[Pablo]

The Time (The Time: 1981)

Produced by Prince alter-ego "Jamie Starr," this album outsold Prince's own release of the period, Dirty Mind. This is a fun record, with Morris Day playing the role of sex-crazed egomaniac to perfection on "Cool," "Get It Up" and "The Stick," and even pulls off a fine ballad, "Girl." The jams, though, tend to go on too long. (DBW)

 What Time Is It? (The Time: 1982)

A rerun of the previous album, with no really good tunes; the fantastic bass line of "777-9311" is undercut by a dull, repetitious chorus; "Gigolos Get Lonely Too" can't make up its mind whether it's a love song or a parody, and doesn't quite succeed either way. (DBW)

 3 x 2 = 6 (Vanity 6: 1982)
Prince's first entry in the girl group sweepstakes; there's not much of note here: besides the hit "Nasty Girl" the best tune is the one Prince didn't write, "He's So Dull" by former Revolution guitarist Dez Dickerson. (DBW)

 Ice Cream Castles (The Time: 1984)
Mostly formula funk in this effort. It was the Time's best seller, with big hits "Jungle Love" and "The Bird," but that's mostly because the tunes were featured in "Purple Rain." There is one great song ("If The Kid Can't Make You Come") which I'm sure was originally destined for a Prince album. Maybe he had second thoughts about the lyrical concept. (DBW)

 Apollonia 6 (Apollonia 6: 1984)
Much more enjoyable than the Vanity 6 effort, and not because of Apollonia's vocal ability, which is almost nonexistent. The hit, "Sex Shooter," is solid, and two other tracks, "A Million Miles" and "Some Kind Of Lover" are even better. (DBW)

 The Glamorous Life (Sheila E.: 1984)
Stick with the 12" single of the title track; there's nothing else on the record worth hearing. Sheila is a very good percussion player, but you'd never guess it from the material here. (DBW)

 The Family (The Family: 1985)
Here Prince throws together half of the Time with Wendy's sister Susannah Melvoin and sax player Eric Leeds; the result is short of spectacular. This is the place to go if you want to hear the original version of "Nothing Compares 2 U," which later became a huge hit for Sinead O'Connor; otherwise, the only number of any interest here is the James Brown-inspired "Mutiny." (DBW)

 8 (Madhouse: 1987)
Prince's take on jazz fusion is not terribly interesting; he just comes up with some chords and a riff, and lets band members solo uninspiredly for a while, and then goes on to the next tune. "6" is an effective funk jam; the rest mostly just drags. (DBW)

 Jill Jones (Jill Jones: 1987)
The best album by a Prince protege, partly because Jones has the best voice of any of his proteges (not counting Rosie Gaines, who was established before Prince ran into her). There is a fair amount of filler here, but the best songs ("For Love," "All Day All Night" featuring the Revolution) are terrific. For more information on this talented singer (who for a variety of reasons hasn't released a solo album since) see the fine unofficial fan site. (DBW)

 16 (Madhouse: 1987)
Like the previous Madhouse effort, there's no real spark here, although he still puts together some decent hooks ("10," "13"). Apparently Eric Leeds and the other bandmembers had more input into these songs, but it doesn't help. (DBW)

 Time Waits For No One (Mavis Staples: 1989)
The first album in quite a while from the Staples Singers' former lead vocalist is mostly written and produced by Prince. Production ranges from tasteful and subdued ("Train," "Come Home") to generic Prince funk ("Jaguar"), and either way, she never really gets to turn that glorious voice loose. Still, slow tunes like "Crazy" and "Come Home" are so good you won't regret picking this up. (DBW)

 Pandemonium (The Time: 1990)
Prince had written an album of songs for a Time reunion when former members Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis decided to get involved; they shelved the album's best tune, "Murph Drag," but together with Jesse Johnson they came up with an even better song, the scorching heavy metal "Skillet." "Chocolate," written by Prince back in 1983 in the sessions for Ice Cream Castles is also outstanding-- but most of the other material, whether by Prince or by Morris Day and Jam/Lewis, is second rate. (DBW)

 Times Squared (Eric Leeds: 1991)
First solo release by this longtime Prince associate, in a fusion vein. There's a wonderful funk suite, "The Dopamine Rush," originally written for the canned Madhouse album 24, and "Once Upon A Time" is a moving duet between Prince on guitar and Eric on flute and sax. Elsewhere, though, there are just a bunch of decent riffs that don't develop into actual songs (title track, one of several tunes with the weak arranging concept of building to a crescendo by playing the same phrase over and over, increasingly louder, until you're ready to scream). (DBW)

Goldnigga (N.P.G.: 1993)
I haven't heard this yet; reportedly it's not nearly as good as The Exodus, which isn't that great to start with. (DBW)

 The Voice (Mavis Staples: 1993)
Apparently Prince lost interest in this record and called in producer Ricky Peterson to finish it up. Mostly updated R&B, there's great material ("House In Order," "You Will Be Moved"), good material ("The Undertaker," the title song) and a bunch of songs that aren't real interesting. Again, you wish the producers would just get out of the way and let the woman sing! (DBW)

 1-800-NEW-FUNK (Various: 1994)
A compilation of tracks from unfinished albums by artists on Prince's defunct vanity label Paisley Park. Songs vary from very good ("Standing At The Altar" performed by Margie Cox) to pretty good ("Love Sign" performed by O(+> and Nona Gaye) to doubleplusungood ("If I Love U 2nite" by then-Mrs. O(+>, Mayte). (DBW)

 The Exodus (N.P.G.: 1995)
A (mostly) funk album from his then-backup band, includes some monotonous tunes ("Big Fun," "Return Of The Bump Squad"), really irritating segues, and a couple of brilliant songs: "Count The Days" is a simple-sounding ballad with a beautiful melody that completely contrasts with ultraharsh lyrics; "The Exodus Has Begun" is an extended funk jam that packs a serious punch. (DBW)

 Child Of The Sun (Mayte: 1995)
Only two thirds of this album is new: it's padded out with Mayte's version of the Nameless One's "The Most Beautiful Girl [Boy] in The World," a song originally released by Elisa Fiorillo ("Love's No Fun" -- Mayte's version is much better, though, both vocals and arrangement), and two versions of "If I Love U 2Nite," which had not only been previously released by Mayte, it was recorded in 1991 by Mica Paris, who's a far better singer than Mayte will ever be. The album is also marred by some tuneless technotrash ("Children Of The Sun") and the Babyface/TLC ripoff "Mo' Better," but there's good news too: "In Your Gracious Name" is a lovely ballad with hip Latin percussion on the fade, "Baby Don't Care" is a routine dance tune enlivened by spoken vocals by former Prince flame Troy Beyer, and "Ain't No Place Like U" is classic genre-bending, as the man cranks out heavily distorted lead guitar over a mid-tempo techno track. (DBW)

[Pablo]

Esto es para algun desprevenido que se le haya escapado esta informacion.
Eso si, si alguien tiene algun cd de estos pasadlos!!!!!
Un saludo y espero que le sirva a alguien.

[bigjim99]

Pablo, no sé de ké web habrá salido esto; xo el tío q lo escribió no sabe muy bien de ké está hablando.

Aparte de q faltan discos, parece q no es el goldnigga lo único q no ha escuchado...

[hundalasiliah]

Esto es para algun desprevenido que se le haya escapado esta informacion.
Eso si, si alguien tiene algun cd de estos pasadlos!!!!!
Un saludo y espero que le sirva a alguien.

Yo tengo:

EN CD:
1-800-NEW-FUNK
Mavis Staples: The Voice
Jesse Johnson: Shockadelica (no está en esa lista, y no está relacionado con Prince, excepto el título y que hace una versión de "Do Youself A Favour", de la época de 94 East, pero merece la pena)
Mayte - Child Of The Sun
Mayte - The Most Beautiful Boy In The World (con letra en español)
NPG - Exodus

En vinilo:
The Family
The Time - Ice Cream Castle
Morris Day - The Color Of Success (vale, no está en esa lista, y no está para nada relacionado con Prince, pero merece la pena escuchar "Don't Wait For Me").

La mala noticia: sólo tengo uno de cada, no puedo venderlos, por si alguien me lo propone. Lo único que tengo repe de Prince es la cinta de "The War".