I've never listened. Maybe I should, though I am afraid of what I might find there in the deepest darkest conners of his mind. However, maybe it was just alot of confusion.

fluid said:

Ummm, a good majority of those tracks were recorded, spur of the moment as 'party music' for --- Sheila E's birthday party, IIRC. This whole deep dark & "evil" mystique is pretty much Prince revisionist mythology in my opinion. There's really not even anything on the album that is *that* dark outside of Bob George...the rest is actually pretty light hearted and fun in comparison - Cindy C., Dead On It, SuperFunky..., Rock Hard, etc.

I consider this one of Princes masterpieces, lyrically its a chaotic wonder.

Its groovy as heaven and funky as hell.

I think this cd overall just keeps getting better, Other than ATWIAD this is one of the few prince albums i still listen to.

jtfolden said:

i don't know... many of these songs have the most overt obscene lyrics that Prince has ever written -- comes across as pretty dark to me

Well I think that When 2 R in Love is probably one of the most explicit tracks on that cd. "my tongue in the V of your love." etc. And that song made it to Lovesexy, so i dont think dark was what was intended.

I just have a bang up time, putting on the headphones and trying to figure out what Cat and Sheila are talking bout most of the time.


[Edited 3/17/06 0:35am]

yeah, i don't really understand why people call it so dark either.
apart from it's name, there is nothing that evil about it imo. its
for the most part good party music as someone else already said.

ok, bob george is a dark track, but even that one is infused with
a portion of humor.

when 2 r in love is one of his most beautiful and serene ballads.

the imagery might be explicit, altho i find it hardly any worse on
this album than on his 80-82 albums.

fluid said:

calldapplwondery83 said:

co-

fluid said:

Oh, I dunno - I think you hear the sound of the Black Album developing from what came before it, to what came after it, it's definately a building block in this natural progression.

You can hear it in the Camille tracks (nach), and some of the extended versions from SOTT, and Madhouse (especially 16 - those synth stabs).

lazycrockett said:

Lol, the only album is listen to these days is Rainbow Children.

lazycrockett said:

Agree, agree, agree.....

<----- Username is a testament to my love for the Funk Bible.

I consider it his last Great Album

killer from start to finish (even Dead On It is pretty ok)

And it is one hell of a finish at that. I just hate to see an erection go to waste!

fluid said:

He wants every album he puts out to have its own unique sound. I once read that from an interview.

This album is a frikkin masterpeice. Le Grind into Cindy C is just 10 minute non stop party. I play it many a time before a night out to get me in the mood, and i generally play the album right through when im working out in the gym.....its brilliant for that.

For me it represents everything i love(d) about Prince. Weird and Wonderful, innovative, lyrically amusing, musically inspired, and damn funky, this album is Prince at his peak.

I think we should start listing the reasons to love this album.

The Bass solo in 2 Nigs.

"I just hate to see an erection go to waste"

The stop start ending to Cindy C

A bucket of Squirrel Meat!!! WTF?

"Cos in my possession is a signed confession that says, i was the best you'd ever had"

Serve it up Franky

The incessant guitar scratching in Superfunkycalifragisexy

"for some one who cant stand them TV dinners you sure as hell eat enough of them"

Come on people give me some more.....

'Rockhard in a Funky Place' surely is one of my top 10 Prince songs. Love everything about it - the voice, the playful lyrics, the drums and their sound, the guitar, the horn riff. That's quintessential, unique Prince for me.

The reason he thought it was "evil" was apparently because he felt he'd made it to prove a point to his critics, not because it was the sort of music he wanted to make.
Funnily, it seems to me that a lot of 3121 seems to be about proving he can do a party album better than anyone else!

james said:

Considering that a lot of the tracks weren't even recorded specifically to create the album (or to prove a point to anyone), but rather just random recordings over a large space of time, I think we can pull back the blanket on this excuse even further... I think Prince just felt a 'simple party record' was beneath him at the time. Coming on the heels of such dizzying releases as ATWIAD, Parade, & SOTT the Black album really does seem a bit of a throw back to the DMSR ideals of 1999. Prince wanted an album with a message and LoveSexy was the one.

"Bitch, Who You Callin Bitch?, Ho Bitch."

lazycrockett said:

who you callin ho bitch, black ho bitch?!

MickG said:

Mick, you ARE a Prince fan, aren't you?

it was really cool to get it.. and hear it a few times.. that whole "mystery" crap it had of why it wasn't released and all that stuff..

but then it was like.. what the fuck IS this?.. very dated material...


hey, he was pushing forward.. it just wasn't the best.

When The Black Album first came out in 87(I mean when I purchased a bootleg) I didn't like it. To me, at the time Princes recordings were getting very chaotic and messy. There were way too many things going on. I've come to appreciate it over the years, but totally understand why he didn't want it released. It sounds like a demo. The record doesn't sound like a finished product and he totally knew that. It's funny because for me this is the beginning of his pattern of releasing records that he never quite followed through with. The last solid Prince record was Sign Of The Times.
I would give anything for a new Prince record that can stand alone.

But HE wanted it to sound like a Demo, he was going back to the whole Dirty Mind sound Right?

lazycrockett said:

not really...as was mentioned above, it was all just a bunch of songs he whipped together for sheila e's birthday party. crazy-assed party music, basically.

I heard a lot of the music was made during the time he tried ecstacy in 1987.

Bob George is a fucking masterpiece!!!

SexualSuicide said:

No, the rumor is that a bad experience with E led him to cancel the album. The primary effects of E don't last for more than a few hours... I can't imagine him recording a bunch of songs while rolling... especially given that two effects of E are jaw clenching and loss of focus/concentration.

matt said:

I heard the rumor that he was taking a bad dump on the pot.. and when he flushed it down, he decided to wipe all his shit clean.. i guess that meant the black album..