This compilation cd of hits is despicable. It's not even half the hits that he put out. Me, myself, I was born at during the time of Purple Rain circa 1983. My mom was a fan and listening to Prince while cleaning the house, I myself became a fan. So if you really want to rock out, get dirty and sexy then you need to not buy this one. BUY the Hits 1 and 2 and B-sides. Those are well worth the money.

I was never THAT BIG a Prince fan but this certainly is 'good Prince' if that's what you're after. I think it hits all his major work.

the very best of prince has 17 good songs on it.some songs on this collection are when doves cry,1999,i wanna be your lover, let's go crazy,signo'the times,little red corvette,and i would die 4 u. thank you prince and have a great birthday. ed wilson

This cd really contains the best Prince songs!! I recomend it for everyone who is a true Prince fan!!

Classic 80's rock with all our favorite songs. Excellent condition.

This CD was great one of the best that I have purchased in a long time.

CD arrived quickly, and in great condition. And love the CD!

I received the product in a very timely manner, well packaged and in good condition. I would not hesitate to do business with this supplier again.

I love Prince and this CD covers most of his biggest hits. For me, it had all the songs that I wanted, so it was perfect!!
Others have commented to me that they would have liked some other songs, like Darling Nikki.
Overall I am satisfied with this CD!

Most casual listeners will be familiar with the majority of tracks on the first two thirds of the album. Why? Because these are masterpieces of the pop rock genre, laden with innuendo and superb structuring. Alright, good.

But the last third of this compilation is a load of bollocks. These are some of the most dire tracks I've heard. Why on Earth are they rubbing shoulders with "Raspberry Beret" or "When Doves Cry"? After the vivid commentary on "Sign 'o The Times," the quality of the tracks plummeted. Some tracks feature raps whose inclusion is unwarranted and obtrusive. Others are unremarkable. And some would be more tolerable if they weren't on a compilation titled "The VERY BEST of Prince."

If you just want the biggest hits, then you might want to buy this. It's in chronological order and gives you most of what the casual fan might want. Alas, it also tags some absolute failures onto the end of the disc. If you just assume that the collection ends with "Sign 'o The Times," the disc becomes way more tolerable. But then you'll say to yourself "Geez, they could've given me more tracks." And indeed, they could've given you some prime stuff from his peak years. But they don't.

Okay, Prince's hypersexual image may drive you insane and back. No question it created some Contreversy. But no-one could get down and play dirty, hard-rockin' funk like Prince Rogers Nelson. This is, let us not forget, the man behind I Wanna Be Your Lover, 1999, Little Red Corvette, Let's Go Crazy, When Doves Cry, Purple Rain (his best tune), Kiss, Money Don't Matter 2night and a bunch of others. Purple Rain's also a must-have, so get that and this and party like it's 1999. Or whatever.
Little side note: Back in the 80's, the only artists making interesting music were Prince and Stevie Ray Vaughan

Great old school Prince...all of the best with very few that you haven't heard. This is a great blast from the past!!!

I just recently became a Prince fan, after his performance on American Idol. For someone who's never heard any of his hits before, this is a fantastic album. I abesolutely love it! And it has most of his real big hits! I'm extremely satisfied with this album, definitely worth it for new Prince fans!

...On what planet was "Money Don't Matter Tonight" a bigger hit than "7"?!?!

This compilation does a great job of selecting the major most highlights of Prince's career, hitting on the biggest singles and best-known tracks from each album. Of course, it skips a few key tracks that a lot of us die-hard fans are sure to miss (although this album, or any album like it by any long-time hitmaker - Springsteen's single disc greatest hits anyone? - is hardly intended for die-hard fans), but this is a given, so it is no small feat that this album is able to sustain momentum to such a degree that one hardley misses some of the more glairing omissions (why has "Batdance," or any song from the "Batman Soundtrack" been left off every Prince hits album?).

The only thing that really strikes me as odd is the inclusion of "Money Don't Matter Tonight," a fine song, but hardley a monster hit like the rest culled here, and in no way better or more well known than "7," which, had the tune been included here, this single-disc compilation would have rather acurately represented all of Prince's biggest hits (imagine that on a "greatest hits" cd). Technical chart hits aside, "7" is hardley the only great Prince tune missing here, but it is the only one I really miss. This collection would feel so much more complete with it. There always seems to be one odd choice like this in every greatest hits package. Guess something has to keep us buying the other albums.

One could always go with "The Hits/B-Sides" compilation released nearly a decade earlier and including all these tunes plus most of the greats that are missing here, as well as B-Sides and other rarities, but the point of this release (other than making money for Warner Bros.) is to give a concise, fast-paced overview of Prince's biggest hits sans any bonuses or filler: essentially anything that doesn't get heavy radio rotation. That also means it is for the casual Prince fan who only wants the radio tunes. But it can also be for us big Prince fans who don't always want to sift through a whole collection of albums or the previous three-disc greatest hits (a compilation which is oddly arranged; not simply chronologicaly, but by song theme (there is a serious disc, a party disc, and the b-sides), which makes it hard to get from favorite song to favorite song when you need take out one disc and put in another - not exactly ideal for parties and the like)when we want a quick best of Prince fix.

For that, this is an album plays great all the way through. Sure I miss certain songs, but for what this is, it is a great collection.

Beware though; some of the songs are represented here by their "single edits" ("When Doves Cry" and "1999") are the most obvious), but these are the way they are played on radio so it doesn't sound too odd (I actually know people that are wierded out when they hear the album cut of these songs and they forget they don't end where they are used to hearing them end on the radio). What is odd though is there is about 5 minutes of time left on the cd (if the record companies use 80 minuters like the rest of us), so I don't know why they didn't leave all the songs in their original form (or include another one with the time left - hey, did I mention "7"?!). But this again all proves that this is a collection for people who write reviews here saying things like "Great CD. It has all the Prince songs you know and love; all you'll ever need; etc..."

That is hardly true, but this is an over-all great collection nonetheless and in terms of accomplishing its obvious goal its a winner.

I love this CD, it has all the great classic songs that everybody knows and loves. I don't really care for the newer stuff, like Alphabet Street. I got this album for the fun 80s tracks. It leaves me wanting more of his 80's work. I'm going to track down the album Purple Rain and 1999. If you want a good introduction to Prince, get this album, it rocks!

I love this CD. It has all of the great Prince songs you know and love. Highly recommended.

I personally like this compilation of Prince, it's got most of the songs I like and the sound is great. Sure, there could have been a few more songs included, like "Pop Life", "Hot Thing", but when compared to the other compilations, this disc has more of the songs that are a must-have, for me, such as "I Wanna Be Your Lover", which I don't think was included on any of the other compilations. So, it's just a matter of weighing what songs you most want, so that's why I chose this disc and I'm glad I did!

This cd rocks. I love it. There are so many good songs on here from a guy with so many hits. He might be weird, but he's so talented. You can't go past I Wanna Be Your Lover, Cream and Theives in The Temple. I love his music and for all those people out there who aren't fans enough to buy the odd cd or two of his, go get this where there are all the great songs on the one disc. You'll love this too.

No hidden treasures, no special album tracks, just the hits. A good choice if that's all you want. If you think you want to explore Prince, and you don't know where to start, you can start here (the songs are chronological) so you can figure out what era is your favorite.

This cd is great! It includes 17 of Prince's best hits. I like his classic hits such as..Purple Rain, 1999, Little red corvette and I will Die for you. A good cd to have by this incredible performer.

Still as good as before.
This collection is full of spirit

I vividly recall seeing the commercial advertising Very Best of Prince for the first time while I was on vacation in Panama City Beach, Florida. I knew right away that it was going to become a part of my collection in the future.

I thought it had all the Prince that I would want, including "1999," the theme to my high school class of '99 and the one that's always been my favorite Prince song, even back when my age was in the single digits and I thought it was about a slick, stylish car: "Little Red Corvette." Oh yeah, I've always loved "Raspberry Beret," "I Would Die 4 U," and "Let's Go Crazy" too!

I didn't recognize many of the songs on the lower part of the track list, like "Gett Off" or "Thieves In The Temple," but I didn't care, I had to have those awesome 80's songs that I'd been a big fan of for years. And for that reason I'm VERY glad I own this CD, but the more I watched VH1 Classic Rock and after I looked through my book that lists all the Billboard Top 40 Hits, I realized that this isn't as great of a compilation as it could be.

The ones I really wish were on here are "Controversy," "Delirious," and "Batdance." Prince's knack for playing the guitar is well spoken of, and it was a #1 hit, so why not have "Batdance" here? Maybe if this CD was named Prince's Greatest Hits it would be more forgivable. Almost all of those leave off many of the artists' best stuff, but it's called VERY Best of. It's not, though. The Very Best of The Eagles is how a "Very Best of" should be done. When you have an artist like Prince who has had tons of Top 40 hits along with others that didn't quite make the Top 40 that are cult favorites, you need a double disc collection. For Prince, Hits 1 and Hits 2 looks like the better way to go for the more hardcore fan. Or maybe in a few years they WILL release a 2-CD set that has all the Prince we know by heart, even the newer songs like "Musicology"?

Very Best of Prince is a nice overview for the casual fan, however. If all the songs you like by him are here or you just want a sampling of some of his best material, this could be the right selection for you. Either way, it's time to party like it's 1999 and then go for a ride in a little red corvette.

Prince is just a darn good musical artist. Including a whole slew of his top songs on one CD is going to be a high quality product no matter what. I personally would have liked "Pop Life" included, but other than that, I can't complain. I would have gotten this even if it only had "Raspberry Beret" and "U Got The Look."

OMG! This album kicks ass! it is incedibly funky and energetic. But best of all... it's REAL music by a REAL musician! No computerised crap in here it's all GUITARS, DRUMS, PIANOS, BASS etc...

I Wanna B Ur Lover - Prince's first BIG hit and a classic dance tune

1999 - The first song to put Prince on the map as a HUGE star

Little Red Corvette - A Rock/Pop classic!

When Doves Cry - The biggest hit of 1984! but it get s boring after a while

Let's Go Crazy - One of my fave songs ever!

Purple Rain - A truly beautiful Guitar rock power ballad for everyone!

I Would Die For You - Boring... i don't like it that much

Raspberry Beret - Very catchy tune

Kiss - A Pop/Funk GEM!

Sign 'O' The Times - Very funky with FANTASTIC lyrics

U Got The Look - Hmmm I Like it but not that much.

Alphabet ST. - Very Catchy, Funky, Playful and Fun!

Get Off - Cool Hip Hop song.

Cream - Quite cacthy Blues/Rock/Funk song

Money don't mater 2night - Awesome lyrics and a KICK ASS tune

Diamonds & Pearls - Hmmm it's a fairly good ballad but not one of the best

This Album is missing a few hits such as Erotic City, My Name Is Prince and Controversy.

this should really be titled "prince's best radio and chart reaching hits collection", because that is all that it is. nothing more, nothing less. anybody who complains about what song is missing off of this release is basically missing the point. this is a warner brothers hand-picked collection, not prince's, as he had no input to what should be constituted as 'the very best of...'. he had already been freed from his contract at warner bros., so now warner has the fine job of milking off whatever money that they still can from this genius. and, hey, this ain't that bad. from his first real hit "i wanna be your lover", up until his last real hit for WB, "money don't matter 2nite", which peaked in the mid-20's on the charts early 1992, this is the kind of release that you'll see stacked in any jukebox in any bar all over the country. so relax, don't whine, just enjoy the sounds and have a damn great time.

Prince is arguably the most talented and greatest musical artist of the 20th and 21st century. We see this with the albums 1999, Controversy, Dirty Mind, and the Early album titled "Prince". In addition to his great work in the 80's we see the albums "Come", "Emmancipation", "New Power Soul", and "The (Symbol) album". He has put out so much great material. It is utterly pheonomial. So, to begin with, no matter how many "Best of Prince" CD's you have, there will always be one or two songs that "should have gotten on." But I'm here to tell you, this CD, lacks two if not three songs on it. First off, it lacks Controversy, which is one of Prince's best. Secondly, it lacks Dirty Mind, and you could easily make an argument that the song "Head" should have made the list. But because it is only on 1 CD, there is always going to be one song or two that gets snubbed. So, to avoid any disapointments, get Hits 1 and Hits 2. These CD's cover it all. They have 36 of Prince's best songs, and nobody is going to gripe or complain about any songs getting snubbed. They are all there. Plain and Simple. If you buy Hits 1 and Hits 2, you wil be satistfied. Guranteed. So forget this CD, it's incomplete. Hits 1 and Hits 2, they have all of the best songs of Prince from 79 -91.

i rate these songs from which they are ordered
this album is awesome but is missing controversy and head...
1.Lets Go Crazy- this is my all time favorite
2.Little Red Corvette- loved this song first time i heard it
3.1999- catchy and fun
4.I Would Die 4 U- one of the best songs on Purple Rain movie
5.Alphabet St.- see #3
6.Purple Rain- c'mon didnt you cry when you first heard this?
7.I Wanna Be Your Lover- its a great song, kinda reminds me of The Emotion's "Best of My Love"
8. When Doves Cry- Another great song from Purple Rain Movie
9. Sign "O" the Times- I love the lyrics
10. Cream- see #3
11. Diamonds & Pearls- great slow song
12. U Got the Look- love the guitar played on this song
13. Money Dont Matter 2 Nite- see #3
14. Gett Off- i like the flute added in the song
15. Kiss- see #3
16. Raspberry Beret- not the best on the CD but still great.
17. Thieves in the Temple- its ok

there are lots of kings but theres only one PRINCE!
this CD inclodes all of his greates hits over the years
i think this CD is a must have in all home.
in one word: AMAZING!!!!!!!!

buy this album no matter what kind of music your into. the album contains

-pop
-rock
-rap
-jazz
-r'n'b
-ballads

at its very best. it contains all princes best songs apart from about 32 others that wouldn't fit on the album.

And that's exactly what I did with his album - as I do with all my music. Love Prince, love the 80's and don't care who knocks me for it! I thought the album was groovy - fun songs, good memories and sounds pretty damn good next to my Marianne Faithfull, Tom Petty and Linkin Park. Don't try and analyse this stuff too much, just enjoy!

The problem with this album isn't the selection per se, (although excluding Erotic City is a major faux paus) it's that all of the songs are butchered. It's as though someone had a stopwatch going and when they reached the limit, they faded out the song. The songs are not even the radio mix in many cases. Do yourself a favor and skip this one.

It took me 20 years to catch up to Prince's stuff.
Back in the day, his music--much less some of his album covers (for instance, what WAS he thinking with the "Lovesexy" cover???)--were a bit too racy for little kids (and I was a little kid back in the early 80s when the Purple One's most groundbreaking stuff was coming out.) So, I never really got into his music until much later on.
Anyway, 20 years later, I realize both that "Little Red Corvette" ain't about a car and that this dude from Minneapolis is a freakin' genius. The gems on this 17-song album are a great primer into the wild world of Prince. Such essential tunes included here are "Purple Rain," "When Doves Cry" (although in its abridged single version), "Kiss," "Alphabet Street," "Sign 'O' The Times," and "Gett Off" (a song I love simply because of the slick little reference he makes to James Brown's "Mother Popcorn.")
That said, this is by no means a complete anthology of his work. "I Feel For You," "Soft and Wet," and "Adore" are essential Prince songs and are nowhere to be found here. In fact, if it had been left up to me, I would have included "If Was Your Girlfriend" from "Sign 'O' the Times" instead of "U Got the Look." But that's just me...
Paraphrasing a previous reviewer, this is a great starter kit for casual fans or people looking to replace those singles that got lost, scratched, or broken from the 80s.
In a word: essential.

I have to admit, I always liked Prince. I love the whole Purple Rain album, but I have to say I do not own even one of his albums.
I had to buy this. It has every single that I have always cherished. So if you are not a die-hard fan, but like his hits. This is the only Prince CD you need. I do wish they put "Pop Life" on it, but I am not complaining. This CD is Slamming' and should be in everyone's collection. Even if you are just a fan of just the singles Prince put out, this Collection has it all (except "Pop Life".)Yes there are a few more, the Batman theme etc. But, it's still awesome.
This CD still deserves a 5 out of 5 stars for the not so in love with Prince fans, but love his singles. I say get this CD. It has 17 unforgettable tracks that take you back to the days of retro fun and then take you into the present, this whole CD is a FUN RIDE!! Amen for this compilation.

This is not even close to a good representation of Prince's best and was released without his approval.

This is not even close to a good representation of Prince's best and was release without his approval.