Prince..... the exact point where it all started to go horribly wrong.

-- Naive Teen Idol"

I did forget Batman. I can defend Batman. It's simply a soundtrack, an interesting side project almost. There are some great songs on there ("Vicki Waiting," "Electric Chair," "The Future," etc) and some clunkers ("Batdance," "Trust"). Still, it's not really a Prince album, don't you think? It's simply a soundtrack... the fact that he put so much thought into it shouldn't matter. He did a good job identifying with Bruce Wayne's character, not to mention the Joker. It's a no-brainer... he's always had the duality thing going, being a Gemini. God/Sex, Camille/Spooky Electric, Male/Female, Black Album/Lovesexy, etc.

But my overall point, that he blew it with Grafitti Bridge, still remains. ;)

I've retroactively decided he blew it with 'The Most Beautiful Girl' because a. he initially managed to obscure how horribly irritating it actually was with a good chorus b. I was 12 in '94 and didn't know no better and c. it's dated like a carton of milk released in the same week.

My main problem is the dated production on Batman, it's by far the most trend sounding production which actually might be considered the turning point as he wasn't ignoring trends. Also he left off lots of good songs of Batman (the bsides Sex, 200 Balloons, and Feel U Up as well as outtakes Dance With The Devil, & Rave Un 2 The Joy Fantastic).

Personally, I think the love symbol album was the beginning of the end. Despite a few good tracks, it just doesn't hold up like his earlier material does. And after that the downhill turn was even steeper.

Oddly my fiancee, who is a waaaaay bigger Prince fan than I am, said she thinks "Around the World in a Day" was the turning point, but too much great stuff followed for me to agree.

AND... I got Crystal Ball today!!

Rock on, Sean! That's one of those albums I'm dying to hear but not actually spend money on.

"she thinks "Around the World in a Day" was the turning point"

Jesus, Sign O'The Times came after that and it's his crowning glory. I'm not detecting much love for Parade around here either which is a tad disconcerting.

Not as good as "Purple Rain" nor "Sign "O" The Times", but still really, really, really great.

If only for the second side Starting with the champagne funk of Mountains then the over the top cabaret of Do U Lie then jumping into the contrasting Kiss which segues into Anotherloverholenyohead before ending with Sometimes It Snows in April.

I much prefer Crystal Ball to Emancipation.

Also, weren't snatches of every song except "Lemon Crush" and "Batdance" used in the movie? I distinctly remember "The Future" and "Electric Chair" in there somewhere.

The point where I started going "uh-oh" was Diamonds And Pearls . It was obvious he was scared of losing his commercial appeal at this point and it shows in the music. Once he put the wack rapper/dancer guys in as part of the NPG, everything just seemed to go wobbly.

I still love Come and Chaos & Disorder . I think they're cool glimpses into how dark his mind was at the time -- "Solo", "Papa", etc.

I don't think I've ever heard "The Gold Experience," "Come," "Chaos & Disorder," "New Power Soul," "The Rainbow Children," or "N.E.W.S." in full, although I've heard bits of them all except the last. Liked what I heard of Come, TGE and TRC, pretty much hated all the rest, ISTR.

1. Purple Rain
2. Sign "O" The Times
3. Parade
4. Grafitti Bridge
5. 1999
6. Around The World In a Day
7. Lovesexy
8. Controversy
9. Dirty Mind
10.The Black Album
11.Diamonds And Pearls
12.Prince
13.Emancipation
14.Come
15.(Symbol)
16.Batman

Yes, even in spite of all those guest acts (some of whose contributions aren't too bad IMO), "Grafitti Bridge" is up there among my fave Prince moments.

Is this normal?

So, about For You...

1)Purple Rain
2)Sign O' The Times
3)The Hits 2
4)Dirty Mind
5)Controversy
6)Emanicipation
7)Parade
8)1999
9)Around The World In A Day

I'd have select Camille as my favourite album if we can include unreleased albums.

I'm still pissed this thread hasn't gone anywhere: /ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?thread.php?msgid=4008947.

No Camille and Dreamfactory are fairly different. I can't remember what dreamfactory track listing is but camille is

1) Rebirth of The Flesh (unreleased - but easy to find good copies of)
2) Housequake
3) Strange Relationship
4) Feel U Up (long stroke version released on Partyman 12 inch)
5) Shockadelica (long Stroke version released on If I Was Your Girlfriend 12 inch)
6) Good Love (not the crystal ball version - Prince played around with it - the version released on Bright Lights Big City soundtrack - good god part 2)
7) If I was Your girlfriend
8) Rockhard in a Funky Place

There is overlap, but I find it easier to view SOTT as a badly selected best of (rough guide) to the Prince business year of 86-87.