A CELEBRATION: THE BLACK ALBUM

THE BLACK ALBUM

It’s weird listening to The Black Album and trying to place it in the chronological scheme of Prince, as for me I knew about it’s infamy but didn’t hear it til well after it’s intended release. It wasn’t until it’s official release in 1994 that I got to hear it and I have to say I was a little underwhelmed. A part of me is happy to listen to it as part of Princelore, but a big part understands why it was never “officially released”. And although it has some highlights, for the most part the album feels incomplete. Maybe as a result of being criticised for being too “white” in the pop sound of the previous few albums, Prince decided to make this one more street, more gritty and less of a “white” album and more of a “black” one.

Kicking of with Le Grind, we hear Prince still enraptured with the sampling techniques of the Fairlight, with a nod to Hot Thing in the beat and sweeping bass synth, the song groves along with Prince’s muffled voice talking to us in the intro just before the main vocal. What is it he is saying? While the song has a bit of energy to it, it just lacks a certain degree of appeal despite a fuller band sound that was missing on Sign O The Times. It just feels like an overplayed groove that overstays its welcome without any great divergence in the melody or structure of the song.

Cindy C with its catchy bouncy vibe was instantly appealing. With Prince’s playful and cheeky lyrics, he makes light of what could be cause for a restraining order. The bubbling bass line, and extra percussion fills remind me of “It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night”.

Ok, so I know the tongue was firmly in Prince’s cheek when he recorded Dead On It, but it still sounds like a weak rip off of “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”. Skip.

Thankfully Prince follows it up with Bob George. A dark, yet insanely funny song, that is just so compelling to listen to. Built around a tweaked drum pattern, and manipulated vocal, this song is perhaps Prince’s most bleak song on record. But at least Prince still gives us a smile amidst the domestic chaos with “who Prince… that skinny MF with the high voice?”

It’s no surprise that Bob George and Superfunkycalifragisexy were included in the set list for the LoveSexy tour, as these are the stand out tracks on the album. Sounding like a deranged circus of sorts, SFCFS is what the title promises, a fully fledged funk fuelled jam. With a drum pattern influenced by Housequake, the song would have been at home on SOTT. Combined with that constant guitar riff through the track, the other instruments just seem to swirl around you, placing you in the eye of the funk storm.

Maybe it was because of LoveSexy, but when I hear When 2 r in love on the black album it feels out of place. With most of the album dark and brooding, this felt like an afterthought. And as it first appeared for me on LoveSexy, I’ll save my thoughts on it til tomorrow.


And just when you think the storm is over, 2Nigsunited4Compton comes on, and the funk storm really blows up. With switching solos, the song feels like the kinda jam you wish you were privy to. A sublime bass solo littered throughout, I pictured Prince running around and jumping on this then that then that then that, and just going wild. Of course, with the SOTT band with him, you knew this jam was going to be tight.

Capping the album off with Rock Hard in a Funky Place seems like a bit of let down. An ok song, and lets face it most of Prince’s OK songs would probably be singles for others; this track just fails to move me. It kinda plods along and then seems to run out of puff.

When I hear TBA and then LS, I have to wonder if part of the hoopla around TBA being pulled was that Prince just wasn’t that happy with the tracks. It’s not an album I listen to that often, I put it down to a bad day at the office, and everyone is allowed that. Besides, as I’ve outlined above, it’s not all bad, it just seems lest cohesive than his other records. But if he had to go through it to get to LoveSexy, then that’s ok with me.

Swa

Other CELEBRATIONS

FOR YOU http://prince.org/msg/7/311337
PRINCE http://prince.org/msg/7/311446
DIRTY MIND http://prince.org/msg/7/311567
CONTROVERSY http://prince.org/msg/7/311655
1999 http://prince.org/msg/7/311739
PURPLE RAIN: http://prince.org/msg/7/311810
AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY: http://prince.org/msg/7/311901
PARADE: http://prince.org/msg/7/312000
SIGN O THE TIMES: http://prince.org/msg/7/312049
[Edited 6/26/09 19:39pm]

I think this album has been unfairly dismissed here on the org lately.

Bob George alone, is more daring, original and has had more of an impact to me than nearly everything he has released these past 15 years.
Ditto "2Nigs United 4 WestCompton" and "Rock Hard In A Funky Place"

I discovered the album too, at its "official release" in late 1994. It was when I had finished high school and went out to buy come and remember the record shop so desparate to move anything with Prince on it (The symbol stuff, all but killed the NZ market for him). They were giving away a copy of the Black Album with every copy of Come, so I got both, I remember being excited as all the books and magazines were going on about it like it was some mythical Rosetta stone of funk, and the reality was different.
The record was a sharp drop from Sign, only 8 songs long (Some groups have maxi singles and EPs with more songs than that) and of those only 4 were any good. These are Le Grind, When 2 R in Love, Superfunkicalifragisexy and Rock Hard in a Funky Place, which are all good songs, but apart from When 2 R in Love hardly the best hes done. Cindy C is silly, Bob George is a an exercise in profanity and stupidity, Dead On it a ridiculous rap pastiche and the other thing some sub par hospital muzak. Its easy to see why he didn't release it, it would have killed off his credibility, it was a monument to himself, Prince being drunk on his own success and trying out the Pete Townsend adage "I could shit bricks and people would run out and buy them".

But time has been kind and compared to some off the crap that he released in the 90s, the Black Album was actually quite good and had aged like a fine wine. Its enjoyable and When 2 R in Love is one of my favourite all time songs. If you listen this version is actually a bit sparser sounding than the Lovesexy version. A solid B effort overrall

After "Parade", this is my favourite Prince album. Apart from "Dead On It" it doesn't have a bad track for me.

I love

Cindy c
superfunky...
dead on it
when 2....

byt ther is some thing that does not do it for me
on this album...But its a good album none the less

I the Black Album.

But When 2 R in Love is so out of place there.
[Edited 6/27/09 8:46am]

Swa said:

BobGeorge909 said:

i was lucky enough to hear the black album right after SOTT..in the midwest it somehow leaked out, i actually thought it was a bootleg of B-sides or something,hell i was 16,i was just happy to get some new Prince shit. But at first listen i blasted it for being wack, this CANT be the next album!..when he didnt release it it was smartest thing he ever done..But this album has grown to be one of my favorites..Cindy C is a rare song that he put his lust for Cindy
Crawford out there like that.."I'll pay the usual fee, whats the matter dont u like me?".i wonder how much was she?..2nigs is a just some Madhouse jam session..SuperCali..is cool and RockHard is THA ShIT!!..When 2 R N Love was cool, when it was on Lovesexy i was already been there/heard that,but whatever..to me it was the end of his "French Funk" as i called it and i still enjoy listening to it..

moussemaker said:

I the Black Album.

But When 2 R in Love is so out of place there.
[Edited 6/27/09 8:46am]

...i just want to say this..please...PLEASE!!!!!....
..
...please!!!!!...the black album..it is the official 2nd BOOT_LEG ever in prince history...
...yes the black-album...the official 2nd BOOT_LEG album...ok...ok..i'm cry'in...
..u happy???...
...mzsexybaby'DEEP INSIDE>>>WE BOTH BELONG TO SOMEONE ELSE????'

my favorite mdma album ever!

baroque said:

I agree that if this album had been released in December of 1987 it probably would not have been a significant pop hit but I do think that it could have boosted Prince's profile on the R & B charts. As I said in the Lovesexy celebration thread I prefer The Black Album to Lovesexy. The sound alone makes this a more enjoyable album for me. It's much rawer sounding and lacks the polish that I feel somewhat mars Lovesexy. Perhaps the fact that it was pulled made it a bit more legendary than it deserves to be but I think it is still a great album. For me the only duff track is "Dead On It" the rest of the album is very solid.

i'd sort of heard a little about it when I went to the opening Lovesexy show in London-then to my utter amazment-as soon as we got off the coach at Wembley Arena-a guy was waiting in the car park-WITH A BAG FULL OF TAPES .

Guess what album?

Now I was so excited -i told the coach-and pretty much sold his bag full there and then. £10 each-mine for free

Pretty good quality-shitty b+w cover but man i played it to death. Got the cd about 1990 at a record fair-the one with 5 extra piss poor sound qualty tracks-on the disc the artist is Christopher.....

Finally got the offical release whenever that came out-still one of my faves. Superfunkicalifragisexy is still my fave rhythm guitar tune and Le Grind is my getting ready for a night out track. Too funky

polkadotbliss said:

every song on this album is good

I remember everyone in my high school flipping out when I played this for them. It was the rawest, funkiest, nastiest thing out and we loved every minute of it. Cindy C was my favorite with that line, "I'm sure your quite intellegent, a whiz at math and all that shit, but I'm gonna see U in your birthday suit 2night!" Who says shit like that to anybody. Prince does and it works!

I'm still in the process of warming up to this one, but with each listen, I'm drawn in a little more and more. Cindy C, Superfunkycalifragisexy and When 2 R In Love are standouts, and 2 Nigs United 4 West Compton definitely sounds like a sort of commercial for the criminally overlooked Madhouse records.