when i first hear it in 1992 i think well its like love sexy with a dark twist i like it in particular rock hard ia a funky place (also rebirt of the flesh not included) in 1988 will be hot in the clubs but like someome here says who knows!!!!

kpowers said:

Which is kinda the point of this thread, right?

ufoclub said:

I completely disagree.I don't think 'The Black Album' would have been a big success at all.The critics would have loved it,but I can't imagine it being a big seller....especially coming so soon after 'SOTT' (a 2-record set that was still doing well on the charts).Furthermore,there are no real singles on TBA.I can't imagine any of those songs being a Top 10 hit anywhere.At least Lovesexy had "Alphabet St"

ufoclub said:

I think it would have been a silly move to release a new album in December 1987.'SOTT' was still going strong at that point.The concert film was released in November and in my area,songs like "Adore" and "Hot Thing" (the remix version that appears on the 12" of ICNTTPOYM) was receiving massive airplay.Instead of releasing a new album,Prince should have released a few more singles from SOTT...perhaps "It" and "Adore"?

SoulAlive said:

TBA wasn't meant to compete with SOTT, it was an under the radar release. Sure word would've got out there was a new Prince record out, reviews and the music press would put it out there, but there wouldn't be any videos rotating on MTV, and the lyrical content of a lot of the material would stop radio play.

I can imagine though, IF it had got a lot of critical praise, and word of mouth had made it a big deal, Warners and Prince could've started to push it as a full Prince release.

NouveauDance said:

I recall ATWIAD was supposed to be released this way too....no singles,no videos,very little promotion.This wouldn't work for a mainstream artist of Prince's stature.It would have been a silly situation and I'm glad Prince didn't follow through with it.

SoulAlive said:

That's true and they conceded with ATWIAD, but that was still a 'Prince' record.

IMO, I saw TBA more akin to the Madhouse records, with the exception that a higher profile for the record would've been inevitable though, since TBA is a vocal pop record, not an instrumental album. So in that way, it's also similar to NPS, in that it's Prince, but not released as a Prince record.
[Edited 1/17/07 10:50am]

SoulAlive said:

I can tell you what was happening around me: When I played Black album for people they wanted copies, or at least were intrigued (one guy did say it sounded horrible compared to Purple Rain stuff). when I played Lovesexy, they hated it, or seemed indifferent.

Alphabet St didn't really click with pop audiences around me at the time. I remember exact comments on it: "It doesn't really sound too good... the only good part is the yeah yeah yeahs..."

PS: SOTT wasn't considered that great by regular people I knew, they all thought Janet Jackson's control album was pop genius at that time.

I think Black Album would have been a success in the way Prince sometimes seems to strive to be succesful: to become known as a success in a new twisted but cool direction...

It would have been like an entire album that functioned like the b-side Erotic City or Irristible Bitch... popular in it's own way on the down low, played, but a bit underground, a bit sinful.... and definitely a completely and startlingly different road than all his peers at the time.

I loved how Bono and the Edge cited it in their top ten albums of the year even though it wasn't released.

I've always thought the Black Album was mostly throwaway material. I like it for what it is, but the notion that it would have gotten him some "street cred" is laughable IMHO. Listen to "Rockhard in a Funky Place" and tell me if the masses would think that it was some hot, edgy shit... I don't think so. The album has an exalted place in Prince lore because of the circumstances surrounding it, and how unreleased material always has a sorta mythic quality. The album itself is pretty substandard, and despite his intention of releasing it as a "side-project", it wasn't like Madhouse - - it had Prince vocals. It would have been treated as a regular Prince album by the press (who still cared about Prince at the time), and Prince knew it wasn't up to snuff.

In the end, the fact that it was pulled probably did far more for the album than if it had been released at the time.

Had he only handled "LoveSexy" properly, the combination of the "Black Album" leaking all over the place and a successful "LoveSexy" might have reignited his career in a big way. But everything about "LoveSexy" was botched - the material is there, but the cover doomed it, as did the lack of tracking, and his horrific pastel wardrobe at the time. Had it been released with a different cover, with less idiotic visuals, and perhaps "Dance On" as the first single.... crikey. It would have been a different story altogether.

"LoveSexy" has dropped in my view. It's always been one of my favorites, or perhaps my favorite - - - but now the over-the-top production just sounds woefully dated, and all the "spooky electric" nonsense just sounds so hokey. I still love all of the tracks, but SOTT and Parade have a more timeless quality to them, IMHO. Blast "Kiss" and then blast "Lovesexy" side by side - - which one has aged better? "Kiss" is so crisp and funky it sounds like it could have been released yesterday. "Lovesexy" just screams "80's!!!!!" to me.

OK, I dunno HOW i got off on that tangent, LOL.

NorthernLad said:

Well I'm not speaking from imagination, I'm just telling you that more people around me in 1988 thought the black album was cool, wanted copies of it, thought Lovesexy was lame. I remember the DJ who let me listen to an advance copy of Lovesexy before passed it to me and said it was too old school with it's beats (specifically Eye No which is my favorite track). This was BEFORE it came out. The production sounded retro to me even back then with it's feel good synths and party synth bass...

PS just the other day a friend of mine called me up and asked why I had never pushed ROckHard on him, he said it was so cool...

I doubt Lovesexy would have been sought after as much as the Black ALbum if it had been the bootleg.

NorthernLad said:

For me, this is no bad thing. Most of the music I love is of it's time, and nowhere else.

MartyMcFly said:

Have to correct people when they say this will happen and that will happen, (love to see their crystal ball) can't leave it there as facts....right

I honestly believe the Black Album would have had little if any impact. I've read where Alan Leeds thinks it would have been a big deal but I really disagree, I remember when you could buy the bootleg at certain indy record stores me and a bunch of my hardcore Prince buddies got it and were pretty underwhelmed.

LinnLM1 said:

wow... that's just the opposite for me and my friends. It remains my favorite album by him. Something about it's flavor and cohesivness makes it addictive to me. I STILL can't get over how cool the rhythm growl sound effect in Le Grind is.

It did inspire a cover band to make a meticulous remake of it with every instrument track represented...

It would have been a global Top 5 album at least, although it would have divided fans as it does today.

cool article:

http://www.renewal.org.au...album.html

ufoclub said:

Great Read, Thanks. Now I'm going to wander off and look at my Lovesexy tour book.

always thought TBA
came before Lovesexy

what is the story?
I'd love to read it...
was it for sale in stores
and then recalled?

what was the point of the
hidden message to "not" buy
TBA in the "Alphabet Street" video for?

so the sequence is:
Lovesexy
TBA
SOTT

right?

DirtyChris said:

mmm No. SOTT was released first, which was to be followed by The Black Album in December, Prince recalled the TBA from what I recall like a week or 2 before it was to be released. I believe it had a schedule date of the 10th, but I'm not sure. Lovesexy came out bout 4 to 5 months later.

The whole "Don't buy the Black Album was kinda 2 handed I thought, P was saying not to embrace the darkness of TBA but at the same time reminding people that it was out there.

The "usual" story of why TBA was pulled was that P did E and had a bad trip, Or saw "G.O.D" in a field or something and thought that if he died, he didn't want the TBA with its darker theme, to be the last official release.

Personally I think The Black Album is his second best work. Its a chaotic masterpiece. Its free flowing, extended jams and twist and turns. Its a bit dark but not as much as it gets labeled. Its more direct in its approach to sex and besides Bob George I don't see the violence.

Get a copy put on the headphones and be bedazzled cause its the last frenzied work of art that the guy did.

NorthernLad said:

I agree with almost everything you said.I never really thought The Black Album was that revolutionary or unique.It's funky but I don't think it's the great masterpiece that so many people think it is.A large part of it's appeal is the simple fact that it wasn't released in 1987,thus becoming an extremely popular bootleg.For several years after that,it had a mysterious vibe about it (as you put it,"mythic quality").But musically,it's not his strongest work.To me,"Housequake" is better and funkier than anything on The Black Album.

SoulAlive said:

Without a doubt. The Camille album is way better - and funkier.

LinnLM1 said:

SoulAlive said:

Was there ever final track list of Camille? Or do we just all start going on and on bout the boots that have been made by everyone else?

lazycrockett said:

'CAMILLE' tracklist

Rebirth Of The Flesh
Housequake
Shockadelica
Feel U Up
Strange Relationship
Good Love
If I Was Your Girlfriend
Rock Hard In A Funky Place

SoulAlive said:

Sorry what i was asking was its ever Official? or Pressed? I think the answer is no.

lazycrockett said:

Actually it was an official project and had been given a Warner Bros. catalogue number.I'm sure Boris could give you more details.Prince wanted to release it in late 1986,if I'm not mistaken.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...e_(Prince)

As you can see,it's not just a fan-created myth.There really was an album called 'Camille' that Prince was planning to release.

ufoclub said:

Yeah,it's amazing how much favorable press The Black Album received in 1988.

LinnLM1 said:

I will definitely co-sign. "Camille" puts "The Black Album" to shame.

Perhaps he regretted not releasing Camille, and decided to give it another whirl with a similar album - dark and funky - , but realized the material just wasn't as strong?

SoulAlive said:

I think part of the reason for that was the "oooh look how cool I am, I have the unreleased album" factor.

lazycrockett said:

thanx

I knew I had thate sequence fucked up