For me personally, 1982-1989

i liked his mature years; 2002+

his peak was in the 80s.

but i still believe that he could have produced his best album in 1993/94.

[Edited 9/26/20 4:35am]

Each era has a different flavor/strength.

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Plus, time is tricky. If Prince would have put out Lotusflower or MPLSound in the 80's, people woulda lost their shit and those albums would be viewed as all time classics.

These two are my favorites:

The super star (1982-1984)
The era where he’s his most prolific as a musician and songwriter (1985-1988)

skywalker said:

skywalker said:

We don't know if 85-88 period was his most prolific, but it was probably his best/

AvocadosMax said:

1983-1989

& 1993-1995

But his live shows/aftershows were great and varying in many different periods

This isn't to diminish each other period, but...

1983-1987 was extremely prolific, varied, and interesting. 1999 was him just playing and shooting his wad. Rightly so. But once he focused in on Purple Rain, had a 3 or 4 year plan, he was a power house. Ditched all of his Revolution era aesthetic into being a one-man band again (yet the little carryover of Susannah being on some tracks, IGBABN, and W&L here and there was nice). He got a little goofy in 1988, and his sound changed to this super fast, reverby, echoey, Taylor Dayne type stuff that morphed into ...meh. Not bad. A large bulk of GB is amazing, Batman the same. But no way does GB hold up against PR, nor does Batman against something like Parade or SOTT. Batman really was the end of an era.

With GB he started following a few trends, but I did enjoy him having full band albums again. When I edited Tony M. out of D&P and , they got 100% stronger as songs and albums.

Then comes 1993/4. We get albums like COME, Exodus, The Gold Experience, Chaos. Those are as amazing as his mid-80s. So really 1993-1997 is almost a direct reflection of his prolific nature as 1983-1987, when talking about variety, number of projects, songs, remixes, B-sides, whatever.

I've often said that Prince made some of his best material when he was in some sort of turmoil. Whether it's troubles with Vanity, his relationship with Susannah and the battles with Wendy and Lisa (which is sorta 3 against 1 sometimes), and getting a new band... or the mid 90s where he starts fighting with WB big time, whittles down his band, changes his name, denounces his own name in favor of writing Slave on his face (which honestly for a Black person to do that anywhere at anytime was huge... I still don't think the racial and historical impact of that action has settled into a lot of White folks minds; it didn't in mine for a long time). Those are moments where he was under the most unrest, fighting with his environment, people, business, whatever. He poured that angst and "fuck you, don't leave me, get out of here" into songs. You don't write "The Exodus Has Begun," "The Beautiful Ones," or anything else without having some sort of inspiration.

I didn't want Prince unhappy, but when he did get happy with his religion and new found 40-ish adulthood, his music suffered. He got a little too content in some ways. If it makes him write some stank funk, pull his fucking armpit hairs again and again!

1958 - 2016. Highest Peak.

skywalker said:

Each era has a different flavor/strength.

-

Plus, time is tricky. If Prince would have put out Lotusflower or MPLSound in the 80's, people woulda lost their shit and those albums would be viewed as all time classics.

MPLSound ? In the 80s while the "real" Minneapolis Sound was still a thing? I doubt it.

And as much as I love Lotusflower (especially musicwise) , I think some of the more political lyrics such as in Dreamer would´ve rubbed many of his white fanbase in the 80s the wrong way.

His political leanings were different back then.

I love the 1985-1988 era today but in retrospect, I have to admit that I didn´t really like it back in the day as much as I do today but the 1982-1985 years will always be my favorite era. I also liked the 1993-1995 years a lot and the 2001-2004 era.

The OP left out the 1996-1999 years.

Those were difficult years (the Larry phase, the censored lyrics, the same ol´ cover songs etc. etc.) but even those years had their highs despite the many lows.

The Best area in undoubtedly 1981-1989 I will extend to 1978- because those early years and demo recordings etc are key.

1981-1989 becaus it's what everything Prince was forever, buildt on. They mystery, the man the mystique. Even when other periods were not so interesting Prince was because fo 1981-1989

1981-1989 including The Time, Vanity 6, Sheila E, the Family, Mazarati, Jill Jones, Madhouse

A solid block of excitement and quality

CAL3 said:

skywalker said:

Each era has a different flavor/strength.

-

Plus, time is tricky. If Prince would have put out Lotusflower or MPLSound in the 80's, people woulda lost their shit and those albums would be viewed as all time classics.

. You’ve got to be kidding. I mean seriously, you’re kidding. . Those albums wouldn’t have been considered “all time classics” in ANY era. Period. End of. Accept it.

Not kidding at all. Sounds like you've got limits to your fandom or the Prince eras you enjoy. I just don't view things the way you do.

I consider "classic Prince" to run from "Dirty Mind" (1980) to "Batman" (1989). Nine incredible and diverse albums within the span of one decade.

.

I waffle back and forth about including "Batman" in that range... but at the end of the day, even though "Batman" points to where he was going in the 90s, it was still a big enough album that it's a perfect "farewell" for his amazingly prolific and popular 80s era.

.

But my personal favorite "era" is everything from "1999" (1982) to "Lovesexy" (1988). Including all the Vault stuff.

I find personal gems in every era in terms of songs, but certainly the SOTT to Black Album / Lovesexy period was mystical peak to the whole package.

1978-2016

ThePersian said:

1978-2016

Best reply.

skywalker said:

Each era has a different flavor/strength.

-

Plus, time is tricky. If Prince would have put out Lotusflower or MPLSound in the 80's, people woulda lost their shit and those albums would be viewed as all time classics.

I could not agree more. I say the same about Rainbow Children and Emancipation - if they came at different times, they would have gotten the acknowledgement that they deserve.

'82-'88

1980 to 1988

skywalker said:

Each era has a different flavor/strength.

-

Plus, time is tricky. If Prince would have put out Lotusflower or MPLSound in the 80's, people woulda lost their shit and those albums would be viewed as all time classics.

Totally agree about Lotusflow3r. Not so much about MPLSound (though I do love that album).

skywalker said:

ForceofNature said:

For me personally, 1982-1989