I was listening to this underrated album yesterday and thinking about how everyone raves about Michael Jackson's first album "Off the Wall" (which is justified cause it's great) and thinking that "Just As Long As We're Together" could have easily been an MJ song from OTW.

My point is that Just as Long as We're Together should have been a HIT in the vein of "Rock With You" and "For You" should have sold WAY more than it did. And it should be more popular for Prince fans now than it is. It deserves more praise, basically...it seems to be the orgs least favourite album.

I just think it is a great album really and much better than his next album, "Prince" (although that was good, too).

Fans of "For You" post your thoughts here!

for you is indeed an awesome album...it's even betta on vinyl.

for you

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

sho' is

I was a little apprehensive about buying it at first. I guess because I thought his earlier work wouldn't be as good as the songs I'd heard on his later albums. But I was pleasantly surprised when I heard it. Yeah, "For You" is very cool. "Baby" is one of my all time favorites. Actually I'm listening to it right now. God,"For You" the first song is amazingly beautiful.

"For You" is a great album for a number of reasons.

1. Prince was only 20 years old when the album was released, probably 19 when most of it was recorded, and he wrote, sang, and played all instruments and voices and even produced the album. Such a thing was completely unheard of at the time (especially for a rookie), and for the most part so much self control in the studio is still unheard of today. Stevie Wonder had progressed to that point, but Stevie had long since paid his dues to get to such a state of artistic control. Prince was brand new, and enough cannot be said about being given so much control, because it was that level of control which allowed Prince to grow into the artist that we all know and love.

2. The playing is solid throughout the entire album. At the time the album was released, if someone told you that "For You" was an album created and performed in it's entirety by one man, you would not believe them. To this day, there are lots of people that don't realize it's all Prince. It is a testament to Prince's musical skills that no one notices. The sound does not have an "over-dub" feeling at all, it really sounds like a complete band.

3. It's a brief introduction to the variety of sounds and styles that has become the hallmark of Prince's albums over the years. By that I mean you get a little bit of funk, you get a little blues, you get a little rock, you get a bit of everything, and it's all done extremely well.

4. The album is technically perfect in any concievable way.

5. The opening track "For You" gives a strong reinforcement to the argument that Prince understands the gravity and importance of not only his first album, but first notes and first sounds that one will ever hear from an artist that will have a huge impact on the music world. Prince starts out with a heavily layered accapella with deep rich beautiful chords. But the words themeselves let all of us know that this song "For You" is only the beginning of something grand.

All of this and more
Is For You
With love, sencerity
and Deepest care
My life with you
I share...

What a beautiful introduction to Prince's career. And I must say that Prince has lived up to every word of his opening song.

For you is indeed a GREAT album.

FutureShock said:

Thanks for that, I appreciated it and agreed with it all (of course).

mrdespues said:

Actually, Off The Wall isn't Michael's first solo album, but it is his first solo album as an adult.

why supernova

Whilst it clearly is heartfelt and sincere, I just don't find much in the way of 'raw edge' on that record. Whilst I think the Prince album is excellent, I have often wondered how Prince managed to recover from what sounds like a very inconsequential first record, impact-wise.

Christopher said:

ChristOpher!

Supernova said:

I knew someone would say that. That's what I meant.

I love this album. It is beautiful.

Anji said:

Recover? More people have inconsequential debut albums than not. What's to recover from?

rdhull said:

Supernova said:

supernova im watching the I wish U heaven video...

Supernova said:

So you agree it's inconsequential?

Christopher said:

Really, darling? I haven't seen that video in years.

Supernova said:

everyone looks pretty in it...


and "pure"

kick-ass album... very underrated... i get tired of people slamming this record all the time, and trying to pretend that prince began with "dirty mind"...

Anji said:

! Yes, ya goof!

But it was necessary in order for the young buck to get his feet wet in all aspects in the studio.

One thing about it; Prince negotiated very well to have complete control. That's one of the most ballsy things a teenager with no experience can do.

EllisDee said:

technically he did, but that's another day...

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

That's another thread.

Supernova said:

exactly.

Anji said:

It definitely does not have a raw artistic edge, I agree. But I don't think that's what Prince was shooting for either. But, I do think that in order to better understand and appreciate the For You album, one has to put the album into the proper perspective. This was Prince's first album. He was a rookie. A very gifted and talented rookie, but still a rookie. As an artist, Prince had not yet matured, and this lack of artisitic maturity does come through in For You. But while the sound is relatively simple, it is very, very pure. And it cannot be overstated that he is doing EVERYTHING alone. Again, remember though, the kid was only 19 years old when most of the album was written. Perspecitive, perspective... remember that when thinking about For You.

He recovered with his second album called "Prince". But... I remember reading a very early interview given by Prince where he said that in many ways, he regretted the "Prince" album because he knew that he wrote most of "Prince" specifically to generate hits for his record company. For me personally, I think such a "sell out" was a relatively small sacrifice for Prince to make because lets face it, I don't care how great of an artist someone may be, if they don't become poplular, they won't become a pop superstar. The Prince album is what kept Prince's musical career alive (at least within the majors). Who knows what would've happened to Prince's career had he not created an album that was a pop success like "Prince".

EllisDee said:

wow, we actually agree on something ellis.

For the record, I just want to make it clear that Supernova stated For You is an inconsequential record (on a thread title For You is a great album). I agree with Supernova!

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Anji said:

and the both of you can be gone from this thread... if you can't feel the groovin' in "for you," i feel sorry for ya...

Anji said:

Troublemaker!

EllisDee said:

don't worry, i dig for you...it's an awesome start, but ol' boy didn't find his balls till dm. we gonna save that discussion 4 a rainy day, tho'...