In retrospect, Batman.

Batman.

Signals the end of his universally acclaimed 'genius' run.

The Future, Electric Chair, Vicky Waiting, Partyman (yep! i said it), Scandalous, and the hard as hell guitar solo in Batdance were all worth additions to his catalogue from 78-88.

More than 50% of this album was great, and i dig me some 'Batman' in general, so for Prince to get attached to this legendary, iconic figure was just great for me.

Then to come w/ Graffiti Bridge, was a major dissapointment. To me he didn't get interesting again til 93/94, and that was shortlived, He picked up again in 2001 w/ TRC, but i'd say my interest in him has been patchy ever since 'Batman'.

Though i have bought everything he's brought to the table.

Marrk said:

Yup, same here. Been patchy for me since Batman.

rusty1 said:

GR?

For me, I'd say or Batman. Batman has nothing that has me hovering over the skip button but I'd say that has some much stronger songs on it. D & P definitely has it's strong moments, but not quite up there with the album. GB has some great moments but far too many that aren't and for me is the weakest, even though it has classics like Joy In Repetition and The Question Of U. The highs are really and it rarely sinks really low but overall it floats somewhere around average.

Really can't decide between and batman as the best.

Without a shadow of a doubt

XNY said:[quote]Definitely Diamonds and Pearls, mainly because of Thunder, Live 4 Love(both amazing songs) and, the main reason: Rosie Gaines. Of all the singers he's worked with, no one's matched her vocals AND sounds great singing along side him.
I would love to hear what the 0+> album sounded like before he replaced her vocals with his own.[/quote]


So I'm not crazy??? I used to go out to private parties at Paisley Park beginning in Jan 1991 and I could have SWORE that Rosie's voice was on versions of My Name Is Prince and Sexy MF played by the house dj. Then they went on the D&P tour and when they came back she left the band, although she stayed around for a good year afterwards. When the parties started up again the symbol album was pretty much finished and her vocals were no longer there.

for sure, although I like all 4 of these albums.

Batman, Symbol, GB, asnd D&P.

Batman:The best album of those i love pretty much every track except arms of orion which is just ok

Graffiti Bridge: The only good songs are the prince ones by himself except for we can funk i really like that song

D&P: The only songs i like on this album are Cream, Diamonds And Pearls, Gett Off, Thunder and Willing And Able

: I havent listen to this one much ive only just purchased it recently

The Time - Pandemonium ...or to play by the rules I'll say the symbol album.I LOVE God Created Woman!
[Edited 6/10/09 2:18am]

Love Symbol

GB, closesly followed by D and P, then symbol then Batman.

Diamonds & Pearls

GB, although it is mostly rerecordings/ new versions of songs from his creative peak period, it's still a great album.

I revisit my opinion; Graffiti Bridge to me. It has a too big emotional value to me, cuz it's the first Prince cd I ever bought.

This was the period when my fan status was starting to seriously slide. I liked Batman sorta, and the Prince songs on GB were cool. D&P is mediocre but Symbol is when he lost me for a couple of years until Gold.

I would say an edited Prince-only version of GB gets the most spins now...followed distantly by Batman, D&P, and barely ever listen to Symbol.

But looking back now just makes me realize how great his 80s stuff actually was...I STILL listen to all albums from Controversy to Lovesexy on a regular basis. Where as the 90s stuff and beyond is patchy at best (with a few blaring exceptions...Gold, TRC, 3121, C&D/The Vault, Lotusflower).

defo Batman then

Batman, then Graffiti Bridge.

Sophianestesia said:

Same for me but Batman, The Hits& B-Sides and Purple Rain were the first albums i bought

Intersting stuff.

It's funny, cos I actually have quite a fondness for this period, cos it was around Diamonds & Pearls that I properly got into Prince.

Seeing the Gett Off video on The Chart Show (UK music video show), I thought it was brilliant, and took me a while to realise it was the same guy that had done 1999 and stuff like that. By the time I saw the Cream video follow it up a few months later, I was hooked.

I went and borrowed by brother's copy of D&P, and absolutely fell in love with it. So when people talk of this being his 'dodgy' period, it;'s hard for me to separate, cos I have such nostalgia for it. Even though I went on to discover SOTT etc., which really are top-drawer Prince (as I later discovered), I still enjoy D&P for that reason.

The Symbol album was just an extension of it for me, and I loved that too - if anything, it was even better - long, varied and funky as hell! The album had the feeling of a live band playing in the studio, which I really loved.

Batman still stands up as a great Prince album, mainly because it's short enough to not get dull, in my opinion. There are some killer tracks: The Future, Electric Chair, Vicki Waiting, Partyman and Batdance. When viewed simply as the follow-up to Lovesexy, you can really see the natural progression of his sound (eg. Partyman is a genuine Camille-era track as far as I'm concerned, up there with Scarlet Pussy, IIWYGF and Housequake... maybe!)

This was all confounded by the fact that the next new stuff to come out (after the 89-92 period) was Pink Cashmere and Pope, then the rapper-free but patchy Come album. Then onto the Gold Experience, which in my opinion is wildly over-rated.

Hmmm.