ShellyMcG said:

Like Paisleyparkgirl said, it depends entirely on who I'm recommending it to. Prince's stuff was so diverse that you could recommend three albums to one person that they would love but another person might hate and vice versa. However, for the purposes of the game, I would choose; Purple Rain It's his most well known album and contains several of his most well known songs. If you can't find ANYTHING on this album that you like, then there's no point in even continuing with any more recommendations. 3121 One for the 90s RnB lovers, this album was one of the two albums my cousin played for me to get me into Prince's music. (As a bonus, the other album was Hit'n'Run Phase Two). 3121 has a diverse collection of ballads (Satisfied), uptempo songs (Fury) and cool-as-shit RnB (Black Sweat). Plus, it's not THAT old so younger people shouldn't immediately turn their noses up at it. The Hits & B-Sides Ok, so maybe this is cheating, but I often find that the best albums to check out first when you're unsure about an artist who is new to you is their greatest hits. I did it with Lenny Kravitz, Hall & Oates and Shania Twain and given that The Hits & B-Sides collection contains several deep cuts as well as the big hits, it really is the best place for someone to start.

The Hits & B-sides is where I would start. It's the perfect introduction. Then, assuming they didn't know anything about Prince I would suggest Purple Rain and Sign of the Times. This, of course, is in a vacuum. In reality I would take into account the person's individual tastes still including The Hits & B-Sides. For example, for my younger self I would have suggested 1999 and Parade in addition.

I haven't even introduced my own children to Prince in a comprehensive way. They've heard some songs here and there. My oldest daughter knows obscure (to the general public) bootlegged songs but couldn't name an album. I just hope the seeds I've planted some day grow.

[Edited 6/26/25 20:56pm]

whodknee said:

Depends on who is asking...

If it is someone who is musically open and knowledgeable, Sign O The Times for sure. Only now at 50+ do I myself appreciate how breathtaking it is for one person to be able to display so many different styles on one album.....only now am i digesting the impossibility of this one guy playing bluesy guitar on the title cut, and soulful singing on the last. Then he sprinkles pretty much all other styles convincingly in between.

I would challenge anyone to find an album of similar breadth.

Having said that, if I were talking to someone who is more into guitars...Purple Rain and Lotus Flower come to mind immedately. You want more organic r&b, The Rainbow Children and Hit and Run Phase 2 are perfect.

He did it all and I actualliy have trouble recomomending his albums b/c he always had them sprawling. I usually make up play lists for people to ensure there is some easy cohesion.

In theory, the Hits would be a good into to his work. However, I find the sequencing too jarring - I wish the track listing was done in sequential order. It's akin to listening to the Beatles' or Rolling Stones' classic late '60's songs mixed with their early recordings that are mostly covers; for my tastes, it would be too disorienting to enjoy.

Hearing his music in sequential order also highlights how he devoloped as an artist - it's actually quite breathtaking how much his music changed throughout the years.

I would definitely recommend SOTT and 1999. Someone previously made the observation that Purple Rain is too ubiquitous to suggest, which is a fair point to anyone who was alive when it came out. With that in mind, my third recommendation would be Parade. I would recommend them in chronological order.

1999 is a gloriously weird album, for sure. So maybe it wouldn't be the best starting point. But much of Prince's music is not exactly radio friendly. Some of it is downright challenging. To me, that's what makes him really great. That also makes him not everyone's cup of tea.

It would have 2 be in the genre of music that they like, otherwise it wouldn't make a lot of sense.

I bought it on CD fof friends 7 times. Mostly the Fat Box variants...

For me, the original configuration is nostalgic. Two single case cd's with a brilliant, vibrant electric blue screened label...

ShellyMcG said:

whodknee said:

The Hits & B-sides is where I would start. It's the perfect introduction. Then, assuming they didn't know anything about Prince I would suggest Purple Rain and Sign of the Times. This, of course, is in a vacuum. In reality I would take into account the person's individual tastes still including The Hits & B-Sides. For example, for my younger self I would have suggested 1999 and Parade in addition.

I haven't even introduced my own children to Prince in a comprehensive way. They've heard some songs here and there. My oldest daughter knows obscure (to the general public) bootlegged songs but couldn't name an album. I just hope the seeds I've planted some day grow.

[Edited 6/26/25 20:56pm]

At least your kids will listen to Prince. My son actively refuses to listen to anything I like because "it's old". I'm only 33 but you'd swear I was the crypt keeper if you believed my son [Edited 6/27/25 8:03am]

Listening to Prince is a thing of the past in my household. My kids will no longer tolerate it the way they did a few years ago. I just hope they'll one day go back to it.

fruitsalad said:

I bought it on CD fof friends 7 times. Mostly the Fat Box variants...

For me, the original configuration is nostalgic. Two single case cd's with a brilliant, vibrant electric blue screened label...

..of what do you speak??

I agree with all of the people who say it depends who's asking.

But let me toss out another consideration...

Most people know Prince from the '80s, so they expect an electronic sound and dance music. If someone asks me for recommendations, I like to defy those expections. I'll suggest something organic like Rainbow Children or LotusFlow3r. Even if those albums aren't to their particular tastes, they scome away surprised and with a new understanding of Prince. They see him an eclectic, genre-defying musican, rather than a Michael Jackson style pop star.

lurker316 said:

ShellyMcG said:

lurker316 said:

I agree with all of the people who say it depends who's asking.

But let me toss out another consideration...

Most people know Prince from the '80s, so they expect an electronic sound and dance music. If someone asks me for recommendations, I like to defy those expections. I'll suggest something organic like Rainbow Children or LotusFlow3r. Even if those albums aren't to their particular tastes, they scome away surprised and with a new understanding of Prince. They see him an eclectic, genre-defying musican, rather than a Michael Jackson style pop star.

I'd never recommend the Rainbow Children to anyone . But other than that, I kind of agree with you. I'd tend to recommend something a little more modern. Not purely to fuck with their expectations (although that's a part of it), but also to show that Prince was still going strong later in his career. I find that a lot of people are surprised when they hear he was still releasing new albums up until his death. The majority of people I've talked to about Prince thought he changed his name to a symbol and disappeared and that was it.

The god voice in TRC makes it pretty inaccessible for the average listener. However, it was the first thing I played to a new friend who clearly knew his stuff, and it was instant lifetime fandom for him.

leecaldon said:

I am pretty unfamiliar with his work after Musicology - that was the point at which I stopped buying his new albums. I love how diverse the tastes are on this board. But, in my opinion, recommending something that's not from his classic run in the '80's is just overthinking it. While many of us have probably heard all of his 80's work thousands of times, for the uninitiated, most or all of the non singles will be brand new.

I have tried getting into his later albums on Spotify, but they just don't excite me at all. Outside of a handful of scattered tracks and the Gett Off maxi-single, I hardly ever revisit his 90's work (all of which I bought on release day and enjoyed at the time).

I have a big group of concert going friends with pretty diverse tastes, skewing heavily towards alternative over radio friendly. But I would only play them something like The Rainbow Children if it was late and I wanted to clear out my apartment so I could go to bed.

Of course, some of you have won over people with some of the stuff I don't care for, so what do I know...?

No brainer, the holy trinity - PR, Parade, and Sign

I have a friend who claims that he hates Prince. This has been going on since 1987. When ever he is around, I go out of my way 2 make sure something from Prince is playing. Every single time after a few minutes, without fial he saids, "who is this? I really like this". I respond with Prince and he says he doesn't like it. This coming a from a guy who thought Millie Vanilla was the best thing he had ever heard when they came out.

Make this make sense.

Gooddoctor23 said:

ShellyMcG said:

Gooddoctor23 said:

Make this make sense.

Different people have different opinions. Some people, like your friend for example, have opinions which are wrong

"De Nile ain't just a river in Egypt..."

nayroo2002 said:

i'm sorry we can't send voice comments here!
el oh el

nayroo2002 said:

ShellyMcG said:

nayroo2002 said:

i'm sorry we can't send voice comments here!
el oh el

A bad workman always blames his tools. You've gotta work with what you have

in the real world i'm a "MacGyver",
but choosing the best three Prince albums for a good mate is bollocks!

I would ask my friends a few questions first:

do you like prince's music, the songs that you know, at least?

if yes, then:

what do you like about his music, or about him as a person?

if reasonably positive answer:

so would you be up for me recommending one or two albums?

and depending on their answers I'd pick one album, maybe two.



given no information and no choice but to make them listen to an album of my choosing,
I'd tie them to a chair and make them listen to TRC as I set the house aflame around us.

but that's just me

ShellyMcG said:

leecaldon said:

The god voice in TRC makes it pretty inaccessible for the average listener. However, it was the first thing I played to a new friend who clearly knew his stuff, and it was instant lifetime fandom for him.

That's supposed to be a "god voice"? I thought Darth Vader had found the propofol But it's not the stupid voice that I would be worried about. It's the batshit lyrics. That's the main problem with recommending that album for me.

Yeah, those lyrics... when we had the listening sessions at Paisley Park, they gave us all a lyric book. We pored over them afterwards, and we were all desperately trying to find ways to justify some of the stuff that was written in it.

leecaldon said:

ShellyMcG said:

leecaldon said:

Yeah, those lyrics... when we had the listening sessions at Paisley Park, they gave us all a lyric book. We pored over them afterwards, and we were all desperately trying to find ways to justify some of the stuff that was written in it.

Some things have no justification. I love Prince. I love the majority of his songs, anyway. But he couldn't half talk a load of bollocks sometimes

Haha. Those lyrics certainly provoked some lively debates at PP. We dubbed it the 'god voice' at the time, in lieu of anything better.

leecaldon said:

ShellyMcG said:

leecaldon said:

Haha. Those lyrics certainly provoked some lively debates at PP. We dubbed it the 'god voice' at the time, in lieu of anything better.

I saw that guy Kevin Smith, I think his name is. He was talking about his experience working with Prince and I guess it must have been around that time and he mentioned something about people having a let's say "mixed" reaction to some of Prince's lyrics. And then Prince of one of Prince's people tried to get them to change the subject and talk about other things. I don't think it's a coincidence that his next big album release was Musicology, a much more conventional (by Prince standards) album. Musicology is actually an album I would recommend to non fans. Purely for the song Call My Name. Easily my favourite Prince song of the 2000s. Everything else on that album is just a bonus.

I was in that unreleased documentary with Kevin Smith (and I appear in the trailer). In the discussion I was in, which Prince joined after a while, and then, to my great regret, Larry Graham, the lyrics were used as a jumping to dicsuss/be talked at about religion.

Today, generally:

1999

The Gold Experience

3121

Those would offer a variation of Prince's range of style. I left off The Revolution band's contributed recordings which I feel people would have no trouble identifying on their own.

ShellyMcG said:

Funnily enough, this exact topic has come up recently. A good friend of mine, and frequent lurker on the org, was telling me that his friend's 15 year old sister was asking him about Prince recently and asking what kind of genre Prince fit into because she was only aware of one of his songs. And it wasn't even Purple Rain or Kiss or any of the other songs they play regularly on TV. The only song she knew was Nothing Compares 2 U and that's only because apparently some guy covered it and she liked his version. So she was curious about more Prince stuff and, knowing he's a big fan, she asked him about it. I can't remember everything he said he recommended to her, but the Purple Rain movie was one (apparently she likes musicals) and Musicology was another one. I thought that was a pretty weird one to recommend. And I love Musicology . But yeah, odd choice.

Aww--that's a charming way to have discovered Prince! A romantic song cover.