I wanted to ask y'all's opinions on Prince's strongest album openers. After I had a think about it, I realised that I LOVE 90% of the openers of all Prince's albums. So please feel free to nominate your weakest as well, I think it will be telling!

He may have crappy choices for single releases, but our boy sure knows how to open up an album!

I'd like to vote:
Strongest: Fuck this was hard but I reckon Eye No is the most mind-bending.
Weakest - Never B Another Like Me

(I know there was a similar thread before but it was 6 years ago, I figured we'd all have some fresh insights...)

Strongest: Let's Go Crazy or Thunder (from Diamonds & Pearls)


Weakest: Rainbow Children or The Future from Batman (I like the song, but it was an odd song to open an album with)

The strongest is a double whammy with "P Control", and "Endorphinmachine". For me, "P Control" is like a bonus track at the beginning of the disk. "Endorphinmachine" is the real start of the album for me.

Weakest would be "Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic". It's just too dated on an otherwise current sounding album.

Another weak one is "Thunder". It's twangy, dry, and shows the "one man band" sound like a sore thumb, compared to the "fuller" band sound on the rest of the album.

Strongest: "Sign of the times"

weakest: many choices, but "Rave.." and "Never B another like me" are both plastic, non-funky bulshit.

TheVoid said:

Funny, I love Let's Go Crazy, The Future, AND Rainbow Children. They're kind of musical mission statements for what the album's all about. I know the Future is quite minimalist, but it was on my shortlist for fav's, actually!

Thunder is a good song, and a blistering opener, but seems kind out out of place on the largely secular D + P.

Love Can't Stop This Feeling I Got from Graff Bridge also Dirty Mind from the same. Controversy is also a blistering opener!! Sign O The Times too. Get Wild as well. The four song opus that opens Parade.

So many.

Weak ones.....

Come? (I'm learning to love this album, it's just taking time) Planet Earth.

Strongest: Let's Go Crazy

Weakest: Christopher Tracy's Parade

most of them are pretty strong and it's hard to pick. almost all of them. Controversy, 1999, Let's Go Crazy,

among the weakest is Come. love the song, even that version of it, but an 11 minute meandering jazz fuck-fest is hard to swallow (so to speak). it does set the tone, and i do love how the tempo of the first 4 tracks build to the frenzy of Loose, but it kind of hobbles the album right off the bat, especially since its so long.

Planet Earth would be a great opening track to SOME album, but not the one that it's on.

Rave had no business being the title/opening track on a new studio album in 1999. great song, but nothing else on there lives up to it.

don't care that much for Sign O' The Times either. not as a song and not as an album opener. should have stuck with Rebirth of the Flesh and left SOTT on the back, more serious half of the album. there's room for it with a slight re-shuffling of that second disc or using the edited Dream Factory version.

Strongest: Sign O' The Times

Weakest: From The Lotus...

Strongest: My name is Prince

Weakest: Around the world in a day

I find it odd that no one has mentioned For You or 1999

Strongest - Sign o the Times or Lets Go Crazy

Weakest - Never B Another Like Me and My Name Is Prince

Some good ideas here and I'd agree but I'd like to add

From the lotus - great beginning to the album. Perfect entree.

strongest - Come

Weakest - the rest of my life

bluefish said:

Absolutely. How could you hear that synth chord...followed by "Dearly Beloved" and not be all

Brofie said:

Also awesome.

Strongest and there are many (the 1st that comes to mind): P Control

Not that it is weak but it's a "slow" opening: Planet Earth

Brofie said:

Strongest: For me, definitely 1999 is the strongest & also the most classic to his legacy. I Wanna Be Your Lover, Let's Go Crazy also very good.

Weakest: Actually maybe For You totally out of character, not bad, just misleading, un-funky. I am also not a fan of P Control. But my final answer goes to North. The worst of the 4 songs, just dull & repetitive.

Generally I like Prince's first songs a lot.

I should probably clarify that I wasn't going by the full songs - but by the opening few seconds of the first songs. You know...the moment where he actually grabs you by the shirt collar. Or doesn't.

Genesia said:

ah, that's different, I was thinking of the songs. But Prince almost always makes the first few seconds interesting.

Probably my fave is still 1999
least favorite Never Be Another Like Me.

Strongest- Let's Go Crazy
Weakest - Never be another like me

Jam of the Year is the worst album opener I have ever heard

The Best > Let's Go Crazy
The Worst> The Sacrifice of Victor

all7even said:

Except "The Sacrifice of Victor" was an album closer, not an opener.

Genesia said:

i like the screaming in the beginning of Gett Off

Weakest - Planet Earth (the song doesn't suck, it's just in a weird place)
Strongest - I Wanna Be Your Lover (It's Genesis and the Big Bang Theory all at once)

NDRU said:

For U being his first album who could that opener be considered 'totally out of character or misleading'? and why does everything Prince do have to be 'funky' isn't that putting the artist in a box and telling him he has to play Let's Work style music forever?

if For U is misleading I would say SOTT is misleading as an opener. It made many think the album was going to have a more 'social' edge to it.
As much as I love the song, it would have been a strong opener if the album track was like the live rendition with the electric guitar
[Edited 4/18/10 8:35am]

bluefish said:

I think Christopher Tracey's Parade is actually a strong album opener

Understanding what he was trying to do with that era the movie concerts and all, C T P opened very colorfully, all the sounds and imagery really made black n white really colorful and to hear/see that number performed live really showed Prince and the band nearing a creative peak