I've had this thick-ass book for a long time. It's almost 1500 pages 2 1/4 inches thick, 9"x7.5" It's pretty detailed with short artist's bios and recommendations. Here is the Prince section (I'm not typing the bio). I am going to list the What To Buy, What To Buy Next, and What To Avoid sections along with the notes for each.

What To Buy:

Sign O the Times - "a masterpiece that leads the listener on an incredible journey through the world according to Prince... his diverse best and showcases his amazing range as an instrumentalist and singer."

1999 - "gave rockdom its first taste of Prince with the title track and "Little Red Corvette... a masterpiece of pop, rock, and funk... and it was Prince's breakthrough project."

Dirty Mind - "perhaps the definitive funk/rock album with a nasty theme."

Purple Rain - "may be a bit too mainstream for some but this album put Prince over the top and it's loaded with great dance/pop songs."

What To Buy Next:

The Hits/The B-Sides - "chock[ed] full of hits, though they do lose some of their luster when listened to out of their original context.

Parade - "often dismissed as a failure, largely because of the lack of success of its companion movie. It contains other great songs ("Girls and Boys", "Mountains", "Anotherloverholenyohead", "Sometimes It Snows In April") - that were inexplicably left off the hits package.

What To Avoid:

"Prince was handpicked to do the soundtrack for Batman woof! by one of the film's stars. That's one phone call Prince should've never answered. A couple of cuts ("The Future", "Partyman") aren't half bad, but the album as a whole is Prince's worst effort to date."

The Rest: (with their star ratings)

For You ***

Prince ****

Controversy ****

ATWIAD ****

Lovesexy ***

Graffiti Bridge **

Diamonds and Pearls *** 1/2

***

The Hits 1 **** 1/2

The Hits 2 **** 1/2

The Black Album ** 1/2

Come * 1/2

The Gold Experience ** 1/2

Girl 6 *** 1/2

Emancipation ****

Crystal Ball *** 1/2

The Truth ** 1/2

New Power Soul **

Worth Searching For:

The White Album (Netural Zone, 1989), a bootleg live CD recorded in Germany in 1988, is 71 minutes of no-holds-barred funk, made even better by its surprisingly fine sound quality.

*(OP note: is this Trojan Horse/Small Club? I've never heard that title on a bootleg before.)

What do you think about their recommendations? Remember, this was published in 1999, so anything after that didn't exist yet. Let's stick to what's here.

I don't agree with a few notes in this.


Here's my edition of the book on Amazon.

What do I think? I think they deserve to have their asses kicked for rating Come the lowest of all his albums.

TrivialPursuit said:

Worth Searching For:

The White Album (Netural Zone, 1989), a bootleg live CD recorded in Germany in 1988, is 71 minutes of no-holds-barred funk, made even better by its surprisingly fine sound quality.

*(OP note: is this Trojan Horse/Small Club? I've never heard that title on a bootleg before.)

.

As if the description doesn't already say enough (i.e. it's an incomplete boot of the Dortmund 1988 broadcast), googling the title and the label immediately reveals https://www.discogs.com/P...se/8430813 .

BartVanHemelen said:

As if the description doesn't already say enough (i.e. it's an incomplete boot of the Dortmund 1988 broadcast), googling the title and the label immediately reveals https://www.discogs.com/P...se/8430813 .

Why would I bother when I know you'll show up with your clipboard and red pen, Bert? I can kick back and wait for the staff to come thru and fix things (that'd be you).

TrivialPursuit said: