V10LETBLUES said:

Very overrated album. Not terrible, but not 80's great either.

For me this album has always been the end of the Can Do No Wrong era.

Alphabet street is great, a solid- 9

I Wish U heaven- 8

Annastesia- 7

the rest 5's

Yes, I pretty much agree. I'm always a little baffled to hear people claim it as his absolute best album. It really pales when compared to the five albums that preceded it.

1.Lovesexy

2.Anna Stesia

3.Dance On

4.Glam Slam

5.Eye Wish U Heaven

6.Positivity

7.When 2 r in love

8.Alphabet Street

9.Eye no

[Edited 4/17/12 0:31am]

here's how I would rank the songs...

Lovesexy---not releasing the title track as the second single was a huge mistake.This song is the most powerful track on the album.

Anna Stesia

Dance On

rialb said:

V10LETBLUES said:

Very overrated album. Not terrible, but not 80's great either.

For me this album has always been the end of the Can Do No Wrong era.

Alphabet street is great, a solid- 9

I Wish U heaven- 8

Annastesia- 7

the rest 5's

Yes, I pretty much agree. I'm always a little baffled to hear people claim it as his absolute best album. It really pales when compared to the five albums that preceded it.

For me it's because I love albums that have an overiding theme or concept or sound. This has it. It's placed at number two, behind Parade, as my Desert Island Disc.

Like everything, we all find different things interesting. I'm constantly amazed that other guitarists don't find ACDC's Back In Black the best guitar riff album ever made. Or the first three Queen albums to be essential in everybody's life. Or that people like Santana.

Saying all that a lot of what people like is what they are born into, the country, the ethnicity, the peer group, and so on.

iloveannie said:

rialb said:

Yes, I pretty much agree. I'm always a little baffled to hear people claim it as his absolute best album. It really pales when compared to the five albums that preceded it.

For me it's because I love albums that have an overiding theme or concept or sound. This has it. It's placed at number two, behind Parade, as my Desert Island Disc.

Like everything, we all find different things interesting. I'm constantly amazed that other guitarists don't find ACDC's Back In Black the best guitar riff album ever made. Or the first three Queen albums to be essential in everybody's life. Or that people like Santana.

Saying all that a lot of what people like is what they are born into, the country, the ethnicity, the peer group, and so on.

I don't know exactly what it is but there's just something about the sound of Lovesexy that disagrees with me. People sometimes complain about the cluttered production and that's part of it but there's something else I can't quite define.

Oh, now you've gone too far, the first Queen album is pretty weak and II isn't much better.

rialb said:

iloveannie said:

For me it's because I love albums that have an overiding theme or concept or sound. This has it. It's placed at number two, behind Parade, as my Desert Island Disc.

Like everything, we all find different things interesting. I'm constantly amazed that other guitarists don't find ACDC's Back In Black the best guitar riff album ever made. Or the first three Queen albums to be essential in everybody's life. Or that people like Santana.

Saying all that a lot of what people like is what they are born into, the country, the ethnicity, the peer group, and so on.

I don't know exactly what it is but there's just something about the sound of Lovesexy that disagrees with me. People sometimes complain about the cluttered production and that's part of it but there's something else I can't quite define.

Oh, now you've gone too far, the first Queen album is pretty weak and II isn't much better.

But I love that whole prog rock thing! Nearly came in my pants when Muse released Black Holes and Revelations. They had the whole early Queen thing nailed.

Queen I and Queen II both had a wonderful feel to them. They flowed, they were heavy, they were whimsical, the harmonies were magnificent. The only odd choice was to have Seven Seas of Rhye on the second album. It broke the story. It was just a song and didn't fit the concept (sorry to keep repeating myself but it's very important to me).

As a collection of fantastic tracks then Sheer Heart Attack is fucking amazing. Best album they ever did. I would give a hundred Bohemian Rhapsody's for just one song from that album.

Back to to Lovesexy. Cluttered? I find it anything but a cacophony. My ear obviously is far more open to the arrangements found on the album. Either that or my brain finds more stimulus within it. Stevie Wonder also has layer upon layer of instruments and sounds that I find exciting. Although he's never done anything as out-there as Lovesexy!

Christopher Tracy's Parade also has a lot going on. I like that one aswell. Then again The Cross couldn't be more simplistic if Jack White released, although you could argue that with such a heavily distorted guitar at the end there is still a "wall of sound".

I have to admit,"Eye No" suffers from cluttered production.It's a great song with a powerful message but there are too many things going on.Near the end,it just sounds like a bunch of noise,with all these voices and horns competing with each other.

iloveannie said:

rialb said:

I don't know exactly what it is but there's just something about the sound of Lovesexy that disagrees with me. People sometimes complain about the cluttered production and that's part of it but there's something else I can't quite define.

Oh, now you've gone too far, the first Queen album is pretty weak and II isn't much better.

But I love that whole prog rock thing! Nearly came in my pants when Muse released Black Holes and Revelations. They had the whole early Queen thing nailed.

Queen I and Queen II both had a wonderful feel to them. They flowed, they were heavy, they were whimsical, the harmonies were magnificent. The only odd choice was to have Seven Seas of Rhye on the second album. It broke the story. It was just a song and didn't fit the concept (sorry to keep repeating myself but it's very important to me).

As a collection of fantastic tracks then Sheer Heart Attack is fucking amazing. Best album they ever did. I would give a hundred Bohemian Rhapsody's for just one song from that album.

Back to to Lovesexy. Cluttered? I find it anything but a cacophony. My ear obviously is far more open to the arrangements found on the album. Either that or my brain finds more stimulus within it. Stevie Wonder also has layer upon layer of instruments and sounds that I find exciting. Although he's never done anything as out-there as Lovesexy!

Christopher Tracy's Parade also has a lot going on. I like that one aswell. Then again The Cross couldn't be more simplistic if Jack White released, although you could argue that with such a heavily distorted guitar at the end there is still a "wall of sound".

I dig "Keep Yourself Alive" and "Liar" but otherwise the first album is kind of diffuse, it doesn't seem very unified to me which is understandable given how it was recorded. None of the individual songs are bad but they don't really add up to a unified whole. The second album...I like the music but the lyrics are a bit silly which is also true of the first album. I agree with you that Sheer Heart Attack is pretty great. I could be wrong but it seems like they reined in the science fiction/fantasy lyrics on that one. Personally I would rate News of the World as their best, and not for the singles. Sheer Heart Attack loses a point for not containing the song "Sheer Heart Attack."

I'm listening to Lovesexy right now. Maybe the problem I have with it is that it is such a clean break from the previous albums? That probably sounds silly as the previous 5-6 albums all sound quite different from each other but Lovesexy sounds really different. A lot of people see The Black Album and Lovesexy as linked but sonically they don't have much in common. I guess the horns are a tie to the sound of Sign 'O' the Times but otherwise he is using a lot of new sounds (keyboards/drum machines) and I'm not sure if I like them. I guess the simplest way I could put it is that I don't necessarily dislike the songs but I'm not sold on how they sound. For, arguably, his most spiritual album the songs sound and feel a little too cold. Maybe I would like the sound better if there were more live drums and acoustic piano?

[Edited 4/16/12 4:58am]

Well, when I heard lovesexy for the very first time, I dont know why, but the sound of the album really reminded my of Bad by MJ.

The production, the used instruments and sounds were drastically different compared to Sott...

They still sound really fresh....But i dont think its prince best! A letdown after the great Sott

My ranking:

anna stesia

lovesexy

Alphabet st.

.

.

.

i wish u heaven

eye know

when 2 are

dance on

positivity

glam slam

for me, it has really only 3 great songs, the rest is that great...

here:

Alphabet St. (the right leading single choice)

Glam Slam (right again, I loooove the video!)

I Wish U Heaven (beautiful! and the extended 12 inch, wow!)

Anna Stesia (the greatest non-single song, from Prince)

When 2 R In Love (should have been a 1988 single, with a real video)

Lovesexy (Fan-tastic)

Eye No (Excellent opener, I love it)

Positivity (excellent closer of the album, far better than the cover by Mavis Staples)

.

.

.

Dance On (the only "weak" Lovesexy song, it is still fun - and much better than anything post-Warner).

I rate Lovesexy to be a Prince top-5 album,

Lovesexy, is one of his best - ever.

1. Purple Rain

2. Sign "O" The Times

3. 1999

4. Lovesexy

5. Parade

Positivity

Lovesexy

Eye No

Anna Stesia

I Wish U Heaven

When 2 R In Love

Alphabet St.

Glam Slam

Dance On

What an album though. I find only "Dance On" to be quite weak as a composition, although it has its redeeming qualities.

rialb said:

V10LETBLUES said:

Very overrated album. Not terrible, but not 80's great either.

For me this album has always been the end of the Can Do No Wrong era.

Alphabet street is great, a solid- 9

I Wish U heaven- 8

Annastesia- 7

the rest 5's

Yes, I pretty much agree. I'm always a little baffled to hear people claim it as his absolute best album. It really pales when compared to the five albums that preceded it.

Parade is the one that is way overrated..that and the Gold Experience..they are both very substandard. Lovesexy is solid and deserves to be the followup to SOTT.

What is sad is how he next went to the Batman album which is absolute shit.

Anna Stesia

I Wish U Heaven

Alphabet St

Glam Slam

When 2 R In Love

Postivity

Lovesexy

Dance On

Eye No

iloveannie said:

The other great thing about Lovesexy is it's impossible to tell which decade it came from. If anybody can point me to anything remotely similar i'll be surprised.

On the contrary, the dated synthesizers and sound effects ("Glam Slam", "Dance On", etc.) make it obvious that "Lovesexy" was recorded in the 80s. I kind of agree with your second point, though.

FunkiestOne said:

rialb said:

Yes, I pretty much agree. I'm always a little baffled to hear people claim it as his absolute best album. It really pales when compared to the five albums that preceded it.

Parade is the one that is way overrated..that and the Gold Experience..they are both very substandard. Lovesexy is solid and deserves to be the followup to SOTT.

What is sad is how he next went to the Batman album which is absolute shit.

Parade is great! The sound alone makes it an album deserving of praise. I think a more organic sound similar to Parade would have greatly benefited Lovesexy. Maybe The Gold Experience is slightly overrated, fans have great memories of that era, but surely it is one of his strongest albums of the nineties? The only problem is that it arguably could have been even better. There were a lot of great songs from that era, many of which have yet to be released.

I kind of like Batman but if you don't you can always dismiss it as being just a soundtrack and thinking of Graffiti Bridge as the proper followup to Lovesexy. Still, if you listen to the outtakes circa 1988-1989 there was a pretty big drop off in the quality from 1983-1986 (I deliberately excluded 1987 as there are only a handful of outtakes that have surfaced from that year).

iloveannie said:

Such imagination, focus and musicianship on this album. He had such vision, a true concept. Nothing else by anyone else sounds anything like this. I doubt they ever will. A truly remarkable album that brought me closer to music. I listen to it and it's one sitting. This is how an album should be. Art should not be Collection of songs but a cohesive while. I'll edit this when sober...

This is my favorite album cus I bought this album with my own money in 88

Only 2 song I really did'nt care 4,Postivity, Dance on.

Loved that era . With SOTT , Lovesexy and the Black Album - felt we were truly blessed to be living in that era ...

87,88 ...

I rank "anna stesia" and "eye no" as great songs ... with "glam slam" a close follower ...

I did not like "positivity" and "dance on" on this album ...

uuhson said:

You like escape but everything else is crap? People have some fascinating taste!

I agree. That surprised me too.

I agree with what some of you said.

I think that the true great thing about this album is that it's a concept album, and a good one.
But I agree that it pales a little beside his other 80's masterpieces. But just a little.

I think maybe the reason is that none of these songs, however great they are, stood as the big Prince masterpiece songs that many, if not all, the previous albums had, at least in a small number. Like [You name it] mesmerized us in 1999, [You name it] in Purple Rain, at least Raspberry Beret in ATWIAD, at least Kiss in Parade, at least Sign o the Times/If I Was Your Girlfriend in Sign o the Times, for example.


From strongest to weakest.

Anna Stesia
Alphabet St.
Positivity [I dont think this is a weak filler, it's funky and has a marimba riff (!!), and the 'yes' responses at each verse are chilling]
I Wish U Heaven
When 2 R in Love
Dance On
Eye No
Lovesexy
Glam Slam

I see many of you praising Glam Slam, I'll keep that in mind when I listen to the album again.

BrazilianOnRaspberryBeret said:

iloveannie said:

BrazilianOnRaspberryBeret said:

I see many of you praising Glam Slam, I'll keep that in mind when I listen to the album again.

It's the second half. Mind blowing stuff. Like Brian May, out never ceases to sound like the first time. "smiles"

i think both halves are separately magical, im not religious but the beginning almost takes me somewhere spiritual. maybe its because ive been touched by the musky power of true love

uuhson said:

I can't believe I'm the only one that got this trick question right!

"This is not music, this is a trip."

Prince laid down the gauntlet in that Rolling Stone interview in 1990. With Lovesexy, you either had a mind-blowing experience or you did not. I did.

My opinions on each of these songs vary over time.

Alphabet St. A brilliant, almost perfect "time capsule"-worthy pop song.

No I am firmly in this song's camp. One of Prince's best tracks. Ever.

Anna Stesia A fan favorite, perhaps because it seems very personal.

Glam Slam Prince's whimsical brilliance shines thru (didn't work as a single, tho)

Lovesexy Sometimes it seems the whole spirit-vs-flesh theme built up to this song.

Dance On This one's moved up for its fierce tempo and message.

When 2 R In Love Part of Prince's "Slow Jam Canon."

Wish U Heaven Enjoyable but not much there there.

Positivity Dig this song nonetheless.

I used to rank this album as better than Purple Rain. I don't anymore but it is an essential Prince album. You can't really place his work in context without it.

I will rank and rate

1. Anna stesia 10/10 Stone cold classic

2= Alphabet Street 10, funky and a lot of fun

2= When 2 R in Love 10, also excellent but works better on the Black album

4. I wish u heaven 9, love it the spiritual vibe and falsetto

5. Eye no, good opener funky and bouncy 8

6. Lovesexy 8 Funny and very dirty song

7. Glam Slam 7 Catchy and more bouncy, but rather saccharine

8. Positivity 7 Alright but outstays it welcome a bit

9. Dance on 6, funky and danceable, but weak song, sounds like filler.

Overall I love the album, its one of his danciest and most spiritual records, but overrall just not as strong as Sign o the Times, it does make a good twin album to Black album though. Still it was rivers ahead of what came next.

On my A to F scale, this comes in at a Solid to high A- about 83 out of 100. Its better than some of his solid B+ albums like Controversy, Come, Emancipation and 3121, but not quite at the level of his best albums like 1999, Purple Rain and Sign which are A+ and the A grade level of Parade and Dirty Mind. Other albums at this level include Crystal Ball, Gold Experience and Love Symbol. Overall I have ranked it at 7th for my list of best albums.

[Edited 4/20/12 20:52pm]