Milty2 said:

SantanaMaitreya said:

I always thought that Around the World In a Day was regarded as a Prince classic. Were you guys really expecting a Purple Rain # 2?

A Lot of people dump on Temptation but the guitar on that really is a masterclass on blues and funk. The rhythms he conjures up on that were epic and should really be listened to with really good headphones.

Ok but that doesn't excuse nor make up for the conversation with God and the psuedo narration that would mar future albums like TRC, Love Symbol and TGE that some people found off putting as well. I don't hate Temptation nor love it but all that gobbledee gook attempt at a "message" didn't work for me at all and seemed silly and naive.

If it's a psychadelic record first and foremost, then it fails, as interesting as it is. Me and my friends tried listening to it on LSD once and aside from the title track and Paisley Park, it's flat and wanting, even by those drug addled standards. Forced. We put on Electric Ladyland instead. I Wonder U, Mountains and Christopher Tracy's Parade are

more trippy than anything we'll find here. That's Prince's psychadelic funk album if you ask me.

I don't think Prince had a firm grasp on acid driven music for the most part and I wonder if he ever even tried it.

herb4 said:

Milty2 said:

A Lot of people dump on Temptation but the guitar on that really is a masterclass on blues and funk. The rhythms he conjures up on that were epic and should really be listened to with really good headphones.

If it's a psychadelic record first and foremost, then it fails, as interesting as it is. Me and my friends tried listening to it on LSD once and aside from the title track and Paisley Park, it's flat and wanting, even by those drug addled standards. Forced. We put on Electric Ladyland instead. I Wonder U, Mountains and Christopher Tracy's Parade are

more trippy than anything we'll find here. That's Prince's psychadelic funk album if you ask me.

I don't think Prince had a firm grasp on acid driven music for the most part and I wonder if he ever even tried it.

I never claimed it to be his psychedelic album. I don't even see it that way either. I see it as a collection of songs that show his artistic breadth.

And also, whether Prince had a grasp on acid driven music or not is kind of moot.

Prince was kind of always doing weird extended monologues in the middle or end of a jam, tho, "Controversy" and "Do Me, Baby" you could likewise hit the fade 3-4 minutes in and it probably improve impact like an outro-less "Temptation", but you know, the artistry in his quirks and all that.

ATWIAD was only categorized psychadelic because Beatles junkie media had no other baseline of reference for "Rapberry Baret" video imagery, which pure sleeve imagery is as "psychadelic" as that record gets.

[Edited 8/29/21 18:33pm]

2010, Phase 1, Phase 2 (although there are tracks I like on all 3). The live cd that came in the photo book was cringe bad for me.

herb4 said:

SantanaMaitreya said:

I always thought that Around the World In a Day was regarded as a Prince classic. Were you guys really expecting a Purple Rain # 2?

A lot of people were but that's not why I really don't care for it. I appreciate it in some ways and admire its audacity but I think that Prince doing Psychadelia was more fully realized on Parade and SoTT.

It came off as derivative and a little Try Hard to me and, like I said, 3 of the best songs from it were buried on b-sides; most prominently the stone cold classic She's Always in my Hair, which would have CRUSHED as a lead single. I like Paisley Park, Pop Life and Raspberry Beret is OK but overrated and over played. the rest of it comes off as a novelty.

This is just me talking and I don't wanna get into an argument about it, really. It's interesting as an experiment and challenging in its way but overall I think it fails.

To answer your specific question: No. I wasn't hoping for PR2, just a continuation of the stuff I heard from DM, Controversy, 1999 ALONG WITH Purple Rain, of course but, as interesting as this record was, it felt like a step back and struck me as a tad..."forced", for lack of a better word. It doesn't suck.

For me,it's just simply not a great album.A few tracks are really good,but the album left me cold.I really didn't listen to it very much after 1985.To me,it's like a novelty record.....interesting and challenging,but not one of my personal favorites.

larksanders said:

ATWIAD - Tamborine saves this album from being utter crap

Old Freinds - the title track is fucking amazing though

Planet Earth - Damn this is probably his worst album

N.E.W.S - a bit boring

HNR II - why does everyone think this is better than the first?? It's boring as hell.

I greatly prefer HNR II. It's eclectic, organic and catchy as well.

But with that said, I don't mind HNR I. It's got some fun hooks and is pleasing on the ear. Now, if a non-Prince fan asks me to demonstrate why people referred to Prince as a genuis, I'm certainly not going to offer HNR I as evidence. But if a non-Prince fan asks me to play something they can dance to, I might spin HNR I.

WhisperingDandelions said:

I dont know if it happens with other artists/bands, but it´s interesting how different Prince fans can be. I never thought I would see ´Around the World in a Day´ here. It would be like some Stevie Wonder fan dissing ´Talking Book´. And ATWIDAD is not in my top 5 too, but it´s considered a classic.

GustavoRibas said:

I dont know if it happens with other artists/bands, but it´s interesting how different Prince fans can be. I never thought I would see ´Around the World in a Day´ here. It would be like some Stevie Wonder fan dissing ´Talking Book´. And ATWIDAD is not in my top 5 too, but it´s considered a classic.

Oddly enough, never much of a Talking Book fan but love the other 70s masterworks. ATWIAD Top 3 over here tho.

GustavoRibas said:

I dont know if it happens with other artists/bands, but it´s interesting how different Prince fans can be. I never thought I would see ´Around the World in a Day´ here. It would be like some Stevie Wonder fan dissing ´Talking Book´. And ATWIDAD is not in my top 5 too, but it´s considered a classic.

What's more shocking to me is that...one orger listed 1999

I know it's all subjective and we all have our own opinions,but dayyyyum!

GustavoRibas said:

I dont know if it happens with other artists/bands, but it´s interesting how different Prince fans can be. I never thought I would see ´Around the World in a Day´ here. It would be like some Stevie Wonder fan dissing ´Talking Book´. And ATWIDAD is not in my top 5 too, but it´s considered a classic.

I do find some of the answers surprising actually. But it seems there's not a lot of love for Planet Earth. I might have to pull that out and listen to it on the way to work today.

Very interesting topic and many surprises, some answers got me listening to ATWIAD and 3121 back to back. Thank you.

Mine would be:

For you - bought back in the day, gave it a listen and thats it, although soft and wet I listen to.

The Gold Experience - Pussy Control I listen to... some songs I like, but never give it a spin.

Xpectation - Liked NEWS, but never take the time to listen to this.

The Chocolate Invasion - a confusing era to access the music, can't name a song from this one.

The Slaughter House - same story as Chocolate, but there are songs on both that I liked.

Planet Earth - One spin.

Lotus/MPL - Just never got back to listening to neither of them......

the rest of the lot, including NPG albums, I always have a few songs I want to go back to.

Peace!

Milty2 said:

GustavoRibas said:

I dont know if it happens with other artists/bands, but it´s interesting how different Prince fans can be. I never thought I would see ´Around the World in a Day´ here. It would be like some Stevie Wonder fan dissing ´Talking Book´. And ATWIDAD is not in my top 5 too, but it´s considered a classic.

I do find some of the answers surprising actually. But it seems there's not a lot of love for Planet Earth. I might have to pull that out and listen to it on the way to work today.

.

Yeah, I know I am minority, because my fave era is the 90s, and I was never into Revolution as a band (although I acknowledge they were there during his creative peak and Wendy and Lisa were more than session musicians). So, I understand when some fans dislike Lotus Flow3r and Rainbow Children, because I understand they grew up listening to Linn drums, synths and cursing. But I think it´s strange when I see ATWIAD in this topic

I always think its interesting that fans write off Prince albums after one listen. His stuff get better with time imo (most of the time). I remember not getting into For You, ATWIAD and Lovesexy back in the day...now all 3 are top 10 faves. Some of those later albums took YEARS to get into. New Power Soul and Planet Earth are two in this category. PE in particular just became a fave recently after impulse buying the vinyl.

Poplife88 said:

I always think its interesting that fans write off Prince albums after one listen. His stuff get better with time imo (most of the time). I remember not getting into For You, ATWIAD and Lovesexy back in the day...now all 3 are top 10 faves. Some of those later albums took YEARS to get into. New Power Soul and Planet Earth are two in this category. PE in particular just became a fave recently after impulse buying the vinyl.

I agree with albums getting better over time. Exodus feels like that to me. I don't like the idea of hating any of Prince's work. I mean, why would I spend so much time on here? I have preferences but I would never say I hate anything he's ever released.

If anything I hated the way he handled his business sometimes IE how crazy the Gold Experience era was and how frustrating the 2004/2005 NPGMC/DRM issues were.

Exodus is God Tier levels of funk and one of Prince's best albums IMO

Hit n Run Phase One and Slaughterhouse are the only albums I can think of that I can actually see titles and can't remember what a lot of the songs sound like.

xpertluva said:

Hit n Run Phase One and Slaughterhouse are the only albums I can think of that I can actually see titles and can't remember what a lot of the songs sound like.

That's a good benchmark right there. We can all argue about the 'God speech' at the end of Temptation, but we remember it, so it must have made some sort of impression. Seeing a song title and not remembering what it sounds like definitely describes 'never got into.'

herb4 said:

For me:

Diamonds And Pearls - I was truly shocked by its mediocracy

Love Symbol - Slightly better, but an album that contains Blue Light and 3 Chains O' Gold is an abomination

Emancipation - One great disc can be made out if it though

Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic - Blaming Clive Davis for not turning this into a hit is ludicrous

Musicology - Highly overrated album, that contains a smash title track and not much more

Planet Earth - Probably his worst

20Ten - His second worst?

HITnRUN Phase One - Uninspired

The rest is all cool (80s) or more than 50% cool (after 2000).

eyewishuheaven said:

xpertluva said:

Hit n Run Phase One and Slaughterhouse are the only albums I can think of that I can actually see titles and can't remember what a lot of the songs sound like.

That's a good benchmark right there. We can all argue about the 'God speech' at the end of Temptation, but we remember it, so it must have made some sort of impression. Seeing a song title and not remembering what it sounds like definitely describes 'never got into.'

That's funny. I only really remember Temptation for everything else except the God speech. In fact, I never associate that speech with that song.

RODSERLING said:

herb4 said:

Exodus is God Tier levels of funk and one of Prince's best albums IMO

Exodus is in my subjective top 5, one my first Prince albums. I have never listened to it without the segues

Segues are the only thing dragging it down for me. But God damn, what a great record, supposedly when Prince was "at a low point" too. That shit is flat out raw.

As for Slaughterhouse and Chocolate Invasion, which have been brought up a lot, for a long while I found myself liking about half of every prince album that came out (Come, C&D, Rave, NPS, 20Ten, MPLSound, LotusFlower, Musicology) and my listening collection is filled with all these spliced together worn down CD's with weird titles (Chocolate Sluaghterhouse, LotusSound, NewPowerRave, etc.).

This trend seemed to begin with Emancipation where we got MORE stuff but of lesser consistent quality and varied according to ones taste. I rather enjoyed having more songs so I could pick and choose - like a tapas menu of sorts - but his full albums were hit and miss for a good long minute. Or hour. Or day if we're being honest.

I'd say from TRC on, the only real fully consistent records he gave us were AoA and 3121, Maybe H&R phase 2. W2A is consistent but no great shakes. Seemed like the more consistent the albums were, the fewer high points were getting hit.

I still don't think he gave as much of a shit about releasing "albums" or what they meant as time went on and the revenue was dry no matter how good it was. Musicology being a case in point where he just gave it away and told people to come to the show. Planet Earth and 20Ten too. He was handing shit out.

AoA is spooky and personal in a way that makes is stand out to me, for several reasons. I don't get the hate for that one.

The Truth - I've listened to it many times to find the appeal it has to many other fans and I never hear it. I get more excited listening to N.E.W.S. and Kamasutra.

sexton said:

rainbowchild said:

The Gold Experience

TrivialPursuit said:

rainbowchild said:

The Gold Experience

barates said:

For me:

Diamonds And Pearls - I was truly shocked by its mediocracy

Love Symbol - Slightly better, but an album that contains Blue Light and 3 Chains O' Gold is an abomination

Emancipation - One great disc can be made out if it though

Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic - Blaming Clive Davis for not turning this into a hit is ludicrous

Musicology - Highly overrated album, that contains a smash title track and not much more

Planet Earth - Probably his worst

20Ten - His second worst?

HITnRUN Phase One - Uninspired

The rest is all cool (80s) or more than 50% cool (after 2000).

I'll co-sign most of what you wrote.

rainbowchild said:

The Gold Experience

I know yours is an unpopular opinion, but I agree.

Granted, when it first came out I aboslutely loved the Gold Experience. Back then I thought it was a return to his '80s form.

But over the years I've gradually grown to dislike it. I don't think it's aged well. The title track itself may be my least favorite. It's such a blatant attempt at making formulaic anthem rock, to the point of being partonizing. And the lyrcis? "All that glitters and gold." How cliche is that?