If you want to buy albums, what should you get? My son John wrote this:
I can't recommend highly enough, listening to Prince's albums from 1982 to 1988: 1999, Purple Rain, Around the World in a Day, Parade, Sign o' the Times, and Lovesexy. Of course, he made tons of other great music, but that string of albums in the '80s is truly mind-blowing. There's so much material on there that's at least as good as the hits.Personally, I was extremely bonded to 1999, Purple Rain, Around the World in a Day, and Sign o' the Times.
Posts
18 comments:
I take the lack of comments here as evidence that everyone is sick of reading about Prince.
Thanks to you and John for this. I was looking to fill in this gap in my collection and didn't know where to start.
I checked Amazon yesterday for a Prince title, possibly Very Best, and it was sold out.
Yea, I liked some of his stuff in the late 80's, but I can't think of anything he did over the last 20 years?
I thought the movie Purple Rain was hideous.
Dirty Mind is his best album.
I would reverse the order of your #3 and #4. Sign o'the Times > Around the World, but those are my #3 and #4, also (as 1999 is #1 and Purple Rain #2). Otherwise I am reminded again why I have liked your blog for so long, Professor. Still think you need to add that photo of you and Meade to the profile photo, as we've discussed in the past.
I'm disappointed that people appear to have forgotten about his work on the original Batman soundtrack. Or maybe I'm the only person who likes it...
"I would reverse the order of your #3 and #4. Sign o'the Times > Around the World, but those are my #3 and #4, also (as 1999 is #1 and Purple Rain #2). "
I just put them in chronological order. Didn't mean to be ranking them. Hard for me to rank them. I know Around the World in a Day got someone less critical respect at the time, but it slotted into an emotional period of my life that made it especially important to me personally. If I had to listen to one today, it would probably be Sign o' the Times, because it plays to my preference for sparer instrumentation and I love songs that feel conversational.
By "conversational," I'm thinking of: The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, Starfish and Coffee, and If I Was Your Girlfriend.
From the last mentioned song: "Baby, can I dress you/I mean, help you pick out your clothes before we go out?/Listen girl, I ain't sayin you're helpless/But sometime, sometime those are the things that bein' in love's about/Sugar, do you know what I'm saying to you this evening?/Maybe you think I'm being a little self-centered/But I, I said I want to be all of the things you are to me (if I was your girlfriend)..."
I mean: somewhat less critical respect at the time
"I'm disappointed that people appear to have forgotten about his work on the original Batman soundtrack. Or maybe I'm the only person who likes it..."
One of John's friends at Facebook was talking about it. He was saying that's where he first heard Prince. If something is your entry point to a performer, that can mean a lot. For example, I started listening to Bob Dylan with "Bringing It All Back Home." That was the entry point, then I worked backward to the beginning and forward as new things came out.
Agreed on entry point and why it matters. Regarding If I Was Your Girlfriend - so many things about the song make it special. The idea of the song, the lyrics (as you mention), and its whole mojo strikes me as unique.
My favorite has always been Around The World In a Day. That's where he first built on the compositional mastery he showed on The Beautiful Ones. It's what made Sign O The Times possible. Prince's piano chops are OUTSTANDING, especially on Condition of the Heart which is just one of the most strange and beautiful songs i've ever heard. That whole album grabbed me on first listen when it came out in 1985 (i was 11 years old and a prince fan since 1999).
Parade is probably his most underrated, and ups the sophistication about 10 more notches.
Prince made amazing, mysterious music. I was blessed to see him in concert twice and he was the MASTER. Probably the best electric guitar player ever. He was the real deal.
I went to two different parties this past weekend honoring Prince and his music. People crying and celebrating and dancing. The admiration and sense of loss are very real out there. Prince was a beloved figure.
LOL the captcha asked me to identify all the pictures with mountains. It's only mountains, and the sea.
I have read that If I was Your Girlfriend is based on the movie A Star is Born, which Prince was a huge fan of as a child and had the movie poster on his bedroom wall. Especially the line about running to me when somebody hurt you even if that somebody was me.
Sign Of The Times is best, by far.
I just want your extra time. And your...
Kiss.
Just one more...
I just want one more...
Kiss.
If you've ever loved someone who's died, that's all you want.
Just some extra time.
And one more kiss.
That is all you want.
For the rest of your life.
That is all you'll ever want.
Probably the best electric guitar player ever
{cough, cough} Duane Allman {cough, cough}
Are all the Althouses comma-challenged?
NO: I can't recommend highly enough, listening to Prince's albums from 1982 to 1988.
YES: I can't recommend highly enough listening to Prince's albums from 1982 to 1988.
The gerund phrase "listening to Prince's albums" is a direct object of the verb "recommend." We do not put commas between verbs and direct objects.
Post a Comment