having heard today both the beatles' "the white album" and prince's "the black album" i am wondering if prince's black album is an answer or comment to the white album

both records are special for both artists. they represent wild, not so polished material with a nerve and crazyness that other records by those artist dosen't quite come near.

the white album has absolute beautiful gems on it, "black bird", "dear prudence" and "cry baby cry" and crazy shit (in a good manner) like "piggies", "why don't we do it in the road", and some classic beatles like "revolution", "i'm so tired" and "while my guitar gently weeps", which we all know prince reacently played a good solo to.

the black album is a complete freak of a record, with the beautiful "when 2 r in love", the crazy "Superfunkycalifragisexy" and "Cindy C", the strange but very funky "2 Nigs United 4 West Compton", not to mention the very very classic gem "Rockhard In A Funky Place"...


so, does anybody else think anything about these releases, and the coinsidential albumtitles??
[Edited 2/23/05 11:42am]
[Edited 2/23/05 11:43am]

I think P could have thought about that before making the "Black" album

I like the way u think....

I think the "Black" album's cover and concept was more inspired by "This Is Spinal Tap" than The Beatles.

Actually The Beatles' "White Album" is just called "The Beatles"
People just call(ed) it "The White Album" 'cause the album's cover is white

Dewrede said:

Similarly the Black album is only called so because of it's cover.

Prince announces himself at the beginning of the Le Grind that this record is 'The Funk Bible'.

while I believe that was P's original intention at the time, the Black album just doesnt hold up as his answer to the White Album...(#1 it doesnt have enough songs). The songs are pretty good but just arent SOTT level. Ultimately he just wanted to get something out quick to tour with in the US then changed his mind....we all know the story.....

emesem said:

That's not part of 'the story' at all.

It was never gonna be released as a "Prince" album, it had no title and no artist (Something by Somebody).

He wasn't gonna tour with at all.

MetroArea said:

You could be right, I forget....he was pissed (about what who knows) and just wanted to get something new out there...(could have been the beggining of his "hey, Im black y'all..honest!" phase)...

.in some ways closeing the book on SOTT so soon was the biggest mistake of his career....SOTT was a masterpiece and by the time the Grammy nom came he had moved on to his psuedo-relgious "god is love" phase and it was pretty much the end of prince as we knew him....LoveSexy is a better album than I thought at the time but something after SOTT just wasnt the same since..

both albums are strange, though

I like to think that the black album and lovesexy was a single project. A double album with When 2 R in Love as the bridge... Maybe not, but it sure should have been released like that....

Jon said:

I've always listened to them together. I omit W2RIL from "black" and play the two records back to back. Makes a mighty fine passion play type album, similar in theme to what he did on the Lovesexy '88 Tour.

JediMaster said:

That's interesting. I do the same with 'Chaos And Disorder' and 'The Vault - Old Friends 4 Sale'. They are two sides of the same coin.
[Edited 2/26/05 8:53am]

I've always connected the Black Album & Lovesexy. They use the same band. Forgive me my dorkiness, but they remind me of the Star Trek where Kirk visits the evil Enterprise (you know, Spock and the goatee). The same players & sounds, slightly different attitude.

But the White Album is kind of all over the place. The Prince album that reminds me of that is Sign o the Times. Both albums are thought by many fans and non-fans to be their best.

You have to wonder what Prince thinks. How could he not be thinking of the White Album when he made the Black Album? But then he said he hadn't heard While My Guitar Gently Weeps before they sent him a tape before the RRHOF performance, so... He probably doesn't know that Musicology is a subject in college that I happened to major in!

andyman91 said:

But then he said he hadn't heard While My Guitar Gently Weeps before they sent him a tape before the RRHOF performance, so...

that prince should not till the RRHOF performance have known the existence of the song WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS by BEATLES sounds like saying Pamela Anderson hadn't known what a dick is until age 25... or something likewise ...i guess
[Edited 2/26/05 12:46pm]

andyman91 said:

If you're a dork for thinking that, then I'm a MAJOR dork because I know the name of that episode ("Mirror, Mirror")



Good comparison. My personal Beatles fave is Abbey Road, but I can definitely see the comparison between the "White" album and SOTT. Much more fitting than the "Black" album.



Personally, I think the whole thing about him never having heard that song is just BS to make him sound cooler. No way he hasn't heard it, especailly with all the obvious Beatles influence all over PR, ATWIAD, Parade, SOTT and Lovesexy

I have to agree that someone as into music of all kinds would know that song. But I read that's what he said.

He has downplayed the greatness of the Beatles in the past. Maybe he knows they're his only real competition. Maybe he thinks he'd appear uncool to openly like them, like how Kurt Cobain tried to distance himself from his love of The Knack.

JediMaster said:

Good comparison. My personal Beatles fave is Abbey Road, but I can definitely see the comparison between the "White" album and SOTT. Much more fitting than the "Black" album.

[/quote]

Maybe Diamonds & Pearls is his Abbey Road. The return to slick hitmaking (though I prefer Abbey Road by a great margin!). Then Graffiti Bridge is his Let it Be, Batman Yellow Submarine, and New Power Soul is Wings' Back to the Egg.

andyman91 said:

This would make a good thread. 'Which Prince albums are which Beatles albums?' or something like that.

andyman91 said:

This is so cute for some reason

don't worry about being dorky...this is a "fansite" after all

andyman91 said:

Oh gawd, let's not mention D&P and Abbey Road in the same sentence!!! Howzabout Lovesexy being his Abbey Road? Both are weird, wonderful albums with great messages and lotsa strangeness! I could live with that. Their's nothing as craptacular as Tony M on AR!!!
[Edited 3/3/05 11:27am]

JediMaster said:

Oh gawd, let's not mention D&P and Abbey Road in the same sentence!!! Howzabout Lovesexy being his Abbey Road? Both are weird, wonderful albums with great messages and lotsa strangeness! I could live with that. Their's nothing as craptacular as Tony M on AR!!![/quote]

This is funny. Acting like there really is an analagous Prince album for every Beatles album.

But to me Abbey Road is not as weird as Lovesexy. It's more slick, like D&P. Maybe is a better comparison, as both records are more like shows in their structure. I like much better than D&P, the album which made me question my devotion to Prince. Abbey Road is better still...

Lovesexy is more Sgt Pepper or Magical Mystery Tour. I know that means Prince's White Album came before his Sgt Pepper, so maybe Parade is Sgt Pepper...oh man, I just got to make this work!

TRUE at back in the day

MetroArea said:

Sign o the TImes is much more like the white ALbum....it really is... the disintegration of a band into an individual, some stark demo like tracks, some schmaltzy stuff.... double vinyl....

andyman91 said:

Its always amusing when fans do this. And for some reason, we keep doing it!!!




I'm much more comfortable with the comparison to . Maybe The Gold Experience is even more fitting. Its slick, polished, with the hit potential, yet its still artistic and full of strangeness.



True. I've often heard people compare ATWIAD to Sgt. Pepper, but I think THAT album is much more like Magical Mystery Tour in theme and whatnot (only the cover really hearkens to Sgt Pepper). Lovesexy could be his Sgt Pepper...

Does this mean that Parade is his Revolver???

YES they're both B&W, ha!

JediMaster said:[quote]

andyman91 said:

JediMaster said:

Yes, Around the World is more like Magical Mystery Tour. The songs are great, but it lacks the cohesiveness (at least in my mind) of Lovesexy or Sgt Pepper. And the theme you mentioned, I assume you meant the albums' titles. And a "parade" is kind of what the Sgt. Pepper cover looks like, doesn't it? Hmm.

The question of when Prince's Abbey Road was is difficult, since Prince never broke up. If you use the name change as his breakup, then would be his Abbey Road and Come would be Let It Be. But your argument for Gold is convincing, too.

andyman91 said:

I like this thread. What about 1999? Is that Rubber Soul? Or is Purple Rain Rubber Soul?

sextonseven said:

Actually I've always likened Purple Rain to A Hard Days Night. Both are associated with their first films, and both represent the artists at the peaks of their respective manias. Also they capture what may be the most enduring visual style and personalities of each.

But 1999 as Rubber Soul? Maybe. Albums packed with great songs. Individual styles well established. Well on the way to creative genius, but maybe not quite yet there. Easy to listen to, yet not pandering to pop conventions.

andyman91 said


As far as themes, I was referring more to some of the subject matter, particulary of the title tracks (both about magical, tripped out journeys that could well be taking place within the mind).



Both and Gold could qualify for sure. Come could be viewed as Let It Be, in that its an album recorded many months before its release, and its not really in its ideal configuration.

Man, this is fun!

andyman91 said:

GREAT observations! Totally agree!

Wait, is Graffiti Bridge his Help! then?