nayroo2002 said:

LoL at "Arthur Spooner voice". I love that show.

Ok I'm going to listen to the Madhouse albums then. Everyone seems to be recommending them so I'll do it. I'm not a "music person" though. By any stretch of the imagination. So jazz does go a little over my head. But I'll try. Who knows, maybe I'll love it! Fingers crossed.

Ok, so I've watched Under The Cherry Moon. Because that's my life now. I sit at home alone on Friday nights watching black and white movies. So...it's not as good as Purple Rain. I think I was expecting it to be a similar type of movie. I just assumed he'd be playing "Prince" again. But he was playing a character. Like a proper actor. I don't mean for that to sound insulting in any way. It was just a bit of a surprise for me. I didn't expect it. But I liked it. The movie itself is really enjoyable. I know it got a thrashing from critics but I thought it was good. Some of the acting wasn't great but if you go in with realistic expectations, then you can look past a few imperfections.
[Edited 10/15/22 3:57am]

ShellyMcG said:

nayroo2002 said:

Your next run starts with 'Sign'O' The Times', yes? (Arther Spooner voice here)

Then, you see the movie and afterwards swiftly play the two Madhouse albums!

If you are still awake and aware, that black album would be a great follow up, my dear!

LoL at "Arthur Spooner voice". I love that show. Ok I'm going to listen to the Madhouse albums then. Everyone seems to be recommending them so I'll do it. I'm not a "music person" though. By any stretch of the imagination. So jazz does go a little over my head. But I'll try. Who knows, maybe I'll love it! Fingers crossed.

It's definitely more of a Princelyland funky/popish take on jazz. The real hardcore jazz academics would probably scoff at it, if that makes it seem more accessible at all. That's probably why he chose a fake band name, to temper reactions.

Like some of his jazz stuff I rank highly as "Prince music" but probably none of it is high on my jazz-specific rankings because it's more Prince than pure jazz in the world of jazz, if that makes any sense.

Pretty impressed you're also planning the full 3rd Sheila E. album with half Prince songs. With that and Under the Cherry Moon you're checking out stuff I haven't yet, gotta step up my fandom. That movie seems like it'd be a good, actually, maybe not as a teen but starting 20s I started liking black&white and many critically-panned "bad" (or more better worded: different) movies.


Not to nag but did you check out / have any interest her second album? Full Prince input throughout, Romance 1600 album. It's definitely in the experimental Around the World in a Day / Parade category, his album covers are usually pretty reflective of what he was going for, it looks right smack in the middle of those two vibes:

Kind of almost futuristic yet classy/elegant, but very different. Some of his craziest drum tracks on this, finally emphasized more suitably Sheila E. elements on a Sheila E. album... This is one where I'm kind of even still like some of it might not be completely resonant, but it has all my total respect what he was trying here like the rest of his mid-to-late 80s album era.

WhisperingDandelions said:

Yes I literally finished Romance 1600 just 10 minutes ago. Decided to check it out before breakfast this morning. I thought The Glamorous Life was better but there's some nice songs on here. A Love Bizarre is probably the best of the bunch. Really nice song but I'm not sure if it needs to be 12 minutes long. I think I'd rather a radio edit or something if one exists. Pretty good album overall though.

Ok this is it. The big one. The one I've been looking forward to the most. Sign O The Times.

I already knew a couple of the songs on here. The title track and U Got The Look are played regularly on TV over here so I was very familiar with those songs and I already really liked them. Also, If I Was Your Girlfriend is another song I've heard many times, being one of my cousin's favourites. And I really like that one too. The rest of the album was more or less completely new. I had heard snippets from other songs over the years but nothing that really stuck in my mind.

Now these are just my initial impressions so I imagine that upon repeat listens I'd be able to appreciate it as a whole even more. That being said, I loved it. Start to finish. With one exception. I don't like the song "It". I don't like how it sounds, musically, or his voice on that song. So apologies to anyone who counts that among their favourites. It just doesn't do anything for me. The rest of the album is absolutely top notch. I initially wasn't really feeling The Cross either but the second half of that song really turned things around. Adore is a beautiful song. Nobody does music like that these days. Nobody writes love songs like that. If anyone can recommend me any songs like that, I'd be super grateful.

Amazing album, I'm currently listening to it again. Perhaps it's still too fresh to make any bold statements but I think this is just about as good as Purple Rain. "It" holds it back slightly but Adore, Never Take The Place Of Your Man and If I Was Your Girlfriend more than make up for that.

As a sidenote, It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night is a live performance, correct? If so, is that Prince singing on that song? The vocals are super high pitched and I know Prince is an extremely talented singer but that's beyond impressive of that's him singing. With live vocals, no less.

I've updated my profile on the org to rank the albums as I go. I've put Sign below Purple Rain but I want to stress how close I consider these to be.

"It"'s a fav over here but it's a polarizing track with most fans for sure. I like the deeper, darker new wave, almost gothic 80s electronic maybe borderline Kraftwerk vibe. The SOTT track that gets your "It" reaction to is "Forever in My Life".

ShellyMcG said:

Adore is a beautiful song. Nobody does music like that these days. Nobody writes love songs like that. If anyone can recommend me any songs like that, I'd be super grateful.

Not Prince, right?

LTD - "Love Ballad" (1976).

The work of Thom Bell who wrote two genre absolute staples+building blocks/"the" genre:

The Delfonics - "La La Means I Love You" (1968) &

The Stylistics - "Betcha By Golly Wow" (1971)

Most Marvin Gaye really, check out Let's Get It On full album, the rest of that record far exceeds just the title track, such an all-encompassing romantic vibe with the most gorgeous vocal-overdubs ever laid down on wax.

Heatwave - "Always & Forever" (1977)

Rose Royce - "I Wanna Get Next to You",.. not sure if I'm being too hits obvious or helping here right now...

Usually gotta just keep going back,

whether it's Motown/Miracles & Smokey, or 50s doo-wop like the Moonglows - "Sincerely" (1953), hits by The Platters like "Only You" (1955). The genre of OG classic soul worth a deep dive.

[Edited 10/15/22 6:27am]

ShellyMcG said:

Beautiful Night is him singing the lead yes but the falsetto vocals are layered. No less impressive, just saying it's a quadrupled vocal take so it sounds much beefier than humanly possible.

I rate Sign just below Purple too, Shelly. And It is also my least favorite Sign track. The lyrics are good, but the music grates. I love the way he includes It in the movie, tho.

ShellyMcG said:

Ok this is it. The big one. The one I've been looking forward to the most. Sign O The Times. I already knew a couple of the songs on here. The title track and U Got The Look are played regularly on TV over here so I was very familiar with those songs and I already really liked them. Also, If I Was Your Girlfriend is another song I've heard many times, being one of my cousin's favourites. And I really like that one too. The rest of the album was more or less completely new. I had heard snippets from other songs over the years but nothing that really stuck in my mind. Now these are just my initial impressions so I imagine that upon repeat listens I'd be able to appreciate it as a whole even more. That being said, I loved it. Start to finish. With one exception. I don't like the song "It". I don't like how it sounds, musically, or his voice on that song. So apologies to anyone who counts that among their favourites. It just doesn't do anything for me. The rest of the album is absolutely top notch. I initially wasn't really feeling The Cross either but the second half of that song really turned things around. Adore is a beautiful song. Nobody does music like that these days. Nobody writes love songs like that. If anyone can recommend me any songs like that, I'd be super grateful. Amazing album, I'm currently listening to it again. Perhaps it's still too fresh to make any bold statements but I think this is just about as good as Purple Rain. "It" holds it back slightly but Adore, Never Take The Place Of Your Man and If I Was Your Girlfriend more than make up for that. As a sidenote, It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night is a live performance, correct? If so, is that Prince singing on that song? The vocals are super high pitched and I know Prince is an extremely talented singer but that's beyond impressive of that's him singing. With live vocals, no less. I've updated my profile on the org to rank the albums as I go. I've put Sign below Purple Rain but I want to stress how close I consider these to be.

I don't think ANYONE compares to Prince on beautiful, sexy, clever ballads like that. He really comes into his own on those in the 90s and onwards. Those will be a treat for you on future albums.

leecaldon said:

Nice. I can't wait!

WhisperingDandelions said:

Thanks for the recommendations. I've heard Betcha By Golly Wow before. My mum has a Best Of The Stylistics CD back home. And I'm 99.9% sure I've seen a video of Prince singing a cover too. But that was years ago. I don't want to look it up on YouTube now though because I don't want to spoil what lies ahead. Yes, I'm a bit weird like that

LoveGalore said:

Ok so it's not entirely a live performance then? Even so, the effect it produces is great.

PJMcGee said:

I'll listen to it again, I'm sure but on my second playthrough of the album this morning I skipped it after a few seconds. But on the plus side, the songs I liked the first time around I liked even more the second time!

So I've watched the Sign O The Times concert movie. I've seen live performances by Prince over the years. I've seen his Superbowl performance and the Hall Of Fame thing with Tom Petty and I what I think was a Grammys performance with Beyonce? I've seen a few others too but this was the first time seeing him in concert. I know my cousin seen him twice and raved about it but seeing this concert movie just makes me depressed in a weird way. Knowing I'll never get to see a spectacle like that in the flesh. There's so much going on all the time. I don't even want to think about the amount of work that goes into something like that. And the set design was amazing too. I have to give a special mention to the performance of If I Was Your Girlfriend. I love that song on the album. And I love the live performance even more. Really enjoyable show overall. I can see myself revisiting this a lot in future.

I also decided to listen to The Black Album now, rather than wait until I reach the 90s stuff. I figure it was recorded in 87, I'll listen to it now. I liked it. It's not a patch on Sign O The Times but it's definitely got some nice songs on there. Cindy C and Rockhard in a Funky Place are big highlights. But at the risk of sounding stupid or whatever, I have to admit that I don't really see what he was going for with Bob George. I'm sorry but I just don't get it. There's another song, Dead On It, that I really didn't like either. The rest of the album was fine with, like I said, a few really nice songs on there. It was ok but not one of my favourites.

ShellyMcG said:

So I've watched the Sign O The Times concert movie. I've seen live performances by Prince over the years. I've seen his Superbowl performance and the Hall Of Fame thing with Tom Petty and I what I think was a Grammys performance with Beyonce? I've seen a few others too but this was the first time seeing him in concert. I know my cousin seen him twice and raved about it but seeing this concert movie just makes me depressed in a weird way. Knowing I'll never get to see a spectacle like that in the flesh. There's so much going on all the time. I don't even want to think about the amount of work that goes into something like that. And the set design was amazing too. I have to give a special mention to the performance of If I Was Your Girlfriend. I love that song on the album. And I love the live performance even more. Really enjoyable show overall. I can see myself revisiting this a lot in future. I also decided to listen to The Black Album now, rather than wait until I reach the 90s stuff. I figure it was recorded in 87, I'll listen to it now. I liked it. It's not a patch on Sign O The Times but it's definitely got some nice songs on there. Cindy C and Rockhard in a Funky Place are big highlights. But at the risk of sounding stupid or whatever, I have to admit that I don't really see what he was going for with Bob George. I'm sorry but I just don't get it. There's another song, Dead On It, that I really didn't like either. The rest of the album was fine with, like I said, a few really nice songs on there. It was ok but not one of my favourites.

If you're doing 80's for now, you need to watch the Syracuse show and the Lovesexy tour

For the 90's I wouldn't recommend the Nude tour, I don't think it was his best.

ShellyMcG said:

I have to admit that I don't really see what he was going for with Bob George. I'm sorry but I just don't get it. There's another song, Dead On It, that I really didn't like either. The rest of the album was fine with, like I said, a few really nice songs on there. It was ok but not one of my favourites.

Both "Bob George" and "Dead on It" are parodies / critiques / takedowns / disses of early hip-hop and rap, which had just started to receive mainstream prominence by 1987.

"Bob George" mocks rap machismo and gangsta cliches. "Dead on It" some lines tell you exactly how he feels about the burgeoning genre and "silly rappers", "see the rapper's problem stem....", talking about how rappers can't play instruments or sing, how they can't rock a party like Prince can.

I like them (album favs) because although the lyrics mock rap, the instrumentals themselves are clearly him on some "anything you can do I can do better" delivering some phatter block-rockin' beats for the ride than some of the best old school hip-hop of the day. Beats like this and especially "Sign 'O' the Times" infusing rap styles into a more "pop" paradigm wouldn't be topped until Teddy Riley and Keith Sweat invented new jack swing at the end of '87.


Also keep in mind he did withdrawl The Black Album. Perhaps not wanting to be on the wrong side of history relating to rap music was a factor. The Black Album was originally music created for Sheila E.'s birthday party, then conjecture states he thought to release it as a means to recapture / rejuvinate his black audience that some had felt he alienated / lost with his late-80s experimental records. Remember in the US anyway at this time it was still the era where Billboard only had the literally named "Hot Black Singles Chart" instead of R&B or urban charts...

Legend has always been amongst the fanbase that he had a bad ecstacy trip with Ingrid Chavez (lookout for her Prince-produced record coming up '91, great unique poet/spoken word vibe thing she originated that Madonna straight jacked for her "Justify My Love" (written by Ingrid Chavez)/Erotica/Bedtime Stories sexy "talksing" era) and Prince had an epiphany that made him view The Black Album as "evil" or just not good vibes. His body guard at the time recently rejected the ecstacy story and said Prince merely felt that the album didn't make enough of a "statement" or have enough import and relevance like his previous work.

It's relevant because the album he released instead, Lovesexy, is a great counterpoint to The Black Album in style, even though they share a track. He also played a couple Black Album tracks live (namely "Bob George") to illustrate the "battle" of "good vs. evil" in the concepts of some of his stage show for his acclaimed (fan fav) Lovesexy Tour. The next couple albums start with some overt anti-drug references as well...

[Edited 10/15/22 22:05pm]

WhisperingDandelions said:

Interesting. I don't know if I'd believe the story about him having a bad ecstasy trip though. It seems like a very tabloidy story. What his bodyguard said seems more realistic.

I'd say start at the beginning and work chronologically as no one artist has chronicled their own life in music in such a prolific and detailed way. ( not talking about purple rain BTW -- there are some elements of the movie that reflect his life, like the competition between bands etc but there's a lot of stuff made up for artistic licence, like the fighting with his father etc. You're probably aware of all that by now)

That's Lovesexy done. I don't want to be too negative here because I have a feeling that it might be a bit of a grower. There's nothing on here I would consider to be particularly bad. But having said that, there's nothing that really stands out as great either. I've read and been told that this is a favourite amongst the hardcore fanbase but it didn't grab me like some of the others have. There's some nice songs here for sure. Alphabet Street, Anna Stesia (sorry, Em) and Glam Slam are probably the ones I can see myself returning to the most. I'll have to go back for another few listens but my initial impressions are that it's ok, but I preferred The Black Album.


Batman is up next. I've seen the movie countless times and I can only remember two Prince songs in it so I'm not sure where the rest of the songs on the soundtrack came from.
[Edited 10/16/22 4:49am]

ShellyMcG said:

That's Lovesexy done. I don't want to be too negative here because I have a feeling that it might be a bit of a grower. There's nothing on here I would consider to be particularly bad. But having said that, there's nothing that really stands out as great either. I've read and been told that this is a favourite amongst the hardcore fanbase but it didn't grab me like some of the others have. There's some nice songs here for sure. Alphabet Street, Anna Stesia (sorry, Em) and Glam Slam are probably the ones I can see myself returning to the most. I'll have to go back for another few listens but my initial impressions are that it's ok, but I preferred The Black Album. Batman is up next. I've seen the movie countless times and I can only remember two Prince songs in it so I'm not sure where the rest of the songs on the soundtrack came from. [Edited 10/16/22 4:49am]

Some cite Lovesexy as their favaourite, but it's never near the top of my lists. Alphabet St and Anna Stesia are the only classics on there, for me (although When 2 R In Love is a bit special).

I think it was Eric Leeds (who plays sax on many Prince tracks from the mid-80s and sporadically afterwards) who said that he felt the album was overproduced. I think Eye No, for example, would have benefited from a more stripped-back production.

There are also great live versions of those two songs on the One Nite Alone... Live! collection that you'll get to eventually.

Take the Batman soundtrack as something a little different in the Prince canon, and unique in music. In each song, Prince is playing a different character from the movie (as well as Prince's own 'Gemini' that you see in the Batdance video). Most of the songs were written in a very short period for the movie. It is also worth seeking out The Scandalous Sex Suite EP (featuring Kim Basinger), an early example of Prince taking a song and doing a few different things with it.

Batman.

Ok, maybe another controversial opinion here, I don't know? But I loved it. I really, really love this album. There are two songs on here I really don't like (Arms of Orion is too corny for even my tastes - and that's saying something. Also, Lemon Crush is just plain bad) but literally everything else here is just great. Partyman and Trust, I've already heard from the movie. But Electric Chair is perfection. Scandalous is another one of those songs I can't imagine anyone else but Prince doing and Batdance is a glorious mess of a song that I initially didn't like but by the end I was wanting more.

So that's the 80s done. The supposed prime of his career. So far, so good. I'm very interested in what comes next because I had already heard a lot of his 80s work but the 90s are mostly new territory for me. Aside from The Most Beautiful Girl and a few others. I'll be checking out the NPG albums too because I've been told that they are essentially just Prince albums anyway.

Graffiti Bridge (album and movie) is up next. I've heard stories about the movie so let's see if it's as bad as people say. For the record, I genuinely like the Purple Rain movie. And this is a sequel, right? It can't be THAT bad, surely?
[Edited 10/17/22 5:35am]

I didn't really get Lovesexy until I saw him in concert. My first time and still the best. The Livesexy concert tape is essential viewing.

I also love Electric Chair. That and Vicki Waiting are my favorites from the album. His performance of EC on SNL is also essential. (Well, most of his performances are.) I also love the William Orbit mix, if you can find it. And I usually hate other people's mixes of Prince.

ShellyMcG said:

.
Wow, you went "around the 80s in a week". Glad to read that you enjoyed the majority of songs, and are now ready for the 90s. But maybe a suggestion... wouldn't it be a good moment now to take a breath and wait a little before going further? Just take a week or so to revisit some of the songs you've heard in the past week, and to let things sink in before moving onwards... Just an idea.
Another tip in case you move on to the 90s. Keep in mind that things become a little more difused now, especially from 1993/1994 onwards. The first online releases, label switches, some of the stuff released independently. Princevault can be your guide here!
[Edited 10/17/22 6:11am]

PJMcGee said:

Just watched the live performance of Electric Chair. Very nice performance. Loving the hair too

jazzz said:

I think I am going to take a bit of a break. I don't want to reach a point where I'm suffering from Prince fatigue. So I may take a few days to just go back and listen to some of the earlier albums again plus some non-Prince stuff I found. While researching Prince I came across Rick James and that led to Teena Marie and I kind of want to check out those two as well because I really liked what I heard.

I had been using Wikipedia as a guide but there's so much more info on Prince Vault. I've been making notes on my phone about what to listen to next and where each album fits in the chronology. That Hits & B-Sides album, for example, I'll be listening to after Love Symbol but before Come. And I promise, I will go back and listen to Madhouse at some point! And I think there's another Sheila E album I missed as well. I'll get to them all eventually.

ShellyMcG said:

It was one of his performances that picks up steam as it goes. By the end the band is tearing it up.

PJMcGee said:

That scream he does is something else. I could listen to that all day.

Yeah, Rick James made some very funky albums! His punk-funk philosophy must have influenced the young Prince. If you enjoy this music, and Teena Marie's, the Mazarati album could also be something to check out.

ShellyMcG said:

I had been using Wikipedia as a guide but there's so much more info on Prince Vault. I've been making notes on my phone about what to listen to next and where each album fits in the chronology. That Hits & B-Sides album, for example, I'll be listening to after Love Symbol but before Come. And I promise, I will go back and listen to Madhouse at some point! And I think there's another Sheila E album I missed as well. I'll get to them all eventually.

The Hits/The B-Sides isn't really part of any album continuity. It's a greatest hits compilation that WB Records actually paid Prince to explicitly not have any involvement in.
Out of the four "new" songs, only two are actually from the 90s: "Peach" and "Pope", both on The Hits 2.

"Pink Cashmere" is from 1989 Batman OST era, from the same set as his "Vicki Vale" tracks. "Nothing Compares 2 U" is a live version of the Family song from 1986. Both on The Hits 1.

All other songs on the two The Hits discs will be stuff you already know from the albums.

The B-Sides disc is comprised of songs released 1980 (Dirty Mind-era) to 1989 (Batman-era), missing some notable B-Sides like "Love or Money" and "Alexa de Paris" from Parade-era, and missing some notable non-LP tracks like "Good Love" SOTT era from the 1988 Bright Lights, Big City soundtrack. These will all be "new" to you.


Be wary of compilations going forward in general when referencing Wikipedia and The Vault.

These are all compilations and not part of any album continuity:

1996 Girl 6 OST - 3 "previously unreleased" tracks.

1998 Crystal Ball - outtakes dating back to the early 80s to mid-90s.

1999 The Vault - Old Friends 4 Sale - outtakes from the 90s.

and the two albums from 2004 The Chocolate Invasion album and The Slaughterhouse are all songs he released officially on his internet subscription service The NPG Music Club from 1999-2000, sequenced into proper albums. These two albums are better suited to placing in 2000 after Rave un2 the Joy Fantastic. He also tried to George Lucas retcon the tracklist for one of them in 2015, but like George Lucas the original versions are superior.

Wikipedia has inaccurate coverage of his Internet-Only albums in general. In the early 00s this was his primary method of releases.

[Edited 10/17/22 20:35pm]

When it comes to Prince, it´s a hard answer.

Sign O The Times, 1999 and Purple Rain are considered his best albums by several fans and critics, but, if you are the kind of person who doesnt like 80s sound much and prefers live instruments, I would recommend For You (although on this one he didnt have developed his trademark sound yet, but I love it), Dirty Mind or Hit and Run Phase Two. If you are in love with his guitar playing and psychedelic vibe, "Lotus Flow3r" by far (forget MPLSound and Bria Valente).

.

My personal fave era is the 91-95, because I loooove that NPG band, but I know I am minority.

.

But, overall, his most acclaimed era was from Dirty Mind to Lovesexy.

[Edited 10/18/22 10:19am]