ALL of them

Yeah all of them...don't neglect Emancipation

All of the CD's you're considering getting, you should get, including 1999, , The Gold Experience (you'll have to go online like Amazon or eBay to find it) and The Rainbow Children. Look at TRC like it's a story and the CD won't bother you. Good luck on your Purple Journey and keep us updated with what CD's you pick up!

in my opinion after you get purple rain get 1999, Diamonds and pearls, Prince then the symbol album

Hey, like you i am trying to collect all prince albums, i was a fan since i was 16, but after the name change i lost interest a little bit, When i got tickets for 'croke park' i started listening to the hits album a friend gave me and i have become totally hooked again, I lost all my collection of albums over the years so i'm having to start again, when i recieve something in the post i feel like a child at christmas, the only album im finding difficult to get into is emancipation! I plan on purchasing every album but im not even half way there, theres such a long list, so thanks for this thread its helping me alot!

5 Stars absolutely essential
Dirty Mind, 1999, Parade, SOT,

4 Stars Excellent, definetley worth getting
Prince, Controversy, Purple Rain, The Black Album, Lovesexy, The Hits/Bsides, Come, Gold Experience, Emancipation, Musicology, 3121

3 Stars, Good, Worth checking out
For You, ATWIAD, Batman, Graffiti Bridge, Diamonds and Pearls, One Nite Alone Prince Essential, Planet Earth

2 Stars, Mediocre, approach with caution
Love Symbol, The Very Best of, Rave, The Vault, The Rainbow children,

1 Star, Poor Avoid
Choas and Disorder, Newpowersoul, Rave until the year 2000, N E W S

Oh, you gotta get Prince. It's not his best album, but the songs that are good...are damn near awesome. Especially I Wanna Be Your Lover, Sexy Dancer, and Bambi.

blackguitaristz said:

I know.. I was going to skip this because I thought I had most of it covered between the hits and girl 6 etc.... but after listening to contorversy, I realise that do me baby id 3 minutes longer than on the hits/b sides... and frankly had me in tears of joy and laughter.

so yes, 1999 is I realise one that must go on my list, as will Prince

NouveauDance said:

I agree... it's really the post WB stuff I need help with...those NPG releases especially.

thanks for the advice... my next pay check will go towards those three... how do you feel about come?

then i will get myself some vanity 6 (cause its awesome) and the other associates.... damn, I am going to be poor for a long time

I have to say that you should have them all...there have been recent discussion of many of these records being discontinued...

sandraparke said:

ahhh, i know where I can get this for $10 (i'm picking it up today).... that just seems a silly price to me, but hey, who am I to complain. Dirt Cheap CD's, based in Australia I think... not sure where they ship but they are online.

I get sooo frustrated waiting for these cd's.. I often have to get them from the US and it takes forever. I waited six weeks and the the last two I would come home everyday, getting so excited, cause i just had this feeling they were going to arrive..... and no

Anyway, thanks everyone for your input... it is a great help. I feel like I've committed some terrible crime by not buying 1999 first... so i will go pick it up as soon as I have some cash. lol

I will also give rainbow children a shot

Here's my take:

For You: okay album, not a fan of the high voice, but at least 3 great songs here

Prince: okay album, very disco feel. U prolly got most of the good stuff on the Hits cd. This can wait.

Dirty Mind: Essential

Controversy: Essential

1999: Essential, IMO every track is great, there's more than just the hits on this one.

Purple Rain: Essential, every track is a hit IMO

Around the World...: Essential

Parade: Essential

Sign O' The Times: Essential

The Black Album: Some Great, great stuff on here. Get it!

Lovesexy: Great stuff.

Batman: I love it, but it is deffinitely non-essential

Graffiti Bridge: Again some great stuff here, but put it on the back burner until you have the better stuff already

Diamonds & Pearls: the Hits cd's cover this one pretty well, once you have most other stuff, go back and hear the other tracks on this one.

Symbol: I personally love this album. I'd get it ASAP

Come: okay album, "Come" back to this one later

The Gold Experiance: almost Essential. get it sooner ranther than later

Emancipation: I hear lots of negative about this album, but I LOVE it. 36 songs, only a few are sub-par, several are among my all-time favorites.

Chaos & Disorder: IMO half the songs on this CD are GREAT, half are not.

The Truth (bundled with Crystal Ball set): again some great stuff mixed with some okay stuff. I recommend it.

Crystal Ball: If you haven't heard the bootleg songs on this collection, then GET IT! there's some crap remixes on here, and each cd is only like 34 mins each, but some truely great stuff on here.

NewPower Soul: widely considered to be crap, I like quite a bit of it. track this one down eventually

Rave unto the joy fantastic: okay album, some good, some so-so.

Rainbow Children: Definitely a "grower". about 3 songs stood out as great on first listen (Everywhere, She loves me 4 me, Last December) but it was sooo different than what I expected. I'm still not a fan of "Mellow" & "1+1+1=3" (they are not bad though), but this album grew to be one of my favorites. The title track is amazing, the jehova stuff is not IMO overpowering. I'd classify this as "Essential" just be prepaired to let it sink in slowly

Musicology: Some great tracks, some so so.

3121: again, some greatness mixed in with some uninspired.

Planet Earth: follows the trend of the previous two.

The Vault: I like some of the stuff on here, but for the most part it is weak.

also:

NEWS: I've tried to listen to it a few times and was bored with it. I guess long instrumentals aren't my thing, even though "Alexa De Paris" (b-side to "Mountains"), "Venus De Milo", "Father Song", "God (Love Theme)", & "Gamillah" are among my favorite tracks

robinesque said:

Nah, if you can get past the lyrics, the music is very interesting. The Rainbow Children is one of my favorite post-80's Prince albums.

4 words.

SIGN O' THE TIMES.

NouveauDance said:

yes get all the early stuff first, you NEEED 1999.


i think you need it all and the reason is this:

to listen to any album of princes in isolation is to not follow the journey. any track will stand up on own its own - love em or hate em. but if you hear it all, you will see the journey that eventually leads to albums like NEWS.

If you like classical you will like news. its an extension of princes ability. its NOT lounge music like venus de milo. Its also not like any classical you will have heard, its not like modern claasics which are jazzy and disjointed. Prince has a sound musical ear and the tracks are very beautiful with lots of subtle sounds, you need to hear this loud and with nothing else to do but listen.

TRC is intense but fabulous, very clever lyrics and a complete journey in itself. I honestly dont think any other recording artist has produced such a thing and i think in the future it will become a point of reference for princes unique talent above and over the classics like raspberry beret which the popular press love to refer to as they dont know anything else.

Im an atheist too, i think this album NEEDS its lyric sheet. read it while listening, plus the graphics enhance the listening and understanding experience. That is what TRC is - an experience. Its not something you put on while driving to the shops or doing your laundry its too intense for that, it deserves your full attention.

I would also recommend chaos and disorder, some very different genres of music on that, ive always loved princes take on rocknroll and country etc very unique and extremely well written tracks. Now this IS for listening t while doing the laundry, great fab fun songs. I love 'right the wrong'.

Musicology is superb very funky with some great simple soulful tracks. I see it as his last 'fun' album.



oh and as for chocolate invasion - why does no-one mention it?

I dont have it - it was available on NPGMC but i cant find it now, if anyone has one they want to sell PM me!
[Edited 7/9/08 1:35am]

ONA ALONE (the acoustic album)

NPG EXODUS (I always thought it is way underrated)

NouveauDance said:

i would add get the gold experience. u might have 2 track it down on something like amazon or other places like that but it's well worth it. as 4 ur possible inclusions of purchases, come, emancipation r worth taking the risk on.

Marrk said:

well he could always turn in2 a polka artist and break new ground there huh?

i'm just curious from those that keep insisting he hasn't broken any new grounds, what new ground is there 2 break these days? and if there is new ground 2 break, then how come no one has done it including those that keep saying he hasn't? where is ur material?

ThomasBjj said:

i always say if one is going 2 include NPS (new power generation release) then it's ESSENTIAL 2 track down Exodus FUNK!!!!

L4OATheOriginal said:

robinesque said:

u will most def digg NEWS!!!!

Anything from 1979 to 88. the gold experience, emancipation and TRC.

so, I have bought up on pretty much everything I coud get my hands on, and my prince collection is looking pretty healthy.
no I just have to listen to all of it.
Love 1999... let's pretend we're married is my favorite track at the moment. it's so cute... and then gets filthy which I love. I want to put it on a mix cd for a friend of mine who's getting married... funny or inappropriate?

I really enjoy most of NEWS... I'm finding 'east' really cool, but6 north is a little too elevator music for me.

Musicology is much better than I was led to believe. I dig it (although not big fan of the title track)

undecided on rainbow children (some killer guitar though)... undecided on emancipation

thumbs up from me to madhouse

Favorite album to date is parade I think...

also read the pers nilsen book (in one day) and cried reading about the susanah split (it was getting pretty late).

what's next?

side projects I imagine

I would suggest NPG's Exodus and the Gold Experience.

My advice to the poster is, give Rave another listen. Don't let the hate on this forum put you off.

It has it's problems, but there are some beautiful, highly-autobiographical tracks towards the latter half of the record which you'd be foolish to overlook. My advice is to listen to some of the tracks in isolation so the filler tracks don't taint your listening experience. If you don't end up appreciating I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore, Man O War and Strange But True then there's something wrong with you.

Also, Prince is notorious for giving away some of his best material to other artists. You NEED this album in your collection:



You'll be hooked on the first fifteen seconds of the opening cut. This album is ESSENTIAL. Ask anyone round here, they'll tell you the same...

i would love to get hold of 'the family' album. vanity 6 is also on the list. I've also been told to get hold of the taja sevelle songs that he wrote.

robinesque said:

I really like the Vanity 6 album. Brenda's speech on If a Girl Answers (Don't Hang Up) is priceless

The Family: I LOVE this album thru and thru. A+

Jill Jones: Again, one of my favorites. Strong Strong material. I do recal more than one friend (not price fans of any sort) asking me to turn it off cuz "Her voice is annoying". So your opinions may vary. A+ in my book.

Apollonia 6: Short but sweet. I like it. B

Vanity 6: B+/A- Classic stuff. I wouldn't miss it.

Mazarati: I really enjoy this whole album, even though Prince only wrote 1 track. It's got his vibe all over it. B-

Taja Seville: Supposedly only 2 tracks written by prince. I hear much of his influence all over this album, I may be wrong though. Every track is good IMO, some better than others of course. Comparable to "Martika's Kitchen" I think.
B+

Martika: Martika's Kitchen: Many Prince tracks. This is a solid album IMO. I enjoy every track. There are only a couple that don't have the purple sound, but even these are good. I'd track this down. B+

Jesse Johnson's Revue: This is the 1984/85 Prince sound all the way. I dont think P wrote any of this material, but it is his vibe. A

Jesse Johnson: Shockadelica: Another solid album. A

Jesse Johnson: Every Shade Of Love: If you like Jesse's first two cd's, you will like this one as well, there's no standout hits on this one though. B-

Ultimate Jesse Johnson: A compilation of Jesse's hits, plus some fantastic B-Sides and extended versions. A+

The Time: Prince 1981 music with more funky slant, Morris on vocals. A

The Time: What Time is It: A

The Time: Ice Cream Castles: Very short album, what little is here is solid. A-

The Time: Pandemonium: The least entertaining Time album. C+

Mayte: Children of the Sun: Heavy Prince influence on every track, he even does co-vocals on several tracks. Mayte's voice is weak, but Prince makes the most of it. B+

Sheila E. The Glamorous Life: Great stuff. 100% prince music. A

Sheila E. Romance 1600: Some great stuff with a few sub par tracks. B+

Sheila E. : Almost all prince tracks. solid material. A-

Sheila E.: Sex Cymbal: no prince influence at all= poor album D

Elisa Fiorillo: Many prince tracks, she has a nice voice, good album for the most part. B-

Carmen Electra: two words... Train Wreck. Avoid at all costs. Some of the outtakes are nice though (Power From Above, etc) if you can find them.

That's all I can remember right now.