If only he had left this comical rap/interview part off of "Love 2 the 9s", he'd have a perfect song there. It's so amazing. Some of his best singing ever. Overall, I'm in favor of this album but some songs are REALLY unneccessary, like Arrogance or The Flow.

I love this album! It would be in my top ten

I just recently bought a second copy for $2 just to keep in my car

Used to love this CD but now find it grating. All the clichéd criticisms of this album stand true.

Tony M ruins it (although I didn't mind his input on the Diamonds and Pearls CD) and too many of the songs meander completely away from how they started. There are too many skits and interludes that cut into the songs, completely destroying some of them. The fact that 7 uses samples puts me off it - I like my Prince being 100% original. 3 Chains O Gold is trying to sound like Bohemian Rhapsody but just comes off as a poor clone and 'Sacrifice of Victor' is a horrible closer.

Oddly, I think the imagery around this time was some of Prince's best. The chained hat, the colourful costumes, the videos...

Where and when did Prince ever criticize this album?

Even though this album contains the only tolerable Tony M. rap in "Sexy MF", his other "contributions" are unforgivable. Also, that garbage starting with the skit at the end of "Damn U" into "Arrogance" into "The Flow" is the worst turd-cluster Prince ever put together. Worse than "Jughead." How can dung like "The Flow" be back to back with a masterpiece like "7"????? HOW!!!!???

I have always thought about the as the BOMBASTIC album.

To me it sounds like Prince is purposely on the verge of 'self parody' on this album. I dont mean that in a negative way but large parts of the music, lyrics and segues seem purposely 'over the top'.

When listening to this record i always get the feel that Prince is trying to say 'WB, this is what i have turned into 'under your wings', into a narcist, a megalomaniac, a sex god, a cryptically semi-messiah'. Wether or not WB is too blame for that is a different question, but i always see this record as some 'reckoning' with his 'past' a a mainstream star.

Belgium singer Raymond van het Groenewoud, probably known by some of you who live in western europe, once said he loved the humor in Princes music, and that people often dont 'see' that humor, while its a integral element of his music. I often think of that remark when listening to the symbol-album, for me it is Princes reckoning with WB, but on a deeper level i think Prince is dealing with his own past 'negative' tendencies in a bombastic, but also selfconscious humorous way (i mean, it starts with My name is Prince allready, all ironic narcism).

Anyone feels the same about this record? I am curious about your views.

I'm totally obsessed with the album! It's one of those albums that you can listen to from front to back without totally skipping, even though the Kristie Alley interludes are so bombastic and really try to mess up the consistency and focus of the album. It's definitely better than Diamonds And Pearls.

SoulAlive said:

I couldnt have said it better

Ah,
this explains why every time I read one of your posts while this album's playin' in the background,
I feel a strong urge to send you an org-note that reads
" You total bitch....!"

Sounds like alot of positive reviews....so when's the DVD comin out?

origmnd said:

Very vocally at the NPGMC in the Library.

He compared the Symbol album with The Rainbow Children and asked the listener to compare the two and see which album represented true freedom (referring to TRC) therefore clearly putting down one of his own albums - i.e. the symbollocks album!

A rare case for him to not support one of his own 'children', but he proved there that the Symbol album holds 'issues' for him. And thank goodness he has looked back upon this atrocity and realised it's inferiority.

RitaQoS said:

Didn't he also say similar things about Parade?


PARADE kicks ass.

Imago said:

This album is far more enjoyable than:

New POwer Soul
Girl 6
Diamonds & Pearls
Come
Rave
Most of Emancipation

RitaQoS said:

It's perhaps technically the greatest album he's done. The band & arangements are just amazing. Yeah, it's a bit messy, and the talking & rapping hurt it a bit, but so what? Lots of my favorites have annoying bits.

At the time it was exciting to make some sense of the album ("is Prince going to write an opera?" "Is his name Victor now?"). This made the baffling nature of the story work for me, though it probably detracts from the music.

I actually like every song, though I don't like moments in almost each track.

Some of the songs are among his greats:

My Name is Prince (if only for that one line)
Sexy MF
Love 2 The 9s
The Morning Papers
7
Sacrifice

and even the weakest songs (Arrogance, The Flow) have great music.

RitaQoS said:

I think Symbol & TRC are very similar.

I'm a total bitch 4 all of Prince's albums!Love this 1,btw!

imago

Fucking perfect album from start to finish. Should be mentioned as one of his most complete albums EVER!! Right up there with PR, Lovesexy, Parade, TGE, SOTT, and ATWIAD. All perfect albums.

Imago said:

Yes,Prince said the same thing about 'Parade'.He said that "Apart from "Kiss",there's nothing on it that I'm particularly proud of".And he once said that the '1999' album is "me being in the third grade,musically".He can be very hard on himself somnetimes,dismissing entire albums,even those that are held in high esteem by critics and fans.

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

This album kills all of his other 90s albums,including 'TGE'

SoulAlive said:

Those two (Symbol/Gold) are my fave albums by far of his 1990's offerings.

SoulAlive said:

NDRU said:

I agree with much of what you said.Although alot of people thought the "rock soap opera" concept was silly,I liked it.For the most part,Prince writes his most interesting songs when he is writing for characters ('Batman',for example).He has a real knack for this.'Love Symbol' is just like one of his movie soundtracks.Plus,I like the idea of concept albums in general.Each song is a piece of the puzzle.

IstenSzek said:

Don't get me wrong,'TGE' is very good...probably my second favorite 90s Prince CD

IstenSzek said:

Apart from disagreeing that doesn't contain 8 strong songs - I love nearly all of them.

You can't really believe that the albums such as ATWIAD , Lovesexy, Controversy, Batman ST have no weak tracks i.e. your arguement above that couldn't match them for good songs?

I would estimate that on average they contain 50% filler / weaker songs..

e.g. Lovesexy - Glam, Slam, When 2 R in love, Dance on, Positivity 4/9

I find it hard to reconcile with the view point that Prince suddenly couldn't write a good song / album from the turn of the decade [1 Jan 1990]!!

KAB said:

lol. it's all just a matter of taste, but i truly, without being delusional,
believe and feel that all his albums from 1999 - Lovesexy contain no filler!
i love and cherish each and every individual song from those discs.



but i'm not one of those sad pathetic people who live only for prince's 80's
output and dislike everything 90's and onward.

see, i think the whole "come/gold experience" era is superb and like every
single song from it as much as his 80's material.

also, "the truth", "the rainbow children" and "one nite alone (piano album)"
hardly put a foot wrong between them.

and i love his jazz doodles from recent years. c-note is just fantastic. but
that still makes me feel that the o(+> album was just not a very good album.
same thing goes for "diamonds and pearls". they both contain about 5 really
solid good classic songs. but that's it. the rest is so "soup du jour", lol.

i guess i just dislike prince trying to be too much like the rest of what's
hip instead of being himself. produced like "dirty mind", this whole cd
would have come off a million times better. but the rapping and the glam of
it all was just too much style over too little (yet cluttered) substance.

ok. i'm boring myself now so i'll stop

I think was a great album as well. "...river of blood..." is a great lyric. I actually like "The Flow" better than any of Tony M's raps on any other songs. I think that "Sacrifice of Victor" builds incredibly to the "joy around the corner" soul choir vocals.

I don't think that it is perfect by any means. But it comes across much stronger on a first listen in it's time than many other Prince albums.

IstenSzek said:

Good to read you comments.

My favourite Prince period is 1993-96 - upto and including C&D.

But like you love TRC [my favourite album], The Truth, ONA and can also appreciate Musicology and 3121.

I can understand your comments about without agreeing with them.

And I'm glad you're not living purely for an 80s revival.

There is no doubt that there were some classic all-time Prince tracks / albums from the 1980s but to say the great music dried up from 31 December 1989 is ridiculous. I realsie your not saying this - don't worry.