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Prince: Albums
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Prince\'s first two albums were solid, if unremarkable, late-\'70s funk-pop. With 1980\'s Dirty Mind, he recorded his first masterpiece, a one-man tour de force of sex and music; it was hard funk, catchy Beatlesque melodies, sweet soul ballads, and rocking guitar pop, all at once. The follow-up, Controversy, was more of the same, but 1999 was brilliant. The album was a monster hit, selling over three million copies, but it was nothing compared to 1984\'s Purple Rain.
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The word "genius" may be used a little too freely when describing pop musicians, but many would have to agree that Prince is deserving of such an accolade. Since his 1978 debut album, the Minneapolis-based multi-instrumentalist/songwriter/singer has scored numerous hits with his sexually charged, original funk/pop/dance/rock style, penned big hits for other artists, and has even tried his hand at acting as well. In the early 1990s, Prince's name-changing antics and his messy break with Warner...Read More >
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In November 1994, as part of a contractual obligation, Prince agreed to the official release of The Black Album. In early 1995, he immersed himself in another legal battle with Warner, proclaiming himself a slave and refusing to deliver his new record, The Gold Experience, for release. By the end of the summer, a fed-up Warner had negotiated a compromise that guaranteed the album's release, plus one final record for the label. The Gold Experience was issued in the fall; although it received good reviews and was following a smash single, it failed to catch fire commercially. In the summer of 1996, Prince released Chaos & Disorder, which freed him to become an independent artist. Setting up his own label, NPG (which was distributed by EMI), he resurfaced later that same year with the three-disc Emancipation, which was designed as a magnum opus that would spin off singles for several years and be supported with several tours.
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In 1994, Prince's attitude towards his artistic output underwent a notable shift. He began to view releasing albums in quick succession as a means of ejecting himself from his contractual obligations to Warner Bros. The label, he believed, was intent on limiting his artistic freedom by insisting that he release albums more sporadically. He ... blamed Warner Bros. for the poor commercial performance of the Love Symbol album, claiming that it was insufficiently marketed by Warner. It was out of these developments that the aborted The Black Album was officially released, approximately seven years after its initial recording and near-release.
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With the release of the 2001 album The Rainbow Children, Prince's commercial clout had fallen so far that his album did not even reach the top 100 of the pop album chart. However, that all changed in 2004. Prince launched a world concert tour and a new album titled Musicology. The album was given away free to those who attended the concerts. With the giveaways being counted as sales, Musicology reached #3 on the pop albums chart and eventually over 6 million copies were distributed worldwide. In early 2006 Prince released the single "Black Sweat" in advance of a new album 3121.
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In October 1979, Prince released his second and self-titled album, Prince, which reached #4 on the Billboard R&B charts, and contained two R&B hits: "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" and "I Wanna Be Your Lover." These two R&B hits were performed on January 26, 1980, on the TV show American Bandstand with this first backing band. Legend has it that Prince became annoyed when, during the interview segment, Dick Clark expressed surprise that Prince and his bandmates hailed from Minneapolis "of all places". At first Prince refused to speak, instead answering a question by gesturing with his hand. It was later admitted by Dez Dickerson that it was planned from the beginning as a way to throw Dick Clark off his game. Dickerson was quoted as saying, "Great.
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