LoveSexy

Back in 1988, I was 16 years old and my musical tastes had varied quite a bit. I was getting into everything. Pop, rock, indie, alternative, dance, r&b, funk. And by now I had well and truly made the transition from vinyl to CDs – though still buying 12” singles like no-one's business. And I had found my record store – a little shop in the local shopping centre where I knew the staff and they knew me and my likes. So when they told me the new Prince album LoveSexy was coming out, I preordered it straight away – this was back in the day when a preorder actually made you feel like you might miss out if you didn’t. I stopped off after school the day it came out, grabbed it and raced home. Doing as I had always done with my Prince releases, I went into the little alcove my family had where the stereo was, and put my headphones on and rather than putting the needle on the record, I pressed play and closed my eyes.

From the opening ethereal sounds and the spoke introduction, I felt like I was going to a magical place. Straight away this had the feel of a great concept album, and I felt like a story was about to be told. “Welcome to the new power generation….” And there he was. Like he had on Paisley Park, Prince was inviting me to take a trip and don’t you know I had my ticket. With a full band sound that sounded fresh and bright, the song has a pure, open feel to it. And this stage I hadn’t heard the black album, and saw this as the natural transition of the brighter “yellow” songs of Sign O’ The Time (Play in the Sunshine, Houesquake). The groove has a joyful skipping quality to it, the bass line bounces along, even Prince singing in the higher register reinforces the sense of joy in (re)finding GOD (the feeling of Lovesexy). Lyrically Eye No addresses the justification of pulling the black album, the fact that “confusion and lightning” was all around him and that this album will celebrate the joy of redemption. The gospel tinged breakdown, just swirls and lifts you up higher, making you want to be part of this new experience. As an opener it is perfect, almost laying out the theme of the album, the fight between good and evil, between lovesexy and spooky electric, between the flesh and the divine, areas Prince has addressed before but never with such a joyful resolution. And the way the song climaxes with “eye no there is a heaven and a hell” seems to lay out the options for us confidently knowing that if we have been a part of the 5 minutes, we know which side to choose. (Based musically on The Ball – Eye No still contains the outro/intro to what had planned to be the following track in Joy in repetition).

Whereas Eye No felt like a band effort, Alphabet St feels all Prince. That syncopated drumbeat, the funky and you know it guitar riff, and the cocksureness of the lyrics. The fat chunky bass that hits on the chorus is just too cool. And the layering of the backing vocals and their incessant yeah yeah yeahs, just makes you feel like going down down down. But as the track progresses, more and more band elements start to creep in, the horns, the additional backing vocals, and Cat’s vocals. Whereas Eye No is uplifting, Alphabet St is just pure party joy. And yes that delivery of Tennessee is the one sampled by Arrested Development a few years later.

The first time I heard Glam Slam, I wasn’t sure to make of it, it seemed like an epic rock opera song snug tightly into 5 minutes. Having an almost oriental feel and arrangement, underpinned with a funk beat, GS has a sense of mystery to it that “seems to transcend the physical” and just carries you away. I especially love the musical breakdown towards the end with the synth strings ducking and weaving around the one the beat cowbell and shimmering tambourines. One of Prince’s underrated singles, maybe it was just too off the mainstream pop feel of the time to be the big hit it deserved to be.

It was only at this point, when the end of Glam Slam with its whirring keyboards segued into Anna Stesia that I looked up at the cd counter and noticed it was still track 1. Structured like one long epic dream this album was drawing me in.

As if the feeling of being amongst the clouds wasn’t in effect after the first few songs, Anna Stesia ensured it. Dealing with feeling of isolations and the longing for company, Anna Stesia seems to me to be Prince detailing his trials and tribulations on the recording of the black album and where he was at that point in his life – “between night and day, black light seemed like the only way so I danced, music late, nothing great, no way to differentiate, I took a chance”. Was he inviting us into the darkness, letting us see why he took a chance and pulled TBA and decided to move in more positive ways? And with the thinly veiled title (Anna Stesia = Anesthesia) and lyrics that talk about isolation and the longing to perhaps numb that feeling. Like The Cross this song is at once an honest look at the frailty in us all, and the hope in finding a higher purpose. Hearing it right now, I am moved with a mix of sadness and happiness, the bittersweet of life. But as soon as the refrain of “Love is God, God is love…” hits you are immediately filled with a great sense of optimism, as if the sunlight from a new dawn has broken throw the dark clouds. Redemption and perfection in under 5 minutes.

As soon as I heard the fluid drum groove of Dance On I was hooked. Like all the great Prince drum songs (Tambourine, Lady Cab Driver) this was one I knew I would forever love to drum along to. Littering the beat with accentuating samples that sends you into a state of confusion and excitement, Dance On is like a more up beat James Brown funky drummer inspired take on Sign O’ The Times with it’s running commentary on the state of the world. I love all the bleeps and blops that hit and vanish throughout. One of Prince’s on the groove songs that I will forever be smiling to when I hear it.

Continuing the funk frenzy, LoveSexy hits hard. With its high note melody hook – similar to that of When Doves Cry – the song seems to strut and swagger at times then burst forth with such joyful exuberance climaxing in the vocally manipulated pillow talk. Almost like the aural equivalent to a teasing wet dream, LoveSexy seems to want to draw the link that the spiritual and the physical need not be at odds, and can in fact be a path to enlightenment. A powerful track that just seems to lift you over the ground with its arrangement before laying you back on a pillow of funk. Sweet Dreams

Feeling more at place on LoveSexy than on The Black Album, When 2 R in Love shows Prince at his most seductive, and unlike some of his earlier ballads that seemed to suffer from trying too hard, W2RIL seems natural and organic. Light the candles, and dim the lights, and just get lost inside this song.

As soon as I heard the start of I Wish U Heaven with its foreverinmylife-esque drumbeat, and rain drop percussion. There is a sense of innocence and lament in this song that just touches me. Seeming to hold more than it’s mere 2:45 this is a song rich in beauty and tone, and a song that makes me want to have that grace in being able to wish nothing but the best for someone, even if that means them not being with you. Beautiful.

With an opening guitar structure to ATWIAD’s Temptation, Positivity flips the focus with its tale of living a righteous life, of living a life in the positive. With its mix of electronic beats and twirling percussion the song has a modern meets mystic feel befitting the lyrical message. A last warning, last train to salvation song, Positivity takes an honest look at the plight of a generation, offers guidance but admits we have a long long way to go. But at least the path is clear.

And closing full circle with the same arrangement as the opening the journey was complete. The CD whirs to a stop and I’m left feeling richer for the experience. And today, despite it not being the smash hit it deserved to be, I always felt it was a more worthy successor to SOTT than The Black Album, and I’m glad that to me that’s how I heard it a.

So how did LoveSexy move you? Have you had your plus sign today?

My favorite album!

ALPHABET ST.

Spinlight said:

My favorite album!

How does it make you feel? Is every track a winner for you, or is there one or two that just don't hit?

The whole album I luv 2 this day still!

Never heard LoveSexy before.

Swa, I'm gonna put my Mazarati love on hold tomorrow and listen to this one. It's been a while since I listened to anything off Lovesexy with the exception of Alphabet St. and maybe Glam Slam. I'll be back.

Definitely one of my favorites. I love every song on it.

Sheila, yeah, have the choir hit a long note, have the choir hit a long not, HEAVEN, yeah, say hello to my little friend...the Blue Angel!!! LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!!!

smoothcriminal12 said:

Never heard LoveSexy before.

I understand you are discovering Prince - and hope that these insights might make you go back and discover some great gems that appear to be missing from your back catalogue.

Wow...u read my mind. I was just listening 2 this album an hour ago and I was thinking DAMN 22 years and this album STILL sounds great!!!! I'd love 2 see Prince make another album and expand on what he did with 'Alphabet Street'. What a great, funky song!

Anna Stesia is one of the coolest and most emotional songs in his 80's era...from beginning to end I go through a rollercoaster of emotions while listening to it...When 2 R in love is soooo sexy...."let me touch ur body till ur river's in motion, bathe with me.....nothing's forbiden, nothings taboo..when the 2 r in love"

lavender1983 said:

Anna Stesia is one of the coolest and most emotional songs in his 80's era...from beginning to end I go through a rollercoaster of emotions while listening to it...When 2 R in love is soooo sexy...."let me touch ur body till ur river's in motion, bathe with me.....nothing's forbiden, nothings taboo..when the 2 r in love"

I don't have the lyric book with me but isn't the line "let me touch your body til your river's an ocean"

Not a bad album but not as good as the black album.

AND the the lovesexy tour was awesome !

Swa said:

Spinlight said:

My favorite album!

How does it make you feel? Is every track a winner for you, or is there one or two that just don't hit?

Every track is a hit on LoveSexy for me. I loved every song the instant I heard it, which is rare for me w/ Prince. "I Know" is, to this day, my favorite intro song to any album. It just sets the tone for the rest of the album so perfectly and it saw him experimenting with sounds in ways he hadn't before. "Alphabet St" is one of the songs on the album that really shows off this dry, crisp, almost nasally delivery he gave throughout. The production is so clean and crisp, it really shows how Prince was thinking forward while still using his old school tactics. The dual rock operas of "Glam Slam" and "Anna Stesia" work so perfectly from one into the other that unless you actually did check your device, you'd think it was all one extended jam. "Dance On" is a track that I've always wondered why he didn't perform it live more often. It is one of the best moments captured in the studio where he sounded much like he did in concert. Other examples of this sort of thing were experimental tracks like "3121" and "The Question of U". "LoveSexy" is, of course, to God what "Erotic City" is to his lover. "LoveSexy" is the track telling you how horny Prince is for God and how hard it makes him that his lover is into God that much, too. This is about a carnal desire for Heaven. He's never done a song this clever since. The last 3 songs mesh so well together that you would think they were done in one take ala the first 3 of Parade. "Positivity" seemed like a weird song to end on, but it was much akin to "Temptation" in its experimental nature.

I'm not a religious person, but Prince's ability to not patronize, to sound clever in his devotion, and to merge his desire for sex with his desire for salvation are best displayed entirely within this album moreso than any other record he's released (all of which tend to sway to either the heavily erotic or heavily spiritual).

Swa said:

smoothcriminal12 said:

Never heard LoveSexy before.

I understand you are discovering Prince - and hope that these insights might make you go back and discover some great gems that appear to be missing from your back catalogue.

Yeah, I read this and the comments and I just wish I had enough money to go out there and buy every single one of his albums. Maybe by Christmas...

Swa said:

lavender1983 said:

Anna Stesia is one of the coolest and most emotional songs in his 80's era...from beginning to end I go through a rollercoaster of emotions while listening to it...When 2 R in love is soooo sexy...."let me touch ur body till ur river's in motion, bathe with me.....nothing's forbiden, nothings taboo..when the 2 r in love"

I don't have the lyric book with me but isn't the line "let me touch your body til your river's an ocean"

probably.....whatever the actual line is... its all 2 me

Great album, great tour, and one of the cheesiest cheap and nasty brilliant videos ever in the shape of Alphabet Street.

Okay. A pretty awesome 45 minutes. That's exactly how I listened to it, as the one long track, so I wasn't tempted to skip songs.

Nothing will replace Parade and ATWIAD as my favorite Prince albums, but this is really pretty kick ass. I think that since I was so meh on SOTT I kinda skipped over Lovesxy thinking it was gonna be more SOTT-ish and never really gave it a good listen other than Alphabet St. Plus the outfits killed it for me. Oh god. The Horror.

That being said, every song on here is pretty amazing. There's so much going on in tracks like Glam Slam, Anna Stesia and Lovesexy. The Glam Slam/Anna Stesia transition is the business. The only semi weak track to me was Dance On.

Also I think I would have ended the album with I Wish U Heaven, not Positivity. I don't know why, I just feel like that woulda been a better ending. Plus Positivity... way too long.

It's still a really solid album tho. I've seen parts of the Dortmund show and know that Anna Stesia live in any era is a fav of org members which is probably the reason this album is so loved. I can see why.

[Edited 9/24/10 8:03am]

Great album....crazy as hell, but great. Luv it!

Not a false note to this whole project for me. The album, the B-sides, the look, the tour..everything just clicked and made this a tremendously exciting time to be a Prince fan. To my ears, this is his last perfectly realized album from start to finish. Of course, there's been tons of brilliant moments since but not so singularly and spectacularly

Completely overrated except track #4 that already has its own appreciation thread... Plus OldFriends4Sale has a comprehensive thread for this album anyway.

LiveToTell86 said:

Completely overrated except track #4 that already has its own appreciation thread... Plus OldFriends4Sale has a comprehensive thread for this album anyway.

[Edited 9/24/10 12:47pm]

LiveToTell86 said:

Completely overrated except track #4 that already has its own appreciation thread... Plus OldFriends4Sale has a comprehensive thread for this album anyway.

About your first asessment I'd say it's a load of bollocks. The album is superb.

About the second one I'd say I never understood the need for these informative threads with info everybody knows and nobody asked for.

Anna Stesia and When 2 R In Love were the highlights for me on Lovesexy. Was 21 when this LP was released and believe you me the album cover was quite awkward for most dudes to display but the music was on point.

[Edited 9/24/10 14:32pm]

I didn't buy this until the early 1990s but it is in my top 10 Prince albums. "Dance On" gets slept on a bit, but is one of his funkiest jams.

trickykid59 said:

Not a bad album but not as good as the black album.

AND the the lovesexy tour was awesome !

This.

vitriol said:

About the second one I'd say I never understood the need for these informative threads with info everybody knows and nobody asked for.

Personally, I'm enjoying the meaningful, informative discussions about Prince's music far more than thread after thread full of sarcasm and schadenfreude...

Chiquetet said:

vitriol said:

About the second one I'd say I never understood the need for these informative threads with info everybody knows and nobody asked for.

Personally, I'm enjoying the meaningful, informative discussions about Prince's music far more than thread after thread full of sarcasm and schadenfreude...

If you read carefully, I tried to mean that I don't find those threads neither meaningful nor informative. Some things everybody and their aunties have always known and no real new insights or new interpretations/conclusions of known facts.

I see them as a kind of 'Hey-I-think-I-have-some-info-and-even-if-no-one-asked-for-it-I'm-gonna post-it-anyway' show-offs.

Well, even if they don't go any further than pointing a small bunch of well-known facts and some pics ( ), song lyrics ( ) and other unnecessary 'decorations' ( ), I concur they may be interesting for absolute newcomers.

But then again there are very good informative webs where newbies can find some much more complete and better structured researchs.

a 10/10 masterpiece.

the album,

the extended versions 12 inches

the music videos

the stylic cover pic

the tour

the band

the clothes

[img:$uid]http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/8532/lovesexy.png[/img:$uid]

^ Excellent album!!

.

[Edited 9/24/10 22:22pm]