All the tracks on this album is amazing. It's a feel-good, turn-the-volume-up, blast-it-through-your-speakers kind of album, in my opinion.

There's just one thing I don't like...











Like, what were you thinking?! It's embarrassing to be flip by this on my iPod in public with people standing behind me.

Prince is a good-looking guy, but this does him NO JUSTICE.

BAD BOY PRINCE!

Yeah, i like this album a lot, i prefer this to Diry Mind.
Not really a bad track on it.

I finally replaced my long-lost vinyl copy of this today, coincidentally. Thanks Half-Price Books, FM 1960, Houston. It's not hard to find, really, but it's normally scratched or over-priced.

Really good songs from Prince and Dirty Mind performed on the Dirty Mind Tour. Love the boots from this era!

2Naby7 said:

It was 1979. 80% of albums out in the late 70's had guys w/ no shirts on them. It was part of the sexual revolution and sexual freedom movement that was still going strong. People were starting to be provocative and had a bolder approach to things. A simple thing like a shirtless picture on a record was attention-getting, unlike today where we see everything shy of the meat curtains themselves on girls. His hair and facial hair were a sign of the times.

If you're embarrassed at
this cover, then you should most likely replace all your artwork. Let's not forget Lovesexy, Dirty Mind, Parade, Goldnigga.

2Naby7 said:

Good thing you're not an Orleans fan.

kanoohead said:

That store @ times, can have a lot of gems for $1.00.. I have yet to spend over $5.00 for any LP or CD there.

ernestsewell said:

It's funny that you mention that because I don't mind the Dirty Mind, Lovesexy, Parade or Goldnigga album covers at all. At least they were artistic. This one's like...."Yup. Just sittin' here. Naked, perhaps? You'll never know." The music is brilliant, but Prince's got a look on his face like he hasn't got a clue.

2Naby7 said:

He was naked on top of a horse which he was sitting on. I remember it was a cover showing that but it was changed. I think it folded out

PRINCE

Whether by design or happy coincidence this self-titled album is truer to the artist Prince would become that his debut. Again this is an album that I didn’t buy until well into my Prince journey, and whilst I knew the singles I wasn’t overly familiar with the other tracks until much later.

I WANNA BE YOUR LOVER is quintessential Prince. It’s all here. An infectious grove, a melodic hook, a passionate vocal, and a beautiful layering of instruments in the production. The way the track builds to the bridge and then takes a decidedly left turn, it almost splits the track into two songs, with the latter being a dirtier funk and the former being a beautiful slice of pop. It’s almost as if Prince looses himself in the new groove and has abandoned the original song.

I remember thinking the first time I heard WHY YOU WANNA TREAT ME SO BAD? it was a little bit try hard, but I can’t deny its appeal, even if it is a little bit play by the numbers.

SEXY DANCER again is a song that almost on first listen says destined to be a classic. The funky bass that underpins the track is creeps up on you by stealth. Once again the track feels more like a party Jam than a fully fleshed out song, and for me that’s the appeal of the track. Every few bars it seems to change its mind on where it’s headed with the final few minutes of the song moving into a joyous Rhodes solo. Prince at his unstructured best.

As a kid I never really got into the Prince ballads, and I can remember skipping WHEN WE’RE DANCING CLOSE AND SLOW when it would play. Once again this feels more like an exploration in an artist finding his way than a fully-fledged song.

The way I felt about WWDSAS carried over to WITH YOU. Again it just seems a little bit generic and maybe more expected as a ballad. Once again I was reaching for the fast forward button, and sad to say I still do.

Thankfully, any concerns about the rest of the album fading off to generic balladeering were knocked out of my head with the opening strains of BAMBI. The song just has this raw passion about it that is echoed in the soaring guitar and vocals that it’s hard not to be drawn in. Major props for Prince for laying down the whole bi-lover vibe on here, something I doubt many artists have tried to tackle, let alone one two records into a career.

Sadly Bambi was followed by STILL WAITING. And again I would just shake my head in dismay and wonder where the promise of the previous track had gone.

And as if to see that I was paying attention Prince pulls out I FEEL FOR YOU. The song still holds up as a favourite (thanks in part to Chaka Kahn’s masterful cover) and just has a happy vibe that seems to leap off the groove and take over your body. You can really start to see how accomplished Prince is as a musician, although not overly tricky, the song holds together so perfectly and seems to show someone beginning to understand the crafting of a perfect piece of pop.

Closing out the album with another ballad, I felt like Prince was just torturing me. Maybe he wanted to be seducer as well as sexual predator. But IT'S GONNA BE LONELY just didn’t grab me and listening now it’s not as saccharine as I recall, and the drum pattern with the tom rolls is a hint to how he would program that classic prince drum machine beat in the future.

All in all the album for me has some glimpses of the purple funk we would soon expect from Prince, but it feels too unbalanced with the generic ballads.

Swa

My fav Prince album besides Diamonds & Pearls I can listen to this album from beginning to end and never tire-great album and very underrated. Songs like Still Waiting, It's Gonna Be Lonely and Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad are just wonderful.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

It was the original back cover.

And he's also naked w/ a guitar on the For You album insert.

I don't see why this is a big deal.

ernestsewell said:

ernestsewell said:

Eh, I don't have a problem with the nudity but the winged horse is a bit odd.

rialb said:

Odd is good, i like odd. Odd is what seperates Prince from the mundane, even if at times it makes him look like a bit of a tit.