There seems to be general consensus that Prince has three classic records: 1999, Sign O the Times, and Purple Rain. The next tier over which there is more disagreement includes Dirty Mind, Parade, and Lovesexy. As for the most underrated Prince record? I got go with “Prince.” This record has five classic songs “I wanna be your lover,” Why you wanna Treat me so Bad,” “Sexy Dancer,” “Bambi,” and “I feel for you.” While “1999” may be the turning point leading to “Purple Rain,” I think “Prince” is the foundational template not only for “Dirty Mind” but for the entire 80’s output. What’s your choice?

I think ATWIAD is overlooked and of the newer material i would say that Emancipation is very underrated.

I love u in me

The Vault, of course.

La la la He he he

oh and.....

Anotherlover.....

17ways69days said:

Well Parade is actually more generally lauded by music critics and jo-public than the 1999 album...
As for the? u asked....
I'd say Around the World In a Day
then
Come

I dunno about most underated, but i'm beginning to think Parade is his finest moment.

17ways69days said:

Lovesexy. To me, this is his best album after SOTT. I love it.

17ways69days said:

"General consensus" eh? How can there be such a thing on a topic that is so subjective?

New Power Soul!!

love that album

I think the most underrated Prince albums are...

"Chaos and Disorder" --particularly the track "I ROCK THEREFORE I AM"--that shit is incredible.
The whole damn album rocks.

"New Power Soul" -- yes, that's right. I didn't want to like it, but this thing grew on me fast and hard, when I realized songs like "MAD SEX" and "UNTIL U'RE IN MY ARMS AGAIN" and "THE ONE" and "COME ON" were so damn funky and quality, I couldn't stop listening.

And some of the most underrated individual Prince trax?

Alexa De Paris--astoundingly beautiful
Joint 2 Joint--pure genius
Vikki Waiting--fantastic, clever, funky
Scandalous--Prince soul at it's finest

God, I could go on....

Sly said:

really got into that record recently it has an amazing scope covers all bases and is more concise than SOTT.

Most underrated in my opinion: Prince..and then probably ATWIAD.

And I TOO think Alexa de Paris was heavily overlooked.

17ways69days said:

I agree, along with Controversy.

Exodus

herb4 said:

what i was just going to say.

I'm listening to Exodus era stuff at the moment.

17ways69days said:

LoveSEXY!!!!!

ATWIAD and Come.

I think the Symbol album is underrated. I think it has some very good songs on it.

I can actually listen to it all the way through. There's only a few I can say that about.

...I think "For You" is terribly underrated...it still amazes me that a teenager produced and played that entire album...

Marrk said:

I LOVE the tune "The Exodus Has Begun" (have mercy!)

Because "Dirty Mind" isn't rated as the number one record of all times ..... it's underrated!!

The fact is ... "Dirty Mind" is the number one record of all times!

The first two albums are underrated by a lot of fans ....
everything released after LoveSexy is overrated by a lot of fans

Chaos & Disorder, Come, Prince, & Exodus

soulyacolia said:

I like Parade a lot, but to say that it covers all the bases isn't quite correct. It has a lack of rock songs. Sign O the Times has several: I could Never take the place of your Man etc. I don't think that is a bad thing because Parade doesn't need a guitar driven rocker.
[This message was edited Fri May 21 9:27:42 2004 by skywalker]

ThataintFunky said:

i absolutely agree, but many of his albums are the #1 record of all times.
[This message was edited Fri May 21 14:15:49 2004 by JOEYCOCO]

Chaos and Disorder.
I don't recall anything he put out in the 80's as being underrated. He got good reviews almost the entire decade.

yep chaos and disorder is a very underrated album. the guitar work alone is amazing...the only problem is the album was made during the "slave" years. very good piece of work.

The Black Album and Graffiti Bridge.