What's your favourite Prince period?

dirty mind 4 lyfe

i disagree with the way this is broken up but "slick '90s sound"

"genre experimentation 2" only covers a period of like three years

oh I guess some of these are even shorter than that lol

Yeah, but he released like 10 different albums then, most of them internet-only.

(xpost)

New wave synth funk, definitely (although the Purple Rain to Parade period is stronger. but less fun !).
Then the following phase, then the following phase...

whoever can choose from among these options I...wish you heaven.

"Progressive pop" (from Purple Rain to Parade)
"Genre experimentation" (from Sign "O" the Times to Batman)

These are the same period to me

^^^

voted "Progressive Pop" phase just cuz since his death the album I have listened to the most, oddly, is Around the World in a Day.

yeah, actually I have Dirty Mind through Purple Rain as being a period, tho obv a very progressive one.

The only reason why I've listened to Around the World In A Day more than Parade recently is because I couldn't listen to "Sometimes It Snows In April" without crying before he died; I tried once shortly after and sobbed in a manner more painful than cathartic and I am not looking to experience that again right now.

That said, I did play "Mountains" something like 5 times in a row

Dirty Mind and Prince feel more similar than Dirty Mind and 1999, but where ever you put Dirty Mind you have my vote.

and "slick '90s sound" describes D&P and Love Symbol.

definitely

I would've grouped 1999-Purple Rain-ATWIAD together personally. Then Parade-SOTT-Lovesexy-Batman.

which kinda reflects distinct changes in the bands/personnel

Depends whether you view Parade a the refinement/improvement/"a-ha!" version of ATWIAD or the start of a new phase.

I guess I'd have to go with 'progressive pop' since Purple Rain and Parade are my favorite Prince albums, but 'new wave synth funk' is a very very close competitor.

all of Prince's pop moves have been progressive

(not sure 'progressive' means though)

yeah, actually I have Dirty Mind through Purple Rain as being a period, tho obv a very progressive one.

― Dominique, Wednesday, May 11, 2016 12:07 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, this is how I group them too.

I don't think I could vote in this poll, if only because my favourite Prince period is 1999 up to Lovesexy, and there isn't an option for that!

yeah, actually I have Dirty Mind through Purple Rain as being a period, tho obv a very progressive one.
― Dominique, Wednesday, May 11, 2016 12:07 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, this is how I group them too.

Same, probably because the production sounds very much of a piece (especially 1999/Purple Rain).

"I don't think I could vote in this poll, if only because my favourite Prince period is 1999 up to Lovesexy, and there isn't an option for that!"

same here except for me it's 1999 to batman. including all the unreleased stuff from that time like "dream factory".

The back-to-back glam slam of SOTT->Lovesexy is my fave Prince period, and if I have to suffer through Batman to vote for it, then so be it

I voted "Progressive pop" because I couldn't' vote "the 80s"

xpost Plus that means the Black Album too :D

By year, 85-88 is the most interesting period, followed by 81-84 and probably 92-95

xxxxpost:

Oh yeah, I'm definitely counting the unreleased stuff in there, and The Black Album!

Another vote for DM->PR

genre experimentation SOTT thru Batman. most unique period

Dirty Mind - 1999; propulsive groove Prince is the best Prince

^^^ this. My attention to Prince wandered in and out afterwards, but the Dirty Mind/Controversy/1999 trifecta is really it for me. Even by Purple Rain I was not as interested.

I loved 1999, and it is a fav cos it was the first I heard, and has so many 7-8 minutes extended funk jams, but I think Purple Rain was a great bookend, taking a lot of that creative energy into creating more taut pop with just enough rock and funk thrown in.

Dirty Mind - 1999 is a helluva run, though. the first three songs on DM alone are such a helluva way to begin an album, and 1999's opening salvo is pretty hard to beat too.

I keep saying "ah man 90's Prince is dated" and it is but I heard "My Name is Prince" the other day and it still bangs, plus I f/w Michael Jackson's "Dangerous", which is no less dated. The only part I don't like about MNiP = the cheesy Heavy D-styled rap towards the end. "house rappers" were the worst thing about the 90s.

still haven't heard "For You". I love that Prince pretty much never leaves his falsetto on the s/t album.

or on Dirty Mind!

true that.

those synths on the title track of "Dirty Mind" are my fav thing ever. I think in terms of Prince fandom, "1999" was my 'discovery' album, "Purple Rain" was the 'building even more curiosity' album, and "Dirty Mind" was 'fuck it, I'm a fan now'.

think I blew my tip money on a new Prince album every week for a few months, leaving just enough to pay my car note and other bills.

I'm with Turrican -- impossible to vote in this one

I went with option 2. Hearing the live shows from this period probably sealed it for me. He's just on fire on the Controversy Tour.

"Progressive pop" (from Purple Rain to Parade)
"Genre experimentation" (from Sign "O" the Times to Batman)

These are the same period to me

I half agree, but OTOH I think the end of the Revolution era does signify a change where Prince starts to get more into genres that don't require a "band sound", like house music and singer-songwritery ballads... This is already evident on SOTT.

Also, if I'd marked it as one period, the poll results would've been utterly predictable. :)

id consider SOTT and lovesexy to still be part of the progressive pop period really. batman is its own little period. i dont think theres any R&B or rap on graffiti bridge either. that really starts from D+P. then again, i dont know how id do this. i would just go with disco period, rude boy period, experimental pop period, R&B-band era, prince-as-babyface era, internet-wilderness era, neo-soul phase, retro-prince/return to form prince. not easy :)

Maybe I should've called it "New Power Generation era" instead, but IMO there's a clear change in his sound with Graffiti Bridge, and that same sound continues on D&P and the Love Symbol album + on the various NPG side projects around that time. This is even more obvious if you listen to the singles from that era; for example, "New Power Generation" (the single of that name) does have rapping on it (though not by Tony M.), but you might be right that GB the album doesn't yet.

cat, we need u to rap

Oh, I'm sorry, I checked it and Tony M. does rap on "New Power Generation", on "Brother with a Purpose", but the first raps on the single are by T.C. Ellis, on "T.C.'s Rap".

he only raps on the remix i thought. GB is kind of a bridge to the npg era. but its also the last of the 80s one man band albums IMO (also the last with the linn drum IIRC). D+P has a very diff sound i think. much more live sounding for the most part. though then again, maybe thats overstated. its still quite produced in places. ive not heard it in a very long time.

cat, we need u to rap

Well yeah, if we want to get technical, the first rapping on a Prince album is by Sheila E. on SOTT. But to me, that + Cat's rap on Lovesexy are more about "trying to figure out this new thing", with existing band members, who were not rappers. Whereas with Tony M. and T.C. Ellis, as corny as they may sound today, Prince clearly hired them because they were rappers, and that was the only thing they brought to the table.

(xpost)

tony m is good on gett off.

thats about it.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Raspberry+Beret

I guess a 1999 is when it has a chocolate flake sticking out of it.

I know and I agree tuomas I'm just giving you a hard time

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Raspberry+Beret

I am never going to any second-hand store recommended by you

lol

Just noticed that one of the usernames on there is 'Axl Van Jovi'... what a grim combo.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

How could it be otherwise

What happened when Prince turned 32?

He said oh my and a boo-hoo

Just noticed that one of the usernames on there is 'Axl Van Jovi'... what a grim combo.

No