LoveGalore said:

rudeboy4711 said:

Some say Dirty Mind is Prince’s truly first album because the first 2 are really him showing what he’s got in terms of technical skill (particularly For You) and the 2nd album is the first glimpse into the fact that he’s capable of crafting radio hits. Dirty Mind is his first true artistic statement by being himself on record. It is said that he just presented the album and even though it sounded like a demo recording he pushed for it to be realeased and WB obliged!

yeah I consider Dirty Mind to be Prince's first masterpiece.He truly defined himself on that album.On the first two albums,he was just warming up.

ShellyMcG said:

I like hearing about how everyone first discovered Prince's music. It's cool to hear these kinds of stories. And speaking of "cool", I listened to The Time album on my way home from work today. Get It Up and Cool are instant favourites of mine. I know I've heard Cool before but obviously not in its entirety because I had no idea it was so long. But it's great though. I'm not sure if it needs to be over 10 minutes long but even so, it's still a great song. Right, so I'm about to say something that may be controversial but aside from the two songs I mentioned, the rest of the album just didn't click with me. Maybe on repeat listens it will grow on me but as of right now, it's probably my least favourite album I've heard so far. But take nothing away from Get It Up and Cool. Those two songs are fantastic. The rest of the album, not so much. Sorry.

Understandable--that second Time album is more of a classic for sure.

You've gone through a few albums you weren't super crazy about so far in your journey. Like I mentioned before, to me anyway Prince is very hit or miss, kinda patchy-quality to all the albums to different personal extents. I would ask to you, especially when it comes to albums that don't quite hit as a whole: Is it still worth experiencing a certain % of lows and stuff that doesn't "click" to get to that certain % of "fantastic" highs?


And my story of first discovering Prince was actually this instrumental B-side (not included on The B-Sides) named "Alexa de Paris". I was active on some music nerd sites as an early teen and a handful of people would mention Prince a lot, so I'm like, all right, someone recommend an entry. An internet buddy at the time forwarded that and I was so unbelievably underwhelmed. Borderline dejected. I'm like posting wherever total cringe: "Prince is sooo overrated, I don't get it." Finally another guy was like, "shut up and check out Purple Rain already, stop trying to be so obscuro."

But for me, genuinely, after checking out aaallll the albums, the only songs I knew from radio were "When Doves Cry" and they'd play that just that brief "move ya big ass round this way so I can work on that zipper" clip from the "Gett Off" video on late 90s MTV highlights at the time. That was it. Oh, and "777-9311" was interpolated in a 2Pac beat. Otherwise it was all completely brand new territory, brand new songs. So you're lucky you had Emma kind of giving you a baseline... it also feels like UK/International fans have a bit more of a reference to "hits" than post-80s kids from the US. I love Prince reaction videos, but if you made a drinking game every time a US reviewer starts with "yeah, I don't really know Prince, I mean, I know 'Purple Rain' (the song)..." you'd get alcohol poisoning in like an hour.

LoveGalore said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

You do you, but if you're already that familiar with stuff from 1999 and Controversy I'd doubly-emphasize the inbetween companion albums like What Time Is It? by The Time. "777-9311" is literally trap music beats a solid 30 years before trap music was invented, with maybe his best bassline ever, his first blistering spastic "dgaf" all-over-the-place guitar freakout. And "The Walk" is definitely the companion dance piece "part 2" to "Let's Work".

You're gonna leave no surprises for later if you encourage uncovering every successive stone.

What about bootlegs, deluxe editions and The Vault, homie?

Honestly sometimes I feel like more of a "moderate" fan only really having a handle on the released material when some of the org knows leaks from The Vault front-to-back. There's a whole 'nother world there, even that JustJammin' new kid on the block reactor on YouTube might be on a higher level, he's been busting out unfamiliar Vault tracks and it's like "gee I guess I need to step-up my fandom".

[Edited 10/10/22 21:53pm]

WhisperingDandelions said:

What's cool about Prince that many have said is that your opinions will probably change on his work. Like stuff I hated in my teens I find myself loving now, or visa versa.

There's a great little anecdote one of his former engineers told when Prince asked his opinion on the tracklist of one of his upcoming albums (Rave unto the Joy Fantastic) and the engineer said he thought a specific slower, ballad on the album ("The Sun, the Moon and Stars") wasn't good and could be removed for a better song and Prince responded, "How's your love life?" It's funny, but accurate, like as a young teen some of the ballads or slower songs just did nothing for me. Now, though not necessariy reflective of present love life so much as a little more experiences as a teen/twenties, it's like the ballads are all my favs.

Or, like "Annie Christian" and "Ronnie Talk to Russia". One or both of those you weren't feeling and I can remember when I first dove into his early material those standing out as just, complete Filler City, like, "oh my goodness what are these", I'd get on AOL Instant Messenger with another Prince fan and we'd just clown on those two nonstop...

Now: Honestly,.. two highlights. Pure highlights. They're just amazing. Wouldn't trade 'em for a million "Purple Rain"s, but when first becoming a fan that would have given me such a "wtf" reaction the notion of a wacky opinion like that.

WhisperingDandelions said:

Or, like "Annie Christian" and "Ronnie Talk to Russia". One or both of those you weren't feeling and I can remember when I first dove into his early material those standing out as just, complete Filler City, like, "oh my goodness what are these", I'd get on AOL Instant Messenger with another Prince fan and we'd just clown on those two nonstop...

Now: Honestly,.. two highlights. Pure highlights. They're just amazing. Wouldn't trade 'em for a million "Purple Rain"s, but when first becoming a fan that would have given me such a "wtf" reaction the notion of a wacky opinion like that.

I had a similar experience to you. Especially with Annie Christian. Probably 15 years after first hearing it in 1999 did I appreciate it (I returned to it with new ears only after seeing that someone had covered it, and thinking, "This is a song someone took the time to cover - what have I missed?".

leecaldon said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

Or, like "Annie Christian" and "Ronnie Talk to Russia". One or both of those you weren't feeling and I can remember when I first dove into his early material those standing out as just, complete Filler City, like, "oh my goodness what are these", I'd get on AOL Instant Messenger with another Prince fan and we'd just clown on those two nonstop...

Now: Honestly,.. two highlights. Pure highlights. They're just amazing. Wouldn't trade 'em for a million "Purple Rain"s, but when first becoming a fan that would have given me such a "wtf" reaction the notion of a wacky opinion like that.

I had a similar experience to you. Especially with Annie Christian. Probably 15 years after first hearing it in 1999 did I appreciate it (I returned to it with new ears only after seeing that someone had covered it, and thinking, "This is a song someone took the time to cover - what have I missed?".

It hit me like some months ago which would be like around 15~ish years myself.

It's kinda cool cause I probably skipped it prematurely a bunch back in the day that I get like year #4 or #5 level enjoyment from it.

Focus on some of the songs considered bad by many: Right The Wrong, Arms of Orion, We Gets Up, Te Amo Corizon, Jughead, Temptation.

ShellyMcG said:

Ok, that's Dirty Mind down. My favourite album so far. Although it does have the first song I've heard so far that I absolutely do not like. Luckily, that song is just 92 seconds long so it's not a major issue. Standout tracks here are When You Were Mine, Got A Broken Heart Again and Uptown. Definitely an album I will revisit in more detail later down the line. I know it was one of my cousin's favourites because I recognized several songs from times when she'd play it. Which, now that I think about it, might explain why I liked this album so much. I was already semi-familiar with it. Controversy is next. Just looked at the tracklist on Wikipedia and I think I know most of these songs already too. I'm tempted to just skip it but for the sake of completionism (that's not a word, is it?) I will give it a quick skim-through. Following you guys' advice, The Time's first album is also on the agenda.

.

This is my favorite Prince album. No matter what came after or how much I loved it, this one stays at the top because it took me from being someone who liked Prince to being someone who could not miss a note.

.

I'm curious tho... you said it had the first song you didn't like. Clearly, you're referring to Sister. Tell me/us what you didn't like. This album really got Prince noticed. The important music people started paying closer attention when he did this one, and one of the reasons was the edginess of it all. Uptown, Head, Sister... Who sounds like that? Who says that? After this album, everyone wanted to know.

2freaky said:

TheLotus said:

ShellyMcG said:

TheLotus said:

.

This is my favorite Prince album. No matter what came after or how much I loved it, this one stays at the top because it took me from being someone who liked Prince to being someone who could not miss a note.

.

I'm curious tho... you said it had the first song you didn't like. Clearly, you're referring to Sister. Tell me/us what you didn't like. This album really got Prince noticed. The important music people started paying closer attention when he did this one, and one of the reasons was the edginess of it all. Uptown, Head, Sister... Who sounds like that? Who says that? After this album, everyone wanted to know.

It's just a hard one to listen to. I'm not even referring to the lyrical content, which I didn't even notice on first listen. I just find the song itself kind of annoying. It's relentless. But not in a good way. Uptown is great. Head is great. Sister...not so much.

If you find Sister relentless, stay away from the 1981 version of Tick, Tick, Bang.

Sister is terrible. Too short, too fast but maybe he intended for it to be that way due to the controversial nature of the lyrics.

Stay on track

Everyone is jealous that you could experience the ride from the very beginning!

...in 2022

ShellyMcG said:

Edit- Just remembered that Vanity isn't in Purple Rain, that's Apollonia. I'll check her out as well. And The Time's third album is the one which coincides with Purple Rain. So I'll catch up on those. Jesus, Prince was busy in the early 80s, huh? [Edited 10/11/22 11:19am]

In "DMSR" are the lyrics:

'...it's time 2 fix your clock

vanity 6 is so sweet

now u can all take a bite o my purple rock!"

ShellyMcG said:

1999, the album. Bloody hell!! Ok, so there were a couple of songs I wasn't crazy about. Something In The Water is a bit too busy for my tastes. And I could have done without All The Critics Love You In New York. But the rest of the album is superior to pretty much everything I've heard up to this point. Even the long songs, I can't get enough of. DMSR will be on repeat for the foreseeable future. Lady Cab Driver takes a weird turn but I like it. And International Lover is one of the best ballads I've ever heard in my life. That scream near the end almost made me spill my tea. That's not a euphemism, I was holding a cup of tea at the time and very nearly dropped it. So now that's For You, Prince, Dirty Mind, Controversy and 1999 (plus The Time). I figure now is a good time to assess how I'm getting on so far. I feel like each album has been better than the last. You can really see how with each release Prince has gone from strength to strength. Purple Rain will not bring any surprises because I've seen the movie but it will be nice to just experience the music without any visual distractions this time. I also want to check out The Time's second album too and, if I have time, Vanity 6. Get that whole Purple Rain experience, you know? Edit- Just remembered that Vanity isn't in Purple Rain, that's Apollonia. I'll check her out as well. And The Time's third album is the one which coincides with Purple Rain. So I'll catch up on those. Jesus, Prince was busy in the early 80s, huh? [Edited 10/11/22 11:19am]

You are sailing perilously close to territory.

Genesia said:

nayroo2002 said:

ShellyMcG said:

1999, the album. Bloody hell!!

Ok, so there were a couple of songs I wasn't crazy about. Something In The Water is a bit too busy for my tastes. And I could have done without All The Critics Love You In New York. But the rest of the album is superior to pretty much everything I've heard up to this point. Even the long songs, I can't get enough of. DMSR will be on repeat for the foreseeable future. Lady Cab Driver takes a weird turn but I like it. And International Lover is one of the best ballads I've ever heard in my life. That scream near the end almost made me spill my tea. That's not a euphemism, I was holding a cup of tea at the time and very nearly dropped it.

So now that's For You, Prince, Dirty Mind, Controversy and 1999 (plus The Time). I figure now is a good time to assess how I'm getting on so far. I feel like each album has been better than the last. You can really see how with each release Prince has gone from strength to strength. Purple Rain will not bring any surprises because I've seen the movie but it will be nice to just experience the music without any visual distractions this time. I also want to check out The Time's second album too and, if I have time, Vanity 6. Get that whole Purple Rain experience, you know?

Edit- Just remembered that Vanity isn't in Purple Rain, that's Apollonia. I'll check her out as well. And The Time's third album is the one which coincides with Purple Rain. So I'll catch up on those. Jesus, Prince was busy in the early 80s, huh?
[Edited 10/11/22 11:19am]

jazzz said:

ShellyMcG said:

1999, the album. Bloody hell!!

Ok, so there were a couple of songs I wasn't crazy about. Something In The Water is a bit too busy for my tastes. And I could have done without All The Critics Love You In New York. But the rest of the album is superior to pretty much everything I've heard up to this point. Even the long songs, I can't get enough of. DMSR will be on repeat for the foreseeable future. Lady Cab Driver takes a weird turn but I like it. And International Lover is one of the best ballads I've ever heard in my life. That scream near the end almost made me spill my tea. That's not a euphemism, I was holding a cup of tea at the time and very nearly dropped it.

So now that's For You, Prince, Dirty Mind, Controversy and 1999 (plus The Time). I figure now is a good time to assess how I'm getting on so far. I feel like each album has been better than the last. You can really see how with each release Prince has gone from strength to strength. Purple Rain will not bring any surprises because I've seen the movie but it will be nice to just experience the music without any visual distractions this time. I also want to check out The Time's second album too and, if I have time, Vanity 6. Get that whole Purple Rain experience, you know?

Edit- Just remembered that Vanity isn't in Purple Rain, that's Apollonia. I'll check her out as well. And The Time's third album is the one which coincides with Purple Rain. So I'll catch up on those. Jesus, Prince was busy in the early 80s, huh?
[Edited 10/11/22 11:19am]

.
Good to hear you followed some of the advice I gave in post #2 of this thread! Listening the first 5 albums chronologically made it clear how much Prince grew in just a few years, and how the mpls sound developed. Guess this was the way to go. Now you can go any direction you like, but it might not be be a bad idea to stay on track and check the albums from ATWIAD to Lovesexy in a row. Then you have had the most essential listening anyway (or in other words, things will not be any better than that, unless you switch to the deluxe editions)
[Edited 10/11/22 13:44pm]

ShellyMcG said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

Understandable--that second Time album is more of a classic for sure.

You've gone through a few albums you weren't super crazy about so far in your journey. Like I mentioned before, to me anyway Prince is very hit or miss, kinda patchy-quality to all the albums to different personal extents. I would ask to you, especially when it comes to albums that don't quite hit as a whole: Is it still worth experiencing a certain % of lows and stuff that doesn't "click" to get to that certain % of "fantastic" highs?


And my story of first discovering Prince was actually this instrumental B-side (not included on The B-Sides) named "Alexa de Paris". I was active on some music nerd sites as an early teen and a handful of people would mention Prince a lot, so I'm like, all right, someone recommend an entry. An internet buddy at the time forwarded that and I was so unbelievably underwhelmed. Borderline dejected. I'm like posting wherever total cringe: "Prince is sooo overrated, I don't get it." Finally another guy was like, "shut up and check out Purple Rain already, stop trying to be so obscuro."

But for me, genuinely, after checking out aaallll the albums, the only songs I knew from radio were "When Doves Cry" and they'd play that just that brief "move ya big ass round this way so I can work on that zipper" clip from the "Gett Off" video on late 90s MTV highlights at the time. That was it. Oh, and "777-9311" was interpolated in a 2Pac beat. Otherwise it was all completely brand new territory, brand new songs. So you're lucky you had Emma kind of giving you a baseline... it also feels like UK/International fans have a bit more of a reference to "hits" than post-80s kids from the US. I love Prince reaction videos, but if you made a drinking game every time a US reviewer starts with "yeah, I don't really know Prince, I mean, I know 'Purple Rain' (the song)..." you'd get alcohol poisoning in like an hour.

I'm enjoying the ride so far. With a discography that encompasses hundreds or thousands of songs, it's impossible to think that every one of them will be for me. But the good has definitely outweighed the not so good so far. And I still have 1999 onwards to go. This is right where everyone says Prince really started putting out his best work. So I'm excited to check out more. I grew up in Australia. Neither of my parents are Prince fans. My dad is a big Bowie fan and my mum loves Madonna. But even so, it's not all that unusual to hear Prince on the radio. I was very aware of the likes of Purple Rain and Kiss and a few others. Obviously, moving to Ireland and living with my cousin right around the time she was deep into her own "Prince journey" helped expose me to some stuff I hadn't heard before. Some of the rarer songs that the average person may not know. Plus, I feel that since Prince's death they are playing a lot more of him on TV. We have a channel over here called Magic. It's like what MTV used to be. Just music videos around the clock. Two nights ago they had a show on called "Prince: The Musicology" where they played an hour of his music. Not just the big songs like Purple Rain either. They played a song called Gold, which I'd never even heard of, let alone heard the song. They played another song called "Fury", which is one of my favourites but I never knew there was an official music video for it. So yeah, maybe we do get exposed more to Prince music over here than you do in the states.

.

I am also from Australia (still here). Controversy was played enough to chart, then 1999 and Purple Rain exploded here - to the point that the Syracuse concert was played on national TV - to the chagrin of my step father. I first started following Prince prior to Controversy through 2JJ (now Triple J) - The local regional ABC radio station would go to bed and we would get 2JJ over night. Also there were some late night music video shows that played him before Molly Meldrum pushed him on Countdown.

ShellyMcG said:

Ok, so that's What Time Is It and Vanity 6 done. I couldn't find Vanity on Spotify so I had to sail the high seas, if you know what I mean. The Time's album was definitely the better of the two. Having said that, I enjoyed them both. I definitely get the impression that Prince was keeping his best material for himself though. Favourite songs on each album are Gigolos Get Lonely Too (with The Walk as a close second) for What Time Is It and Drive Me Wild or Nasty Girl (I can't separate them) for Vanity 6. It's the Purple Rain trilogy tomorrow (Purple Rain, Ice Cream Castles and Apollonia 6) but right now I'm tired and it's time for bed. The last few days have been great though. It reminds me of when I first got into Star Wars. Constantly being pleasantly surprised by a series, or in Prince's case, a musician, I was always aware of but never really set aside the time to get properly invested in. I got through every Star Wars movie (there were only 6 of them at the time) and Clone Wars episode in a two week period. It may take me a little longer to get through Prince's back catalogue but it feels the same and I'm enjoying the ride.

You're pretty awesome pulling out all the stops with the catalogue deep-dive like this.

This is a pretty awesome thread, like an org reaction case study in chronological order. Glad I relented trying to put you off the course with this undertaking, post #2 jazzz had it right all along. Though technically the Vanity 6/second Time records came out before 1999, so that may skew the quality-perspective because him going full-electro most of that album was like a big reveal, but you're probably right his solo albums generally have the most compelling/dynamic material anyway.

Which brings us to the Purple Rain era. Actually, it's a quadrilogy believe it or not--in 1984 Purple Rain movie era he also wrote/produced/recorded a full album for Sheila E. "The Glamorous Life" song is one of his biggest hits, album here, and just a great track.

Now all four of the albums? The Time/Prince/Sheila E./Apollonia.... You're probably most definitely going to have the same reaction about him keeping the best material as 1999 and then some. The protege albums here are spottier than the 1999-era trilogy and I stan them a bit less as essential.... still, you seem pretty hyped up about continuing the saga (and the Apollonia role was originally conceived/written for Vanity in the movie and album). If you genuinely are interested, why not, do the whole quadrilogy. Probably any order works on this set.

If not definitely check out that "The Glamorous Life" song. So essential. Also worth noting: Sheila E.'s first "lead" vocal collaboration with Prince was "Erotic City" (the B-Side to "Let's Go Crazy"), which became a major club hit and "late-night/after-hours" sneaked-in radio hit, another pure essential probably any org'er would co-sign

[Edited 10/12/22 1:40am]