I like to consider myself pretty well acquainted with the Prince discography (yes, even the Symbol years! :o ), and it always makes me kind of sad that people are only familiar with a select few of his albums. Yes, Purple Rain is amazing, but the albums that his best known hits come from (Parade, Around The World In A Day) really don’t represent Prince at his best IMO. So I ask you, true funk soldiers, which Prince albums are your favorites?
Personally, the #1 spot isn’t even a question for me. Dirty Mind is absolutely brilliant. It comes right before Prince starts laying on the excess that is both one of his best and worst qualities, but keeps all of the funk and pop genius that he’s known for. It’s easily the most consistent album in his discog. I only wish it were produced a bit better.
I really like Sign 'O The Times- it’s got some songs I really love. I’d have to say, but without much conviction because I love so many of his albums, that it’s my favorite. Right now, though, I’m listening to The Love Symbol Album almost every day- it has some really interesting songs that I am rediscovering.
I have to say, 1999 wouldn’t make my short list. There are a lot of incredible tracks (DMSR is my jam), but I don’t feel it’s very consistent, and the “excess problem” is in full effect.
Sign O’ The Times is possibly my second favorite, in fact it probably is! And ugh Controversy is so good alright I need to jam now.
1999 is hella dated, but I think Purple Rain (and maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about because I was just born when it came out) just became more charming. It was so aware of what it was that it feels pretty fresh.
I love all his work - well, I respect all of it and love most of it - but the clear favorite to me is Sign o’ The Times. It’s his White Album - widely varied, yet integrating into a personal statement. Since it’s one of the ones where he did pretty much everything (okay Sheena Easton sang on You Got the Look, Sheila E did the Mississippirap on Beautiful Night, etc. - but you get the idea).
Dirty Mind was ballsy and compelling - I did a write up of it in another thread recently when someone was asking about CD’s that changed the rules or something. Controversy pushed it further and 1999 broke open the pop possibilities while also embracing dance/techno a bit more. Purple Rain was targeted for its time and movie. Around the World in a Day and Parade are woefully underappreciated (Kiss and anotherloverholeinyourhead remain fresh and solid to this day, for instance, as does Raspberry Beret, a piece of lyrical perfection).
But Sign - oh man: moving from Sign to Starfish, to Housequake to Dorothy Parker - and that’s just side one? Please! When it first came out, we had the song “It” on the turntable (yes, turntable - and not in a retro vinyl-is-cool sort of way - we had a freakin’ turntable) for literally a month solid - no one can take that simplest of beats and make it sound like sex the way he can.
Every song you run across is completely different and fascinating. By the time you get to The Cross and Adore - just amazing.
Easily one of the best musical statements of the modern era - up there with Revolver, What’s Goin’ On, Exile on Main Street, Ziggy and other top-shelf, timeless works…
I would say Prince is woefully underappreciated, as popular as he is. I’m one of the converted; I am a huge fan of pop music, but I didn’t have much interest in Prince until I met my husband and he had virtually every Prince album (and most of them are LPs) that he had put out up to that time. I had his “Purple Rain” tape like every proper child of the 80’s, but that’s where my interest stopped. I see now the error of my ways; “Purple Rain” might be his most accessible album and a solid piece of work from beginning to end, but it’s definitely not his best.
It really is hard to pick a favourite Prince album - looking at my iTunes ratings, “Crystal Ball” has the most five star songs on it, but it’s also a four disc set (with lots of three star songs on it). “3121” has my current favourite song on it - “The Dance”, and the rest of the album is pretty much in my four star range, as are “Rave…” and “Musicology”.
Envy me - prompted by watching “Under a Cherry Moon” and this thread this weekend, I’m currently downloading seven Prince albums from iTunes that I’m not familiar with yet. I have all that wonderful new music to get to know!