O.K. Without writing my life story here it goes. I alway liked Prince, who really doesn't. However he is always playing on the radio so I saw no reason to buy his stuff.

In October 2008 Target had his Best of Prince album on sale for $9.98 and I bought it thinking this will be good cleaning music.

I tend to buy CD's from people who are not all over the radio, Phyllis Hyman, Joan Armatrading, Tori Amos even Ray Charles.

O.K. Next; I asked myself, what has this guy been up to since Diamonds and Pearls. I looked under his name in the music section and there was one copy of Planet Earth and I bought it out of curiousity. I loved it.

I see alot of post from fans of the old stuff. Is there anyone out there like me who JUST started listening and is going backwards. I then bought TRC followed by 3121, Musicology, ATWIAD, Batman, Come, Purple Rain, Controversy, 1999, Greatest Hits and the B-side, The Gold Experience, Emancipation,Diamonds and Pearls, and Rave to the Joy fantastic is my last purchase. Am I alone?

nice!

i like that u bought TRC 2nd, i love that album. What do you think of it? Its always nice to here a fresh view on that album.

RumAndRaisin said:

I loved the fact that it was all one unified idea and yet he used different music styles. Last December is one of my favorite songs. I just can't get over how many songs of his I truly love that I almost never heard. I really only bought Planet Earth on a lark! In the 80's while other Orger went to see Prince I saw Odetta twice!

Deadflow3r said:

lol

Last December is amazing. U ever heard it live from when it was played at the 2002 Paisly Park celebration? Great stuff.

Welcomed 2 the Dawn.....

I did buy the Vegas DVD from the TRC era aswell but have not played it very much. It's kind of fun. It's like discovering a whole new artist that I have never heard of before. Really. Non-Prince fans didn't hear much about his marriages and break-ups. He's not like Madonna where you just CAN'T ignore her. I heard about her last tour all over the place and I seldom watch TV. She was in every mag and the tour announcements were all over the radio.

So it has been enjoyable, especially since I have no expectations of the man. ( all though Lotusflow3r is my least favorite so far, I even like Rave better.) His style is all over the place and I can just play one CD right after another of his all day long and not get sick of him.

Deadflow3r said:

Lol at the maddonna comment. Thats so true! lol

Im the same, i can play his music ALL DAY and not gt bored. Things really get better when you venture into bootlegs, you realise just how good he is live!

I've been on board since 1979, although it's great when someone picks up on an artist and explores their career....

I know at my age there is so much music out there that I have not explored. Money has been the reason why I don't own 20 thousand cd's, by so many people.

I believe you are fortunate to be late than not a listener at all...Prince does wonders for opening the heart and the mind. Welcome.

It's cool to hear critiques from someone with a fresh perspective. Sometimes expectations and comparisons with other albums get in the way of just hearing a song in its purest sense.

I'd love to hear any other album/song reviews from you.

1961 was a great year but I have been a Prince fan since For You and still enjoy all the purple concord jams.Great to see someone with a little behind his belt jumping on the funk and roll train.

Deadflow3r said:

wow talk about being late lol. enjoy. there is still much u haven't heard. it takes years to absorb even the stuff u think u know and like. i'm still rediscovering

It's great hearing so many of your comments. As I said he was not my cup of tea as far as inventing in him and I guess the crowds I have hung out with in my life weren't into him either. I say this because other than Alphabet St. I was unfamiliar with everything on the Lovesexy CD and Around the World in a day was also mostly unfamiliar.

I also never got into MJ but I love Barry White, Isaac Hayes, Aaron Neville and and I would never have thought that Prince could be in that smooth R&B group but the vocal on Planet Earth and 3121 proove otherwise. I mean he has Justin Timberlake and the like buried but I feel like noone is allowing him to go there. It's too bad. He's missing a whole new following. I didn't feel that Lotusflow3r showed off his vocals so much so I never really give it a play. Emancipation is more my style.

Deadflow3r said:

If you like the smooth r&b vibe, you may want to check out the symbol album from 1992 if you haven't already. It features some great slow jams with an organic feel to it. My favorites on there are "And God Created Woman", "Damn U" and "Sweet Baby".

you're in the org you're never alone! thats some rollercoaster of listening huh? well done and welcome to the dawn, you have just been born anew and anointed in purple rain.

Deadflow3r said:

No you're not alone. I was born in '67. I owned albums from Purple Rain up to Diamonds and Pearls, I believe 1995. Now 14 years later, I have just re-entered the Prince world and have bought backwards too. I've listened to them all once, most of what you have plus a few others. I've put the instant likes onto my ipod. As I'm on the road a lot this month I'll be listening, learning and catching up. It will be hard though remembering which track comes from which cd or to know which year it was

But I'm just looking forward to refining my choice to some classic, forever favourite tracks for my ipod & familiarising myself with lyrics, intros & beats that are new. Nice thing is...music never dies and even though we're behind, we can listen with totally unconditioned minds, plus take the experience of all the other artists we've listened to and compare. Enjoy

People comment alot on these threads about a specific performance being vocally over the top and a must for Prince fans. Unfortunately it is a bootleg-he never released it. I wish that he would release either live albums or DVD's of concerts. There are also it seems songs that he's done live that he's never released.

xpertluva said:

Thanks for the heads-up. I will deffinately put this on my wish list. I keep going to my local FYI and buying what they have there. This has pretty much worked out but I still lack a few, one of which is the very loved/hated chaos and disorder. I am dying to hear it just to understand other peoples comments that have appeared on other threads.

hi I was born in the sixties too but i kept up with the body of work that Prince released either from shops or throu his fan club. I can listern to some of his early er work and have forgotten how good it was, also how its been put together. i just heard musicology again, and its like listening to it sounds like the first time even my son likes it and hes 2.5 yrs old.

btw hi.

oldpurple said:

It's unfortunate that Prince does not like video's of baby's dancing to his music;Didn't he demand that a home video of such be removed from the internet? You could post your boy dancing. My 7 year old daughter likes to do interpretive dance to most of his music. She does NOT like TRC because she says it's very scary. Of course she loves rasberry beret and has taken to wearing her pink winter beret in 70% weather.

Deadflow3r said:

I took my daughter to see Prince at the o2 shows and the best song she recons was crazy!!!

I was born in 63 and my first CD was Musicology. I'm not going backwards buying his earlier CDs but I sure pay attention more when I hear any of his earlier stuff. I think I've got all the CDs since Musicology so far...

Go out and purchase the following:(FROM A DIE HARD FAN.....THE ESSENTIALS)
MUSICOLOGY
3121
NEWS
EMANCIPATION
THE GOLD EXPERIENCE.....(if you can find it a true MASTERPIECE)
COME
CHAOS AND DISORDER
OLD FRIENDS FOR SALE
Enjoy some of your experiences.
Tuztones
[Edited 9/9/09 3:04am]
[Edited 9/9/09 3:05am]

Never mind the "average" / "good" albums 1996 to 2009,

buy the essential albums: from 1978 to 1995, from For You to The Gold Experience.... even the "bad albums" from back then like Batman and Graffiti Bridge, are far better than the recent stuff,

imo.

Welcome!

The Gold Experience was also a recent purchase. At $20.00 used it seemed steep but then I thought "hell it must be good" and I especially loved Dolphin. I kinda knew it would be because people have been mentioning it on thread with titles like "what are your top ten songs ever".

NEWS? I don't think I have that unless it's an abreviation of a longer title. Graffiti Bridge, have the movie, I am still searching for the CD. Now of course ordering it online would make sense but I slow down my purchasing by getting them one at a time from FYI.

New Power Soul is probably my least favorite so far. It's not horrible, but it doesn't make it onto my CD player very often. I find the Prince fashion illustrations amusing though. Prayer cloths as mens fashion accents is a concept only he would come up with. I also found it interesting that both Mayte and "Manuella T" were thanked. I guess this must have been the time of the changeover from one to another.

Deadflow3r said:

Oh yeah, The Gold Experience is a true masterpiece. Many won't say so, but I think it's his absolute best.

NEWS is an instrumental album released in 2003 and shouldn't be that difficult to get. It's rather expensive, though, for its length.


NPS is also an album that many fans are divide on. about 75% think it's utter boredom, I even recall others saying it's their favourite, many want to defend Prince by saying it was not a Prince release, but an NPG release.

Personally, it took my a bit to get into it. Two months ago, on a hut summer's day, I gave it another listen (back then it must have been my 10th or so) and I really started to dig it. There are some cool gems on there!

Another thing, you can hear the change in Prince's music when you listen to Emancipation and The Gold Experience. Both of these were made, to my knowledge, before the conversion to becoming a Jehovah's Witness. I don't think the change happened because of Larry Graham, I think it happened because of just growing as a person.

As far as TRC goes I think it was quite daring that he dedicated a whole CD to his new beliefs. He had to have known that it would get mixed reviews at best. I think a true artist, in any medium, is not a slave to his public. Great painters don't paint simply what they know they can sell. Writers are the same way. Sure the money is in pleasing the public; for some however they feel pulled to please their God given artistic drive. I see no problem with that. I rather that then get the same album over and over again so to speak.

welcome Deadflow3r. i'm enjoying your thread. i'm excited for you as you truly discover Prince. i'm guessing if you liked PE and appreciate his vocals, you probably think SHOE is sublime right?! it IS! i agree with you about NPS. i was reluctant to get it but i WILL say its horrible LOL. except for Wasted Kisses, The One and Until Ur In My Arms Again. those were REALLY good and seemed out of place to me. Didn't see if you'd copped SOTT yet. i think you'll eventually appreciate Lotus over time as you see its the "rock album" many have been clamoring for and P has 're-discovered' his guitar.

dont forget the download music from the old website like chocolate invasion and the slughter house and countless other stuff.

oldpurple said:

What old website? FYI has been getting my money for months now!!!