I hardly ever listen to the 80's albums anymore but these last few months I've listened to TBA quite often, totally rediscovering what used to be one of my least favorite 80's albums.

Wow!

First, musically it's mind blowing: the sense of details, the number of layers on some tracks, the weird sounds and grooves... It's a continuation of the sound of SOTT but in a more ambitious way. Le Grind and Cindy C. alone, with their strange grooves and games with horns and choirs, are among the strongest and most complex funk anthems ever recorded by P! The album as a whole didn't sound like anything else in 1987, and retroactively I find it to be one of P's funkiest efforts ever. Even Dead On It, which sounded to me like a bad musical parody of early hip-hop back then: when u listen to it real loud it's a damn deadly groove, funky as hell (and actually much funkier than any of the new school grooves it was a parody of!). There's no song here that's weak, musically speaking, and they're all really worth a close listen, loud or with earphones! One thing that's worth being noted is that, as many other Prince tracks from the 80's, each and every one of these songs has a "demo" feel to it, sounds like it was recorded at home and in a rush, and still at the same time the amount of work that's been put of them, passed the first impression, is spectacular!

But of course even more interesting are the lyrics! Prince had already gone REALLY far when it comes to provocative lyrics, on Dirty Mind and 1999, but here he kinda took it a step further and the new thing is that while provocative, the lyrics are also full of humor, much less deadly serious than the lyrics in DM and 1999!

Le Grind: besides being an awesome and sexy party anthem, it had a lot of tongue-in-cheek funny lyrics but u need to pay attention, such as this direct hint to (unwanted) sodomy: "Put it where it feels good... Not there! Not there!".

Cindy C. is extremely provocative if only because the subject of the song is a real person, who may have been quite offended by the mere allusion that she may be willing to sell her body for "the usual fee", which by the way is also quite a daring thing to admit, that some top-models sell their bodies to rich men and that P himself may have done it! (and on top of it all u have his ex girlfriend Sheila E. singing on the track!!!). Then suddenly we switch to the unexpected "music is the key" rap, a typical Prince switch between sexy and personal topics to a spiritual POV on life...

Dead On It is also quite provocative: shooting down a whole musical movement like that, with such harsh words! And Prince is really funnky self-quoting himself by sampling Holly Rock, his own contribution to the soundtrack of one hip-hop film that featured the very musical movement he's shooting down here!

When 2 R In Love is totally out of place here, except for its extremely explicit lyrics. Thing is it's a love song, not a lust song, and that's certainly why it found its way to Lovesexy, emphasizing by the way how P's contradictions are more complex than it seems (the same track being on P's "black" and "white" albums at the same time).

Bob George, well, I think a lot has been written about that one already: it's a social commentary about the macho jealousy of low-class men, there's of course this other delicious homorous self reference ("that skinny MF..."), it's got a dramatic ending and it's certainly one f the most violent things ever written by P. At the same time it's totally exagerated, a violent extravaganza.

Superfunkycalifragisexy goes waaaay beyond the S&M allusions: "the blood tastes good if u drink it real fast but the aftertaste will last and last", "Brother Louis will come in a minute with a bucket filled with squirrel meat"... Wait a sec! This is not a delicate S&M orgy à la Madonna, this is fucking Texas Chainsaw Massacre inviting itself in MPLS! That Brother Louis character coming in the middle of a bloody orgy with a bucket filled with (raw?) animal meat?! Sounds a lot like Leatherface to me!

2 Nigs United 4 West Campton has no lyrics save its hilarious party crowd intro ("no, no, u'll like 'em, they're musicians!") but alongside some tracks on Madhouse's 16 it's one of the most agressive and avant-garde jazz-funk tracks ever composed by P, with this awesome bass solo!

Rock Hard In A Funky Place ends the "story" in a brothel, with P bringing back some serious metaphysical topics in the middle of the orgy ("all we're looking 4 is love, or a reason to believe in a God above") and promises us to "see us next week, same place same boogie" (a hint to the ending of ATWIAD and it's "I don't know when I'll be back") while ending on this "what the fuck happened?" that sums-up the listeners' hangover after listening to the whole album...

I didn't go into details but the lyrics r really full of other gems, either deep or humorous, and the album really deserves to be applauded for its litterary and poetic virtues! Yes! I said it: what people may perceive as P's most light-hearted and superficial efforts is IMHO one of his most complex works when it comes to lyrics. Just listen and read 'em carefully: u'll be amazed at how strong the writing is here!

So I wonder... how would the album have been received if released? It's cancellation and immediate leak made it an immediate cult album, and critics were able to comment on it just as much as if it'd been released, but in the end it was an underground, hipsters' thing and it benefited a lot from being a bootleg. Had it been released commerically in late 87, would it have been ignored or on the contrary would it have become an immediate scandal, polarizing puritans against freedom of speech advocates? Would it have been praised by critics or would it have suffered to come right after the highly praised SOTT? We'll never know...

But honestly, if u ask me TBA deserves to be in the pantheon of P's greatest works, both musically and lyrically. Because it's finally been released in 94, when nobody cared anymore, and subsequently been OOP for years, I feel it's often too quickly forgotten when critics and fans refers to P's "golden age" in the 80's, but TBA really deserves to be rediscovered, particularly in light of the provocative electroclash movement of the mid-2000's that borrowed a whole lot from Prince's cold early 80's sound and taboo-breaking lyrics. In a way, TBA is also the last time Prince really went berserk. Sure some later tracks were quite dirty (Scandalous, Gett Off, Insatiable) but TBA brings us back to what created the Prince mythos in the early 80's, how far he was going and how farther actually than anyone else had ever dared.

from start to the end, The Black Album is truly brilliant.

I every note on this funk album, imo.... it's the littlebrother to the Sign O The Times album.

Yes TBA is truly brilliant. Very hard and edgy funk-rock music.

I forgot: When 2 R In Love,

This song fits imo better in on Lovesexy.

But.... I love this fine pop song, it's so wonderful as well!

One of my favourite albums by Prince. Together with Camille and SOTT (or even better Crystal Ball) it shows Prince at the height of his powers.

thedance said:

I forgot: When 2 R In Love,

This song fits imo better in on Lovesexy.

But.... I love this fine pop song, it's so wonderful as well!

Funny, I first heard it on the Black Album and associated it with a less bright pop sound, so it never really fit as well on Lovesexy to me.

Great write up, completely agree with you. TBA is one of Prince's absolute masterpieces, it is so complex, wild and funky, and completely over the top both musically and lyrically! I by far prefer TBA over Lovesexy, although these two should have been a double album to show his Dark and his Light side.

BobGeorge909 said:

I don't see dead on it as shooting down a whole musical movement. I see it shooting down an attitude(atonality as well...lol) within that movement, however prevalent it may have been at the time. The bragadocious element of rap/hip-hop has often been on the recieving end of internal and external criticism and has flourished regardless. Even has been embraced and or used by said critics...including prince.

"Dracula ain't got shit on me"

Honestly i never really got to into this album, i had it as a bootleg in the very early 90's and it was what it was, i think the mystery of it was greater than what it was. Some people have said it would have done more "commercially" than Lovesexy, which i dont see at all, he was losing ground in america fast sales were dropping and i think the Black Album wouldnt even have had the one hit that Lovesexy had that pulled it past gold sales, and I also dont believe that "the nude cover" was a hinderance on its sales, i was with music retail then and YES it wasnt on the "Sales Floor" but honestly no one was really asking for the album at all when it came out. So i think the "legend" should have stayed it should have never been released years later by WB but Prince did it to get out of the deal, and it really went poorly, and not hating on it cause i like some of it, but it does not hold up, at least when it came out in 95 it sounded terrible.

ufoclub said:

thedance said:

Alexandernvrmind said:

thedance said:

I forgot: When 2 R In Love,

This song fits imo better in on Lovesexy.

But.... I love this fine pop song, it's so wonderful as well!

Agree.... I was listening to Lovesexy the other day.... The was the song Lovesxt transitions into W2RIL is masterful .... Just perfect. The Black Album is amazing. Just so much talent...what could it have been if he really developed those songs?

I always wonder what the long versions/B sides would be like

lastdecember said:

Some people have said it would have done more "commercially" than Lovesexy, which i dont see at all, he was losing ground in america fast sales were dropping and i think the Black Album wouldnt even have had the one hit that Lovesexy had that pulled it past gold sales

It was tame by the time it came out but I have to disagree about how it would have done in '87. It would have been a noise making release and been quite a rejoinder to some that said he'd abandoned his roots and longtime base. While I doubt the album would have garnered a big single, I think tracks like Bob George and Superfunkcaligragisexy would have pulled in a lot via word of mouth.

Heck, the album had reportedly sold nearly 600k copies worldwide ( and 275k inside the US) as of 2010 and this is an album that completely flew under the radar at the time of it's eventual release. It would certainy have done more in the 80's.

Lovesexy merely made Prince seem further out of touch. SOTT has restored some of his luster in the US after UTCM, etc... and Lovesexy tarnished it again.

jtfolden said:

lastdecember said:

Some people have said it would have done more "commercially" than Lovesexy, which i dont see at all, he was losing ground in america fast sales were dropping and i think the Black Album wouldnt even have had the one hit that Lovesexy had that pulled it past gold sales

It was tame by the time it came out but I have to disagree about how it would have done in '87. It would have been a noise making release and been quite a rejoinder to some that said he'd abandoned his roots and longtime base. While I doubt the album would have garnered a big single, I think tracks like Bob George and Superfunkcaligragisexy would have pulled in a lot via word of mouth.

Heck, the album had reportedly sold nearly 600k copies worldwide ( and 275k inside the US) as of 2010 and this is an album that completely flew under the radar at the time of it's eventual release. It would certainy have done more in the 80's.

Lovesexy merely made Prince seem further out of touch. SOTT has restored some of his luster in the US after UTCM, etc... and Lovesexy tarnished it again.

Its hard to say what it would have done because he was just coming off a double album, SOTT got him back some of what he was losing but his sales still were dropping off big time, and i just feel with no single which the Black Album would not have had, commercally he still would have fallen off, "The Black Album" legend was only LEGEND because he pulled it back, had it just come out when it was due, probably wouldnt have had the impact it did. Its like the whole GNR "Chinese Democracy" fiasco, it was better that it never came out, it sold more bootlegs and probably was a better record "underground" then being released years later. As for the Black Album's sales, WB actually promoted the shit out of this thing for him when they released it. Though they were both in a duel with advertising over things like 1-800-New funk the album and releasing new music etc... but WB did promote this for the 2 months it was in Print, at music retail we were bombarded with promo for the record because WB wanted to make what they could off it, because he made it clear he was not gonna promote anything at that time. Also he was angry because he wanted this release included in the 7 album deal of what he owed them, they said NO this was not a valid release, they did the same thing with the "Girl 6" album citing that was not a valid album from him and had old material on it and proteges which is why "the vault" was thrown together and he had to let them release another best of compilation and then give back some $$ on his deal (though it has never been said how much) he did give back some $$.

Alexandernvrmind said:

thedance said:

I forgot: When 2 R In Love,

This song fits imo better in on Lovesexy.

But.... I love this fine pop song, it's so wonderful as well!

Agree.... I was listening to Lovesexy the other day.... The was the song Lovesxt transitions into W2RIL is masterful .... Just perfect. The Black Album is amazing. Just so much talent...what could it have been if he really developed those songs?

I think he spent a lot more time on The Black Album songs than Lovesexy (which was reportedly recorded very quickly and kind of shows in it's spastic mixes and arrangments). To me, Black Album sounds very controlled, with a strong pallete of textures that meld work well together, and the songs all have very strong arrangements, which is why I like it and have listened to it much more than Lovesexy.

Lovesexy has a lot of rash things thrown in, and some never have sounded very cool to my ears, but I guess that was the idea, not trying to sound cool, but trying to sound energetic.

lastdecember said:

jtfolden said:

It was tame by the time it came out but I have to disagree about how it would have done in '87. It would have been a noise making release and been quite a rejoinder to some that said he'd abandoned his roots and longtime base. While I doubt the album would have garnered a big single, I think tracks like Bob George and Superfunkcaligragisexy would have pulled in a lot via word of mouth.

Heck, the album had reportedly sold nearly 600k copies worldwide ( and 275k inside the US) as of 2010 and this is an album that completely flew under the radar at the time of it's eventual release. It would certainy have done more in the 80's.

Lovesexy merely made Prince seem further out of touch. SOTT has restored some of his luster in the US after UTCM, etc... and Lovesexy tarnished it again.

Its hard to say what it would have done because he was just coming off a double album, SOTT got him back some of what he was losing but his sales still were dropping off big time, and i just feel with no single which the Black Album would not have had, commercally he still would have fallen off, "The Black Album" legend was only LEGEND because he pulled it back, had it just come out when it was due, probably wouldnt have had the impact it did. Its like the whole GNR "Chinese Democracy" fiasco, it was better that it never came out, it sold more bootlegs and probably was a better record "underground" then being released years later. As for the Black Album's sales, WB actually promoted the shit out of this thing for him when they released it. Though they were both in a duel with advertising over things like 1-800-New funk the album and releasing new music etc... but WB did promote this for the 2 months it was in Print, at music retail we were bombarded with promo for the record because WB wanted to make what they could off it, because he made it clear he was not gonna promote anything at that time. Also he was angry because he wanted this release included in the 7 album deal of what he owed them, they said NO this was not a valid release, they did the same thing with the "Girl 6" album citing that was not a valid album from him and had old material on it and proteges which is why "the vault" was thrown together and he had to let them release another best of compilation and then give back some $$ on his deal (though it has never been said how much) he did give back some $$.

If The Black Album had been released in December 1987 as planned,it most likely would not have been a huge commercial success.There wasn't going to any singles or alot of promotion with this album....it would have been shipped to stores in a low-key way.Furthermore,the album is not commercial at all.There are no radio-friendly tracks here.There would have been alot of interest among hardcore fans (especially the ones who prefer his funk material),but I'm thinking that this album would probably have only reached gold status.Hell,SOTT got a ton of publicity,hype,singles and critical acclaim and yet it wasn't a massive seller.Prince's record sales were dropping during that period (late 80s).The mainstream audience was having a hard time keeping up with him.

Yes,Lovesexy was a poor selling album but I think it's mainly because of two marketing mistakes that Prince made....the album cover and the single choices.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Alexandernvrmind said:

thedance said: Agree.... I was listening to Lovesexy the other day.... The was the song Lovesxt transitions into W2RIL is masterful .... Just perfect. The Black Album is amazing. Just so much talent...what could it have been if he really developed those songs?

I always wonder what the long versions/B sides would be like

More than likely wouldn't have been any b-sides, but there's a 7 minute version of "Superfunkycalifragisexy" floating around.

ufoclub said:

thedance said:

I forgot: When 2 R In Love,

This song fits imo better in on Lovesexy.

But.... I love this fine pop song, it's so wonderful as well!

Funny, I first heard it on the Black Album and associated it with a less bright pop sound, so it never really fit as well on Lovesexy to me.

I disagree.To me,"When 2 R In Love" sounds really out of place on The Black Album (which is mostly an uptempo party record).It fits perfectly on Lovesexy.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Alexandernvrmind said:

thedance said: Agree.... I was listening to Lovesexy the other day.... The was the song Lovesxt transitions into W2RIL is masterful .... Just perfect. The Black Album is amazing. Just so much talent...what could it have been if he really developed those songs?

I always wonder what the long versions/B sides would be like

As said by others, I doubt there woulda been any single, that didn't go well with the concept of an unnamed album by an unnamed artist. There may have been some promos with some bonus material on 'em, but definitely no commercial singles.

databank said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I always wonder what the long versions/B sides would be like

As said by others, I doubt there woulda been any single, that didn't go well with the concept of an unnamed album by an unnamed artist. There may have been some promos with some bonus material on 'em, but definitely no commercial singles.

Le Grind

When 2 R in Love

Rock Hard In a Funky Place

are 3 song 'Prince' could easily release

With Prince there would be singles

It's the Black Album

OldFriends4Sale said:

databank said:

As said by others, I doubt there woulda been any single, that didn't go well with the concept of an unnamed album by an unnamed artist. There may have been some promos with some bonus material on 'em, but definitely no commercial singles.

Le Grind

When 2 R in Love

Rock Hard In a Funky Place

are 3 song 'Prince' could easily release

With Prince there would be singles

It's the Black Album

No, it was more of a side-project than the proper "next" Prince album: it wasn't even officially called "The Blacl Album": catalogues indicated "Something" by "Somebody", the strategy was that it was supposed to hit the record stores without any promo whatsoever, that word of mouth and music critics would of course spread the word that it was P and that it would be a critical underground success. I don't think P nor WB ever considered making it a big seller and 1988 would have seen the next "official" Prince album released whatever it'd have been. So obviously no singles and no music videos: u don't release a single by "Somebody" with a black cover, no title and a black video. Proof is that no single was ever planned, which was unheard of with any new Prince album (or even side-projects) at this point: albums were always supported by a single right before or at the same time as the album release.

SoulAlive said:

ufoclub said:

Funny, I first heard it on the Black Album and associated it with a less bright pop sound, so it never really fit as well on Lovesexy to me.

I disagree.To me,"When 2 R In Love" sounds really out of place on The Black Album (which is mostly an uptempo party record).It fits perfectly on Lovesexy.

I would never have described anything but the first two tracks as party tracks, and even in those two there is a kind of crazy montrous vibe (Le Grind actually has that hard noise on the rhythm, and Cindy C has the sound of the crazed Prince chasing the subject "what's the matter with me Cindy?"). It's always like there's a hint of rape behind his attitude on this album. "Is that your boyfriend? I don't care... We'll get naked, you will see the real you."

Eye No, and Alphabet St, Glam Slam, Lovesexy, I Wish U Heaven all sound like happy joyous pop (with the first four being partytime vibe jams). But then, Anna Stesia, Dance On, Positivity (especially) have a more lonely or even negative theme. But, they still have this bright pop sensibility to their arrangements and loud chaotic instrument voices.

Tracks like Supefunky., Bob George, 2 Nigs., Rockhard., even Dead On It, have a dark sound to their instruments voices and a thick mix. Just listen to what that keyboard bass line is doing on Superfunky. It's like a supernatural spooky movie.

When 2 R in Love also has this thick dark sound to it's intruments and it's trippy hihat programming and delay... and it's all about sex. To me it has a lonely and deep midnight mood, and the instrument voices sound cohesive like on the Black Album, and not jarring and spastic like on Lovesexy. Also, isn't the rest of the Lovesexy album about NOT having sex?

PS, when we* first heard "When 2 R in Love" followed by "Bob George" (this was before Lovesexy), we thought it was hilariously wicked humor to have that 1, 2 punch. This was on a bootleg cassette, so one followed the other in sequence.

*We, meaning friends in a dorm back in '88.

ufoclub said:

PS, when we* first heard "When 2 R in Love" followed by "Bob George" (this was before Lovesexy), we thought it was hilariously wicked humor to have that 1, 2 punch. This was on a bootleg cassette, so one followed the other in sequence.

*We, meaning friends in a dorm back in '88.

Huh?

databank said:

ufoclub said:

PS, when we* first heard "When 2 R in Love" followed by "Bob George" (this was before Lovesexy), we thought it was hilariously wicked humor to have that 1, 2 punch. This was on a bootleg cassette, so one followed the other in sequence.

*We, meaning friends in a dorm back in '88.

Huh?

Meaning on the Black Album you have one song that is 1. a sensuous seduction of love and sex followed by an abrasive song 2. of a pimp like cartoon monster murdering a woman.

When you sequence songs, it's all about the drama created and sometimes a 1-2 punch! Like when he follows Play in the Sunshine (white pop rock) with Housequake (black funk jam).

Of course, I hate what he did with following Joy in Repetition with Love Machine. Such disrespect for Joy in Repetition!

[Edited 4/7/14 13:02pm]

ufoclub said:

Alexandernvrmind said:

thedance said: Agree.... I was listening to Lovesexy the other day.... The was the song Lovesxt transitions into W2RIL is masterful .... Just perfect. The Black Album is amazing. Just so much talent...what could it have been if he really developed those songs?

I think he spent a lot more time on The Black Album songs than Lovesexy (which was reportedly recorded very quickly and kind of shows in it's spastic mixes and arrangments). To me, Black Album sounds very controlled, with a strong pallete of textures that meld work well together, and the songs all have very strong arrangements, which is why I like it and have listened to it much more than Lovesexy.

Lovesexy has a lot of rash things thrown in, and some never have sounded very cool to my ears, but I guess that was the idea, not trying to sound cool, but trying to sound energetic.

I think the point with Lovesexy is that it sounds like pop music created in a parallel universe - somehow familiar, yet completely alien at the same time. Pop music performed as if interpreted by extraterrestrials. Or perhaps more in line with the concept of the album - pop music recreated by a man reborn, struggling to remember what he left behind as he tries to familiarize himself with the world anew.

The Lovesexy album cover deterred sales for sure. Wonder how many people never listened to the entire Lovesexy album, because of the CD being all in 1 track?

As for The Black Album... it should have been released along with Lovesexy on a double yin-yang type of thing.

An engineer talked about Prince letting him hear the master tape for TBA in the studio and being blown away by its sound.

The album is special, another lost gem in the Prince catalog. The released Cd sounds thin tho.

[Edited 4/9/14 0:12am]

fbueller said:

The Lovesexy album cover deterred sales for sure. Wonder how many people never listened to the entire Lovesexy album, because of the CD being all in 1 track?

As for The Black Album... it should have been released along with Lovesexy on a double yin-yang type of thing.

An engineer talked about Prince letting him hear the master tape for TBA in the studio and being blown away by its sound.

The album is special, another lost gem in the Prince catalog. The released Cd sounds thin and lifeless tho.

[Edited 4/7/14 12:50pm]

Isn't that kind of what happened. Prince must have known the Black album was going to be bootlegged when he had copies pressed and left in circulation. So in a sense he managed to release a double album against the wish of WB (but paid for by them) where the two discs were distributed seperately - one officially, the other under the counter, thereby integrating the distribution process in the artistic concept of the project.

[Edited 4/7/14 14:43pm]