Someone started a thread recently about albums that have grown on you and someone else was posting about how easily accessable Prince albums were in the 80's. I tend o disagree and wanted to start a thread that talks about your first impressions of his records.

For instance, I initially found ATWIAD and Parade perplexing on first listen. I'm still not that big of a fan of ATWIAD but I appreciate the approach. Parade made me want to listen to it again every time it was over because there was a sound there that I couldn't quite wrap my head around but I knew there was more to discover. Sign O The Times, while more initially accessable and likeable from end to end, still had the same odd "hook" to it, where you wanted to immediately listen to it again to hear what you missed.

Maybe it's because back then it was either an album or a cassette and it was harder to skip tracks so you were almost forced to experience the entire album. I miss those days actually.

When I first heard "Batman", I immediately began to smell a sell out for the first time but then got intoxicated by tracks like "Vicki Waiting", "The Future" and "Electric Chair". It didn't fit the movie at all and sounded like something Prince had laying around that he could cash in on.

"Diamonds & Pearls" also reeked of a sell out, even more so than "Batman" on first listen, and it took me forever to warm up to it. It's still a little too commercial for my taste but "Live 4 Love", "Gett Off" and "Walk, Don't Walk" are hard to argue with. The rapping was sort of jarring but I remember being excited at the time that Prince was evolving and incorporating it into his sound.

I remember thinking that "Graffiti Bridge" was a bit of a mess, like the film, and didn't need to be a double album, but man there are some good songs on there."We Can Funk" and "Joy in Repetition".

"The Black Album" was weird for me because, like most, I had a bootleg of it. It was on cassette and for some reason the dubbing was slow so I got used to hearing it at that speed. I loved it straight away but when I heard the official release it always sounded too fast since I'd grown used to listening to it at a slower speed.

"Symbol" I liked right off the bat because it was noisy, funky and experimental. Felt like return to form in some ways and struck me as more contemporary.

The first time I was sure Prince had shit the bed was when I first heard "Rainbow Children". I didn't like it all and still don't like a lot of it but, on first listen, I thought he'd lost his motherfucking mind.

"Come", "The Vault" and "Chaos & Disorder" struck me as the filler that they were but I still sort of enjoyed the "name change" period and all the weird drama that Prince was caught up in. I'll post some more later about "Rave", "Musicology" and a few others but I'm interested to read what others think.

Obviously, "1999" and "Purple Rain" were accessable from the get go. Hardly a skipper to be found and everyone loved them straight away. Then most people dug backwards into the catalog to see what "Dirty Mind", "Prince" and "Controversy" were all about - at least that was my journey. What was yours?

Nice post! I'll giv'r a try!

I purchased TGE w/o much thought, but was hooked at first listen & as you mentioned, I went back & listened again & again.

A few weeks later, maybe it was days... I purchased the Love Symbol album & was very impressed, but also overwhelmed & resorted back to familiarity in TGE again, but came back in moderation to absorb & grew to love most of the album... the Prince mystique had grown for me at this point.

With out any knowledge of the history of the TBA, I purchased this next & it nailed me in a way I didn't expect. I was like, 'Is he serious? This is ridiculous!' I went on hiatus on this album after the initial listen for awhile & later got sucked so deep into it, I loved it, I love it!

Can't remember the next album, but I think it was C&D, which I was immediately disappinted with. Where was the polished rock/pop/funk, it seemed to have faded away.. In months to come I rediscovered this jewel with musically matured ears & grew to absolutley adore this album & wish for more from this same time period.

I'm pretty sure Emancipation came out shorty after that. I was kind of disappinted, but, it's just that there was sooo much music to go through, I found a lot of stuff that I felt was amazing & later sifted through what I considered the 'filler'. But I love P's music, so I enjoy the fact the he's willing to share some of the filler.

Soon I had the Vault, but I had just discovered Napster & a buddy of mine at the time gave me a radio promo cd of the Crucial album, so I was kind of over the moon with that. Plus I met another P fan at a mall, based off a tour shirt he was wearing & he ended up giving me my first ever boots.

Not too long after that it Exodus, CB, The Truth, Kamasutra..... Pretty much fanatic at this point...

Then I began digging into his back catalogue... In Love with the Purple Music

Shortly after I had completed my physical collection of all his albums, my collection was stolen. It was partly my fault. I had it all in a big booklet in my car & someone stole it. I was only away from my car for a couple hours. That was a sad day. Whoever they are certainly do not appreciate the music the way I did.

One day in Books a Million I stumbled on TRC. I thought P went crazy too, only I thought, I must be crazy too, becasue I f'ing love this! Minus some of the lyrics I was dumbfounded.

1999 still sticks out to me the most of his whole repotoire, he's a baddass, no matter what he releases at this point.

I'm digging the new album HNR, perhaps more than AOA & certainly more than PE. Something about the short sweet & energetic with a lovely quiet ending. It's not his greatest work, but it's fun & I enjoy it.

Whenever I am driving, or watching a movie or TV show or with friends, music will jump at me. I love finding new and interesting music. I am always looking out for it, so not everyone needs to play something over and over. If it's special, it grabs you, at least for me anyway.

KingSausage said:

This is a great thread. I'd like to respond but you wrote War and Peace up there. I'll just concur with what you said!

Hey! I never evened mentioned "The War". Or "Peace" Respond away. The other thread (What grew on you) and the recent mixed response to H&R got me thinking about my initial reactions to Prince albums, especially those I experienced in a vaccum and before the internet was around where I had to shape my opinions withouth bias. I left out a few.

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"Lovesexy" was incredibly tricky for me. I think that was even further out of left field then ATWIAD was. My first impression was that it had a lot of substance to it but felt overly dense. Where AWTWIAD felt like Prince trying to be different just for the sake of being different, Lovesexy seemed like he had something to say and a clear musical vision behind it, even though I'm still not entirely sure what those visions were. I just know I kept listening to it. I didn't have the CD so track skipping was not an issue, but I listened to it repeatedly end to end anyway, all the while wondering if I really liked it or if I was just so utterly intrigued by it.

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"The Gold Experience" I loved right away. I think it was because it was the first Prince album I ever heard that sounded like a real live band was playing it and it wasn't loaded with drum sequences. The addition of Micheal Bland and a more organic drum sound was a huge breath of fresh air, as was the added emphasis on the guitar and the more hard rock elements of Prince's sound. For once I didn't mind the slower songs either. The ballads and slower numbers on this one and "Symbol" were really great. "Sweet Baby", "Damn U", "I Hate U", "Shy", "Shhh" were a nice departure for me over the same old "Do Me Baby"/"Beautiful Ones" style Prince has beaten to death.

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Rave I wanted to like because there was so much hype and this was the first time I really got involved with the internet but it was apparent from the outset that he was just trying too hard and obviously thought 1999 would be his Big Year. Turns out that was Musicology which is not agreat album but the tour and Prince's media availability added to the collective whole and helped cement his legacy.

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Shit. Another "War and Peace" post. My bad.

herb4 said: