The 10 Essential Prince Albums, From Purple Rain to Parade
I was working part-time at the five and dime, and my boss asked me to make this list of the Purple One's best records.
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Being a hardcore Prince fan has always required endless reserves of commitment, cash, and storage space: In his four-decade-long career, the acclaimed performer—who died Thursday at the age of 57—released nearly 40 studio albums, plus numerous singles, compilations, and vault-clearing rarities collections. It's a daunting back-catalog, especially to casual fans and newbies, but for those looking to purify themselves in his Purpleness, these 10 records are a good start.
Paisley Park Records01Sign o' The Times (1987)
Two discs' worth of exploratory, exhilarating deep-id indulgences that allowed Prince to play out countless pop fantasies, from the cotton-candy psychedelica of "Starfish and Coffee" to the slithering funk of "U Got the Look" to the tense minimalism of the title track. And if you want true guitar heroics, check the solo on "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man," perhaps Prince's most potent rocker.
Warner Bros. Records02Purple Rain (1984)
The world-beating, culture-changing smash, and a record so shimmering and instantaneous, you might not notice just how daring it is: "When Doves Cry" is one of the most unlikely No. 1 hits of all time, a soap-operatic mini-epic without a bass line or a happy send-off. And back then, who could have thought that a funk-rocker like Prince was capable of a song like the title track, which swells like a gospel number, and weeps like a country classic? Little wonder why, three decades after its release, "Purple" remains so dearly beloved.
Warner Bros. Records03Dirty Mind (1980)
Even by today's radio standards, *Dirty Mind* remains NSFW-shocking: A lusty but tightly controlled punk-funk fusion that *still* sounds like nothing else. Prince doesn't exactly skimp on romance here—the heartbreaking "When You Were Mine," later covered by the likes of [Cyndi Lauper](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRUd247zj44) and [Tegan and Sara](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lcx5waeKsLE), is almost *too* wrenching—but most of *Dirty Mind* finds him with sex on the brain, whether it's the to-the-point "Head" or the incest rocker "Sister."
Warner Bros. Records041999 (1982)
Prince's first record to promptly feature the Revolution—the aptly named outfit that accompanied him during his mid-'80s apex—*1999* upended synth-pop forever, its soaring keyboards anchored to laser-focused, disciplined grooves. The title track made the apocalypse sound like a blast, while the gorgeous "Little Red Corvette" is the smoothest, most sincere tale of pent-up desire ever recorded (and maybe Prince's best song, period).
Warner Bros. Records05Controversy (1981)
Prince's first attempt at real-talk funk is all over the place, opening with a thumping title track that addresses big questions—"Am I black or white? Am I straight or gay?"—without providing any easy answers, and closing with a romping synth-rockabilly ditty called, uh, "Jack U Off." Not the most coherent Prince record, but certainly one of the most danceable.
Warner Bros. Records06Prince (1979)
Prince was discovering his sound on this, his second album, but the record's slightly schizo vibe is part of the appeal: "I Wanna Be Your Lover" finds him in full-on disco mode, his infamous falsetto already in bloom, while "I Feel For You" is slinky synth-pop of the highest caliber. *Prince*'s secret weapon, though, is "Bambi," a godzilla-sized stomper with one of the last great guitar licks of the '70s.
Paisley Park Records07Parade (1986)
An underrated album that *still* managed to sell millions, *Parade* is responsible for one of the most beloved hits of Prince's career: "Kiss," a preening, pawing strutter that proved just how funny he could be ("act your age/not your shoe size"). But *Parade* is also one of his most diverse efforts, featuring everything from the blazing funk workout of "Girls & Boys" to the moving balladry of "Sometimes It Snows in April."
Paisley Park Records08Love Symbol Album (1992)
Prince's best album of the '90s—a decade that found him struggling to keep up with new-jack and hip-hop—finds him proving his funk bona fides with anthems like "My Name is Prince" and "Sexy MF." Yet the real highlight might be "7," a blissful bit of soft-power pageantry that's as mysterious and ornate as the artist himself.
Warner Bros. Records09The B-Sides (1993)
Most artists' odds-and-ends collections have barely a half-hour of good stuff, but this single-disc collection—included as part of Prince's 1993 *The Hits* package—proved that even Prince's cast-aways were keepers, from the bopping "Erotic City" to the rollickingly stupid "Horny Toad."
Paisley Park Records10Diamonds and Pearls
Like so much of Prince's post-1989 work, *Diamonds and Pearls* would have benefited from some careful pruning. But the giddy pile-on of "Gett Off" and the throbbing "Cream" mark Prince at the height of his horniness, while "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" finds him returning to the low-key social-conscious mood of *Sign o' the Times*.
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