Meaning, what record do you think he put the most thought in to being a "listen to THIS?" sort of statement?

I know he did that with all his records, save stuff like "Come", "Batman", "D&P" but even lower tier stuff like GB, LOtus Flower, 3121 always seemed to me like he was REALLY trying to say something. But every once in a while, he seemed to very overtly be "swinging for the fences".

I got to thinking about this posting in the Lovesexy and Parade threads and thought it would make a cool subject.

To me, the records that come off as "Here's a Big Giant Statement/Concept", chronologically, are:

Lovesexy: This one's obvious. Skipper had something to say for sure whether or not he even knew what it was or if any of us were ready for it. Naked album cover, single tracking on the CD. This is the one got me thinking about the subject.

Emancipation: He called it "the album he was born to make" and was fresh off the name change, feeling free and madly in love with what would become his first wife. Sadly, his son died, the album was uneven and his marriage fell apart but I think he meant to make a big splash with it.

The Rainbow Children: This one is also insanely obvious. The whole "I know the Truth and the one true way to God" schtick. Shit, he promoted it on his own website as his "most controversial album" in the ads. Probably his most overt attempt at Making a Big Giant Statement since Lovesexy.

Honorable mention to Love Symbol, which paved the way towards the name change but doesn't feel like a statement. You could make an argument for Purple Rain but I think that was a "perfect storm" sort of scenario more than anything. Same with Musicology, where he decided to embrace the mantle of an old school musician and, again, found the perfect storm with his tour. Around the World in a Day was "fuck you, I'm not doing Purple Rain 2, 3, 4 and 5 for the rest of my life." ATWIAD probably belongs but I left it out becuase he underpromoted it so much.


I had SOTT, 1999 and GB in my post originally, but they don't feel the same for some reason.

One could make arguments for several albums for different reasons but, looking at them as a whole, it's obvious to me that there were varying degrees of "seriousness" in his work, and matters of intent relating to how he wanted them to be received. I think Prince always took whatever he did seriously, but there's stuff like 20Ten, The Vault, Parade, C&D, Planet Earth and NEWS that never seemed to have the same "push" behind it, for lack of a better word.

Then there's brilliant shit like "The Truth", "3121" and "Exodus", or even parts of "Lotus Flower" that just sort of got put out there.

I understand why you wouldn´t want to count SOTT. As great as it is, the way it was configured was probably very frustrating when you consider that he had to abandon the triple album idea, so the end result was still great but a slightly different product than he actually envisioned, so it is probably not the kind of artistic statement he wanted to make due to WB interfering with his original vision for it.

But I would definitely add 1999 and Purple Rain to that list, and of course ATWIAD.

And of course Emancipation and The Rainbow Children are the most obvious ones, regardless of how some fans feel about them.

And Lovesexy of course.

KoolEaze said:

I understand why you wouldn´t want to count SOTT. As great as it is, the way it was configured was probably very frustrating when you consider that he had to abandon the triple album idea, so the end result was still great but a slightly different product than he actually envisioned, so it is probably not the kind of artistic statement he wanted to make due to WB interfering with his original vision for it.

But I would definitely add 1999 and Purple Rain to that list, and of course ATWIAD.

And of course Emancipation and The Rainbow Children are the most obvious ones, regardless of how some fans feel about them.

And Lovesexy of course.

Yeah, the last 3 you mentioned were the ones I settled on. zIt was a fun exercise thinking about it and I was trying to bring up a fresh topic.

My guesses would be Around the World in a Day, Lovesexy, Emancipation, The Rainbow Children, and maybe Art Official Age.

He definitely felt like he was making a statement with both Lovesexy and The Rainbow Children...

Lovesexy

I would agree with Lovesexy, Emancipation and Rainbow Children, and possibly AOA.

The one missing for me is Dirty Mind. He was making the first definitive statement of his career, from his look and his lyrical content to the real start of his push back against 'The system'.

The very fact that he refused to re-record the 'demos' and wore what he did was very much a statement about a man who wanted to explore control and sexuality in equal measure. I think this was the album where he truly 'arrived' as a persona.

I'd say Around the World in a Day.

"I make what I want when I want how I want it!"

[Edited 4/5/18 15:15pm]