This week I have been revisiting the Black Album .

This album always makes me smile . Fun time in my life . (first time out of college ... out of the roost ... girlfriends ... own places ... trips ... etc ) ...

and the album is Prince ... funky ... alil dirty ... and more or less PARTY MUSIC .... which i like ... I have said it before - but I think the first 3 songs are "near perfect" Prince songs ... killer .

From "dirty mind" to "1999", "purple Rain" and then "sign of the times" .... I do think all that time Prince had a hell of a run ... I always loved the "lovesexy" - Black Album period ....

As I was driving , listening to it ... i realized ... I think this was the beginning of the end for Prince in some ways ... SURE some of his later "hits" had some neat stuff on it .. but as an album goes ... I think this is his last great album ...

thoughts?

the end of the 80's Prince era. the last album he made without all the time and toys in the world that Paisley Park brought him. it's creeping in here, the denseness and the fiddley nature of his production techniques of years to come. but it still has that starkness, the sparseness, the space. the gutteral, visceral youth he employed so deftly before he moved on.

No, it's not his last great album

Love Symbol in 1992

TGE in 1995

and other solid/strong albums

D&P in 1991

3121 in 2006

Lotus in 2009

20Ten in 2010

ColAngus said:

This week I have been revisiting the Black Album .

This album always makes me smile . Fun time in my life . (first time out of college ... out of the roost ... girlfriends ... own places ... trips ... etc ) ...

and the album is Prince ... funky ... alil dirty ... and more or less PARTY MUSIC .... which i like ... I have said it before - but I think the first 3 songs are "near perfect" Prince songs ... killer .

From "dirty mind" to "1999", "purple Rain" and then "sign of the times" .... I do think all that time Prince had a hell of a run ... I always loved the "lovesexy" - Black Album period ....

As I was driving , listening to it ... i realized ... I think this was the beginning of the end for Prince in some ways ... SURE some of his later "hits" had some neat stuff on it .. but as an album goes ... I think this is his last great album ...

thoughts?

I agree. While he continued to sprinkle his albums with a few good songs here and there, but nothing in the league with the tunes here. The originality and timelessness of Bob George or Rock Hard cannot be understated.

[Edited 2/21/11 18:35pm]

i agree with Joe. surely not his last great album. for me, TRC qualifies as does Graffiti Bridge (just his songs), and Lotus

JoeTyler said:

No, it's not his last great album

Love Symbol in 1992

TGE in 1995

and other solid/strong albums

D&P in 1991

3121 in 2006

Lotus in 2009

20Ten in 2010

errant said:

the end of the 80's Prince era. the last album he made without all the time and toys in the world that Paisley Park brought him. it's creeping in here, the denseness and the fiddley nature of his production techniques of years to come. but it still has that starkness, the sparseness, the space. the gutteral, visceral youth he employed so deftly before he moved on.

and no, I don't think it's his last great album. I'm not even sure I think it's a great album. he's made some better ones since this.

i think the following are great albums IMO:

- Love Symbol (1992) - 8/10

- The Gold Experience (1995)- 8/10

- 3121 (2006)- 8/10

oh yee prince fans of little minds ...

hehe (just kiddin)

I used to think it was not his greatest album . Hence , my re-visiting it ...

After listening to it pretty much all week in my car ... i have to say ... I DO THINK IT IS HIS LAST GREAT ALBUM .

Diamonds and Pearls . puhlease . Not even close . So much filler I dont have to discuss here.

Love symbol . (1992) . hello ? Tony M ? classic great album . I think NOT .

The Gold Experience . While I do think it returned Prince in my mind to "some form" . Too much "pop" stuff with little funk. imo.

To me, the BLACK ALBUM has no filler. Sure over the years I have "not liked " as much some of the songs (2 Nigs, Supercalifragi) but ... they have this way of growing on me. Like Classical music ... this album has grown on me ... and has special meaning in my life . Lets not forget , back then ... in 1988 , Rolling Stone gave the Black Album and Lovesexy "best album" of the year mentions - not that I always agree with Rolling stone ... but ... again ... just my lil argument and my .02 ....

so i rest my case . it was the last great classic album by Prince.

I do not think it's his last great album

Great albums recorded after Black Album (8/10 to 10/10)

LoveSexy (1988)

Batman (1989)

Diamonds and Pearls (1991)

(1992)

The Undertaker Video Album (1995)

The Gold Experience (1995)

Old Friends 4 Sale (1999)

3121 (2006)

Lotusflow3r (2009)

ColAngus said:

oh yee prince fans of little minds ...

hehe (just kiddin)

I used to think it was not his greatest album . Hence , my re-visiting it ...

After listening to it pretty much all week in my car ... i have to say ... I DO THINK IT IS HIS LAST GREAT ALBUM .

Diamonds and Pearls . puhlease . Not even close . So much filler I dont have to discuss here.

Love symbol . (1992) . hello ? Tony M ? classic great album . I think NOT .

The Gold Experience . While I do think it returned Prince in my mind to "some form" . Too much "pop" stuff with little funk. imo.

To me, the BLACK ALBUM has no filler. Sure over the years I have "not liked " as much some of the songs (2 Nigs, Supercalifragi) but ... they have this way of growing on me. Like Classical music ... this album has grown on me ... and has special meaning in my life . Lets not forget , back then ... in 1988 , Rolling Stone gave the Black Album and Lovesexy "best album" of the year mentions - not that I always agree with Rolling stone ... but ... again ... just my lil argument and my .02 ....

so i rest my case . it was the last great classic album by Prince.

colonel sir, you'r one jaded listener, sir

Black Album was not his last great album imo. I think it's overrated just because it once was rare, and "mysteriously black! oooh. Prince is rapping som funny lines on here, even though he cannot rap. Only a few of the songs are really great. However, he's got some of the coolest ideas ever on this record. His use of effects, sounds, programming etc sounds very different to me, yet it sounds a bit to rushed together. Sounds like a really good bootleg imo. But as an album as a whole, yet it got the sound and feel, but it just doesnt sound finished imo, and any really remorable tracks except Rockhard, When2rinlove and Bob George?.

However Batman, don't really understand why anyone thinks it is a great album. It has a few great songs, and Scandalous is the only truly great classic on the album. It has a couple of ok dance songs. Also some nice productions and guitar work on there. His vocals is though pretty boring throughout. I fully understand why Shaun would thrown one of these Batman records at the zombies, while saving his SOTT. They're almost on the opposite side of the Prince scale. That said, I own a Batman record, and will NEVER throw it, haha. I appreciate even some of his most lazy efforts on the 80s. His sounds is epic anyways. He can produce a shit song, and it sounds good production wise.

oh I am not saying I have not enjoyed other albums by Prince ... since 1988 .

When Graffitti Bridge came out ... i really thought that was a classic (at first) ... but over time ... it just hasnt weathered that well ...

and I kinda look at it as Lovesexy and the Black album came out at the same time ... (not Lovesexy coming out afterwards ... )

"Scandalous" - a classic? wow . I actually think with "scandalous " all the Prince ballads started sounding the same to me ... you can meld "scandalous" and about 8 other Prince ballads into one song ... imo ... thats why I always thought "when 2 r in love" was so original ... for a Prince ballad .

And song on the Black ALbum NOT being memorable... wow ... Bob George .... Cindy C ... Dead on it ... i personally just LUV cindy c because I think it is PRince at his best ... spontanaous and fun ... party ... etc ...

ColAngus said:

oh I am not saying I have not enjoyed other albums by Prince ... since 1988 .

When Graffitti Bridge came out ... i really thought that was a classic (at first) ... but over time ... it just hasnt weathered that well ...

and I kinda look at it as Lovesexy and the Black album came out at the same time ... (not Lovesexy coming out afterwards ... )

"Scandalous" - a classic? wow . I actually think with "scandalous " all the Prince ballads started sounding the same to me ... you can meld "scandalous" and about 8 other Prince ballads into one song ... imo ... thats why I always thought "when 2 r in love" was so original ... for a Prince ballad .

And song on the Black ALbum NOT being memorable... wow ... Bob George .... Cindy C ... Dead on it ... i personally just LUV cindy c because I think it is PRince at his best ... spontanaous and fun ... party ... etc ...

Dead On It is like his worst song of the 80's... I don't hate it, but I always skip it, it's just bad bad bad...

Lovesexy is better.

Yeah, not the last great album, but it and Lovesexy are a definate bookend to an era.

novabrkr said:

Lovesexy is better.

............. Lovesexy deserves maximum imo.

ColAngus said:

This week I have been revisiting the Black Album .

This album always makes me smile . Fun time in my life . (first time out of college ... out of the roost ... girlfriends ... own places ... trips ... etc ) ...

and the album is Prince ... funky ... alil dirty ... and more or less PARTY MUSIC .... which i like ... I have said it before - but I think the first 3 songs are "near perfect" Prince songs ... killer .

From "dirty mind" to "1999", "purple Rain" and then "sign of the times" .... I do think all that time Prince had a hell of a run ... I always loved the "lovesexy" - Black Album period ....

As I was driving , listening to it ... i realized ... I think this was the beginning of the end for Prince in some ways ... SURE some of his later "hits" had some neat stuff on it .. but as an album goes ... I think this is his last great album ...

thoughts?

Things certainly went downhill from The Black Album. I love that record. It's a lot of fun. Prince had such agreat imagination.

Still not sure how I feel about it, my opinion changes constantly.

perhaps you mean his last great funk album...not that he has many albums that can be labeled/categorized as pure funk.

I would rate TGE,TRC greater than Black.

Now as far as FUNK is concerned , black has the better tracks, funk wise.

[Edited 2/22/11 13:36pm]

lovesexy was way better.

have u not herd lotusflower and 2010

2010 was sick

millwall said:

2010 was sick

Well it gave me the cramps.

One of the great things about Prince - everyone has an opinion.

I loved what this critic said about the first 2 tracks :

Right off the bat, the opening track "Le Grind" shows right away that this album has a point to prove. A straight up party anthem, Prince calls out the listener to "clap yo hands, double time", in which you do because it is so catchy and intoxicating. Running a bit long, it still is a great song, and an even greater way to start an album off with. Another good mention is the music itself, with some fantastic bass playing by Prince, and an even greater piano segment.

"Cindy C". Wow. The story goes that Prince sent a bodyguard over to Cindy Crawford at a club one night to see if she would like to chat with Prince, and she refused to meet him. So, he wrote a song. A filthy song. A GREAT song, though. This song has the always dependable Sheila E doing the drums, and Prince's back-up dancer CAT as a hype-woman (Think Flava Flav to Public Enemy). One verse in the song that really stands out is when Prince painfully pleads "I'm talkin' about a long crucial leg/ Girl if I have to beg/ I'm gonna see you in yo birthday suit tonight". This is where it gets very odd, as towards the end you faintly hear Prince screaming in the background to Cindy Crawford. Crazy, but since this IS the Black Album, all rules and standards are out of the window. It is still a great song, if only for the music. It leaves you feeling dirty, which is our buddy Prince's plan.

millwall said:

lovesexy was way better.

have u not herd lotusflower and 2010

2010 was sick

Lotus Flow3r is pretty damn good...I even added The Morning After after Crimson & Clover. I can even tolerate Love Like Jazz and 77 Beverly Park (reminds me of Venis De Milo or Alexa De Paris).

NouveauDance said:

millwall said:

2010 was sick

Well it gave me the cramps.

sorry 2 here that each 2 their own.

i would love to hear "2010" but ... i havnt yet . I dont have much "faith" in Prince these days from what I heard ...

I did like 3121 and Planet Earth ... but ... like I said ... Great albums? nah .

TRC . give me a break . Musically I did appreciate it ... but I can honestly say ... I never pick that one up and listen to it ... maybe I should again ...

Lovesexy . Hmm. I think I did wear that album out of me . The problem with Lovesexy from my standpoint is that there is no "great song" /single . I liked Alphabet St .. but ... not sure it qualifies as a great single . That is why i like the Black Album better . In my opinion - the first 3 songs on the Black Album are classic . (and fun songs ).

what are the criteria for a "great" Prince album?

for me ? its personal appreciation as well as the "critics" appeciation ...

i have a pic in my office of Prince winning the Pazz and Jop Poll in 1988 (March 1988) - it may have been for Sign of the Times ... but it was around the Black Album and Lovesexy ... i just remember how Prince was on top of the world ... and his output from like 1980 til around that time was really remarkable...

To me - Purple Rain and Sign of the Times are classic Great Prince albums . Some would argue Dirty Mind also ... I always liked 1999 (first Prince album i really liked ) ...

but - the Black album to me - still has that "classic feel" ... almost like classical music ... i dont get sick of it ...

NouveauDance said:

Yeah, not the last great album, but it and Lovesexy are a definate bookend to an era.