I'd say Purple Rain. A album of very ordinary 80s music does not say "Prince's best work" to me.

Also, people get forgetting to mention that Sign O' The Times is a Prince and the Revolution album (asides from the Camilie songs and U Got The Look), although their names were left off the final album.

AaronReturn2005 said:

I'd say Purple Rain. A album of very ordinary 80s music does not say "Prince's best work" to me.

Also, people get forgetting to mention that Sign O' The Times is a Prince and the Revolution album (asides from the Camilie songs and U Got The Look), although their names were left off the final album.

When you have songs like Computer Blue and When Doves Cry on an album, nothing about that album can be ordinary.

The only "ordinary" song on the Purple Rain album is Take Me With U.

In terms of what album is his most over rated, without a question is TGE. I remember back in 2002 when I joined the org how much hype this album had on the org compared to princefams or housequake... Never understood why the orgers liked that album so much. Great moments on that album for sure, but it sounds so dated today and is just an over rated album imo.

Overrated by who?

These are the critic's top picks

Dirty Mind

1999

Purple Rain

SOTT

I think "Dirty Mind" may be a bit overrated.

As fan as overrated by fans? Fan opinions are all over the place

I think 3121 is largely well-regarded and I've never really fallen in love with it. I like the warmth of Musicology way more. I don't really think there's an overrated album though.

AaronReturn2005 said:

I'd say Purple Rain. A album of very ordinary 80s music does not say "Prince's best work" to me.

I mean, I'd count myself more or less "over" Purple Rain as much as anybody but it's only "very ordinary 80s music" if you have zero context of the trajectory of 80s music and how and why it evolved throughout the 80s as it did--because there's a marked change in 80s music before vs. after Purple Rain, as a direct result of Purple Rain.

Likewise, I would contest use of the word "ordinary." Few albums have successfully amalgamized the vastly different influences and sounds Prince did in one record throughout the course of an entire record, and definitely in no other Prince record did he manage to hit that perfect "sweet spot" where the music is simultaneously appealing to, say, both the "rock" crowds and the "funk" crowds with equal measure/success/accolade. It's the monolith it exists as precisely because it deserves to be.

[Edited 10/7/19 23:24pm]

And as for the last part of the post,

AaronReturn2005 said:

Also, people get forgetting to mention that Sign O' The Times is a Prince and the Revolution album (asides from the Camilie songs and U Got The Look), although their names were left off the final album.

...How do you figure?

Where's the Revolution input on the title track, for instance? Dorothy Parker? Play in the Sunshine? We're counting Susannah's fragmented backing vocals as = The Revolution now? And "asides from the Camille songs"... that's like 1/4 of the record, of which "U Got the Look" is already included... and of which "Strange Relationship" is actually one of few full-blown legitimate Revolution construction/production despite being 100% a Camille song... I count 3 with reference to musician credits, maybe.

And anyhow, it's not a Prince & The Revolution album because Prince did not release it as a Prince & The Revolution album. Same reason when people debate Gold Nigga, Exodus and New Power Soul as "really Prince albums." No, because they weren't released that way. Same as Kamasutra being released performed by the NPG Orchestra, etc.


Now, to argue the contrary, everyone here is absolutely incorrect labeling 1999 a "Prince" record, because he actually did credit "The Revolution" on that one in the middle "I" in "Prince" on the cover, despite the fact that, you know, there's only one track where he doesn't play every instrument on the record..... see how arbitrary this can all get?

[Edited 10/7/19 23:22pm]

And Lovesexy is the most overrated, just among the community though, similar to the community and The Gold Experience. Mainstream wise Diamonds and Pearls or maybe Batman, but that sounds ridiculous here because ain't nobody fawning over that record after they've heard at least one other 80s Prince album.

[Edited 10/7/19 23:32pm]

I know a lot of people will hate me for that, but I´d say: Parade

Sure, there are some real masterpieces on this record. But the album as a whole never really impressed me.

NOT Purple Rain
NOT Parade
NOT SOTT
NOT Dirty Mind

I dunno, Love Symbol doesn't do a lot for me, neither does Lovesexy really but to call them overrated, don't know if i'd go that far.

And as for Purple Rain being an album of very ordinary 80s music, get the hell off this site! What on earth does "80's music" sound like anyway? Man... kids today, thinking they get to choose what is and isn't a Revolution album...

[Edited 10/8/19 2:08am]

In my opinion most of Prince`s albums are underrated. I think that because he was so prolific a lot of his output didn`t get noticed. I am not saying that I consider every Prince album great, some (like karmasutra) are not to my taste, but I can`t think of one that was ever overhyped

The Truth - I suppose it is hard to overrate an album that isn't even on the scale!!!

Batman is totally overrated. Some good tunes but collectively not that great.

In contrast 20Ten is massively underrated!

AaronReturn2005 said:

I'd say Purple Rain. A album of very ordinary 80s music does not say "Prince's best work" to me.

Also, people get forgetting to mention that Sign O' The Times is a Prince and the Revolution album (asides from the Camilie songs and U Got The Look), although their names were left off the final album.

Sorry, but no.

They were on the following songs: Beautiful Night, Strange Relationship, and Slow Love. Three songs out of 16 does not make that a Revolution album despite Wendy Melvoin having a hard-on for that record and trying to take credit for it ("We're all over the album" lol).

Next, youre gonna say The Hits, 4Ever, and TVBoP are Revolution albums because they're on so many songs there too.

And there is simply no reasonable way to claim Purple Rain is "very ordinary 80s music." Please please please, point me to the other slew of albums that sound just like Purple Rain. Please do that. Please.

Threads like these are so annoying. It just becomes a place for someone to take shots at the popular albums for some reason.

Nightcrawler said:

andrewm7 said:

In my opinion most of Prince`s albums are underrated. I think that because he was so prolific a lot of his output didn`t get noticed. I am not saying that I consider every Prince album great, some (like karmasutra) are not to my taste, but I can`t think of one that was ever overhyped

RODSERLING said:

Nightcrawler said:

I know a lot of people will hate me for that, but I´d say: Parade

Sure, there are some real masterpieces on this record. But the album as a whole never really impressed me.

I don't think Parade is on any list of the 500, 1001 best albums, etc. So you can't really say it s overrated since nobody cares much. It s a minor album in term of music critics. Just like every album minus Dirty Mind, PR, 1999 and SOTT. . I think Lovesexy and Black album could have easily replaced Dirty Mind in favour of the critics, best albums lists.

It's actually on quite a few! http://www.acclaimedmusic...m/A667.htm

There's enough acclaim for it to be classified as the #627 album of all-time at acclaimedmusic.

Hmm. I don't think there are any that are clearly overrated, but there are a few candidates:

Purple Rain: simply because it overshadows all the rest of his work to a degree that it shouldn't, IMO. It's wonderful and a 5-star album, but I don't think it's his best work and by no means should it be the only album that people recognize or turn to, as it seems to be the case at times.

Diamonds and Pearls: It's got some great work but it's the first album since For You which doesn't really hold up as a whole, IMO.

Musicology: Hailed as a return to form of sorts, and while I like it, there is a sort of stuffy quality to it that makes me not want to return to it very often. I far prefer 3121 and Planet Earth, and as a "first album in awhile where Prince is aiming for the mainstream", I prefer Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic, too.

Purple Rain can never be overrated.

imo just a tad overrated are:
Dirty Mind

SOTT (half is brilliant, half is less brilliant)

Lovesexy (i love the album, but yes the basic quality of the compositions are a decent level lower than the previous albums)

Musicology

and yeah the Black Album basically, but that wasn't a real release in the end (the later release was just contract filler)

[Edited 10/8/19 4:07am]

None are overrated.

But it is completely subjective and no matter what answer is given here, it is the correct answer for that person.

AaronReturn2005 said:

I'd say Purple Rain. A album of very ordinary 80s music does not say "Prince's best work" to me.

Also, people get forgetting to mention that Sign O' The Times is a Prince and the Revolution album (asides from the Camilie songs and U Got The Look), although their names were left off the final album.

I knew you would probably target Purple Rain lol
.
There is nothing ordinary about the music of that project: From the PR soundtrack, Bsides, extended versions, Glamorous Life music, Ice Cream Castles, Sugar Walls, Modernaire and the outtakes that turned into the Family music... that album is timeless

.

I agree about peoples misunderstanding of what SOTT is and was morphed from.

Personally I don't think there any of his 1978-1989 albums are overrated.

.

If it is highly rated, Emancipation is one I would call overrated. "the album I was born to make" underwhelmes.

ChickenMcNuggets said:

Not a big fan of the word ‘overrated’ anyway, but I’ve never totally ‘got’ the fuss over Parade. It’s got relatively little absolutely killer material that I want to keep going back to, time after time. Even Kiss sounds a bit too ‘big mid-80s pop hit’ for its own good for me really, lol. Not a massive fan of Lovesexy either, although I do think the cover really works! Ha.

Jill Scott: "It's the clearest definition of creative freedom I have ever heard. I was 16 and went to see the film Under The Cherry Moon and fell in love. The soundtrack went from rock to computerized blues to jazz to pop and classical. I grew up listening to jazz and blues, to Ella Fitzgerald and Hendrix and, sure, I loved Bach and Mozart. But Prince came along and amalgamated them all. The writing was so descriptive and colourful. I used to stay up and listen to the album over and over again on headphones. When everyone else was outside playing and running on a Saturday afternoon, I'd be locked in my bedroom or sat on my porch listening to the LP, and I'd be immediately transported away from all the problems in my neighbourhood to the French Riviera, where the film was set.

.

Prince uses so many different vocal tones and that was a real beginning for me. His voice would change to accommodate the story, the lyrics – something I choose to do with my music. Any poet, singer, writer wants to live in the moment of each and every song and this is the method by which to do it. He switches Anotherloverholenyohead to a song like Do U Lie (sings), 'When I lie awake at night in my boudoir' and automatically the sun comes out, the rays shine through the window, the room becomes light. The track Christopher Tracey's Parade taught me a new sense of rhythm. Using a computer he created a different heart rhythm. You don't listen to that song, you fall inside it and become it. He added car sounds – I mean, who did that in those days? And he sings like he never planned a thing, like they play the music and he's not sure how it's going to go he just opens his mouth and starts to sing. It doesn't feel rehearsed but fresh, full of life.

.

It's a classic album and lyrically an inspiration. He's capable of being a very personal writer but he's also very skilled. When you listen to the music the picture is always clear, the imagination is provoked – that's the kind of writer I want to be. Like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, he makes forever music.

.

The instrumentation is wonderful. He had a computer create the sound but didn't falsify it by pretending it's another instrument. He chose to play a computer as itself! His guitar – how he would go from being rock and out there and strong and immediately change the sound to sensitive and loving and soft – that is brilliance. I don't know if the music was a genuine reflection of a part of his life or a fictional creation, but quite honestly I don't care because I feel it regardless. I feel blessed just listening to this record.'

RODSERLING said:

Nightcrawler said:

I know a lot of people will hate me for that, but I´d say: Parade

Sure, there are some real masterpieces on this record. But the album as a whole never really impressed me.

I don't think Parade is on any list of the 500, 1001 best albums, etc. So you can't really say it s overrated since nobody cares much. It s a minor album in term of music critics. Just like every album minus Dirty Mind, PR, 1999 and SOTT. . I think Lovesexy and Black album could have easily replaced Dirty Mind in favour of the critics, best albums lists.

But a large percentage of Prince fans care very much

people like Joni Mitchell Jill Scott QuestLuv and DeAngelo love it

None.

"very ordinary 80s music"

LOL

yes and Sgt Peppers/Pet Sounds etc are "very ordinary 60s music" and Dark Side of the moon/Songs in the Key of Life/IV are "very ordinary 70s music"

Familiarity breeds contempt indeed

emesem said:

It's curiously obtuse to say Purple Rain is overrated (maybe overexposed), and is "very ordinary 80s music." In fact, it's absolutely ridiculous. Being a teenager in the 80s, there was nothing like Purple Rain on the radio. You could have any Human League, Cyndi Lauper, Dead or Alive, Duran Duran, or even Michael Jackson song on the radio, and it was fine. But when something like "When Doves Cry" came on, you took notice. So it's short-sighted, and trolling to say it's ordinary.

I think lyrically The Rainbow Children is overrated. Production fine, lyrics - bye.

I don't think Musicology is great at all. People raved about it, but it was years before I finally bought a copy. I'm still not impressed with it.

Unpopular opinion: For You is bland. Not horrible, but some of it is forgettable; the lower end of yacht rock and soft rock of its day. It's a decent output for a freshman album, but no one's humming half those songs.

HITnRUN Phase 1: it feels thrown together, and the strongs aren't nearly as interesting as Phase 2.

PlectrumElectrum and most of Art Official Age: Flat, boring, dry, acrylic.

In general, I'm not impressed with anything after Emancipation. It's HITnMISS for me. A lot of those albums were overhyped by fans out of loyalty to Prince, while listening through a filter.