Prince - Parade LP

The soundtrack from his failed romantic comedy "Under the Cherry Moon," the disc often sounds like a preview of the supremely surefooted quirkiness of its follow-up, the classic Sign o' the Times. Marrying lean funk grooves to over-the-top orchestrations and trying his hand at Parisian balladry and a hushed, Pet Sounds-style instrumental, he triumphs as few other record makers did in 1986.