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Starter Kit: Prince
fall-out with his record company prompted increasingly bizarre name changes and his disappearance from the mainstream - he now releases his music via the internet.

By Neil McKay
featureseditor@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

02 April 2004
PURPLE RAIN (1984)

Prince's extraordinary talent had been simmering for five albums before Purple Rain sent him supernova. A soundtrack to the hazily autobiographical movie of the same name, it was a superb collection of songs that blurred the boundaries between pop, rock, soul and funk. Lead-off single When Doves Cry - a sleek, relentlessly building and, incredibly, bass-less dance floor killer - signalled that something special was stirring. The title track took the power ballad to its ultimate conclusion, Let's Go Crazy rocked like crazy, and when he stormed through Baby I'm A Star no one could possibly argue.

AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY (1985)

No other album better illustrated Prince's sense of fun, and complete mastery of pop and rock than the follow-up to Purple Rain. It had little or no promotion, and its quasi-psychedelic stylings were almost purposely designed to alienate his new legion of fans. But it is also his most rhythmical album, with finger bells and tambourines littering the mix, while he indulged his Hendrix fantasies with the squalling guitar workout Temptation. Yet, even at his most perverse, Raspberry Beret, Pop Life and Paisley Park stand tall among his most infectious pop songs.

PARADE (1986)

Emboldened by the cinematic success of Purple Rain, Prince made a second movie, Under The Cherry Moon. It was a dud and flopped, but this accompanying album was tremendous and saw him playfully exploring the full limits of a studio. Driven by phases, loops, whooshes and all manner of barminess, it exhibited an invention almost unparalleled in pop music. It also had the corseted eroticism of Kiss, regarded by many as his greatest song, the tumbling pop of Mountains, the clipped funk of New Position and Girls & Boys, and the piano and acoustic ballad Sometimes It Snows In April.

SIGN O' THE TIMES (1987)

Time may have revealed a few cracks in the façade - like most double albums it has a fair amount of filler - but Sign O' The Times remains arguably Prince's high water mark. It consolidated the stylistic experiments he had made since Purple Rain, and was a supremely confident display of songwriting and performing. The undoubted highlight was the title track, an exercise in stark funk minimalism and a lament for a generation blighted by Aids and drugs, and while U Got The Look (featuring Sheena Easton), Slow Love and Hot Thing explored more carnal urges, The Cross and Adore were full of spiritual longing.