Dear .Org,

How would you rate Prince's produced albums since 2000?

Based on the list below, please include your score out of 10 (0 being the worst score you can provide and 10 being the best score).

I have included my scores, as an example:

1. Rave Into The Joy Fantastic - 7

2. The Rainbow Children - 10

3. One Nite Alone - 9

4. One Nite Alone...Live! (incl. The Aftershow: It Ain't Over) - 6.5

5. Xpectation - 7.5

6. N.E.W.S - 10

7. Musicology - 8

8. The Chocolate Invasion - 7.5

9. Slaughterhouse - 7.5

10. C-Note - 8

11. 3121 - 9

12. Milk and Honey - 9.5

13. Planet Earth - 9

14. Indigo Nights - 7

15. Lotusflower - 10

16. MPLSound - 7.5

17. Elixir - 8.5

18. 20Ten - 9

19. Superconductor - 9.5

After every few responses, perhaps a kind soul can perform a simple quantitative analysis regarding the results, so that we can see how each album rates out of 10, as well as find out where each album falls within the ranking system from 'best' to 'worst'.

love,

Spirit

my try:

2001: Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic (7)
2001: The Very Best Of Prince (10)
2001: The Rainbow Children (8.5)
2002: One Nite Alone... Piano (3)
2002: One Nite Alone... Live (2)
2003: Xpectation (2)
2003: N.E.W.S. (2)
2004: Musicology (7)
2004: The Chocolate Invasion (7)
2004: The Slaughterhouse (7)
2004: C-Note (I have never listened = ?)
2006: 3121 (5)
2006: Ultimate Prince (Best Of) (10)
2007: Planet Earth (5)
2008: Indigo Nights (Book & CD) (2)
2009: Lotusflower (8)
2009: MPLSound (8)
2010: 20Ten (6)

Prince is not that great in making albums, >>> he USED to be... brilliant.

thedance,

Based on your scores (which are generally woefully low), I can now see why you have felt so disenfranchised with Prince for the longest time ever. Well done, you, for somehow clinging onto hope!

love,

Spirit

Hi SpiritOtter.

yeah I am kind of struggeling... rather low scores 2000-2010, I agree.

But I will never loose faith. I loooove the old music deeply.

Esp. 1978 to 1995.

Off topic: (the rest of my list)

1978: For You (8)
1979: Prince (8)
1980: Dirty Mind (10)
1981: Controversy (9.5)
1982: 1999 (10)
1984: Purple Rain (10)
1985: Around The World In A Day (10)
1986: Parade (10)
1987: Sign “☮” The Times (10)
1988: Lovesexy (10)
1989: Batman (8)
1990: Graffiti Bridge (8)
1991: Diamonds & Pearls (9)
1992: The Love Symbol Album (9)
1993: The Hits / The B-sides (10)
1994: Come (9)
1994: The Black Album (9.5)
1995: The Gold Experience (10)
1996: Chaos & Disorder (7)
1996: Emancipation (8)
1998: Crystal Ball (8)
1998: The Truth (7)
1998: Kamasutra (0)
1998: Newpower Soul (4)
1999: The Vault... Old Friends 4 Sale (6)
1999: Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic (6)

SpiritOtter said:

1. Rave Into The Joy Fantastic - 6.5

2. The Rainbow Children - 9

3. One Nite Alone - 5

4. One Nite Alone...Live! (incl. The Aftershow: It Ain't Over) - 8

5. Xpectation - 5

6. N.E.W.S - 7

7. Musicology - 8

8. The Chocolate Invasion - 7.5

9. Slaughterhouse - 7

10. C-Note - 7

11. 3121 - 9

12. Milk and Honey - haven't heard it.

13. Planet Earth - 7

14. Indigo Nights - 1

15. Lotusflower - 9

16. MPLSound - 5

17. Elixir - 7

18. 20Ten - 5

19. Superconductor - haven't heard it.

t

I gave higher numbers on some albums then they deserved based upon the material not the actual production. I think Rave suffers most from this production issue. For example; ILUBIDTUA on the Rave album is boring, but the live version is superb. Both Chocolate Invasion and Slaughterhouse suffer from production, but the material is better than most people think it is.

Although ratings really don't matter.

Probably anything at a 7 or higher are probably all good material and should be rated a 10. Because not all music is trying to be the pop hit, sometimes music is to fit a mood or a sound whether or not it's popular is irrelevant.

[Edited 2/14/13 12:38pm]

I can only do the ones i've heard or owned because wasn't able to get any of npgmc stuff too young.

1. Rave-3

2. Rainbow-7

3.One night alone live-6

4. News-5

5. Musicology-8

6. 3121-9

7. Planet earth-6

8. Indigo Nights-6.5

9.Lotus-7.5

10. MPLS- 3

thedance said:

Hi SpiritOtter.

yeah I am kind of struggeling... rather low scores 2000-2010, I agree.

But I will never loose faith. I loooove the old music deeply.

Esp. 1978 to 1995.

Off topic: (the rest of my list)

1978: For You (8)
1979: Prince (8)
1980: Dirty Mind (10)
1981: Controversy (9.5)
1982: 1999 (10)
1984: Purple Rain (10)
1985: Around The World In A Day (10)
1986: Parade (10)
1987: Sign “☮” The Times (10)
1988: Lovesexy (10)
1989: Batman (8)
1990: Graffiti Bridge (8)
1991: Diamonds & Pearls (9)
1992: The Love Symbol Album (9)
1993: The Hits / The B-sides (10)
1994: Come (9)
1994: The Black Album (9.5)
1995: The Gold Experience (10)
1996: Chaos & Disorder (7)
1996: Emancipation (8)
1998: Crystal Ball (8)
1998: The Truth (7)
1998: Kamasutra (0)
1998: Newpower Soul (4)
1999: The Vault... Old Friends 4 Sale (6)
1999: Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic (6)

from wat i have heard. Prince-8, Dirty Mind-10, Controversy- 7, 1999-10, PR-10, ATHWID- 5.5, Parade-8.5(if it was shorter 10), Sign-10, Graffiti-8, Diamonds-9, Love symbol(if shorter 10) 9, Bsides-10, Come-8.75, Black album-8.75, Gold 9.5, Emancipation-6.5, Disc 3-9, Chaos-6, Kamasutra-1.5,

thedance said:

Hi SpiritOtter.

yeah I am kind of struggeling... rather low scores 2000-2010, I agree.

But I will never loose faith. I loooove the old music deeply.

Esp. 1978 to 1995.

Off topic: (the rest of my list)

1978: For You (8)
1979: Prince (8)
1980: Dirty Mind (10)
1981: Controversy (9.5)
1982: 1999 (10)
1984: Purple Rain (10)
1985: Around The World In A Day (10)
1986: Parade (10)
1987: Sign “☮” The Times (10)
1988: Lovesexy (10)
1989: Batman (8)
1990: Graffiti Bridge (8)
1991: Diamonds & Pearls (9)
1992: The Love Symbol Album (9)
1993: The Hits / The B-sides (10)
1994: Come (9)
1994: The Black Album (9.5)
1995: The Gold Experience (10)
1996: Chaos & Disorder (7)
1996: Emancipation (8)
1998: Crystal Ball (8)
1998: The Truth (7)
1998: Kamasutra (0)
1998: Newpower Soul (4)
1999: The Vault... Old Friends 4 Sale (6)
1999: Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic (6)

thedance,

Your earlier era ratings are very high indeed by comparison. But, I just wanted to unpick your selections a little more carefully. Do you genuinely find For You am EQUIVALENT listening experience (rated 8 out of 10) compared to Lotus Flower (which you also rated 8 out of 10)?

I think you might perhaps be overrating some of his earlier work (and conversely, it might also be possible that you are seriously underrating some of his later work e.g. 3121, which you rated 5 out of 10). Seriously, 3121 is signigicantly less rewarding to you to listen to than For You?

love,

Spirit

SpiritOtter said:

I have rated the ones I have heard, unlike many of you, his albums from this period are mostly average to good rather than amazing. Best of the lot are MPLSound and 3121. Indigo nights and Elixir are practically unlistenable

1. Rave Into The Joy Fantastic - 6.5 - B-

2. The Rainbow Children - 5.5 - C

3. One Nite Alone - 6 - C+

4. One Nite Alone...Live! (incl. The Aftershow: It Ain't Over) - 7 - B

5. N.E.W.S - 6 - C+

6. Musicology - 7 - B

7. 3121 - 8 - A-

8. Planet Earth - 7.5 - B+

9. Indigo Nights - 3.5 - E

10. Lotusflower - 7.5 - B+

11. MPLSound - 8.5 - A

12. Elixir - 4 - D

13. 20Ten - 6.5 - B-

Overall 64/100 = high C+

I am willing to do a numerical analysis once we get some more replies.

[Edited 2/14/13 13:31pm]

1. Rave Into The Joy Fantastic - 4

2. The Rainbow Children - 10

3. One Nite Alone - 9

4. One Nite Alone...Live! (incl. The Aftershow: It Ain't Over) - 9

5. Xpectation - 8

6. N.E.W.S - 8

7. Musicology - 8

8. The Chocolate Invasion - 6

9. Slaughterhouse - 6

10. C-Note - 7

11. 3121 - 9

12. Milk and Honey - 5

13. Planet Earth - 7

14. Indigo Nights - 4

15. Lotusflower - 10

16. MPLSound - 7

17. Elixir - 7

18. 20Ten - 8

19. Superconductor - 8

1. Rave Into The Joy Fantastic - 6

2. The Rainbow Children - 9

3. One Nite Alone - 6

4. One Nite Alone...Live! (incl. The Aftershow: It Ain't Over) - 6

5. Xpectation - 6

6. N.E.W.S - 5

7. Musicology - 4

8. The Chocolate Invasion - 3

9. Slaughterhouse - 4

10. C-Note - 5

11. 3121 - 8

12. Milk and Honey - never heard it! D:

13. Planet Earth - 7

14. Indigo Nights - 6

15. Lotusflower - 8

16. MPLSound - 3

17. Elixer - 4

18. 20Ten - 7

19. Superconductor - 4

That feels mean but when compared to his back catalogue i'm probably being generous with some of them. Most of them have at least one 10/10 song that makes it worthwhile.

[Edited 2/14/13 15:09pm]

I don't like putting numbers on music, but it'll be fun to list the albums (I don't know all of them) in the order I like 'em. Starting with the best:
Lotusflower
Musicology (the one that brought me back)
3121
Rainbow Children (the one that lost me)
MPLSound
I don't think live albums or compilations count.

MyGod, I totally forgot Planet Earth. That says something, doesn't it?! So overall, one good album, (Lotus) two okay ones (Musicology & 3121), one that gets on my nerves (Rainbow) and the rest is so-so.
[Edited 2/14/13 15:30pm]

1. Rave Into The Joy Fantastic - ?

2. The Rainbow Children - 4

3. One Nite Alone - 8

4. One Nite Alone...Live! (incl. The Aftershow: It Ain't Over) - 8

5. Xpectation - 8

6. N.E.W.S - 6

7. Musicology - 8

8. The Chocolate Invasion - 6

9. Slaughterhouse - 7

10. C-Note - 6

11. 3121 - 8

12. Milk and Honey - ?

13. Planet Earth - 5

14. Indigo Nights - 6

15. Lotusflower - 9

16. MPLSound - 5

17. Elixir - 7

18. 20Ten - 4

19. Superconductor - 7

1. Rave Into The Joy Fantastic - 7

2. The Rainbow Children - 7

3. One Nite Alone - 2

4. One Nite Alone...Live! (incl. The Aftershow: It Ain't Over) - 10

5. Xpectation - 2

6. N.E.W.S - 5

7. Musicology - 6

8. The Chocolate Invasion - 7

9. Slaughterhouse - 7

10. C-Note - 3

11. 3121 - 7.5

12. Milk and Honey - never heard it so can't grade

13. Planet Earth - 7

14. Indigo Nights - 1

15. Lotusflower - 10

16. MPLSound - 6

17. Elixir - 7

18. 20Ten - 6

19. Superconductor - never heard it so cant grade

1. Rave Into The Joy Fantastic - 5

2. The Rainbow Children - 9

3. One Nite Alone - 4

4. One Nite Alone...Live! (incl. The Aftershow: It Ain't Over) - 5

5. Xpectation - 4

6. N.E.W.S - 7

7. Musicology - 7

8. The Chocolate Invasion - 4

9. Slaughterhouse - 4

10. C-Note - 6

11. 3121 - 7

12. Milk and Honey - (never heard it)

13. Planet Earth - 5

14. Indigo Nights - 5

15. Lotusflower - 6.5

16. MPLSound - 6

17. Elixir - (never heard it, except the title track)

18. 20Ten - 7.5

19. Superconductor - 8

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Really? You like all of these equally much or some are 0.5 higher? It seems like you must enjoy some more than others among the other ones.