As I promised in an earlier post, I am making a list of the tracks - that in my opinion - are the must listen to tracks from all of Prince's 39 studio albums. There was a simple rule I set; for a single Album I could select 2 tracks. For a double Album I could select 4 tracks, and for a triple Album I could select 6 tracks. (In addition * is a track that gets an honourable mention). I've already posted Part One, this is part two with the remaining 20 albums.
Crystal Ball
Ripopgodazippa - A reggae styled track, but with added funk.
Hide The Bone - deep bass and strummed guitar carries this song over a heavy drumbeat.
Interactive - Great melody over the top of the top of a powerful bass loop. A 50 second guitar solo completes the track.
Da Bang - a fusion of blues and rock with layered Prince vocals.
Sexual Suicide - Sounding like a flashback to Girls&Boys (Parade) with it’s sparse instrumentation over a bass riff and drumbeat.
Good Love - Finally released on an album after being in the 1988 film ‘Bright Lights, Big City’. This upbeat poppy track is sung using Prince’s alter ego Camille’s voice.
* Crucial - Ballad sung in a falsetto voice over simple chords and a drumbeat. Builds towards each chorus, then fades back.
The Truth
The Truth - Acoustic rhythm and blues track.
3rd Eye - Acoustic track. Bass guitar plays along with melody whilst acoustic guitar strums.
* Circle of Amour - Begins as an acoustic guitar track, but adds synths, bass, and backing vocals as the ballad continues.
The Vault: Old Friends for Sale
She Spoke 2 Me - Modern jazzy sounding bass. Goes into a full jazz style session half way through the track.
5 Women - a bluesy rock track with haunting trumpet in the background.
* Sarah - Strong drum beat, guitar, horns and bass combine in the rocking track.
Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic
Tangerine - Sung in falsetto, with simple acoustic guitar as accompaniment
So Far, So Pleased - Mainstream rock-pop track with a duet from Gwen Stefani. Rock guitar sounds feature prominently on this.
Love U, But Don’t Trust U Anymore - a quiet piano and acoustic guitar ballad
Mr. Pretty Man - Jazzy, with funky bass and horns.
* The Greatest Romance Ever Sold - Slow, soulful ballad featuring Prince layering his voice in the chorus.
The Rainbow Children
The Rainbow Children - a fresh jazzy sound. Distorted spoken verses from Prince mixed with a sung chorus of many voices. 7 minutes in, and the track changes direction.
Last December - Slow guitar with a simple melody sung over the top. A catchy chorus with drums and synths lead the track into a hard rock sound before fading back to the slow guitar beginning.
* The Work Pt1 - Funky soul based track. A repeated phrase sung by backing singers has Prince singing lines in between. Guitar and organ appear later on reinforcing the soul sound.
One Nite Alone…
Have a Heart - Piano. Voice. Nothing more. Oh, and the piano melody is gorgeous.
Young And Beautiful - Piano with limited acoustic guitar. Begins with the sound of the far east before returning to a more mainstream melody and accompianment.
* One Nite Alone… - One piano with Prince speaking over the top of it before turning to singing in a falsetto voice.
Xpectation
Xcogitate - Slow instrumental waltz with limited instruments.
Xemplify - Instrumental with a fusion of the sound from the 1920’s and jazz using bass, violin and piano. Later on a saxophone and organ join the party.
N.E.W.S2
West - a 14 minute instrumental.
Musicology
A Million Days - Moody slow rock style ballad.
Cinnamon Girl - Bass and kick drum start this track before a more poppy sound takes over from the chorus.
The Chocolate Invasion
Vavoom - Vocals sung over a hihat and bass at the start of this track, before a guitar begins to wail.
High - Beginning with a complicated drum machine loop, the track then moves into a dance genre chorus.
* Camilla - a chilled out, laid back instrumental track.
Welcome to the Slaughterhouse
Silicon - Prince talking in a deep voice over a futuristic, metallic sounding track.
2045: Radical Man - A dig at the music industry in this soul style track.
3121
Fury - A mainstream rocky track based around a scorned woman.
Get On The Boat - Pure soul sound. Horns rule throughout this James Brown reminiscent track.
* Black Sweat - Lacking a baseline (reminders of When Doves Cry), this stripped back track oozes funkiness.
Planet Earth
Guitar - Opening with a guitar riff, Prince screams the track into life and doesn’t look back.
Chelsea Rodgers - Toe tappingly awesome. The bass line alone is enough to hook you into the track.
* The One U Wanna C - Rocky. Catchy. Fun. Upbeat with a mainstream feel to it.
Lotusflower
4ever - A standard Prince ballad with repeated chorus, and requisite guitar solos.
77 Beverly Park - begin with a looped phrase and distorted guitar, this track soon drifts into a Mediterranean pastiche.
* $ - A slight Camille edge to the voice, this track starts with just vocals, then slowly builds and builds adding drums, guitar, horns and keyboards.
MPLSound
(There’ll Never B) Another Like Me - Digital drum beat and samples from the Parade album run through this funky track.
No More Candy 4 U - Opens with a sound like it is from an early Prince album, this track flip flops between sparse keyboard and vocal, synth chords and a vocal round in the middle of the track.
* Dance 4 Me - Mainstream dance track
20Ten
Compassion - Right from the 1999 album in sound, this fast paced track carries you back to Prince in 1984.
Lavaux - Another trip through the Time Tunnel to a sound from the past: Pop-funk.
* Everybody Loves Me - completing the retro feel to the album, this track could be missing from 1999.
PlectrumElectrum
PlectrumElectrum - a progrock instrumental. Drums, guitar, guitar and more guitar for almost five minutes.
Whitecaps - Slower rock, a heavy drum beat with a soulful guitar solo.
* Anotherlove - Quiet guitar and hi-hat during the early verse that gradually builds into classic rock with wailing guitar.
Art Official Age
Clouds - Slow, and funky track, with instruments dropping in and out throughout. The spoken story in the middle of the track works wonderfully with the piano and guitar backing.
Way Back Home - Sounding like a cathartic track, detailing how Prince feels using a simple drum beat, single keyboard notes and backing chords.
HitNrun Phase One
Ain’t About 2 Stop - With a middle Eastern opening sound, it quickly becomes a raw, grungy track.
Fallinlove2nite - Pure club sounding track. Staccato notes in the melody, strong drum beat and added horns.
HitNrun Phase Two
Baltimore - A gospel / soul track written with strong lyrics related to events in the city in 2015.
2. Y. 2. D. - Horns and bass dominate on this funk style track, although a flute makes an appearance.
* Rocknroll Loveaffair - Radio pleasing music. Guitar, drums, synths, horns and a catchy melody in this funky pop track.
2 As only 4 14 minute tracks are on this album (North, East, West and South) only one of them was selected
