Okay i'm off on holiday next wednesday so for revealing the top 50 i'm going to do 10 today, 10 tomorrow, 10 friday, 10 monday and finishing up with the top 10 next tuesday.
We had 40 ballots in total, with 164 different tracks chosen. Thanks to everyone that took part!
I'm mega mega happy that the following track scraped in...
― I'm A Genius, Too! (Jamie_ATP), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 11:22 (1 year ago) Permalink
50. Uptown (from Dirty Mind, 1980) - 103 points, 4 votes
daaaamn the bit where everything drops out for some synthy action before launching back in is ace
― I'm A Genius, Too! (Jamie_ATP), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 11:28 (1 year ago) Permalink
Yes!
My #19 - put it in near the end while doing frazzled lower-table chopping and changing - think it finally nicked ahead of Head and Dirty Mind for me while I was listening on bus to work the other morning. Felt tragically inappropriate, mocking even, for sleepy grey bus trip to a London office, but the more vivid for it.
Now I am in same office & I am feeling quite perky since I have the riff for this going through my head.
― you don't exist in the database (woof), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 11:36 (1 year ago) Permalink
those fills at the end of a bar to an open high hat on the one, such a sweet feel
our clothes, our hair, we don't care
song makes me think of comic book funky prince utopia and i want to go to there
― Crackle Box, Wednesday, 27 July 2011 11:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
need startrekman for synth ids
― Crackle Box, Wednesday, 27 July 2011 11:52 (1 year ago) Permalink
49. Hot Thing (from Sign O' The Times, 1987) - 108 points, 5 votes
― I'm A Genius, Too! (Jamie_ATP), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 12:02 (1 year ago) Permalink
sorry for quiet video!
Quite shocked this wasn't higher...Prince at his most 'fluid' and funky...love it...
― The Pastiche Liberation Front (sonnyboy), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 12:02 (1 year ago) Permalink
Sorry talking bout 'Uptown'...
― The Pastiche Liberation Front (sonnyboy), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 12:03 (1 year ago) Permalink
Didn't have room left to vote for either of these, but quite happy to see them here. Good work, ILM.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 27 July 2011 12:19 (1 year ago) Permalink
I am reasonably certain every song on this list will be bad-ass
― PAJAMARALLS? PAJAMALWAYS! (DJP), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 13:45 (1 year ago) Permalink
Uptown was my #15; great to DJ back to back with any "Downtown" song. Apparently there's some great edit/remix of it on a Warp offshoot label (Arcola?), but I've never been able to track it down.
― etc, Wednesday, 27 July 2011 14:41 (1 year ago) Permalink
i was sure i picked either "uptown" or "partyup" for my ballot, but apparently not. gotta hear it whenever i drive around minneapolis at night.
― hardcore oatmeal (Jordan), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 14:46 (1 year ago) Permalink
48. 7 (from Love Symbol, 1992) - 108 points, 6 votes
― I'm A Genius, Too! (Jamie_ATP), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 14:54 (1 year ago) Permalink
47. Let's Pretend We're Married (from 1999, 1993) - 113 points, 5 votes
oh my god "Let's Pretend We're Married" is a massive, shocking omission from my ballot
― PAJAMARALLS? PAJAMALWAYS! (DJP), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 15:07 (1 year ago) Permalink
All the hippies sing!
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 15:08 (1 year ago) Permalink
excellent image btw
― No Broehner (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 15:26 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah he easily has over 50 great songs so I'm not really expecting anything bad to show up
unless anything from my ballot squeaks in
― No Broehner (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 15:28 (1 year ago) Permalink
46. Cream (from Diamonds And Pearls, 1991) - 113 points, 6 votes
― I'm A Genius, Too! (Jamie_ATP), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 15:38 (1 year ago) Permalink
― I'm A Genius, Too! (Jamie_ATP), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 15:40 (1 year ago) Permalink
45. The Cross (from Sign O' The Times, 1987) - 123 points, 6 votes
― I'm A Genius, Too! (Jamie_ATP), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 16:28 (1 year ago) Permalink
unexpected
― hardcore oatmeal (Jordan), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 16:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
Damn forgot to vote in this.... well consider this a write in vote for strawberry beret at #1.
― ◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝ (Moka), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 16:35 (1 year ago) Permalink
Raspberry Fields Forever at #2 (also forgot to vote, would have gone DMSR for the top spot)
― AWeAreVEV0 (Spectrist), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 16:39 (1 year ago) Permalink
always makes me sad to see people saying "oh gee, I forgot about this"
― an excellent source of vitamins and minerals (WmC), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 16:41 (1 year ago) Permalink
going out for a while, last four to follow when i return later
― I'm A Genius, Too! (Jamie_ATP), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 16:43 (1 year ago) Permalink
I thought The Cross would be higher.
― kornrulez6969, Wednesday, 27 July 2011 16:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
xxp Makes me sad to say it! Honestly mistook the deadline for this weekend, somehow. Still, got pumped listening to 5 or 6 lps over the last few days.
― AWeAreVEV0 (Spectrist), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 16:54 (1 year ago) Permalink
7 probably the weakest thing on here so far...? the vocal harmonies are nice but this is one where the nonsensical lyrics really grate. and the finger cymbals. it has a pseudo-mysticism vibe that just doesn't work.
― No Broehner (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 17:01 (1 year ago) Permalink
I elevated Uptown all the way to #3, just as well I did. 7 is awful.
meta: I presume noone minds me kicking off voting for the U2 poll while this one counts down? I doubt there's much overlap between the two.
― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 27 July 2011 17:06 (1 year ago) Permalink
Kick it off.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 27 July 2011 17:11 (1 year ago) Permalink
7 has a pretty massive hook, i feel like it's the forgotten big single (wiki says it peaked at...#7)
― hardcore oatmeal (Jordan), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 17:12 (1 year ago) Permalink
Love 7. It just barely missed out on my ballot, as did Uptown.
― Somewhere between Fergie and Jesus (Alex in Montreal), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 17:13 (1 year ago) Permalink
I fell out of love with "7" a few years ago, dunno why. Probably just became less generally enamored of decent vocal harmonies and more interested in on-the-one dance beats. Prince's early funk stuff is still weirdly underrated, IMO - that includes stuff like What Time Is It?, too.
― foam injected axl rose (thewufs), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 17:45 (1 year ago) Permalink
oh my god "Let's Pretend We're Married" is a massive, shocking omission from my ballot― PAJAMARALLS? PAJAMALWAYS! (DJP), Wednesday, July 27, 2011 10:07 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
Don't worry. I got it.
― third-generation stripper (Eric H.), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 18:49 (1 year ago) Permalink
I haven't figured out why I still like "Cream" (which made my ballot); I'm still stuck on the fact that it sounded nothing like 1991 chartpop.
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 18:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
(which is no reason to vote for it, I know)
Yeah, 1991 chartpop was pretty awesome sounding, so deviating from it wouldn't be an auto plus.
― third-generation stripper (Eric H.), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 19:04 (1 year ago) Permalink
I think Prince sort of lost his grip on the zeitgeist not too long after 1991 anyway - he made some not-half-bad New Jack Swing, but some of his other attempts to stay current between, say, 1991 and 1996 just sort of got it wrong. Or they ended up underselling his songs - overreliance on chugging jeep-beat drum loops is one of the things that makes a record like Emancipation a lot less dynamite than it ought to be.
― foam injected axl rose (thewufs), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 20:11 (1 year ago) Permalink
K, I just listened to Emancipation again and it's significantly more rhythmically diverse than I'd remembered. For a better example of jeep-beat fatigue, see Digital Underground, The Body-Hat Syndrome, which does work quite nicely in limited doses.
― foam injected axl rose (thewufs), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 20:19 (1 year ago) Permalink
I do think Emanciaption suffers heavily from not being what people assumed it would be; I think a good amount of the material stands on its own but I can see why someone looking for Sign O' The Times (3 disc edition) would be disappointed.
― PAJAMARALLS? PAJAMALWAYS! (DJP), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 20:22 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah I referenced this on the voting thread but the biggest problem is he lost his way sonically. a lot of the 90s stuff just straight up doesn't SOUND good, the combinations of instruments + production gear come across as haphazard and lazy.
oddly I think he's largely rectified this in recent years. 2131 and Musicology in particular are both much more pleasing to the ear than a lot of his 90s stuff. (the problem now is that his songwriting has gotten lazier and his lyrics mostly insufferable since he's not interested in sex anymore)
― No Broehner (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 20:23 (1 year ago) Permalink
see Digital Underground, The Body-Hat Syndrome,
aw. there is great stuff on this record! but it is way too long and overstuffed.
To be fair, I had no idea what to expect when I bought it for $6.99 in 2002. At the time it sounded quite dated. But era-specific production excesses/gimmicks don't irritate me the way they did 10 years ago, probably because my tastes are a fuck of a lot broader nowadays.
― foam injected axl rose (thewufs), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 20:27 (1 year ago) Permalink
^^xp to DJP
― foam injected axl rose (thewufs), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 20:28 (1 year ago) Permalink
I think Prince has the opposite problem nowadays, actually - lesser songs that might actually benefit from a little production gimmickry. It's easy enough to hear through "dated" production and get to the strong songs underneath with prolongued exposure. It's crazy, but I didn't even like Purple Rain much when I first bought it heading off to college in 2001 - all I heard was bad reverb on the drums.
― foam injected axl rose (thewufs), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 20:33 (1 year ago) Permalink
aw cmon who doesn't love a little gated reverb with their Linndrums!
― No Broehner (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 20:40 (1 year ago) Permalink
Funny thing is, the drums sound exactly the same in concert recordings from '84 - did they use electronic pads or what? Records still shouldn't sound as if you're listening from the back row at the LA Coliseum. I guess they thought differently 25 years ago. But I guess people figured, hey, it worked for Phil Collins.
― foam injected axl rose (thewufs), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 20:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah one of Lovesexy's virtues is that it's one of the last times he had to fit an album onto one vinyl LP, but once his consistency rate went way down and arguably none of his albums were front-to-back classics anymore, the longer albums at least offer more buffet options for playlists and mixes
― Tal Bachman - Highness advocate (some dude), Friday, 9 September 2011 17:16 (1 year ago) Permalink
i wonder how much of that might have been the influence of dance music and hip-hop, and prince going "oh, well i can do that shit"
oh it's this – he was quite offended by the interest in rap.
― Anakin Ska Walker (AKA Skarth Vader) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 9 September 2011 17:16 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah, and it shows in the material he churned out. it was beneath him. there are instances where people make great material despite their contempt for it, but Prince is not one of them.
― you will always be wrong (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 9 September 2011 17:19 (1 year ago) Permalink
I like The Gold Experience and Emancipation as much as I like Lovesexy.
― Tal Berkowitz - Vaccine advocate (DJP), Friday, 9 September 2011 17:20 (1 year ago) Permalink
(Come is better than all three tho.)
otoh what excuse is there for Diamonds and Pearls, which is just execrable as a ballad. recently watched a clip of him performing this on the Grammys and he looks so fucking bored, the band looks awful, the playing is so limp.
xp
― you will always be wrong (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 9 September 2011 17:20 (1 year ago) Permalink
it's funny - you could say he burned out, and yet this burnout was not accompanied by a decrease in material, he still kept cranking it out.
― you will always be wrong (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 9 September 2011 17:21 (1 year ago) Permalink
According to Possessed, Prince wanted to woo his R&B audience back.
― Anakin Ska Walker (AKA Skarth Vader) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 9 September 2011 17:22 (1 year ago) Permalink
yes Come is the joint. if anything THAT is the only time he really sounded in step with '90s R&B.
― Tal Bachman - Highness advocate (some dude), Friday, 9 September 2011 17:23 (1 year ago) Permalink
I'll agree with that.
― you will always be wrong (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 9 September 2011 17:28 (1 year ago) Permalink
Ditto Come. A strange album because it was almost as if he wanted to remind you that he still had it in him, but it was also obvious that he would never be so disciplined again. I guess the epitaphs on the cover are tip off.
― broom air, Friday, 9 September 2011 17:37 (1 year ago) Permalink
it just bums me out how even the songs that would otherwise be fine (Willing and Able, for ex.) or at least moderately enjoyable on Diamonds and Pearls songs are literally ruined by the rapping. it's the audio equivalent of a chef preparing a dessert for you and then, upon hearing that you are fond of chocolate pudding, serves you a lump of shit. and then complains when you say you don't like it.
― you will always be wrong (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 9 September 2011 17:39 (1 year ago) Permalink
it's the audio equivalent of a chef preparing a dessert for you and then, upon hearing that you are fond of chocolate pudding, serves you a lump of shit.
That is exactly what we were all thinking.
― broom air, Friday, 9 September 2011 17:41 (1 year ago) Permalink
thing is even if Prince had grabbed like the greatest rappers of the era it still probably would've turned out awkward at best, it was just a lose/lose proposition for him to engage with hip hop imo
― Tal Bachman - Highness advocate (some dude), Friday, 9 September 2011 17:54 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah, he shouldn't have bothered
― you will always be wrong (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 9 September 2011 17:59 (1 year ago) Permalink
When was the last time Prince directly collaborated with an already pedigreed artist whose pedigree wasn't directly tied to Prince himself? I think his egomaniacal need to find new talent and sleep with them if they're female would keep him from working with known non-facepalm rappers.
― Tal Berkowitz - Vaccine advocate (DJP), Friday, 9 September 2011 17:59 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah i mean he's worked with a few heroes and predecessors, but aside from Mavis Staples it was usually just little one-off things, and very little stuff with anyone you'd consider a contemporary or peer (or near-misses like walking out on the MJ collaboration). i think that's as much about him being a control freak as an egomaniac, though, he doesn't want to show up and be part of a duet or ensemble for a song he didn't even write.
― Tal Bachman - Highness advocate (some dude), Friday, 9 September 2011 18:18 (1 year ago) Permalink
how do Larry Graham and Doug E. Fresh fit in here
― you will always be wrong (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 9 September 2011 18:23 (1 year ago) Permalink
or Maceo Parker
larry graham and maceo parker are definitely heroes that he came up listening to
― hardcore oatmeal (Jordan), Friday, 9 September 2011 18:33 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah - that was more in response to dan than some dude
― you will always be wrong (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 9 September 2011 18:36 (1 year ago) Permalink
some dude's OTM tho about Prince restricting himself to situations where he's firmly in control. and limiting himself to one-offs. he's not a collaborative guy, really.
― you will always be wrong (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 9 September 2011 18:37 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah Wendy & Lisa might be the only really really extensive truly collaborative relationship he's had
― Tal Bachman - Highness advocate (some dude), Friday, 9 September 2011 18:38 (1 year ago) Permalink
lol I didn't even know about Doug E. Fresh, some Prince fan I am
Maceo and Larry are givens but those collaborations happened several years after Diamonds and Pearls (and actually, same with Doug E Fresh now that I look it up), plus with Larry at least I don't know how much of that was tied to the conversion to being a Jehovah's Witness.
― Tal Berkowitz - Vaccine advocate (DJP), Friday, 9 September 2011 18:42 (1 year ago) Permalink
I think with Larry the music collab came first, then the conversion...?
― you will always be wrong (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 9 September 2011 18:52 (1 year ago) Permalink
this also very OTM from everything I've read
― you will always be wrong (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 9 September 2011 18:53 (1 year ago) Permalink
Maceo and Larry are givens but those collaborations happened several years after Diamonds and Pearls
if we're talking pre-D&P yeah he wasn't interested in collaborating with anybody he didn't have control over
he did kick MJ's ass at ping pong tho
― you will always be wrong (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 9 September 2011 18:54 (1 year ago) Permalink
lovesexy is awesome; wtf @ you guys
― mutant slow drum (BradNelson), Friday, 9 September 2011 19:58 (1 year ago) Permalink
welcome to ILX, Brad!
― Tal Berkowitz - Vaccine advocate (DJP), Friday, 9 September 2011 20:04 (1 year ago) Permalink
i think i said in the voting thread that i started listening to come because of all the prince action on ilx, and that record rules too, glad everyone can agree
― mutant slow drum (BradNelson), Friday, 9 September 2011 20:06 (1 year ago) Permalink
shakey's whole revive post outlined how little the world at large thinks of Lovesexy, don't act like it's just people here
― some dude, Friday, 9 September 2011 20:06 (1 year ago) Permalink
the world at large aren't music fanatics who pour over the minutiae of an artist's catalog, so yeah it's true that the most people don't think very much about Lovesexy
everyone who does should love it, tho, because it owns
― Tal Berkowitz - Vaccine advocate (DJP), Friday, 9 September 2011 20:08 (1 year ago) Permalink
i love it because i found a jukebox at a shitty college bar that would do the whole album for one play. i've always meant to pop back in and just ruin everyone's selections for an hour.
― hardcore oatmeal (Jordan), Friday, 9 September 2011 20:11 (1 year ago) Permalink
you may recall that this thread is the result of music fanatics pouring over the minutiae of Prince's catalog and deciding that the single was the only thing from Lovesexy worth holding up as one of his 50 best songs.
― some dude, Friday, 9 September 2011 20:17 (1 year ago) Permalink
lol 'pore over' i repeated your typo, now i really don't want to get any mental images of pouring anything over Prince's anything
― some dude, Friday, 9 September 2011 20:18 (1 year ago) Permalink
re: collaborations, I totally forgot about this:
In 1989, Prince appeared on Madonna's studio album Like a Prayer, co-writing and singing the duet "Love Song" and playing electric guitar (uncredited) on the songs "Like a Prayer", "Keep It Together", and "Act of Contrition".
― you will always be wrong (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 9 September 2011 20:19 (1 year ago) Permalink
WAHT prince plays guitar on "like a prayer"!?!?
― some dude, Friday, 9 September 2011 20:20 (1 year ago) Permalink
I didn't even notice that typo
I'd be more embarrassed had I not read that Zelda review, I don't think anything I am capable of writing could be as embarrassing as that
― Tal Berkowitz - Vaccine advocate (DJP), Friday, 9 September 2011 20:24 (1 year ago) Permalink
also I didn't know that re: Like A Prayer, wau
well it is wikipedia so I dunno, grain of salt
― you will always be wrong (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 9 September 2011 20:30 (1 year ago) Permalink
No, it sounds right. That guitar tone sounds an awful lot like his.
― Anakin Ska Walker (AKA Skarth Vader) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 9 September 2011 20:44 (1 year ago) Permalink
there are references to Madonna confirming this in an interview floating around the internet, but I can't find the original source
― you will always be wrong (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 9 September 2011 20:44 (1 year ago) Permalink
read a lot of the prince books and none of them mention that...?
― Crackle Box, Friday, 9 September 2011 20:45 (1 year ago) Permalink
i found a convo on prince.org that makes it sound like Prince played on a remix of "Like A Prayer" but not the album version and also has an unreleased cover of it
― some dude, Friday, 9 September 2011 20:46 (1 year ago) Permalink
If you want to hear Prince on the song Like A Prayer... you need to get ahold of the "Remixed Prayers" CD. The 12" Club Version has him on Keyboards & Guitar, and the 12" Extended Mix has him on Guitar, including the solo that they edited out of the LP Version. Act of Contrition is mainly made up of backwards parts of the Club Version. There is also a promo mix out there called "Dub Beats" which has instrumentation from Prince, and a sample from Bob George.
― some dude, Friday, 9 September 2011 20:48 (1 year ago) Permalink
Yes, Madonna herself mentions it in Paul Zollo's book of songwriter interviews.
― Anakin Ska Walker (AKA Skarth Vader) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 9 September 2011 20:49 (1 year ago) Permalink
Should have placed:
― Jamie_ATP, Tuesday, 20 September 2011 00:59 (1 year ago) Permalink
HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT
― i genuinely thought when i first joined that he was the admin (ilxor), Tuesday, 27 September 2011 06:47 (1 year ago) Permalink
Anyone curious what 61-100 are? Was there a link that I missed? I'm wondering if there's anything since 1995 besides "Guitar," "Black Sweat" and "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" that made the top 100.
― Fastnbulbous, Wednesday, 27 June 2012 12:07 (10 months ago) Permalink
ctrl+f "scandalous"
:(
― brony james (k3vin k.), Sunday, 21 April 2013 00:34 (3 weeks ago) Permalink