i've always put lovesexy in the highest tiers of prince's best work.

.

but the more i read online, the more i hear people talk about lovesexy as the moment prince started to "lose it."

.

even some die-hard fans say it's not one of his better album, which seems so strange to me considering just how many brilliant and classic tracks the album is filled with.

.

it's such a brillitant album... each moment of it bursts with musical color, vibrancy, and brilliance. it's an album full of joy, spirit, and beauty. it's one of prince's true masterpieces, and it always confounds me to see that some people don't agree..

.

everyone has a right to their own opinion of course, but i would love to hear some perspective from other fans.

It's a very opposite vibe to SOTT or Black Album, which are more controlled, produced over time, and arranged with cohesive sounds. Lovesexy is a hard album to get into because it is so different and out of step with what sounded cool at the time. It really was a concept album. I think one of the concepts was improvise the arrangement with no shame and don't look back, just release it.

ufoclub said:

It's a very opposite vibe to SOTT or Black Album, which are more controlled, produced over time, and arranged with cohesive sounds. Lovesexy is a hard album to get into because it is so different and out of step with what sounded cool at the time. It really was a concept album. I think one of the concepts was improvise the arrangement with no shame and don't look back, just release it.

yeah, i definitely understand this. it feels a lot 'looser' and more wild than SOTT. more explosive to me as well. i fell in love with it the first time i heard it though, there's just so many infectious melodies! and then when you get to the genius of 'anna stesia' it really blows you away.

.

i think the concept album element of it is part of why i enjoy it so much. i remember watching a documentary about prince in the 80s and it said that lovesexy was unfocused and haphazard, and one of prince's lesser albums. and i couldn't disagree more. it's unified by the concept, a brilliant fusion of the sacred and the profane. love and sex with god and spirit.

People don't like what they don't understand.

I guess the "hate" is coming from the US:

In Europe Lovesexy was a succesful album,

and personally I every single note on this fine album..

Ummm...because peoples' tastes vary?

I love it as an album and I loved the concept behind it and the tour that came with it but many people, including people from the band that worked on it, think it is a tad overproduced. Some love this because you can still discover little details the more you listen to it, and some will always wonder what the original, rawer versions of the songs sounded like.

And, as much as I love the songs on it, I don´t think there are many songs on it that the average Joe can really relate to. While I love Anna Stesia, When 2 R In Love, Positivity and I Wish U Heaven, they are not really songs with a lot of hit potential (even long time Prince critic and biographer Jon Bream found the song I Wish U Heaven kind of bland and weak.....but it is one of my favorite songs).

The critical reception for both the tour and the album was very positive in Europe back in the day ( I still have a magazine with a very glowing review of the album, SPEX magazine) but the US audiences and magazines, and most of all retail stores, were not that happy when the album dropped. And they spent way more time discussing the album cover than the contents of the album itself.

As much as I love the album on its own, I think watching the show countless times helped me a lot to appreciate the album much more.

It's overly cluttered.

All that time and toys at his disposal after he was installed into Paisley Park offered too much temptation to throw in everything but the kitchen sink in his production. He probably even threw in a few of the kitchen sinks, just for good measure, if you listen closely enough.

Also, some of the songs are pretty wack.

love the album,at that time release cancelled for black album hated waiting for new album.

Askani said:

It's overly cluttered.

All that time and toys at his disposal after he was installed into Paisley Park offered too much temptation to throw in everything but the kitchen sink in his production. He probably even threw in a few of the kitchen sinks, just for good measure, if you listen closely enough.

interesting. obviously i don't agree, but i'm glad to hear your perspective. i can see how some people could call the production cluttered, but that was never really a problem for me.

sure. i just want to hear some perspective from people who maybe didn't care for the album as much as me. often, reading critical reviews gives me even more appreciation for a particular artist/album.

this is definitely true! i wonder if the album would have been more successful if prince had, for instance, used a different album cover and allowed the tracks to be split on initial release. but we'll never know. personally, i love the album cover

when I was active duty Army I would pace my 2 mile runs to the song Lovesexy. I was pretty fast... and that was in my head no head phones....

Some Prince-fans say that the Lovesexy album was overproduced.

TonyVanDam said:

Some Prince-fans say that the Lovesexy album was overproduced.

it's always such a fine line isn't it? the really busy, sometimes hectic, full production is part of what i love about this album so much. it gives the listener a lot of music to tune into. but to some, they hear that as overproduction and dislike it. interesting. it's definitely very different than, for instance, the minimal production of dirty mind.

nursev said:

Cause that shit is awful. I have listened to it maybe 3 times since the 80's

SuperSoulFighter said:

Can't we just lock this and direct everybody to the "1988 USA" thread that was just started? We don't need 2 threads about the same album. I love it to death, but I've already said that in the other thread. Thanx.

I thought so too, but this thread is about fans disliking Lovesexy(the album) vs the other thread about his Popularity overal in the US, which is a more open discussion about everything Prince in 1988

I think U had 2 be there at the moment of it's release! I can imagine when someone listen 2 this for the first time years later, they may find it strange. I just looove it, the sound is great, finally Prince 's albums started to sound powerfull again after Parade and co. (critics said this album finally sounded modern after the low fi sound of previous). Livesexy Dortmund just added that extra that made me like this even more. I know, Lovesexy and Glam Slam live sounded heavy..............Loooooooovesexy!!!!!

Lovesexy is great, imo. I do feel that it's a bit overproduced [or cluttered] in areas, But I feel that it fits the mold & flows together very well. All the songs tend to have this "wild edge" to them that I really dig. Nothing on the album is "ordinary", & I really appreciate that about it.

Lovesexy is a challenging album.Not everyone is gonna "get it".You have to allow yourself to get lost in it and feel the vibe.

Saying Lovesexy is "overproduced" is the easiest thing to say to dismiss it.

I don't see it as cluttered--I see it as an extensive collage. You can either choose to look at it as a pile of unrelated rubble or see the connecting edges perfectly. I really doubt Prince made it and thought it looked like a pile of rubble.

Every decision Prince makes is deliberate, so it comes down to taste.

Personally, I think the kind of feeling he had while making this is "anything is possible"

The feeling I have when I listen to this is discovery--I'm always hearing new things

It's an "experience" -- and Lovesexy is such an intense feeling, it's busting at the seams in every direction -- like a psychedelic trip, it is overwhelming for some people and ecstatic for others

AdmiralFrenchkiss said:

Saying Lovesexy is "overproduced" is the easiest thing to say to dismiss it.

I don't see it as cluttered--I see it as an extensive collage. You can either choose to look at it as a pile of unrelated rubble or see the connecting edges perfectly. I really doubt Prince made it and thought it looked like a pile of rubble.

Every decision Prince makes is deliberate, so it comes down to taste.

Personally, I think the kind of feeling he had while making this is "anything is possible"

The feeling I have when I listen to this is discovery--I'm always hearing new things

It's an "experience" -- and Lovesexy is such an intense feeling, it's busting at the seams in every direction -- like a psychedelic trip, it is overwhelming for some people and ecstatic for others

Some of the songs have very elaborate arrangements that felt too heavy in the 80s, particularly Eye No, and at least one song (Positivity) still sounds rather tedious melodically and lyrically. It was probably the first time I felt Prince had stopped innovating and was focusing on the arrangements to repackage many previously explored ideas (Lovesexy, Glam Slam, Positivity). I always felt it sounded like a record made by someone just out of rehab, full of resolve and regrets, a palpable sadness covered with religious bliss (trying to find ecstasy "the right way, the only way").

Today it's a one of a kind record, Eye No turns out to be a gutsy statement musically, to take on that kind of ambitious arrangement and acing the test of time. Lovesexy's familiar groove is now sheer perfection (at the time, I needed Prince to rehaul his funky sound with each record, he wasn't allowed to simply refine and perfect an idea) and Glam Slam, Dance On and I Wish U Heaven have transcended their melodic simplicity. There's only Positivity that still sounds too easy and not worthy.

its sounds amazing live not so much on record

Replica said:

It's perhaps his most obviously happy go lucky feminine album after his break through as the rock star Purple Rain made him. Dirty Mind was a much more masculine album even with all the falsetto and vulnerable approach. Lovesexy is still a lot more attitude than modern kids like The Dream, Bruno Mars and Chris Brown, although they have all slightly unique styles of their own, the provide a style that sounds quite infantile. I guess infantile us the new buff or manly. It's a trend at least. Still people think Prince sounds gay. I dunno bout you, but a sensual vulnerable yet alpha and multisex approach is way more likable to me than the boyish weak and crybabies we're facing today. Sorry for going all aggressive on this, as u respect Bruno Mars for his songs and The Dream for some if his production.

lol ok you know you're going to have to delve a little deeper in how you think Prince sounds (gayer) on Lovesexy or feminine

For me, it was many things.
The album was released in the shaddow of a far greater album, SOTT. So, there's context.

But, also, it lacks atmosphere compared to some of his other stuff.
The ballad "When 2 R In Love" reminds me a little bit of Condition of the Heart, but without

the feeling of space. Condition of the Heart paints pictures in your mind's eye. Nothing

on LoveSexy does that for me.

The album starts off too noisy, and songs like alphabet street go on far too long to

justify the rather light, whimsical tune. And, the rap on it is just bloody awful.
The drum beat is loud and jarring too.

Don't get me wrong. I actually like LoveSexy, but it just sounded messy, overproduced,

and thrown together rather than a cohesive statement the absurd single-track CD would

leave one to think.

I always wonder why Prince hasn't really played anything from this album except for Alphabet St & Anne Stesia and even those rarely