MPLSound, Batman and I was really bored about the production of his albums from 98-2001, like Rave, NPS, Chocolate Invasion, Slaughterhouse (although they had some great songs). I was very happy when The Rainbow Children broke that era.

.

Plectrum Electrum could have been a lot better to me if it was less pop and more rock.

.

[Edited 8/25/21 21:14pm]

Dirty Mind

Graffiti Bridge

Diamonds & Pearls

3121

Poplife88 said:

Pretty much everything after The Gold Experience bar a handful of tracks

HnR1

AOA

20ten

MPLS sound

Planet Earth

3rdEye Girl

Emancipation

Symbol album

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.

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.

HnR I is, to me, absolutely disastrous as far as sound AND songs go. There's not a single song of this one that's in any playlist of mine. The production sounds cheap and superficial. Initially I felt it was Ok but it was one that actually dropped in appreciation over time.

[Edited 8/26/21 9:19am]

RODSERLING said:

Planet Earth. I never got to put an attentive listening to it. I always did some other things while listening to it, really a boring album, without personality.

Definitely this one. Co sign.

I'll throw NEWS on the pile. It was fun to break out for my in laws and older family members at dinner parties since I could trick them into liking Prince for a moment but, personally, it put me to sleep. I never got into "For You" either.

Most of the other albums I usually found a gem or two somehwere and found them challenging enough to keep digging.

pretty much all the albums after TRC

i dip in and out of them, like a few songs on each, but do i want to listen to them in their entirety? not really.

GustavoRibas said:

MPLSound, Batman and I was really bored about the production of his albums from 98-2001, like Rave, NPS, Chocolate Invasion, Slaughterhouse (although they had some great songs). I was very happy when The Rainbow Children broke that era.

.

[Edited 8/25/21 21:14pm]

Co-sign. This is very similar to how I feel.

N.E.W.S.

Slaughterhouse

MNPLS Sound

Planet Earth (though I had a phase after he died that I liked it better than originally)

W2A

Planet Earth

[Edited 8/27/21 7:48am]

W2A

AOA

PE

AOA is so good after the opening track. I'll never understand the dislike for that one.

Kamasutra

Xpectation

Gold N

*Will digest these at some point...not a slight.

novabrkr said:

The second, self-titled album I never really got into.

Some good songs, but the overall impression of the album is just too bland for me. I definitely prefer "For You" over it.

Of course, being a fan, I've listened to it many, many times over the years and I know the songs all the way through.

Indeed. Many fans try to argue s/t was the first step in his evolution to the trademark Prince we got with Dirty Mind, but it's definitely a step backwards to generate more palatable radio hits. For You has a mellifluous, immaculately-arranged pillow production quality to it that he really never approached achieving (production-wise) again. s/t is The Cookie-Cutter Experience.

[Edited 8/27/21 18:53pm]

HNR Phase 1. I feel no need to return to that one, ever.

Also not a fan of 3121 as an album, but the title track is sublime, so that saves it for me.

[edit:] For the record, I LOVE Xpectation and N.E.W.S.

[Edited 8/28/21 3:03am]

WhisperingDandelions said:

novabrkr said:

The second, self-titled album I never really got into.

Some good songs, but the overall impression of the album is just too bland for me. I definitely prefer "For You" over it.

Of course, being a fan, I've listened to it many, many times over the years and I know the songs all the way through.

Indeed. Many fans try to argue s/t was the first step in his evolution to the trademark Prince we got with Dirty Mind, but it's definitely a step backwards to generate more palatable radio hits. For You has a mellifluous, immaculately-arranged pillow production quality to it that he really never approached achieving (production-wise) again. s/t is The Cookie-Cutter Experience.

[Edited 8/27/21 18:53pm]

"s/t"??? ... Oh, do you mean self-titled?

For all the acclaim I've seen them get, I've never really been able to get into Musicology or Around The World in A Day.

"Emancipation" was the first time I was underwhelmed by a Prince record.

.

And from that one on, it was a series of diminishing returns. Apart from a song or two, everything from "Rave" afterwards I rarely revisit. "Musicology", "20Ten", "3121", "Planet Earth"... just didn't do it for me.

.

And the less said about "Rainbow Children" the better.

themanfromneptune said:

BridgeofGraffiti1220 said:

For all the acclaim I've seen them get, I've never really been able to get into Musicology or Around The World in A Day.

The problem with that one (though I do like the album) is that there's nothing you can dance to until four songs in. I remember bringing that album home in '85 and wanting to 'rock out' to it, and having to wait 15 minutes before I could do so.

And then The Ladder came along and killed the momentum.

eyewishuheaven said:

BridgeofGraffiti1220 said:

For all the acclaim I've seen them get, I've never really been able to get into Musicology or Around The World in A Day.

The problem with that one (though I do like the album) is that there's nothing you can dance to until four songs in. I remember bringing that album home in '85 and wanting to 'rock out' to it, and having to wait 15 minutes before I could do so.

And then The Ladder came along and killed the momentum.

I had a hard time getting into ATWIAD,too.There are a few songs that I like ("Paisley Park" and "Pop Life"),but it's not an album that I revisit very often.In 1985,I wanted to groove but this album lacks the uptempo funk that I was craving.

I don't care much for ATWIAD either but it's interesting at least and I get why he did it.

Problem was, he buried the best songs from it on b-sides for whatever reason.

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.

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?

I think it's regarded as a classic only because it's in his classic 80s run. I actually love the album because when you stack it up alongside the rest of his catalogue, you can see the length and breadth of his artistry and this album displays that.

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.