emancipation


.
[Edited 7/23/07 3:21am]

Planet Earth
3121
Chocolate Invasion
Musicology