Papaj said:

Co-sign.

SOTT easily with Come and The Gold Experience runners up!

Rainbow Children
close second : Lovesexy

WildheartXXX said:

Wildheart, have you seen BorisFishPaw's version of The Dawn?

The Dawn

disc 1:
1. Welcome 2 The Dawn (2:08 ) - slightly edited version of 'The Truth' track, used as a kind of intro to the album.
2. NPG Operator (0:11) - edited to say "Hello, welcome 2 the dawn, playground 4 the new power generation. There are over 500 experiences 2 choose from, press 'come' 2 begin."
3. Come (part 1) (2:57) - the 'Beautiful Experience' remix, with the organ solo and ending mixed in from the 'Glam Slam Ulysses' version. segues directly into...
4. Endorphin Machine (3:50) - the original version, taken from the 'Come' test pressing. Segues directly into...
5. Space (5:11) basically the same as the album version, but with a breakdown section near the end created by using small parts of the 'Universal Love Mix' and the 'Funky Stuff' mix. Ending segues into...
6. Days Of Wild (7:15) - basically an edit of the 'Crystal Ball' version, but with the scorching guitar solo from the NPGMC year 1 ahdio show version.
7. NPG Operator (0:17) - same as on 'The Gold Experience', except the crowd noise from 'Days Of Wild' fades out during the intro whooshes.
8. The Most Beautiful Girl In The World (4:54) - the 'Gold Experience' version mixed into the extended ending from the 'Mustang 96' version.
9. The Pope (4:32) - remix, using 'The Hits' version with a drum loop from the npg's 'Acknowledge Me' to beef up the beat a bit. Uses parts from the 12" remix of 'Pope' to create an extended ending. Also has a sample from 'D.M.S.R.' looped in near the end.
10. Ripopgodazippa (4:36) - same as on 'Crystal Ball' though the intro does overlap the ending of 'The Pope'.
11. NPG Operator (0:06) - "If U would like 2 access another experience, here's how."
12. Race (8:01) - extended remix, made using the long 'Outta Space' part from the unreleased version of the NPG's 'Super Hero'. Sample noises from 'Race' are looped in to the extended part to keep it sounding like one long extended 'live in the studio' jam.
13. Empty Room (3:16) - the updated '94 version that was played on the video screens pre-concert during the 'Gold Experience' live shows.
14. NPG Operator (0:06) - "Please access another experience"
15. Mad (5:29) - same as NPGMC version
16. Rock & Roll Is Alive(4:30) - pitch shifted up a tone to put into the right key to 'sound right' inbetween 'Mad' and 'Shhh'. Hard edits out of 'Mad' to keep the beat going, and ending segues into...
17. Shhh (7:25) - same as on 'The Gold Experience' except for the overlap on the intro.

disc 2:
1. Pussy Control (5:38 ) - the VH1 fashion awards version with a tiny bit from 'The Gold Experience' version on the intro.
2. NPG Operator (0:08 ) - edited to say, "That was just an example of the many experiences The Dawn has 2 offer. There are over 500 experiences 2 choose from, here's a sample"
3. Peach (3:04) - the 'Hits' version, with a different ending using part of 'The Purple Medley' so it can segue into...
4. Chaos & Disorder (4:12) - pitch shifted up a tone to put it in the same key as 'Peach', also has a slightly longer intro. No heartbeat outro.
5. Shy (4:56) - street sounds an footsteps on intro segue out of the ending of 'Chaos & Disorder'.
6. NPG Operator (0:14) - same as the one on 'The Gold Experience' used before '319'.
7. Pheromone (4:27) - same as on 'Come' except for a small extra intro bit taken from the unreleased intrumental version.
8. 319 (3:19) - same as on 'The Gold Experience', the hotel lobby intro is included as part of the song, which makes the running time exactly 3:19 as it should be. (It was a sequencing error on 'The Gold Experience' that added it to the NPG Operator intro rather than the song itself.)
9. 18 & Over (6:10) - the longer unreleased version, slightly edited to create a proper ending
10. NPG Operator (0:14) - the unreleased "And now a word from our sponsors. Get on the dancefloor mf!" 'Loose' intro
11. Lemme See That Body Get Loose (4:30) - remix using 'Loose' and 'Get Loose'.
12. Papa (2:48 ) - same as on 'Come'
13. NPG Operator (0:05) - "Hello, welcome 2 the dawn. U have just accessed..."
14. Billy Jack Bitch (7:06) - unreleased longer version.
15. I Hate U (8:50) - the album version, extended by mixing it with parts of the 'extended remix' version. Segues into...
16. Let It Go (5:31) - same as on 'Come' apart from segues on intro and outro.
17. Don't Talk 2 Strangers (3:12) - same as on 'Girl 6' except for an extra 'street sounds' intro lifted from the segue between 'Lady Cab Driver' and 'All The Critics Love U In New York'.

disc 3:
1. Interactive (3:01) - taken from 'Crystal Ball'.
2. Acknowledge Me (6:33) - the 'Crystal Ball' version, with an extended ending made using part of the 'Big City' remix of 'Big Fun' over the 'Acknowledge me' drum loop.
3. NPG Operator (0:09) - taken from the intro to the VH1 Fashion awards version of 'P Control'.
4. Somebody's Somebody (3:43) - the 'livestudio mix'
5. Love Sign (4:29) - the '1-800-NEW-FUNK' version, edited to give a proper ending. Has an extra 'street sounds' intro with gunshots and police sirens. Also includes the "Please Access another experience" part over the ending.
6. What's My Name (3:01) - same as on 'Crystal Ball', but with Prince's "Welcome 2 the dawn" intro added back. The final cymbal crash is replaced by the intro to...
7. The Ride (7:36) - mix of the 'Undertaker' version and the 'Crystal Ball' version.
8. NPG Operator (0:20) - as on 'The Gold Experience'.
9. Now (3:59) - same as on 'The Gold Experience' except it's extended by using the 'acapella version' of...
10. Face Down (2:09) - looped over the 'Now' drum beat, ends the same way as 'Now'.
11. NPG Operator (0:09) - edited to say "Hello, welcome 2 the dawn, playground 4 the new power generation. Please enjoy your experience.
12. The Same December (3:27) - same as on 'Chaos & Disorder'. Includes slightly extended 'birdsong' outro, which segues into...
13. Extraordinary (2:25) - taken from 'The Vault...Old Friends 4 Sale'. Segues into...
14. Dolphin (6:17) - same as on 'The Gold Experience' but with the extra instrumental coda from 'The Undertaker'. Segues into the 'beach sounds' of...
15. Come (part 2) (9:06) - edited version of the 'Come' album track. Includes the spoken part of 'Poem' at the beginning with the 'Come' drum loop underneath. Segues into the...
16. NPG Operator (0:38 ) - same as on 'The Gold Experience' except it segues out of 'Come' instead of 'I Hate U'.
17. Gold (7:22) - the 'Gold Experience' version.

Sandra said:

to jump on the bandwagon...Sign O' The Times

it's my musical Bible...pure pop perfection

All-time favourite Prince albums, as voted by you...

Dirty Mind: 2 votes
Controversy: 2 votes
1999: 1 vote
Purple Rain: 2 votes
Around The World In A Day: 1 vote
Sign O The Times: 8 votes
The Rainbow Children: 4 votes

"Sign of the Times"

If you are judging based one what I listened to last/most frequently then lately its all the new stuff. The live CD's, X and CNOTE - over an' over an' over. When I have a bit more time to listen and when I dip back into the past I always go for SOTT or Dirty Mind.

Soapstone said:

An all-time favourite album is that one gem of an album that you can't get seem to enough of, and invariably revisit time and time again. It must have a very special place in your heart, above all others.

Controversy. Nah, I was just trying to make you a little bit, Anji. I said it many times... Parade will always remain my all-time favorite P album.

hope i'm not 2 late 2 vote..."1999"

Tough call...different albums for different moods...but I always felt that EXODUS was really special.

For the last few years it has been Parade

Dirty Mind!!!

Its gotta be Sign O The Times, its still the one I listen to most, and the live versions just make me love it more.
Closely followed by Lovesexy.
Ah those were the days!

Parade. I never get bored of it. Its the first Prince album I bought. I was 14 and it sounded like nothing else I'd heard before.

Although a few of the tracks aren't great musically (I mean, have you ever tried playing "Kiss" on a piano?) its just groovy. It hits you with its energy. It feels like when you're speeding in a car and you stick your head through the open window and you can't breathe properly but you don't care because it feels like you're flying.

Controversy. Why: cause the Rock said so!

For me its always a toss up between Parade and SOTT. I love them both almost equally. But at the moment I'll have to say Sign o The Times. There is something about that 2nd disc that ALWAYS sounds fresh. Sometimes I do get sick of Parade, and I don't like Do U Lie? at all...something I can't say about any of the songs on Sign.

Sign o The Times First than 1999&Dirty Mind Right Next to it.

1999.

CalhounSq said:

Muthafuckas better recognize!

If you held a gun to my head: Parade.
If the gun is still to my hed, the runner up: Controversy.

Sign "O" The Times is Prince's all Universe. Can't be topped, Unless he released the original 1987 version of Crystal Ball

Anji said:

SIGN O THE TIMES!!!

Anji said:

LAST WEEK!!

1st: Come (on a good day)
2nd: Emancipation (on a bad day)

Or vice-versa.

I always have to be different.

gypsyfire said:

two weeks ago. i'm not in the mood 4 that album at the mo'.

PARADE.
For me its his most brilliant work!!

Parade.

There are other albums that will be my favourite from time to time, but Parade is always up there. The songwriting is superb, and the production just blew me away the first time I heard it and it still does. It sounded so different from anything else anyone at the time and still does now.

So many reasons...

The lack of bass on Kiss.
Clare Fisher's samazing string arrangements.
The prominent use of Wendy & Lisa's vocals.
The realisation that a song doesn't have to be long to be a masterpiece.
Marie-France's bored-yet-sexy French rap in Girls & Boys.
Coming up with a song title like 'Anotherloverholeinyohead'
Nearly crying the first time I head 'Sometimes it snows in April'
Prince never looking so damn beautiful as he does on that wonderful gatefold sleeve (god I miss viynl).
...the list of reasons to love Parade is endless.

---

and on a personal note, my second favourite has to be 'Prince'. Maybe because it's so less experimental than most of his albums, the fact that it's so immediate and full of perfect pop songs, it just grabbed me the first time I listened to it and has captivated me ever since. Throwaway yes, but it still sounds fresh 23 years later. And I kind of feel almost maternal about it too because no-one else seems to ever rate it, and I feel like it deserves a bit of attention. Am I alone on that?