Official Prince Discussion Thread

[NX013]

I just bought both 1999 and Purple rain, love the instrument work, especially his majesty's amazing guitar palying. I was wonderring if anyone could suggest any other good albums to check out or songs to listen to

[AxlVanHagar]

All of them. Like both Frank Zappa and David Bowie, the music you'll discover will often be different from album to album. Prince is a bit of a chameleon woth his music. You may not wind up liking all of it but it will always be a helluva journey.

Some of my favorites without mentioning the one's you did.

Prince - his 2nd album. Just some really great r&b

Around The World In A Day - his followup to Purple Rain was considered disappointing by many but I really liked it. A lot more challenging music wise. Gone was the simple pop/rock of Purple Rain, a more experimental album.

Sign O' The Times - arguably my favorite Prince album. His first "solo" album made without The Revolution. Just a great mix of many different styles of music and some real top notch song writing. Get this one next! Also pick up the DVD of the concert film for this, stellar live performance!!

Crystal Ball - Might be hard to track down but it will be worth the effort. It's a fantastic little package of 4 cd's. The first 3 are a bunch of songs written for one album or another that didn't make the cut or Prince messing about in the studio. Some are different arrangements of songs that appear on other releases. The 4th cd is essentially an acoustic album called The Truth. A great set!

Diamonds and Pearls - I thought this to be a return to form after a few spotty albums from him. Good solid songs with a mix of styles.

Love Symbol - Another of my all time favorites. A semi - concept album it's funky as hell and almost seems angry. Seems like he was really pushing himself on this one. I like it a lot.

Come - A very dark and experimental album. A lot of fans hate it but I like it. I find it interesting. Gives you an idea of what was going through his mind at the time as it came out right after his separation from Warner Brothers Records.

The Gold Experience - Probably the most accessable album since Purple Rain. A pretty straight forward album with a rock feel to it. Another albumn I consider a true return to form.

Chaos and Disorder - A bunch of left overs to finish his contract with Warner Brothers. Another one that fans are mixed on but I really enjoy. It's really a Prince version of a rock/hard rock album. Neat stuff.

One Night Alone...Live! - His first live album and man is it a good one. A 3 cd set. I was lucky enough to catch him on this tour which was a series of small scaled down shows in smaller theaters, great show! And great album. Top notch performances are captured well as Prince experiments with blues, jazz, fusion, and rock. Some incredibly interesting arrangements of older songs. As he states near the beginning of the album "If you came to get your Purple Rain on tonight, you're in the wrong house." Prince at his finest.

[NX013]

He reminds me a lot of Frank Zappa, in which underneath the sexual humor and sounds of his music, he is a godly guitarist, thanks for the help

edit: Axl, what would u say are his best songs to hear his guitar style. The only one's that come to mind are Purple rain, when doves cry and little red corvette

Edit 2: also what should be my next album to buy?

[afterstasis]

"when u were mine" is one of those songs i could put on repeat for hours on end...

[wrldindstries302]

The next albums I would suggest are:

Dirty Mind - It's his first great album, and it has some of his absolute best pop-funk songs

Sign 'O' The Times - Possibly his most eclectic album, it covers many, many styles, and every song is solid

The Black Album - This one's out of print but it's easily his most funky album, and it has some of his most experimental songs.

The Love Symbol Album - This one has the most pronounced hip hop influence of any Prince album, but also some of his hardest rock, too.

The Gold Experience - This is his best album of the 90s, and it's probably the most rocking Prince album, so if you like that style, get this. It's out of print though, so you might have to get it used somewhere.

Planet Earth - Another mostly rock album.

NOTE: You will not be disappointed with any album of his that was released in the 80s, except maybe Parade.

I suggest going to your local used store; it's very likely that you'll find a bunch of his CDs for very cheap.

Also, if you're willing, I would highly, highly recommend One Nite Alone... Live! It's expensive (I got mine for ~$45) but Prince is at his absolute best live, and this set has some stellar guitar solos (whoamg at the Joy In Repitition solo), as well as great versions of older songs.

I'm going to go ahead and anti-recommend the following albums, until you like Prince sufficiently enough that you want to hear all of his music:

For You - His debut has a couple great songs, but it's mostly generic r&b

Prince - same as For You, it has some awesome songs, but a lot of it is bland.

Diamonds And Pearls - This album is simply awful. Except for a few decent singles, there is very little redeeming about this one. It's a very obvious attempt at being commercial.

Come - I like this one, but it's not a good album for a new Prince listener. It's pretty experimental, mostly r&b based, and it also has a couple of the worst songs he's ever done (Solo & Orgasm)

Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic - This is another attempt at a comeback, and it's very obvious that Prince was just phoning it in. It has a bunch of guest collaborations that don't work, and the songs are just boring.


Finally, some songs that showcase his guitar playing (I'd also like to point out that he didn't play the Little Red Corvette solo):

song (album)

Lady Cab Driver (1999) - this is one of my favorite guitar solos of all time
Play In The Sunshine (Sign 'O' The Times)
U Got The Look (S.O.T.T.)
Anna Stesia (Lovesexy)
Positivity (Lovesexy)
Cindy C (The Black Album)
Batdance (Batman)
Joy In Repetition (Graffiti Bridge)
Live 4 Love (Diamonds & Pearls)
3 Chains O' Gold (The Love Symbol Album)
Loose! (Come)
I Rock, Therefore I Am (Chaos & Disorder)
Endorphinemachine (The Gold Experience)
Shhh (The Gold Experience)
Eye Hate U (The Gold Experience)
Gold (The Gold Experience)
The Holy River (Emancipation)
Joint 2 Joint (Emancipation)
Da Bang (Crystal Ball)
Calhoun Square (Crystal Ball)
Strays Of The World (Crystal Ball)
The Ride (Crystal Ball)
The Everlasting Now (Rainbow Children)
Family Name (Rainbow Children)
Last December (Rainbow Children)
Fury (3121)
Planet Earth (Planet Earth)
Guitar (Planet Earth)
Lion Of Judah (Planet Earth)

[Jordashebasics]

For a long time, the only Prince album I owned was Come. I really liked it. He has some stronger grooves than he allows usually.
Aside from Letitgo, I really liked Dark. And Papa.

But I should also pick up Around The World In A Day. As much as I like Raspberry Beret, I just discovered Pop Life, and I really, really like that.

[AxlVanHagar]

Lady Cab Driver (1999) - this is one of my favorite guitar solos of all time
Play In The Sunshine (Sign 'O' The Times)
U Got The Look (S.O.T.T.)
Anna Stesia (Lovesexy)
Positivity (Lovesexy)
Cindy C (The Black Album)
Batdance (Batman)
Joy In Repetition (Graffiti Bridge)
Live 4 Love (Diamonds & Pearls)
3 Chains O' Gold (The Love Symbol Album)
Loose! (Come)
I Rock, Therefore I Am (Chaos & Disorder)
Endorphinemachine (The Gold Experience)
Shhh (The Gold Experience)
Eye Hate U (The Gold Experience)
Gold (The Gold Experience)
The Holy River (Emancipation)
Joint 2 Joint (Emancipation)
Da Bang (Crystal Ball)
Calhoun Square (Crystal Ball)
Strays Of The World (Crystal Ball)
The Ride (Crystal Ball)
The Everlasting Now (Rainbow Children)
Family Name (Rainbow Children)
Last December (Rainbow Children)
Fury (3121)
Planet Earth (Planet Earth)
Guitar (Planet Earth)
Lion Of Judah (Planet Earth)

I would agree with most of those but would include Bambi. That song has a great hook to it.

[NX013]

thanks guys, but jw, who did play the solo to little red corvette?

[afterstasis]

thanks guys, but jw, who did play the solo to little red corvette?

a member of prince's backing band named dez dickerson.

[Soror_YZBL]

a member of prince's backing band named dez dickerson.

The Modernaire!

I'm going to second a lot of the recommendations, and build my own list from that. I haven't listened to a lot of newer Prince in the recent past, but he's always had a spot on my infinite playlist.

I highly recommend these records:
Sign O' The Times. Hands down, no doubt, the best work he's ever done and probably ever will do. It is, in almost every respect, a perfect record.
Runners up:
Around the World in a Day. This was Prince's first "f- you" to the music industry, who were expecting Purple Rain pt 2. It was challenging, innovative, and funky. Kudos to prince, and kudos to those who love this record.
The Black Album. Lovesexy almost made me hate Prince (although I appreciate it better now) because it was so "safe". The Black Album was the evil prince, the flip side of the Gemini allowed to express himeself albeit briefly before being snuffed out by the evil of the Record Industry (tm).

I like to make my own prince album, containing these 10 songs.

1. Mountains (Parade)
2. Seven (squiggly)
3. Computer Blue (Purple Rain)
4. When you were mine (Dirty Mind)
5. The Future (Batman)
6. Rock Hard in a Funky Place (Black Album)
7. ***** Control (Gold experience)
8. The Ladder (Around the World in a Day)
9. The Question of You (Graffiti Bridge)
10. Annie Christian (Controversy)

Leans a lot on the 80s, sure, but I'm old.

I would also like to point out that Under a Cherry Moon is an AWESOME MOVIE.

thank you.