ufoclub said:

The album is confusing at times, but I love the Prince mythology it embraces and the connections between songs--like river of blood mentioned in "I Wanna Melt With U" and again in "7," as well as the many references to seven in "I Wanna Melt With U."

Also how in the video to "7," how the Prince character with the chains on his face is one of the seven who falls--that always justified "My Name Is Prince's" kind of ridiculous quality. Like Prince knew that that (along with "I Wanna Melt With U") was not his best side, even if the song is funky.
[Edited 8/30/06 10:43am]

"the morning papers" blew me away!

Imago said:

I think the biggest difference here is that with Parade, he was full of self doubt about the album he'd created from his heart at that point (whether genuine or not), but with the Symbol Album, he was retrospectively realising that it was a cop-out on his behalf. I'm not normally a supporter of his WB battle, but it was clear here that something was wrong and he was happily giving them music that he wasn't interested in himself.

It's funny, but I think his comparison with the album and TRC is a good one cos TRC is what that sort of album should be about (creative madness and consumer confusion) and the album is a fine example of an artist giving in to what is expected of her/him.

ufoclub said:

"river of blood" was a great lyric?

My only complaint with the album is that,on certain songs,Prince comes across as a dirty old man.I cringe at the part where Kirstie Alley informs Prince that "this princess is only 16 years old"

SoulAlive said:

well but prince was only, what, 32 or something back then?

not saying that's ok, but a bit less gross than pushing 50

IstenSzek said:

SoulAlive said:

virgin sacrifices galore. lock up ur daughters fer real.

SoulAlive said:

Yeah "river of blood" created that disturbing mood that Prince loves to throw in stuff, and fits with the strange middle east/biblical revelations texture of the design and themes of the album.

luv4u said:

I love 7 and Sexy MF is fun, Damn U has a great vocal, but overall I just can't listen to this album. The rapping is of course terrible and some of the songs are just horrible - Blue Light, Wanna Melt - Just doesn't sound natural in any way - you can hear the effort and calculation invovlved in putting it together. It's cool thought that some of you guys like his 90s stuff, I find it embarassing overall.

Has anybody noticed that the picture I posted changed?

I didn't change it either. It just kind of changed itself.

"3 chains o' gold" is worth it for the guitar solo.

I remember my older sister and her friends talking about the video to "My name is prince" stating how weird it was. Me and my mates loved it at the time. Another WTF prince moment


"sweet baby" sounds like a wimpy aor track that bobby caldwell might do. Odd, but that and its sister "dont talk to strangers" are ok once in a while.

thesexofit said:

hi boo

3 chains of gold seriously would be perfect if not for Mayte's "Give back the chains" voice at the end of it. It's like Prince's Bohemian Rhapsody.

i love this album. i got this thinking, "what the hell is all this about?"

and of course, And God Created Woman is some spooky r+b/pop. i love it!



i too can say that i have been a total bitch for this album at some points.

Milty said:

You're a total bitch pretty much all the time.

Imago said:

Milty said:

I miss you in the General Discussion forum!



There, I've said it.

I was obsessed with this album when it came out it completely blew me away, I had to listen to it all day everyday and LOUD! (my neighbours proberly knew all the words too). BUT It wasn't until resently when was talking to a DJ in a club and he said something from the Continental, i was like "Hey that's Prince..." and he was laughing so hard telling me that's his favourite song and Prince album. It wasn't until i went home and relistened to it again, having not played it for almost 10 years... that i realised that this album is one of his best albums of the 90's and is up there with the best P albums, it's Prince and his ego at his dirty best, dirty and over the top... still over 10 years later this album blows me away ever single time
LONG LIVE

SoulAlive said:

Yeah, that's another thing. Some of the lyrics are just plain creepy as FUCK.

"Why is age more than a number when it comes to love?" sounds like something a child molestor ponders as he jerks off to a kid's picture.

PurpleKnight said:

Not sure about that - "the Princess was 16 years old" and in reality Mayte at least 18.

And surely less controversial than say Sister and probably many other tracks that came before which do not require hugh leaps of faith to come to more sinister conclusions.

This wasn't the first time that Prince played games with the age of a young girl.In the early 80s,there was alot of speculation that Susan Moonsie of Vanity 6 was only 16 years old.In typical Princely fashion,she never denied or confirmed it.She often held a stuffed teddy bear as part of her "act".This raised alot of eyebrows.

I like a few joints from

Sexy M.F.
Damn U
7
And God Created Woman

SoulAlive said:

Co-sign
I am in that minority also

THis was the first album that I bought of Prince's, and by far one of his best in my opinion.

SEXY MOTHER FUCKER SHAKIN THAT ASS! God bless U Tony M! Also, one of the slickest semi-acoustic (guest) guitar solos on a P record ever! The Morning Papers is the only P song my mate Stu likes! This is the 1st P album I got into ever! (i was 15). Just saw the Arsenio Hall vid on UTube - CRAZY! Love 2 the 9s is 1 of my favorite P trax! Blue Light is unique Prince! Sweet Baby is not cheese, it's lush! Damn U pulled my 1st girlfriend! It's fucking brilliant! More P albums should be like this! YES!

But this was very shortly after P signed that MASSIVE contract with WB. Was this him bowing to the pressure of having 2 be MASSIVELY commercial to fulfill the $$$ demands of WB? This is possibly the glossiest, spankingly well produced record P has ever put out ever. Was this his own creative approach or WB's? The thing happened less than a year later...

ALSO: Is it true that Warner Bros wanted to drop '7' as the 1st single, but P insisted on 'My Name Is Prince'? That pretty sums up the little man's attitude - '7' is a fantastic song....

THIS MORNING I WANTED A CUP OF COFFEE BUT I DIDN'T HAVE ANY CREAM
LAST NITE I WANTED SOME INSPIRATION BUT I DIDN'T HAVE ANY DREAMS

three chains of gold. how prophetic.... (emancipation and all that...)

If you take out the skits and other cheesy material to try to make a (and I use this word loosely) cohesive story out of it and leave these songs, IMHO it would be a very strong album that I think most people couldn't argue with. However I believe that this album is a classic example of what plauges a lot of Prince albums and songs: over-production.

(in this order)
My Name Is Prince
Love 2 The 9's
And God Created Woman
The Morning Papers
Sexy M.F.
Sweet Baby
Damn U
7
3 Chain's O Gold

Imago said:

= MASTERPIECE!!!

.....

KAB said:

Well, yes, there are perhaps more controversial single songs in his catalogue, but this was an entire album's worth of it. It's just creepy, and and the fact that the theme is executed really poorly like a cartoon that's meant to be taken seriously as high art just makes it worse.

mrsquirrel said:

That's correct,but in this case,I think Prince was right."My Name Is Prince" is a perfect first single (although technically,it's the second single,since "Sexy MF" had been released months earlier).

I feel that some of the other single choices weren't so good.For example,"The Morning Papers" should not have been a single.It's an okay song,but it doesn't sound like a "hit" to me.I would have chosen the superior "And God Created Woman".It's also a shame that "The Continental" didn't become a single.