Your top 5 (or 10) favorite Prince albums

[Deltronz]

No matter whatever music vibe I'm going through at any given month (hip-hop, rock, jazz, r&b, pop, dance, etc) I always have room to throw in some Prince albums.

That idea made me wonder what the BGOL's 10 (or 5, if you're in that "Prince hasn't had a good album since 1989" crowd ) favorite albums by him.

For me, I'd probably say these 10:

01. The Gold Experience (My favorite, top to bottom)
02. Dirty Mind (I love the stripped down sound to this)
03. Purple Rain (Your casual fan's favorite album, can't go wrong with this)
04. Controversy (Almost like a more glossed up Dirty Mind, never a bad thing)
05. Lovesexy (Has one of my favorite vibes from beginning to end of any album)
06. 1999 (Personally, I'd put this up with Purple Rain in terms of track for track singles)
07. Lotusflower (For me, it's like a more up to date electric-rock-soul album like The Gold Experience)
08. Sign of the Times (The hardcore fan's favorite album, can't go wrong with this)
09. The Rainbow Children (I'm not crazy about the message that permeates almost every track on this album, but I love the vocalization, musical arrangement, and musicianship)
10. 3121 (This is the album I use to get newer folks into Prince's music if they refuse to listen to music from the 80s or 90s)

 

[bgbtylvr]

<a href="http://pimpandhost.com/image/30614616-original.html"><img src="http://ist2-2.filesor.com/pimpandhost.com/1/1/0/2/110204/2/4/s/g/24sg8/Prince%20SWAY.gif"/></a>

For You
Dirty Mind
Purple Rain
Crystal Ball
Under the Cherry Moon Soundtrack.

 

[raze]

 

[SmoothD]

1. Sign of the Times
2. Dirty Mind
3. Parade - Under the Cherry Moon soundtrack
4. 1999
5. Purple Rain/Controversy

 

[theart0f69]

Sign of the Times
Controversy
Dirty Mind
Purple Rain
Emancipation

 

[Ill Paragraph]

Peace,

1. 1999 (my absolute favorite)
2. Sign of The Times (his best work)
3. Under The Cherry Moon
4. Lovesexy
5. Around

The World in a Day

 

[aaron]

Peace,

1. 1999 (my absolute favorite)
2. Sign of The Times (his best work)
3. Under The Cherry Moon
4. Lovesexy
5. Around

The World in a Day

I agree with you but I would put dirty mind at number 4...the others line up exactly as I would have them

 

[ScottyPiffen745]

I gotta listen to his discography again but as of right now:


1. Emancipation (I would've chopped it down to one album though)
2. Purple Rain
3. Diamonds and Pearls
4. 3121
5. For You

 

[AlexanderNevermind]

1. Sign of The Times - no one can make an album like this, not even U2, no one can still even come close to this no Artist, no band

2. Purple Rain - when doves cry belongs in every museum, every track is brilliant

3. 1999 - best programmed drums he has ever put down, some current producers would be working at Mcdonalds as Ronald Mcdonald in a hat if it was not for this album

4. Lovesexy - the bass playing on this album is nasty, killer layers and sounds of excess, one long track like you gone listen to this, the album cover ahead of it's times - spooky electric


5. Dirty Mind - the original rude boy, sloppy raw album, very raw and new on guitar, mistakes all over this album shows in dark contrast of the older prince production wise, Head - far ahead of it's time I still can't believe it got the green light



6. The Rainbow Children - Lovesexy pt2, a modern classic, Prince's stretching out on his instruments, marked the start of him sharpening up his guitar skills, etc and the narrator , LOFL only Prince would, features his second best technical drummer Blackwell - Everywhere just drum killer This album marked a clear turning point in Prince's journey lyrically This album is a cult classic spawned so much controversy




7. Gold - Solid, Modern Classic - Lenny Kravitz sang on Billy Jack Bitch a diss track to a reporter , the sounds were ahead of its time a time period were Prince attempted to flood the market and just when you thought he couldn't hit the club out pops Pussy Control and takes Shh were it was supposed to be taken a great song, Dolphin, etc jems everywhere


8. Around The World In A Day - the ultimate fuck what you think album, coming of the heels of Purple rain - No one can do what he did here after an album like Purple Rain - put that in context , this was the album after Purple Rain - on his Beatles shit



9. Love Symbol Album - Underrated gem, never returned to this sound, a pop artist with a braggadocio track ahead of it's time, sure we had Bad but My Name was Prince was on some other shit, even sampled his own songs in it, Sexy M.F greatest JB nod he ever put to track, and the guitar solo by his bandmate
loved the musicianship on this album - he has been known to check back the past, maybe too much Mayte influence

10. 20ten - Interesting it was not released in the states. Synth driven, some nice tracks. Standout tracks: Beginning Endlessly, the layered Future Soul Song sprinkles of yesteryear Hot track, the funky sticky like glue - he hadn't been this funky on the axe in a while with some single string funk, Everybody Loves Me the not so serious Prince finally showed up Finally


Notables: Under The Cherry Moon, Lotus Flower, Controversy, Graffiti Bridge

 

[silentking]

Nearly impossible to list....but in no particular order...

1999
Purple Rain
Prince
Controversy
Sign of the times
Diamonds and Pearls
the Rainbow Children
Lovesexy
Around the World in a Day
Parade (Under the Cherry Moon)


Plus, this...(for the heads that know)

 

[Bluelaser]

1 Prince

2 Controversy

3 1999

4 Purple Rain

5 Parade

 

[stretchwallz]

Sign of the times, 1999, Purple Rain, Gold Experience, Rave 2 the Joy Fantastic

 

[Kaffeine]

Plus, this...(for the heads that know)

She still fuckable 27 years later

​

 

[Paul1970]

1.Prince(Self Titled)
2.1999
3.Purple Rain
4.Parade
5.Sign Of The Times
6.Batman(Soundtrack)

 

[Dirtylakerie]

Moms used to play prince whole catalog all day long when we was kids.

sign of the times
purple rain
batman soundtrack
1999
parade

 

[AlexanderNevermind]

She still fuckable 27 years later

​

good find

 

[jimmiewine]

1.) Sign O' The Times

2.) Parade

3.) Around the World in a Day

4.) Dirty Mind

5.) Prince

 

[Traveler]

Moms used to play prince whole catalog all day long when we was kids.

My mom did as well

1. Parade
2. Sign O the Times
3. 1999
4. Around the World in a Day
5. Dirty Mind

 

[Big Tex]

1. Sign of The Times - no one can make an album like this, not even U2, no one can still even come close to this no Artist, no band

2. Purple Rain - when doves cry belongs in every museum, every track is brilliant

3. 1999 - best programmed drums he has ever put down, some current producers would be working at Mcdonalds as Ronald Mcdonald in a hat if it was not for this album

4. Lovesexy - the bass playing on this album is nasty, killer layers and sounds of excess, one long track like you gone listen to this, the album cover ahead of it's times - spooky electric


5. Dirty Mind - the original rude boy, sloppy raw album, very raw and new on guitar, mistakes all over this album shows in dark contrast of the older prince production wise, Head - far ahead of it's time I still can't believe it got the green light

Swap number 4 for Controversy and this my exact top 5.

 

[Deltronz]

These replies make me want to listen to Under the Cherry Moon again

 

[Deltronz]

Not official, but this is pretty much the greatest Prince fanmade boot EVER.

Beautifully, and seemlessly blended, mixing known releases with remixed/extended/unreleased/rare versions of the same track within a track. Basically, everyone in this thread should already have this.

Glorious Construction of Prince’s Mid-90s Unreleased Masterwork
As fan releases go, The Dawn is hands down one of the all time greats – with stunning studio quality sound, edited as professionally as any major label release. Over the years, Prince’s unreleased, mid-90s masterwork was spread piecemeal across various albums, scuttled projects and extended mix singles. Even casual fans could hear the connected threads that littered various albums like Gold Experience, Come, The Beautiful Experience and a slew of maxi-singles, but the big picture was always elusive… maybe even to Prince himself. Was this particular 3CD vision of The Dawn (a title Prince did have in the works) what he actually intended? Probably not. But, as a longtime fan, I can unequivocally state that the compilers of The Dawn have done a better job of it than Prince has (so far, anyway). Fanatics will enjoy hearing these mid-90s Prince essentials and rare mixes gathered into a massive conceptual structure, while non-fans get an introduction to the utterly fantastic music Prince was making back when no one was paying attention (since falling from public favor over his name-changing, face-painting antics). I’ve loved most of this material for years – though, many of these mixes are culled from outtakes and lesser known re-mixes – and hearing it all expertly compiled in one place brings new life to material I had overlooked myself (like the stitched together contractual obligation, Chaos And Disorder). Three, 19 track discs… each exactly 77 minutes in length. That’s attention to detail. Grab the gorgeous artwork, too. It might be fair to call this Prince’s greatest “release,” had he desired, or been allowed, to put it out like this himself.

 

[Deltronz]

bump (seems appropriate)

 

[KingTaharqa]

Prince
Dirty Mind
Purple Rain
Diamonds and Pearls
O(+>
1999
Controversy
The Gold Experience
Sign O The Times
The B-Sides