Very Best Of Prince, The - Prince

Advantages: Uplifting; thoughful; style-spanning and funky; lyrics printed in full
Disadvantages: The price of the album varies so shop around!

...will be worth it for this. I am going to review what I regard as the key tracks. Disc 1 Sign O' The Times - a social commentary about the AIDS epidemic, drugs and various problems of the 1980s,which are still relevant today. Mid-tempo with a simple and yet so catchy bassline with very minimalistic arrangements. The lyrics are deep and to be honest I believe that for the lyrics alone this is one of the most under-rated hits of all time. Full with a dark message, melancholy but nevertheless still a great title track and album opener and arguably one of the best songs Prince has written. The video was just as minimalistic as the arrangement, but then again, the song's worth is its message which is essentially in Prince's lyrics. Play In The Sunshine - A total contrast to the previous track 'Sign o' the times' and quite possibly, this has the most... Read review

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Advantages: some excellent different sounding songs
Disadvantages: some excessiveness ruins otherwise good songs

...lyrics on the album, a tale of child abuse and suicide which is very tragic. Track six is called 'Race' and is quite an up-tempo dance song about racism. This does though have one of the best 'beat lines' (as Prince calls it at the start of the song!) in the album and Prince shows his rapping skills and the song melds nicely and keeps up the run of good songs. 'Dark' is an old-fashioned (always reminds me of Stevie Wonder) love song and provides a nice break from the dance songs with its soulful vibe. 'Solo' is a brilliant showcase for Princes vocals, as it is almost acapella throughout. If anyone has ever listened to the Communards self-titled album then this song will sound familiar, as Princes voice takes on a very haunting quality. 'Letitgo' is basically the last song on the album (you'll see why in a minute) and was, I think, a minor... Read review

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Advantages: An interesting and varied jam on a great track. Cool B-Side too!
Disadvantages: It's basically just a jam with a couple of songs tacked on the end.

...soundtrack and as a huge Prince fan I love to hear how he can make such different and brilliant versions of an existing song. However, it's obviously not going to be for everyone's tastes. At the end of the day a jam is still a jam, so if you like your songs nicely structured and less than five minutes long, I'd avoid this little set. The song Scandalous itself is sparse in arrangement and features a fantastic vocal turn from Prince, who is busy enticing a lucky lady with come ons and sexy promises. It's officially co-written with his father but there is strong rumour that says he occasionally gave his father a writing credit to help him out economically. It's a very good song and one of the fans favourite Prince ballads, and it was a good choice to extend into a 20 minute slow jam. The Crime has a sax playing the main melody of the song, while... Read review

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