The week formerly known as Prince Finale: Top Ten Prince Albums

Thank you for joining us here at BBM for our tribute to Prince. As our "Week formerly known as Prince" winds down, it has become time to crack the top ten albums.  

This honestly proved so hard. I could have easily picked a top 20 and left off some albums. So for all the Prince fans who are made to see things left off, sorry. 

 I will before we get into the list have a couple of honorable mentions. These could have easily been #10 lists are after all subjective so I chose to leave off:

Honorable Mentions:

 New Power Soul 

 Sign o' the Times

 Emancipation

 Parade

There is no way any of them are not the next 4 after the top ten. But, when you are dealing with a huge output of music for over almost 40 year career these things happen.   So now that we got all that uncomfortableness out of the way (Shut up Sign O' The times fans, its right there.)

TOP TEN PRINCE ALBUMS ALL TIME!

10) Prince (1979)

Prince

This is Prince's second album. In 1979, there where 2 styles of music at the top and both were leaving. Disco which died, fast and completely. And, Punk which was well on it's way to becoming into New Wave. There was a temporary window for someone new. And Prince exploded onto the landscape with “I wanna be your lover” Whether you love Prince or even know who he. You have heard this song. Without this single hit Prince very well could have ended up a more talented Morris Day.  Destined to be a local legend.

9) Around The World in a day (1985)

Prince

Maybe the hardest working Prince Album ever. This album was set up to fail from the start. I mean shit it had to follow Purple Rain, tough gig.  This album paid homage to 60's rockers like the Beatles. “Raspberry Beret” was the hit. I am hard pressed to not mention "Pop Life” as one of my personal favorites. “Paisley Park” would eventually become the name of Prince's home. When Prince typically was on the cutting edge pushing his Minneapolis Sound Forward.  "Around The World in a Day" seemed to keep a foot I the past, and put a new spin on the 60's sound while still remaining definitively Prince. This album did not do well. While people wanted more “Purple Rain” This was clearly not that. But it is a great album that still holds up.

8) Batman (1985)

Prince

One of the biggest hit films of the 80's. Prince was asked to record a track for the film, he delivered instead a full album. This is one of the moments I can remember finding out about music. I went to the store bought the score and the soundtrack. The score was brilliant. The Soundtrack was like nothing I had ever heard, up until that point I had only heard oldies and music for children. This was an awakening. I wanted to get all the Prince I could. “BatDance” remains a fun song, that always felt like Prince rubbing your nose in how good he is. The samples from the movie, the lyrics pertaining to the movie. Brilliant. Also “Trust” I love that song.  This soundtrack helped Prince remain on top even when the music landscape was going in a different direction.

7) Love Symbol Album (1992)

Prince and the New Power Generation

Often called "The last great Prince album". It starts out loud and in charge with “My name is Prince” officially titled the unpronounceable symbol on the cover but usually called "The Love Symbol Album".  This album is rich in artistic mastery of instrumentation, genre-hopping skills, and songwriting makes this classic Prince. Also "Max” and of course the smash hit “7”

6) Graffiti Bridge (1990)

Prince

This was a movie. The movie is not why it hits this list at number 6.  "Graffiti Bridge" stands on its own, covering more ground musically than some bands cover in an entire career.  By the time this album came out in 1990, there where only two types of people listening to Prince.  Those who would always think of Prince as the "Purple Rain" guy and, life long fans. The fans were rewarded with an excellent album with The Time and George Clinton both making solid appearances. Hell, the Time even released a companion CD titled "Pandemonium". Both silently marked the end of The Minneapolis sound. Fitting Morris Day and Prince rode the Minneapolis sound into the sunset together with these 2 CD.

5) Lovesexy (1988)

Prince

In Europe dance music had emerged, "Lovesexy" fit right in. Here in the USA sample based music was still underground and this album snuck well under the charts. Fortunately “Alphabet St” was a hit. As Prince Managed to with "Around The World in a day" and it's track: "Raspberry Beret", he had managed to put a hit in an album that otherwise would have gone on to fail. While, a lot of critics of this album will state this album feeling like it doesn’t know what it wanted to be. I say it was exactly what it was supposed to be, Prince moving forward and changing his sound scape while still staying Prince. “Anna Stesia” is the track that always stood out to me.

4) Diamond and Pearls (1991)

Prince & The New Power Generation

I have more than once heard a causal Prince Fan list this album and "Purple Rain" as the only Prince albums they own.  Even if Prince is not your favorite.  It is hard to deny “Cream” and the classic funk/pop jams like "Gett Off" “Daddy Pop” throughout this album. Also the monster ballad “Diamonds and Pearls”.  I would classify this as the easiest to listen to Prince album for people who weren’t big fans while meanwhile, rewarding long time Prince fans with a sensational album.  This album also showed that Prince, was not to be delegated to a relic of the 80's.

3) Controversy (1981)

Prince

I can never say enough good things about this album. I never see it brought up enough. "Controversy"  continues in the same vein of new wave funk sounding  "Dirty Mind", while at the same time showcasing a synthesizer driven pop music that melded genres. It is also more ambitious than Prince's previous records. Trying to tackle social protests and still mix in love songs. It brought funk to a rock audience and showed the rock audience Funk. “Controversy” the title track became the back bone for what the 80's sound would ultimately sound like. While a lot of fans will pan this album as being less complete than others in his catalog I think the changing direction and being pop, funk, rock, all at the same time deserves it's place in the top 10. It was as if we were listening to what Prince would eventually become.

2) 1999 (1982)

Prince

It was the title track of this, his 5^th album "1999" that exploded on the charts in 1982.  The song "1999" will forever be a theme of a millennium, and one of the key singles of the decade. This album owes a lot of its massive success to the music video being played constantly on the then up and coming MTV. Prince being an artist that loved visuals made the marriage of these two (song and video) a match made in heaven. This album was a seismic shift in Prince's career where all the sounds he was striving for and still being commercial approachable finally lined up. Making 1999 a perfect radio album. “1999” “Little Red Corvette” these and others from the album helped Prince cement the big sound of the 80's as his own.

1) PURPLE RAIN (1984)

Prince and The Revolution

No matter how many times I see these list, one thing will always remain true to me. If "Purple Rain" is not your top Prince album, your list is bullshit. There might be other albums I crave listening to more when I think of Prince, but, front to back this album is the best.  No matter where you are, or who you are with you can put on Purple Rain, and no one will object. This album is carbon dated and every single time you put it on it’s like visiting the 80's.  “Lets Go Crazy” “Purple Rain” “Dove's Cry” might be the most powerful group of 3 singles ever released off one album.  The album Purple Rain was a breakthrough that solidified Prince's spot as the premiere pop genius of his generation, maybe even above Michael Jackson.  Today, Prince's biggest-selling album (having moved more than 20 million units worldwide) is of course, Purple Rain.  More than three decades later, he still stands alone, as does this album. There is only one Prince. He has his own color. And that color is purple and it reigns.

Well there you have it.  
The Top Ten Prince Albums All time.
I know a lot of people are gonna be made about the order or the Albums that did not make it. 

 If I made this list 5 years ago It would have been very different. I think the biggest thing I took away from making this list, is that Prince's catalog is vast.  While the sounds are so different from album to album, over a career spanning almost 40 years.  Every few years the ones that resonate with me change. I am sure when I look back on this list in a few years, I will be mad I excluded some, and didn't include others.  I will just have to live with that.  Whats the worst that can happen?   Some internet troll is gonna hate me.

Big deal. The best part is whither I change my mind on these, or never do.  I fully intend to listen to more Prince for the rest of my life. Thank you so much for Joining us here at Broke Blog Mountain as we took a week out of our normal bullshit and said goodbye to a local legend who also happened to be a world beater. RIP Prince. You were the best.  And your music will live forever.

~Broke