OK I hav nearly every Prince album in the wreckastow and they are ALL genius!!!

However some surpass others in complexity!!!

What album (or period of time) do u think Prince was at his most GENIUS!!!

aS FOR ME...I WOULD SAY SIGN O THE TIMES OR THE 1986-1989 PERIOD

(HOWEVER...THE ONES I LIKE TO DANCE TO MOST ARE FROM 1979-1987)

SO...1986-1987 FOR ME! I WANNA HEAR UR GUYSS OPINONS

1. Parade

2. Lovesexy

3. The Rainbow Children

4. Sign "O" The Times

5. Emancipation

6. Rave

(There are some sick chord progressions on the last two, but the albums still sounds quite clear and commercial overall. Combining those features is difficult and very complex.)

Good thread.

Oh! I forgot about those two! Especially Parade, Lovesexy, and Emancipation! wHICH REMINDS ME...

WHERES THAT IPOD?!

my opinion complex and genius are seperate.

most genius

1999

Around The World in a Day

Parade

most complex

Around The World in a Day

Rainbow Children

Parade

Emancipation

Lovesexy has so much vocal layering, very intricate detail on that one.

The Rainbow Children has great musical instrumentation.

I would say those two. Prince was paying attention to detail.

i say TRC or

i think a truely complex lp should come across as complex almost bye accident,not created to be complex.which is what i think of the rainbow children..so i'll say his most complex is lovesexy

the strange sounds and quirks the grooves were loose and tight all at the same time.he was just in the zone.and it all made sense but no one was getting it.

his most genius..dirty mind.no one else could have pulled that shit off and made a career out of it.because thats exactly what he did.because of this lp the critics paid attention to him.thats why i say this .it was offensive.dirty.and perfect.as demos no less.not even studio tracks.

3121 and Planet Earth

khemseraph said:

TRC. It's theme, sound variety, lyrics and I'd probably put PR on the list too. Quite a host of jumping emotions and ideas generally difficult to combine, but in both albums truely a melting pot of diversity, leaving the puzzle completed.

Revolution said:

Lovesexy has so much vocal layering, very intricate detail on that one.

The Rainbow Children has great musical instrumentation.

I would say those two. Prince was paying attention to detail.

The rainbow children, for the incredible mastery & musicianship at blending so many musical styles into a cohesive thought....i just adore this album, really really amazing (excpet for the god voice, and i thought if he left that out it would have had more commercial success)

lovesexy & parade

for the way they are stripped back, and spare...which is the 'complex' in reverse, and shows how it's not always about more, but about less.

sign of the times....everyone knows why this is complex

the news is another one for me...it's orchestrated beautifully

i also thought dirty mind was incredibly complex....usually when things sound simple thats where the most complex techniques or ideas lie...and that album laid the groundwork for what was to come, imo.

around the world in a day is another one.....

i still dont have 3121 or 20ten yet...so cant comment on those

[Edited 3/20/11 15:56pm]

'Junk Music' excerpt from Under the Cherry Moon.

Brass section, last 20 seconds of Billy Jack Bitch.

Parts of N.E.W.S.

Ditto Lovesexy.

Prince doesn't do complex really, not like late romantic/modern classical music. There's plenty of jazz music that's far more complex. I personally like louis armstrong's hot fives recordings and some of frank zappa's synthesizer work.

Around the World in a Day, Lovesexy and The Rainbow Children.

terrig said:

The rainbow children, for the incredible mastery & musicianship at blending so many musical styles into a cohesive thought....i just adore this album, really really amazing (excpet for the god voice, and i thought if he left that out it would have had more commercial success)

lovesexy & parade

for the way they are stripped back, and spare...which is the 'complex' in reverse, and shows how it's not always about more, but about less.

sign of the times....everyone knows why this is complex

the news is another one for me...it's orchestrated beautifully

i also thought dirty mind was incredibly complex....usually when things sound simple thats where the most complex techniques or ideas lie...and that album laid the groundwork for what was to come, imo.

around the world in a day is another one.....

i still dont have 3121 or 20ten yet...so cant comment on those

[Edited 3/20/11 15:56pm]

Are you sure you want to call Lovesexy (and parts of Parade) "stripped back and spare"?

Revolution said:

Lovesexy has so much vocal layering, very intricate detail on that one.

The Rainbow Children has great musical instrumentation.

I would say those two. Prince was paying attention to detail.

agree

Complex?

Probably in both senses the word "complex" is typically used.

"Genius" doesn't necessarily have that much to do with "complexity" of the recordings. "Sign "O" The Times" is the album that exemplifies Prince's "genius" the best to me. However, many of the tracks on that record are quite minimal.

fortuneandserendipity said:

'Junk Music' excerpt from Under the Cherry Moon.

Brass section, last 20 seconds of Billy Jack Bitch.

Parts of N.E.W.S.

Ditto Lovesexy.

Prince doesn't do complex really, not like late romantic/modern classical music. There's plenty of jazz music that's far more complex. I personally like louis armstrong's hot fives recordings and some of frank zappa's synthesizer work.

Agree...esp that brass section of BJB...and it comes out of nowhere. You hit it on the head with comparing to Armstrong and Zappa.

Vict0r said:

Around the World in a Day, Lovesexy and The Rainbow Children.

Good choices. I'd agree.

Depends on what you mean by complex.

Musically? Lovesexy or Parade, but mostly Lovesexy.

Thematically? (har har) probably SOTT.

Yeah Lovesexy is complex and so is Love Symbol. I also find The Black album to be very complex.

1. Purple Rain- Each song is it's own world

2. For You- The foundation

3. Around the World in a Day- he could have just done Purple Rain all over again, but he didn't, he came up with a whole new sound..

Veego said:

Emancipation, Rainbow Children

... co-sign

Exodus