Just like the tour with the sin and salvation theme ,the first cd should have been the Black Album,and disc 2 Lovesexy,sin and salvation,what do ya think,would it have done better?,would it have made more sense?What singles do you release?

and both version should have "When 2 r in love" on 'm ?

Hmmmmm !!

grandprogression said:

I never thought of that, Grandprogression! But the questions are--could some of the Black Album tracks been hit singles?, do you think alot of the fans and critics would've thought that the double album was a sign of his pretentiousness, and for the most important question: would the album sell well? I can only answer the last question--the answer would be no because at that time, a big pop star releasing a spiritual and evil piece of work could really lose fanbase and no one would want to hear much of it. So, I think if you have both the Black Album and Lovesexy albums in your collection, listen to those album from front to back and ask yourself would this be a good idea if Prince did this back in 1988?
[Edited 6/23/05 17:05pm]

The sales for Lovesexy were not very good anyways so I think as far as sales it would've done pretty much the same,maybe even a little better due to it being a novelty. As far as singles go I think it would be interesting if they would release songs that coincide such as "Superfunkycalifragisexi"/ "Glam Slam",Dead On It"/Dance On",Le Grind"/Alphabet St.

grandprogression said:

Yeah, but some of the Black Album tracks were bleak (not dark at all, just evil), so that would've been a problem with them being hit singles and a lot of it would've been concieved as filler if he released a double consisting TBA/Lovesexy. You're right, it would've been real interesting!

True,I sure do wonder about how people would've perceived "Bob George",and I wonder if any of the Black Album songs would've gotten club play?

grandprogression said:

We have to give the sales for Lovesexy some credit. It just went gold, which is a minor disappointment--but at least people listened to it rather it got their life together or not!

No disrespect intende for Lovesexy,I get the message! and I love it! One of my all time favorite albums especially Anna Stesia,chilling.

I doubt WB would have allowed Prince to release two double albums back to back.

grandprogression said:

i've thought of that b4...would've been hot..but it also would've taken the mystery away from it all.



yea..it could be on both..a part one part two type thang

silverchild said:

Aside from Bob George, I didn't find anything on the Black Album bleak or chilling.

TMPletz said:

Oh they would have because they loved TBA and the reason why WB felt so bad about Lovesexy was because of the album cover. If Prince would've let TBA be exposed to the public legally back in '88 with Lovesexy it would've been a good and bad thing. But, they probably would've made him edit it the double album or just make the tracks on Lovesexy tracked instead of just letting it go into continuous play.
[Edited 6/23/05 18:47pm]
[Edited 6/23/05 18:49pm]

Before the Black album was released on cd, I had a cassette with it on one side 1, and Lovesexy on side 2. It was great. Used to have sex to it all the time.

Personally I think it would have been a stroke of genius to release the 2 together. After all, the principle of dark vs. light worked in concert. From reading recent posts, it seems like the Lovesexy is not so much regarded as a great album by fans anymore - a conceptual double album would have kept it up there, just like Kate Bush's The Hounds of Love/The Ninth Wave.

It was never likely to happen - after all, it came after Sign O' The Times which was a double album and the record companies hate double albums as they are more expensive to make and then the price puts people off. I think they only released 'Sign' because initially Prince wanted to put 3 discs out and 2 seemed like a compromise!

But now we have both, you can put your own double album together!

This is a thought that's probably crossed most of our minds at one point or another - it makes sense, the albums are compatible soundwise, and the obvious theme of sin/redemption, sex/god, black/white, day/night, good/bad etc etc are SCREAMING out.

Thing is, he just released a double LP, and he didn't even promote that one properly, so I couldn't see the record company jumping at the chance to release another one so soon.
[Edited 6/24/05 3:35am]

doctamario said:

Superfunky is also pretty dark with it's cold depictions of anonymous sex and S&M.

But "evil" ? Nah, there's nothing evil on the album, the album is a party album, and even the dark moments are drenched in comedy, there's nothing negative in the music.

"the black album" sucks!!!!

Fhunkin said:

He could add a song like "Crucial" to one of the albums.Problem solved

DavidEye said:

Excellent choice. Crucial could have been added to Lovesexy. I always imagined it would have made an excellent christmas no. 1. What better than having a hit single promote a spiritual album at christmas time?
Alternatively we could rewrite history, put Crucial on SOTT and Adore would fit perfectly on Lovesexy.

this wouldve been the ultimate contradiction of music.

Prince said he didnt want to relase such a "depressing lp" .

Who would consider the Black lp a DePRESSSING LP ?

origmnd said:

Larry G?

MetroArea said:

there is nothing dark about BDSM or anonymous sex. some of the most spiritual people i know are into BDSM.

ehuffnsd said:

TMPletz said:

if you set your mind free

metalorange said:

Can I give you a kiss Metalorange,or at least a hug>???

thanks2joniandu said:

Only in a manly way, I'm afraid...

metalorange said:

You got it bro. My bad

After thinking on this subject for about 18 years I came up with this conclusion .Prince was going to release the Black Album in December of 87 and release Lovesexy in early summer of 88. If you remember the Lovesexy concerts had the Black Album/Lustful songs during the first half .Then the spiritual/Lovesexy songs during the second half.

I dont believe the offical story behind the shelving of the Black Album and the rest is history.

mancabdriver said:

Thanks for your well thought out and eloquently written criticism.

ehuffnsd said:

I said the song gave "cold depictions" of anonymous sex and BDSM, I said nothing about spirituality. "Dark" does not mean evil or devoid of spirituality; I said the album was "drenced in comedy", the 'darkness' is the comedy.

muleFunk said:

You don't believe the official story? You mean Prince's official story (in the Lovesexy Tour book) or the 'official' story about him cancelling the release of the Black album?

Lovesexy didn't even exist before he cancelled the album, the very act of cancelling the Black album was the catalyst for recording the material that would make up Lovesexy.
[Edited 6/26/05 14:44pm]

This may have been solidfied Prince with critics. SOTT was honored, the themes worked well together and fuck WB. He was all ready pissed with them. Hence some the angst on the 'Black Album". There would have been no problem with the releases. He could have worked the evil/ love angle the whole way through.