Parade. The first P's album that I've bought, the first time I've seen Prince ( & the Revolution!) live, my first girlfriend, one of the happiest moments of my life.

[Edited 3/30/15 23:35pm]

JoshuaWho said:

Not which one was the most popular or sold the most copies or got the best reviews - all that doesnt matter though so many here seem to think that is all that matters. I am talking about the album that was part of the soundtrack to some pivotal period or phase of your life. This is the album that takes you back like a purple time machine when you sit down, put on the phones, and close your eyes. You laugh or cry thinking of things that happened as this music played a role.

[Edited 2/16/15 15:23pm]

Most of them really. I played most of them intensively at the time of release (ever since I became a fan) so they're all related to the months that followed their release and with each album comes specific memories. It's been the soundtrack of my life for 24 years. In a way the pre-1989 albums don't have this privilege because I all bought them in 90-91, but nevertheless they're all highly related to that school year when I was listening to them all the time.

Controversy. I became a Prince fan in middle school during all of the Musicology hype. My parents already owned "Purple Rain" and "The Very Best Of" so I listened to those three albums over and over until I finally decided I was going to go buy each album to which every song on "The Very Best Of" belonged to. I got to Coconuts and saw "Dirty Mind" and "Controversy" (amongst others) and was like..."wtf are these?!" I think I must've played the title song to Controversy like 3 or 4 times before I let the rest of the cd play out. It instantly became my favorite Prince album and I couldn't tell if the title track had overtaken When Doves Cry as my favorite Prince song, still not really sure

It was a pivotal time for me because it was not only the moment I became immersed in Prince fandom, but it was when I ditcehd mainstream pop radio to go back and delve into the back catalogs of all the great artists of the '60s, '70s, and '80s.

Difficult to answer... if I had to pick an album it would be either Parade, Sign O'the Times or Lovesexy. Lovesexy was the first one I got on it's releasedate. I already knew the previous ones by heart.

Lovesexy Live was the first concert I saw live, with perfect weather in my favourite teams stadium, in my favourite city. All things fell together that night! For that reason, Lovesexy Live (the Dortmund show) is the unofficial album of my life.

For me it would have to be Emancipation. This isn't my favorite album to listen to but it definitely means the most. I was in my sophomore year in college when it came out. Prince was doing the Love4OneAnother Charity Tour and it was the first time I had the opportunity to see him in concert. He preformed at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood and then two weeks later at the Rimac Arena at UCSD in San Diego. I almost lost my first job trying to get tickets to the shows because they were typical short notice and you could only purchase tickets at the box office. I don't listen to Emancipation very often now but it has a handful of stellar songs: The Love We Make & Somebody's Somebody are among my favorites. I'd love to see him incorporate Somebody's Somebody into his current set list - we can only hope!

donnyenglish said:

Rainbow Children. Heard it for the first time at Paisley with Prince and read the lyrics while listening to the album in its entirety. The album moved me spiritually, politically and romatically and it still does. The music is outstanding as well and he pushed the boundaries on that album.

very true

parade is the first one.

the 5cds Crystal Ball is the number 2.