[Edited 5/11/18 3:11am]

[Edited 5/11/18 11:31am]

No.

Batman - first mixed bag album. Half good, half below standards

Graffiti Bridge - obviously the third-party music spoiling the party

Love symbol album - actually not mixed bag, as i dislike the whole cd besides 1 or 2 songs

The Gold Experience - only 'Gold' is superweak, so it's not really a mixed bag.

post-Warners: everything besides 3121

Anthoknee said:

Controversy - The reason I picked this album is pretty obvious: things like Ronnie, Talk To Russia and Annie Christian co-existing on the same record as with Private Joy or Do Me, Baby is perversely facinating and sheer weirdness nearly makes me LOVE it. But I said nearly: it doesn't really work for me as a completely solid listening experience. Bi-polar, yes...

I agree that Controversy doesn't have quite the same satisfying cohesion as Dirty Mind, but I still love it. Annie Christian is actually a highlight for me. You’re never going to find consensus with a question like this. Much of his best work has that daring and eclectic quality – Sign O’ The Times teeters on the edge of disaster deftly.

Don't disrespect Controversy.

Controversy is probably the one album I don't listen to that often. However, I love most of the material.
1999, I get tired of after the first LP.
Batman, I love this album a lot! I just find Arms Of Orion throws the flow of the album off.

Yes Diamonds and Pearls

Stuff like Private Joy on Controversey also seemed to indicate where he was going, and then half of it was more of what he was doing. The title track bridges the gap between both past and future.

"Controversy" - the first side is fantastic, but the second half doesn't work for me.

"Lovesexy" - I think the first half is great - "I No" through "Anna Stesia" - but the second side is a mess. Really like "When 2 R In Love" and think "Positivity" is OK, but the rest is pretty awful.

And then, after "Lovesexy", everything was patchy as hell to be honest.

fen sa

I agree that Controversy doesn't have quite the same satisfying cohesion as Dirty Mind, but I still love it. Annie Christian is actually a highlight for me. You’re never going to find consensus with a question like this. Much of his best work has that daring and eclectic quality – Sign O’ The Times teeters on the edge of disaster deftly.

Actually, you are right...I guess I knew deep down there would be no clear consensus, but I've been intrigued with which records come up multiple times for differing reasons...you seem to have read my mind with Sign O' The Times though...I'd say the moment on it that embodies this is the coda of If I Was Your Girlfriend, just the insane randomness of it all.

TheFman said:

Batman - first mixed bag album. Half good, half below standards

Graffiti Bridge - obviously the third-party music spoiling the party

Love symbol album - actually not mixed bag, as i dislike the whole cd besides 1 or 2 songs

The Gold Experience - only 'Gold' is superweak, so it's not really a mixed bag.

post-Warners: everything besides 3121

Really? I thought that was a highlight...I think TGE as a whole is pretty solid actually except for 319 and Shhh

Anthoknee said:

TheFman said:

Batman - first mixed bag album. Half good, half below standards

Graffiti Bridge - obviously the third-party music spoiling the party

Love symbol album - actually not mixed bag, as i dislike the whole cd besides 1 or 2 songs

The Gold Experience - only 'Gold' is superweak, so it's not really a mixed bag.

post-Warners: everything besides 3121

Really? I thought that was a highlight...I think TGE as a whole is pretty solid actually except for 319 and Shhh

Same here. I love "Gold" - main ones I'm not keen on on there are "Billy Jack Bitch", "Now", and "We March". And the segues of course.

Nasalhair said:

Anthoknee said:

Really? I thought that was a highlight...I think TGE as a whole is pretty solid actually except for 319 and Shhh

Same here. I love "Gold" - main ones I'm not keen on on there are "Billy Jack Bitch", "Now", and "We March". And the segues of course.

imo Gold is as cheesy as they come. Even Grafitti Bridge the song was less cheese

Batman - unremarkable

Diamonds and Pearls - overrated

Symbol album - Meh

New Power Soul - stinks

3121 - boring

Planet Earth - dreadful

20Ten - sucks

Art Official Age - album title is better than the songs

Plectrumelectrum - sleep inducing

Hit N Run Phase One - missed opportunity

gandorb said:

Identity said:

Batman - unremarkable

Diamonds and Pearls - overrated

Symbol album - Meh

New Power Soul - stinks

3121 - boring

Planet Earth - dreadful

20Ten - sucks

Art Official Age - album title is better than the songs

Plectrumelectrum - sleep inducing

Hit N Run Phase One - missed opportunity

These two have better sales figures than actual material deserving them... in particular feels like a slog to get through once you get to the later songs...but I still think there is a few glimmers, I just wish the production was far, FAR less slicked up than it is on those.

Graffiti Bridge

Diamonds and Pearls

Love Symbol (Prince's most bottom heavy record)

Chaos and Disorder

Emancipation (with three discs this was unavoidable)

Rave UN2 the Joy Fantastic (not as bad as some make it out to be but not great)

Planet Earth (some interesting tracks here and there)

this is by far the worst thread of the month..

Controversy?????

and..................... Around The World In A Day is AMAZING as well..

this OP, he / she gotta be a newbie....

thedance said:

this OP, he / she gotta be a newbie....

You know what's really the worst? Someone calling out a stranger in a public forum like you have some personal problem with them. I can assure you I'm no novice when it comes to Prince. I was not trolling anyone with this thread, they were simply honest opinions. If you don't care for what I said, fine...but there's no need for that kind of animosity.

[Edited 5/12/18 16:32pm]

Yeah - damn you guys haha

.
It's cool - I get it. Some people just don't like all the songs on an LP - it happens haha.
.
I am having trouble picking an album that I don't listen to a huge amount. I suppose as much as I love MPLSound when I'm in the mood I could understand why people might feel it's a weak album in general with a few killer songs (Valentina, Dance 4 Me) - or maybe Slaughterhouse (Chocolate Invasion is, to me, the better half by far).
.
Still - I love all those mentioned albums, so I might not have any place being in this thread haha

It took me a very long time to appreciate the Batman album, mainly because I couldn´t get into the hype surrounding the movie back then.

I can totally relate to your criticism regarding the Crystal Ball album. What a wasted opportunity. It was good for what it was but those remixes were really unnecessary and should´ve been replaced by proper unreleased songs.

But.....on every album there are always some real gems. I find something great in every single one of his albums but there are many albums where I can´t enjoy the album as a whole.

Krystalkisses said:

Yes Diamonds and Pearls

Mixed bag is a fair critique of D&P. It is my second favourite Prince album. However, I am personally inclined to like the styles of music on D&P (as well as ) because I was born in 1986 and grew up hearing the House/dance music and hip hop of the early 90s. I also love slow jams and I developed an interest in New Jack Swing as a teenager. Therefore, I am strongly inclined to like just about every style on D&P.

.

While I feel that the album is quite strong lyrically, for those who are not so inclined to like the House/dance music and hip-hop of the early 90s, I can understand why the lyrics would be lost within the production style of songs like "Thunder", "Push", and "Live 4 Love". "Jughead" is, in my opinion, the worst track on the album and lyrically incoherent. "Daddy Pop" is a fun song to me, but if you don't like the production style, I could see why it would be obnoxious.

.

The best tracks on D&P are stellar:

Diamonds and Pearls

Insatiable

Money Don't Matter 2 Night

Willing and Able

Gett Off

.

I think that Walk Don't Walk, Cream, and Strollin' are also really good tracks. Cream, although it receives mixed feedback around the org, was a huge hit.

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There seems to be a range of opinions on Thunder, Daddy Pop, Live 4 Love, and Push, depending on one's taste.

.

Jughead receives a lot of negative feedback on the org (which I feel is warranted). I feel that this song reduces the quality of the overall album.

Emancipation is definitely a mixed bag. It's very inconsistent. It has some amazing songs, and some totally forgettable songs.

recordmanben said:

206Michelle said:

Krystalkisses said:

Yes Diamonds and Pearls

Mixed bag is a fair critique of D&P. It is my second favourite Prince album. However, I am personally inclined to like the styles of music on D&P (as well as ) because I was born in 1986 and grew up hearing the House/dance music and hip hop of the early 90s. I also love slow jams and I developed an interest in New Jack Swing as a teenager. Therefore, I am strongly inclined to like just about every style on D&P.

.

While I feel that the album is quite strong lyrically, for those who are not so inclined to like the House/dance music and hip-hop of the early 90s, I can understand why the lyrics would be lost within the production style of songs like "Thunder", "Push", and "Live 4 Love". "Jughead" is, in my opinion, the worst track on the album and lyrically incoherent. "Daddy Pop" is a fun song to me, but if you don't like the production style, I could see why it would be obnoxious.

.

The best tracks on D&P are stellar:

Diamonds and Pearls

Insatiable

Money Don't Matter 2 Night

Willing and Able

Gett Off

.

I think that Walk Don't Walk, Cream, and Strollin' are also really good tracks. Cream, although it receives mixed feedback around the org, was a huge hit.

.

There seems to be a range of opinions on Thunder, Daddy Pop, Live 4 Love, and Push, depending on one's taste.

.

Jughead receives a lot of negative feedback on the org (which I feel is warranted). I feel that this song reduces the quality of the overall album.

Yep I agree with just about everything you said. I too was born in the 80s and when I got into music "New Jack Swing" was big and popular and I still love it today even though it is dated ...still some of my favorite songs and style of popular music. D and P was smart for Prince commerically and I think it was a smart move on his part. And yes I remember Cream being very big back then, it was on the radio alot in the early 90s so was Gett Off (usually at night though). The album is just kinda ...eeh...I don't know, it has some really strong tracks (and yes I like Daddy Pop) and I still love Diamonds and Pearls (the song) but then the rest kinda bores me. Willing and Able I also like.

206Michelle said:

Emancipation is definitely a mixed bag. It's very inconsistent. It has some amazing songs, and some totally forgettable songs.

Yes totally agree!