Is there a difference between what you think the best Prince album is and the one that's your favorite? What are they? Why?

For me, his best is SOTT. Double album, but the songs don't go on overly long like they do on 1999. He was at his creative peak, lyrically and in the studio. All of the songs are a top-notch cross between experimentation and solid song-craft.


My favorite, though, is Gold. It was the first Prince album that I loved the minute it came out. Yeah, it's very glossy, but I think that's one of the things that's great about it. Sometimes that's an itch that needs to be scratched. And for me, it's by far his most-solid 90's album, beginning to end. The only one that truly excites me, and makes me proud to be a fan in such a dismal era of Prince music. Also, it's the only album I could ever play for my friends that they would dig. So there are a lot of memories (of a really fun period in my life when it came out) that are associated with it.
[This message was edited Sun Oct 6 22:41:12 PDT 2002 by AaronForever]

This is a VERY good topic, Aaron! Lots of people can't distinguish between best and favorite. In the Prince case, my favorite album is a tie between 1999 and Lovesexy, and I believe that both are his best too.

However, in other cases, it is not so. For example, "1999" is my favorite song on "1999." It is the song that turned me into a hardcore Prince fan, and subsequently, a hardcore music fan. However, I believe that "Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)" is the best song on the album. The juxtaposition of such a cold, robotic beat with such emotional vocal delivery is very effective, as is the rhyming scheme and the alliteration in the lyrics.

Other examples of best vs. favorite:

Madonna:

Best album: Ray of Light
Favorite album: Like a Prayer

Kylie Minogue:

Best album: Imposibble Princess
Favorite album: Fever

Hmm, good question.
After a little soul searching, my answer is: No.
Prince's best album: Purple Rain.
My favorite Prince album: Purple Rain.
Why?
Purple Rain is his best because of its excellent musicianship, recording artistry and songwriting.
It's my favorite Prince album for all the same reasons plus it ties into so many college memories.
Having said that, I still can see how you could choose one as his best and another as your favorite. I guess it's about that personal connection and memories attached to a particular album that makes the difference.

Peace

I could almost say the same thing about 1999 and SOTT.
But "Hot Thing'' and "It'' took away from the rest of the album just a bit for me.

Yes, there's a difference for me.

His best is probably SOTT. It's just SO solid, top to bottom (with the exception of Play in the Sunshine). The songs flow together well, cover different ground, sound distinct yet emote a similar mood, and like you said the lyrics are great.

My favorite, though I love SOTT dearly, is 1999. Which is strange b/c I don't even listen to it all the way through usually.

Delirious is irritating
International Lover makes me laugh (but that's intentional, right?)
Free has to catch me on the right day
1999 has just been played too damn much by the rest of the world... SKIP
Little Red Corvette - still kinda hard to skip this one, but possible
Let's Pretend We're Married - funky as all hell, & who can pass up that whole "fuck" soliloquize @ the end?
All the Critics Love You In NY - always sounds fresh to my ear, like nothing I've ever heard
Something in the Water - it's raw, emotional, angry, just friggin' exciting
Lady Cab Driver - I ain't even gotta say it!
Automatic - one of the best on the album
DMSR - one of his best, period (always in my top 5)

Eventhough I sound VERY hit & miss on 1999, I just love it to death. I pick it up, I know it's gonna pump me up & I can't go wrong with it.

Damn I'm long winded...




edited b/c my dumb ass forgot to include Something in the Water...
[This message was edited Mon Oct 7 0:16:41 PDT 2002 by CalhounSq]

Also, the time period plays a role in the fondness I have for 1999, I'm sure. Everything was happening @ that time (before the BIG blowup) - The Time, Vanity 6, Sheila (I think, right?). Seems like everywhere you looked, there was something Prince had touched & it was all hot. I remember being really excited about him, waiting for the videos to come on (we had this one channel that would play the same tape of videos every day, so we counted on it like clockwork). Plus, PR hadn't come out yet so everyone & their brothers uncle wasn't all gaga yet - it felt special somehow. I don't know man, he was killing everybody...

CalhounSq said:

I'm glad to see that you and I share a favorite! I actually love every track on the album, too!

Definitely a difference...

The "Best" Prince album/CD would(or should) be one which displays artistic strengths consistently throughout...one which seems the most coherent and cohesive while still attaining enough musical diversity to adequately showcase all of Prince's various voices...and, perhaps, in addition can stand alone as the definitive album which by itself can act as an exhibit of who and what Prince truly was musically...and in my opinion, SOTT comes closest to achieving this goal...

The "Favorite" album, though, need not encompass all of that, or any of it...it's simply the album which speaks most directly to you individually, the one that pushes the most musical buttons inside you...the one that, for whatever reason, still resonates with you the most, and continues to do so years after its release...for me, Controversy probably fits that definition the best.

wellbeyond said:

Very well put. Best entails all of those elements you specified: diversity, cohesion, uniqueness, etc. I think SOTT is right up there as well. Favorite, on the other hand, is so subjective. It simply implies a personal connection to an album, regardless of its makeup.

Just bringing it back to the first page, I like reading these answers...

wellbeyond said:

I don't see how I could put it any better than that really.
I have for a while thought of Lovesexy as the best, but I suppose that when you factor in the sheer diversity that SOTT offers that it would have to be the best. Although Lovesexy is such an amazing listening experience for me, I'd agree that SOTT is marginally the better work.