I think "Dirty mind" is Prince's most cohesive album of his carreer so far.
Of course some other albums are this as well.
"Lovesexy" & "Purple Rain" & "1999" are the second one for me, and "Parade" & "The Gold Experience" can count as well.
DOn't get me wrong; "SOTT" is still a masterpiece to me, but i think it shows the fact that is compilated out of preious album ideas..)

Why Dirty Mind? Well i think it is not just a collection of written tunes. It's in fact very strong as a whole concept. I barely can change the order of the tracks.
Which i think can more or less be done with other albums.(though Lovesexy and P.R. are pretty well compilated as well)
Does it have something to do that it actually was intended as a bunch of demos for private use? I don't know. But that album with that guitar sound, and the freshness and raw feel of every track does it to meevery time. I think it's timeless, although the sound is dated. But nevertheless it still remains Prince's most underrated album of all times i think.
It's the only album that can satisfy me lyricalwise. He doesn't sound preachin' when he does, he doesn't scan when he does, he's not way too romantic, and he sounds more down to earth concerning his ever existencial searh on any other album. I sometimes doubt Prince's romance and smooth talk in his lyrics. They are a bit too smoothtalking too me.

WHat do y'all think?
And what is you favourite album and WHY?

No other Prince album flows as well as Dirty Mind...except for, maybe, Lovesexy.

And I have to agree with you, DM is underrated and sometimes doesn't get the credit it deserves here on the org.

I agree totally with you ...
accept: Dirty Mind isn't underrated
Most fans and critics love this one!
accept some new fans ... who I can't understand anyway

Dirty Mind rules
His band in 1980 rules

Prince was indeed down-to-earth ...
Nowadays he's an idiot ... comes close to MJ
[This message was edited Wed Nov 26 2:41:13 PST 2003 by ThataintFunky]

The one song that seems to break the cycle for me is "Gotta Broken Heart Again". Now don't get me wrong, I love the song. But it doesn't fit with the rest of 'em. It seems like a leftover from the Prince album. "Gotta Stop Messin' About" would've made a much better substitute.

r1ghteousone said:

I definitely agree that it flows beautifully especially when sister kicks in.

TRON said:

I think the reason it doesn't fit is 'cause it's the only ballad on the whole thing (most P albums have at least 2), and it's too short...

I think all the albums upto Batman flow fantastically well.

My favourite is Parade, I just love the whole sonic landscape of that album, I think it will always be my favourite Prince record.

TRON said:

Well my opinion is on the contrary! I think 'Gotta broken heart again, suits well. It has that hunting piano hook, and it builds up pretty good. The thing about 'Gotta stop (messing about)' is that it is in my opnion the best choice for a solo single release as well as a B-side track. It actually pointed out to what would become a stream of funky B-sides. Prince's B-sides in this beginperiod are very playfull, funny, witty and most of all funky like hell. It's a good choice. But i can't see it fitting on the album imo.

Romance1600 said:

agreed

alot of his post-lovesexy albums sound a bit, i dunno 'dis-jointed'...

Graffiti Bridge is broken up by having all of the other artist's songs on there, has a wide varitey of tracks but feels a bit too long, and Emancipation is all over the place...


oh and yes... Parade does flow brilliantly.

Romance1600 said:

I agree with you there. I don't really have a favorite P album, but Parade flows almost perfectly. It's hard not to listen to that one straight through every time.Plus, it represents Prince well as an artist. Is it rock?? R&B?? Pop?? It's totally uncategorizable. If that's a word

dirty mind

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

I've said it once and I'll say it again. Dirty Mind was Prince gone Punk. Now that was music!

r1ghteousone said:

Parade does flow brilliantly especially the first 4 tracks. That's because of the way Prince recorded them by laying down the drum tracks all at once and then the bass parts, etc. TRC has a similar flow to it.