The legendary Black Album. Seems so long ago when we first heard it, right? For me, 1988 was THE year of Prince music. Lovesexy, Small Club, the Lovesexy Tour, and the Black Album(originally slated for Dec 1987 I know)...Tapes, vinyl, cd's, then the official WB release in 1994.

For those who have the "unofficial" version on cd, does it sound better than the one released in 1994 ?

My version has much better sound quality, especially the bass. "Bob George" unfortuneately sounds weak on the 1994 release.

Does anyone know if this was intentional or just the way it was originally recorded? Or is it because my boot was copied from vinyl? (by the way, my copy has only 3 tracks, multiple songs on each track, but still far better sound quality).

Thanx for any info!

My Black Album bootleg was on a cassette - and it sounded positively horrible.

Genesia said:

My Black Album bootleg was on a cassette - and it sounded positively horrible.

I had a cassette and a vinyl bootleg.

The cassette was probably a several generations down the line copy, but this added to the gritty feel to the music and the fact that this was something that unreleased.

I loved that tape. I don't recall what the vinyl sounded like.

Unlike some people, I was delighted when it was released by WB in '94.

It still remains one of my favorite albums by anyone.

TheDigitalGardener said:

Genesia said:

My Black Album bootleg was on a cassette - and it sounded positively horrible.

I had a cassette and a vinyl bootleg.

The cassette was probably a several generations down the line copy, but this added to the gritty feel to the music and the fact that this was something that unreleased.

I loved that tape. I don't recall what the vinyl sounded like.

Unlike some people, I was delighted when it was released by WB in '94.

It still remains one of my favorite albums by anyone.

The Black Album was my first (and for a very long time, my only) bootleg. Just listening to it made me feel dirty.

As soon as it was released in '94, I ran out and bought it. I was SO happy to ditch that awful cassette.

Genesia said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

I had a cassette and a vinyl bootleg.

The cassette was probably a several generations down the line copy, but this added to the gritty feel to the music and the fact that this was something that unreleased.

I loved that tape. I don't recall what the vinyl sounded like.

Unlike some people, I was delighted when it was released by WB in '94.

It still remains one of my favorite albums by anyone.

The Black Album was my first (and for a very long time, my only) bootleg. Just listening to it made me feel dirty.

As soon as it was released in '94, I ran out and bought it. I was SO happy to ditch that awful cassette.

Funny I can the remember the first tape I had it on, and it too was a 2nd or 3rd generation tape, bad sound, lots of hiss, low quality zeroxed artwork. But I loved that tape. I'm glad he released it officially, too- it deserved to be heard by more than just the diehards, but I was so used to it with more bass and volume.

XNY said:

Genesia said:

The Black Album was my first (and for a very long time, my only) bootleg. Just listening to it made me feel dirty.

As soon as it was released in '94, I ran out and bought it. I was SO happy to ditch that awful cassette.

Funny I can the remember the first tape I had it on, and it too was a 2nd or 3rd generation tape, bad sound, lots of hiss, low quality zeroxed artwork. But I loved that tape. I'm glad he released it officially, too- it deserved to be heard by more than just the diehards, but I was so used to it with more bass and volume.

You had artwork?!

The reason the 1994 release sounds "weak", (it doesn't) is that the original master sounded this way. WB released it exactly as it would have been in 1987 and I'm sure Prince wouldn't allow them to remaster it for the ridiculous "Loudness Wars" that have ruined recorded music in this country.

The Black Album was mastered in 1987. Google loudness wars to understand why quiet is better. If you want it loud, use your volume knob, knobs.

Your bootlegs sounded "better", (louder to people with lead ears) because the original source signal could be boosted in the transfer process. Also, with cassette tapes you can have tape saturation if the gain is set high enough. This will make it seem louder, warmer and "better". All it does is blur the edges like when you see a woman in the old Star Trek series. They rub some chesse cloth on the lense and the ladies look softer.

If you put the Black Album as is on a very nice stereo and listen to it you will be amazed at how good it sounds. Your iPhone earbuds were designed for music that is too loud and has no dynamic range. Put on the Black Album, turn up the volume on your stereo and love it. Then put on your favorite modern Prince record, turn the volume DOWN so you don't blow up your speakeers and be amazed at how unremarkable it sounds.

Genesia said:

XNY said:

Funny I can the remember the first tape I had it on, and it too was a 2nd or 3rd generation tape, bad sound, lots of hiss, low quality zeroxed artwork. But I loved that tape. I'm glad he released it officially, too- it deserved to be heard by more than just the diehards, but I was so used to it with more bass and volume.

You had artwork?!

Oh yeah, I had it good. The guy who made the tape even used colored paper. Now you're really jealous huh?

XNY said:

Genesia said:

You had artwork?!

Oh yeah, I had it good. The guy who made the tape even used colored paper. Now you're really jealous huh?

steakfinger said:

The reason the 1994 release sounds "weak", (it doesn't) is that the original master sounded this way. WB released it exactly as it would have been in 1987 and I'm sure Prince wouldn't allow them to remaster it for the ridiculous "Loudness Wars" that have ruined recorded music in this country.

The Black Album was mastered in 1987. Google loudness wars to understand why quiet is better. If you want it loud, use your volume knob, knobs.

Your bootlegs sounded "better", (louder to people with lead ears) because the original source signal could be boosted in the transfer process. Also, with cassette tapes you can have tape saturation if the gain is set high enough. This will make it seem louder, warmer and "better". All it does is blur the edges like when you see a woman in the old Star Trek series. They rub some chesse cloth on the lense and the ladies look softer.

If you put the Black Album as is on a very nice stereo and listen to it you will be amazed at how good it sounds. Your iPhone earbuds were designed for music that is too loud and has no dynamic range. Put on the Black Album, turn up the volume on your stereo and love it. Then put on your favorite modern Prince record, turn the volume DOWN so you don't blow up your speakeers and be amazed at how unremarkable it sounds.

TheDigitalGardener said:

Genesia said:

My Black Album bootleg was on a cassette - and it sounded positively horrible.

I had a cassette and a vinyl bootleg.

The cassette was probably a several generations down the line copy, but this added to the gritty feel to the music and the fact that this was something that unreleased.

I loved that tape. I don't recall what the vinyl sounded like.

Unlike some people, I was delighted when it was released by WB in '94.

It still remains one of my favorite albums by anyone.

I had a cassette of a cassette of someone playing a vinyl bootleg - beat that!

Xibalba said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

I had a cassette and a vinyl bootleg.

The cassette was probably a several generations down the line copy, but this added to the gritty feel to the music and the fact that this was something that unreleased.

I loved that tape. I don't recall what the vinyl sounded like.

Unlike some people, I was delighted when it was released by WB in '94.

It still remains one of my favorite albums by anyone.

I had a cassette of a cassette of someone playing a vinyl bootleg - beat that!

i had an 8 track of a guy signing it A cappella!

steakfinger said:

The reason the 1994 release sounds "weak", (it doesn't) is that the original master sounded this way. WB released it exactly as it would have been in 1987 and I'm sure Prince wouldn't allow them to remaster it for the ridiculous "Loudness Wars" that have ruined recorded music in this country.

The Black Album was mastered in 1987. Google loudness wars to understand why quiet is better. If you want it loud, use your volume knob, knobs.

Your bootlegs sounded "better", (louder to people with lead ears) because the original source signal could be boosted in the transfer process. Also, with cassette tapes you can have tape saturation if the gain is set high enough. This will make it seem louder, warmer and "better". All it does is blur the edges like when you see a woman in the old Star Trek series. They rub some chesse cloth on the lense and the ladies look softer.

If you put the Black Album as is on a very nice stereo and listen to it you will be amazed at how good it sounds. Your iPhone earbuds were designed for music that is too loud and has no dynamic range. Put on the Black Album, turn up the volume on your stereo and love it. Then put on your favorite modern Prince record, turn the volume DOWN so you don't blow up your speakeers and be amazed at how unremarkable it sounds.

Thanks for the info...and where can I get some of that cheese cloth? Made those ladies look warmer and a little yummy too.

Xibalba said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

I had a cassette and a vinyl bootleg.

The cassette was probably a several generations down the line copy, but this added to the gritty feel to the music and the fact that this was something that unreleased.

I loved that tape. I don't recall what the vinyl sounded like.

Unlike some people, I was delighted when it was released by WB in '94.

It still remains one of my favorite albums by anyone.

I had a cassette of a cassette of someone playing a vinyl bootleg - beat that!

Unbeatable.

Xibalba said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

I had a cassette and a vinyl bootleg.

The cassette was probably a several generations down the line copy, but this added to the gritty feel to the music and the fact that this was something that unreleased.

I loved that tape. I don't recall what the vinyl sounded like.

Unlike some people, I was delighted when it was released by WB in '94.

It still remains one of my favorite albums by anyone.

I had a cassette of a cassette of someone playing a vinyl bootleg - beat that!

That sounds like my old cassette. But damn was that thing funky and played to DEATH. Agree it sounded better than the released version only because the bass was so deep after being dubbed so many times. But glad it was finally released. Still one of my fave albums by anyone.

the released cd was strangely dissapointing in that it wasn't much of an improvement on the best quality vinyl bootleg. there were a number of vinly boots, one of the earliest having an orange sticker and sounding like someone had recorded the next door neighbour through the wall, but the good one was decent sounding. the released version sounded a bit weak and weedy, and not because it wasn't brickwalled like TGE, it sounded a little bit worse than SOTT

steakfinger said:

The reason the 1994 release sounds "weak", (it doesn't) is that the original master sounded this way. WB released it exactly as it would have been in 1987 and I'm sure Prince wouldn't allow them to remaster it for the ridiculous "Loudness Wars" that have ruined recorded music in this country.

The Black Album was mastered in 1987. Google loudness wars to understand why quiet is better. If you want it loud, use your volume knob, knobs.

Your bootlegs sounded "better", (louder to people with lead ears) because the original source signal could be boosted in the transfer process. Also, with cassette tapes you can have tape saturation if the gain is set high enough. This will make it seem louder, warmer and "better". All it does is blur the edges like when you see a woman in the old Star Trek series. They rub some chesse cloth on the lense and the ladies look softer.

If you put the Black Album as is on a very nice stereo and listen to it you will be amazed at how good it sounds. Your iPhone earbuds were designed for music that is too loud and has no dynamic range. Put on the Black Album, turn up the volume on your stereo and love it. Then put on your favorite modern Prince record, turn the volume DOWN so you don't blow up your speakeers and be amazed at how unremarkable it sounds.

This is the only kind of preaching I want to see on a Prince site. Halleloo!

OnlyNDaUsa said:

Xibalba said:

I had a cassette of a cassette of someone playing a vinyl bootleg - beat that!

i had an 8 track of a guy signing it A cappella!

Awesome.

I dubbed a cassette copy of a friend's cassette copy, and then I dubbed Lovesexy onto side two... auto-reverse... I had so much sex to that tape...

steakfinger said:

The reason the 1994 release sounds "weak", (it doesn't) is that the original master sounded this way. WB released it exactly as it would have been in 1987 and I'm sure Prince wouldn't allow them to remaster it for the ridiculous "Loudness Wars" that have ruined recorded music in this country.

The Black Album was mastered in 1987. Google loudness wars to understand why quiet is better. If you want it loud, use your volume knob, knobs.

Your bootlegs sounded "better", (louder to people with lead ears) because the original source signal could be boosted in the transfer process. Also, with cassette tapes you can have tape saturation if the gain is set high enough. This will make it seem louder, warmer and "better". All it does is blur the edges like when you see a woman in the old Star Trek series. They rub some chesse cloth on the lense and the ladies look softer.

If you put the Black Album as is on a very nice stereo and listen to it you will be amazed at how good it sounds. Your iPhone earbuds were designed for music that is too loud and has no dynamic range. Put on the Black Album, turn up the volume on your stereo and love it. Then put on your favorite modern Prince record, turn the volume DOWN so you don't blow up your speakeers and be amazed at how unremarkable it sounds.

OnlyNDaUsa said:

Xibalba said:

I had a cassette of a cassette of someone playing a vinyl bootleg - beat that!

i had an 8 track of a guy signing it A cappella!

I'd actually dig that!

IMO the bootleg is better. Second/third generation duplications made the bass turn that mf out! The released version seemed ponderous by comparison.

All you have to do is....turn the bass up! I have the cd version burnt onto my computer & guess,what? There's a graphic equalizer on your PC [on your media player] & it can make it more bass-y for your nostalgic listening pleasure....[though on a serious note, there's nothing I can tell you about adding hiss back into it]

eyewishuheaven said:

OnlyNDaUsa said:

i had an 8 track of a guy signing it A cappella!

Awesome.

I dubbed a cassette copy of a friend's cassette copy, and then I dubbed Lovesexy onto side two... auto-reverse... I had so much sex to that tape...

Probably would have been better with a partner though, eh?

steakfinger said:

The reason the 1994 release sounds "weak", (it doesn't) is that the original master sounded this way. WB released it exactly as it would have been in 1987 and I'm sure Prince wouldn't allow them to remaster it for the ridiculous "Loudness Wars" that have ruined recorded music in this country.

The Black Album was mastered in 1987. Google loudness wars to understand why quiet is better. If you want it loud, use your volume knob, knobs.

Your bootlegs sounded "better", (louder to people with lead ears) because the original source signal could be boosted in the transfer process. Also, with cassette tapes you can have tape saturation if the gain is set high enough. This will make it seem louder, warmer and "better". All it does is blur the edges like when you see a woman in the old Star Trek series. They rub some chesse cloth on the lense and the ladies look softer.

If you put the Black Album as is on a very nice stereo and listen to it you will be amazed at how good it sounds. Your iPhone earbuds were designed for music that is too loud and has no dynamic range. Put on the Black Album, turn up the volume on your stereo and love it. Then put on your favorite modern Prince record, turn the volume DOWN so you don't blow up your speakeers and be amazed at how unremarkable it sounds.

gunner82 said:

All you have to do is....turn the bass up! I have the cd version burnt onto my computer & guess,what? There's a graphic equalizer on your PC [on your media player] & it can make it more bass-y for your nostalgic listening pleasure....[though on a serious note, there's nothing I can tell you about adding hiss back into it]

Maybe someone should take one of those old tapes, digitise it, and spread it around for those who want the old tape noize / multi-gen dub saturation experience...

nebkheperrure said:

IMO the bootleg is better. Second/third generation duplications made the bass turn that mf out! The released version seemed ponderous by comparison.

Exactly! The other reason I wanted to find a bass-heavy version on cd (or a download) was that I make a lot of Prince/funk/soul mixes for my family and friends. Two guys I hoop with wanted an old school P mix with some extra's thrown in- because they know I have them. I wanted to add Bob George on there to really throw them some old school funk. But only have the 1994 version on separate tracks. Oh well.

Genesia said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

I had a cassette and a vinyl bootleg.

The cassette was probably a several generations down the line copy, but this added to the gritty feel to the music and the fact that this was something that unreleased.

I loved that tape. I don't recall what the vinyl sounded like.

Unlike some people, I was delighted when it was released by WB in '94.

It still remains one of my favorite albums by anyone.

The Black Album was my first (and for a very long time, my only) bootleg. Just listening to it made me feel dirty.

As soon as it was released in '94, I ran out and bought it. I was SO happy to ditch that awful cassette.

i just about wore out my cassette copy from atomic records. When I bought the cd in 94 - I was disappointed to hear it sound exactly the same as my tape

If you compare the Black Album official vinyl record to the SOTT or Lovesexy... (compare the song "When 2 R in Love" from those latter two albums), you will find that the Black Album is in need of remastering, because for whatever reason... it has a beefed up midrange, and not much depth in the bass or treble. I figure Prince did this in order to make it sound stronger? ANd I'm comparing records here, not the CD's.

I dunno.

There was a bootleg Black Album on CD that came out in 1992-3 with Prince's face on the cover half covered by a scarf (a photo of him with long hair). This had more range then the official CD released in 1994, and it sounded completely clear.