Like many other people, "When Doves Cry" introduced me to the artist. In the summer of 1984, this tune came on on the radio, and became a bit hit. After listening to it on the radio, I demanded to find out who wrote and sang the song as it was unlike so many other hits at the time. It was original in the sense that it's got a rock guitar set to a disco beat, and I had no idea if it was a guy or a girl singing the song. The single version intrigued me; and the album version rocked all the way to the end with the stunning guitar performance which was unfortunately edited out due to the time restriction of a 7-inch single. That was my first baptism by Prince the man himself. And, of course, the 1984 album "Purple Rain" was a hit everywhere.
Cue three years and two albums (Around the world in a day & Parade) later, the man ditched his group and proceeded to go solo. What makes this record more exciting than his previous affairs is that it's very eclectic. On it, you can find rock, soul, funk (of course!), gospel, rap/hip-hop and ballads. It's a smorgasbord of musical styles. Upon first listening to the album, I couldn't help but feel like being held hostage and brought into a very different world, a world where the rules change all the time. When it changes, it gets exciting.
Stand-out tracks a-plenty - the title song has a very simple structure sets to a meaningful set of lyrics - almost like rewriting the Apocalypse for the modern world. HOUSEQUAKE is where Prince raps over a hard-grooved hip-hop backing track. Same goes for HOT THING. The artist rocks out on I CAN NEVER TAKE THE PLACE OF YOUR MAN, and later remains introspective and religious on THE CROSS; but gets down one last time with his band, The Revolution, on IT'S GONNA BE A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT.
This album is where Prince gets adventurous and risky. He throws the dice on the crap table and wins big time. Enough said. Go buy the album and have wild ride with PRINCE. He's your man!
