I started the day off with Controversy, jumped around the irresistible electronic, out-of-this-world highlights of 1999 and ended the day listening through Purple Rain

I was beginning to think how, in my mind, the tracks of those two albums really define Prince as an artist in my mind. And I got to wondering: how does one go about defining Prince as an artist?

The truth is that none of us can, not even the Purple One himself.
I think that in the end, how we see Prince as an artist comes down to the individual. We all have our own ways of defining the artist Prince.

If I could construct a list of albums, songs, genres/subjects that define him as I know him now (after going through so much of his music), it would look something like this.

Albums:
1999
Purple Rain
Parade
Sign o' the Times
Diamonds & Pearls

Genres, etc.
Love songs/ballads (ranging from Do me Baby to The Beautiful Ones to Insatiable)
Love vs. Lust (Computer Blue and Temptation to name a few)

Songs not included in the albums I listed
Gold
Controversy
The Dance (off 3121)
Somewhere here on Earth
The Greatest Romance


I could always add to this, but I think you get the point.

Any thoughts?

I would say that ur Love vs Lust statement defines Prince perfectly. His entire career has been a tug of war so to speak between this-you hear it in all of his music. Nice post Dreamy

When U think about it... U can literally list every song, and pull a new version of a common emotion out of them.

When we think about a range of emotions, with a sliver of this or a sliver of that...It would be a never ending description, especially if we take into consideration how an emotion is recieved through another person besides ourselves.

Bringing all emotion that travels within and out continuously is like the Universal breath.

In between effortlessly loving, and choosing to feel detached from feeling...is like trying to draw a perfect circle...It never is, this is why Eternity is.

Sorry Dreamy...U got me goin' down some road bending off topic...thanks 4 the inspiration.