I listened to this cd the other day in my car and these thoughs crossed my mind. The melodies are incredibly strong, the musicianship is great, lots of those tracks are underrated[especially 'Sacrifice'] and above all just how great a version without any Tony M would be cuz quite frankly his rapping is as welcome as a '----- in a -----'[fill in your own insults!'] Agree or not ?

I disagree.Tony's contributions to that album are cool.He brings a certain "street/party atmosphere" to the proceedings.Consider....

***"Sexy MF"---The best line in this song is by Tony,when he says "I bet if you throw that ass in the air,it would turn into sunshine"

***"The Max"---Tony's lines on the chorus are a nice touch,reminiscent of his contribution to "Gett Off".

***"My Name Is Prince"---Tony's rap here is ferocious and powerful,and since this song was obviously intended for the hip-hop crowd,Tony's presence is justified.

***"Love 2 The 9's"---That little interview/skit thing Tony performs with Mayte is clever....."Who's the President now?...Does it matter,wow!"

***"The Flow"---Prince's own rap on this track is kinda lame,so at least Tony redeems the song with his own clever rhymes.

***"The Sacrifice of Victor"---Ok,I admit,Tony sounds out-of-place on this cut.This is a real busy song,with a choir and all,so Tony's rap on the chorus can barely be heard.



I can't see why so many of you think Tony is intrusive,and out-of-place on this album.No,he's not the world's greatest rapper,but he brought alot to the table.I consider 'Love Symbol' to be much more exciting than many of the albums that came after it.Tony had alot to do with that.

2the9s was cool...i dunno tony was cool on that track and Gett off...maybe he could have used a little less spotlight time on the symbol album

david - pleeeeeze tell me your joking!.

javed said:

No,I'm serious! I know I'm in the minority when it comes to this topic,but I like Tony M.,and the contributions he made to the 'D&P' and 'Love Symbol' albums.I fail to see where his presence just totally RUINED those songs.

I busted out my copy of "The Ryde Divine" and that entire scene rocked! The first time I saw Prince perform live by the way...I wouldn't change any of it. Prince was "in rare form" to coin a phrase, hehe.

He was tops as a performer, he was fallin for Mayte, so his songs blossomed as a result, and the band entertained as much as they contributed to the sounds of the album.

I would not change a thing.


[This message was edited Wed Mar 13 5:20:56 PST 2002 by LaVisHh]

David OK i give up, each to his own. What ever happened to him anyway?.

What are you talking about, lots of people list in their top 3 albums. Obviously you dismissed it before without giving it a proper listen (if you are only now picking up on the melodies and so on)

DavidEye said:

No you're not! It's people talking crap about the music like this that makes me want to wipe the org off my computer!

lavisHh - The Ryde Divine , now that is one funky track, thanks for reminding me of it. If it's that brilliant two part video performance that you're referring to [that Tony M nearly ruined!!!!] don't you think the ending was really corny with Troy B acting all confused and shocked that P was coming back to the stage when the credits went up. Wasn't Mavis great.

javed said:

Don't know what happened to Tony,but he attempted a solo career in the mid-90s.Most Prince bandmembers just kinda quietly fade away after working with Prince.

Oh silly Sax, i appreciated the symbol album from day one + it holds a lot of personal memories for me. It's just that i haven't listened to it for a long time and this time round Tony M s contribution spoilt the party. I have to say that i also found him intrusive on the tours. Right i,m off to dig out the 'Truth' cd and see if i can pick on that!.

javed said:

Yes...it was ULTRA-CORNY, lol. But I enjoyed all 13 hours it took to film just the part with Prince and the NPG! And I didn't mind as I was one of those who got to "pretend" like I was excited to see him, got to talk to him, smell his sweet (and I ain't joking) smell, and got to stroke his soft silk clothes...ok, that's enuf - too much of this just might turn me back into a hardcore fan!

Saxjedi said:

I consider 'Love Symbol' to be the best,most thrilling,most enjoyable Prince album of the 90s.That album came out in October 1992.By the time Prince's Act 1 tour came to my area in April 1993,that CD was STILL in my CD player!

yeah, you tell him David!.

LavishH - i think you'll find that you can't under any circumstances end your reply there!. Go ahead and spill. Are you in the final cut?.

In th minority here... Tony M's rap style was alright for the day. Sure, if we compare it to today's style, it doesn't fit and almost seems amateurish, but it acually works (but barely).

javed said:

Yes, I am. However it would be hard to point me out, unless I was there saying, "There! That's me! And there, see my hand stroking his silk!" I absolutely must say that the silk he uses is thick and oh so soft. (Not trying to get silly, just took note of the quality of it)

Sigh...ok, stop, lol
[This message was edited Wed Mar 13 6:10:07 PST 2002 by LaVisHh]

javed said:

I wasn't talking to David, he obviously shares my high opinion of this album!

youngworld said:

WELL SAID,Youngworld! I couldn't agree more:)

javed said:

Oh no,Sax agrees with me on this album...lol...my comment wasn't really directed at him:)

I really like the "first side" of the Symbol album. The Max piano break totally rules and Mornign Papers and 2the9's are right up there. I listened to this album quite a bit, Sexy MF to me is so much better than The Work. Maybe cause it's a dirty James Brown tribute and not a gospel one.

to David and Sax- lol.doh!. Long day.

David Eye is Tony M.

Ok.....clearing my head.....mentally editing Tony M. off of the album.....replacing his raps with....T.C. Ellis.....listening.....D'OH!

How about replace Tony M with NELLY. That guy can rap and he's so melodic and it just flows. He made that "Waht's Goin On" tribute listenable. Loved his last album and can't wait for more! BATTER UP!

I think Tony M wanted to be like Big Daddy Kane. If Tony had to be replaced (blasphemers!) he would be the natural choice.

I don't know why so many people dislike this album. I do have to skip over some of Tony's rapping but all in all I think it's pretty good. In fact one of my fantasies is Prince calling me up to the stage to rip out the guitar solo of 3 chains of gold and all you freaks start chanting "CarrieCee, CarrieCee, CarrieCee" cuz I'm so friggin good.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!!

hmph. i don't see how anyone could ever call tony m a good rapper. he was substandard. he added a lot of meaningless noise to prince's sound, i think.

however, he has a couple of redeeming moments on "symbol". his rap in "2 the 9s" is quite inventive, but that's not all. i'm gonna say what i've secretly felt for some time, which is... tony m actually sounds *really good* on "the max". for some reason the tone of his voice just goes well within this song. and p was smart to limit him to the chorus. a better performance than on "gett off", imo.

however, i don't like his rapping on "my name is prince", i hate the way he gets to do a bit of rapping, then there's a couple of instrumental bars- as if they're UNLEASHING this INCREDIBLE WEAPON of a rapper on us in controlled bursts of power... then tony raps weakly again, then the instrumental bars, as if we are reeling in devastation at his last "attack"... with chuck d- yes. with tony m-

~laughing my ass off so hard it turns into sunshine~
[This message was edited Wed Mar 13 8:18:40 PST 2002 by tiger2]

I completely disagree!! Tony's rap on my name is prince kicks big ass (IMO). You people should leave Tony alone. P. would've never used him if he didn't also think that his contributions were valuable.