those two songs together, one of his best album openings ever; don't downplay the force and impact of those two songs, folks

Sort of

I love these 2 songs

yeah, Le Grind is one of his best opening tracks ever, fantastic beat. Slam it!

Cindy C is a fun, crazy track.

They are hardly underrated though.

controversy99 said:

Overrated here. Underrated elsewhere. Pluses: fun lyrics, nice horns, fake British accent moment Negatives: repetitive drums, no actual chorus on Le Grind, practically no melody or harmonies They're fine for b-sides, but they hardly make for a great opening track sequence. Come get me

I actually have to agree with you. I never really dug either of these songs or The Black Album as a whole. It was one of my first boots and one of the first times I was underwhelmed with a Prince album.

xpertluva said:

controversy99 said:

Overrated here. Underrated elsewhere. Pluses: fun lyrics, nice horns, fake British accent moment Negatives: repetitive drums, no actual chorus on Le Grind, practically no melody or harmonies They're fine for b-sides, but they hardly make for a great opening track sequence. Come get me

I actually have to agree with you. I never really dug either of these songs or The Black Album as a whole. It was one of my first boots and one of the first times I was underwhelmed with a Prince album.

The sound on those boots didn't do justice to the tracks and they did sound very thin, especially Le Grind. When the album was released officially, I rediscovered Le Grind/Cindy C, -- both now sounded much better and you can see he was going for that hypnotic effect with the repetitions and subtle changes. As for how they are generally rated, I'd say they are essential second-tier songs - not among the greatest songs he ever recorded but nonetheless well worth knowing. Listen to Cindy C. next time you're out running or exercising, it's what I'd call propulsive.

Aerogram said:

xpertluva said:

I actually have to agree with you. I never really dug either of these songs or The Black Album as a whole. It was one of my first boots and one of the first times I was underwhelmed with a Prince album.

The sound on those boots didn't do justice to the tracks and they did sound very thin, especially Le Grind. When the album was released officially, I rediscovered Le Grind/Cindy C, -- both now sounded much better and you can see he was going for that hypnotic effect with the repetitions and subtle changes. As for how they are generally rated, I'd say they are essential second-tier songs - not among the greatest songs he ever recorded but nonetheless well worth knowing. Listen to Cindy C. next time you're out running or exercising, it's what I'd call propulsive.

I'm gonna try this one. Personally I've always found Prince terrible to run to. I'll slot Cindy C in on a mix... see how it goes

BobGeorge909 said:

Boo!

Don't know if they are underrated, but I sure as hell love both tracks to the max! I just love my funk and they both deliver to my full satisfaction.

nextedition said:

yeah, Le Grind is one of his best opening tracks ever, fantastic beat. Slam it!

Cindy C is a fun, crazy track.

They are hardly underrated though.

Was just about to say the same... Le Grind is one of the best Prince opening tracks, and the beat is spectacular... I still think using the same beat he could've made another possibly killer song.

Hell yeah Le Grind & Cindy C are underrated! Had The Black Album been release in 1988, both tracks plus When 2 R In Love would have been the 3 potential hit singles, at least on r&b radio anyway.

Le Grind is best heard on cassette tape. After the years of wearing the tape out, the funk of Le Grind sounds deeper.

[Edited 10/27/14 7:46am]

Le Grind - Cindy C - Dead on it. Talk about a 1-2-3 knockout combination. Funky as fuck and probably my favourite 1-2-3 on any album.

.

Let the Black Album fly.....

TonyVanDam said:

Hell yeah Le Grind & Cindy C are underrated! Had The Black Album been release in 1988, both tracks plus When 2 R In Love would have been the 3 potential hit singles, at least on r&b radio anyway.

Le Grind is best heard on cassette tape. After the years of wearing the tape out, the funk of Le Grind sounds deeper.

[Edited 10/27/14 7:46am]

The Beavis and Butthead treatment of the "When 2 R In Love" video was absolutely epic! I wish it was on YouTube.

no, these are the only two tracks i skip on an otherwise timeless album

V10LETBLUES said:

no, these are the only two tracks i skip on an otherwise timeless album

care to explain?

They're a killer opening, no debate AFAIC.

up and down, up and down, feels so good

up and down, up and down, like a pony would

WTF lyrics, brilliant.

databank said:

They're a killer opening, no debate AFAIC.

Le Grind + Cindy C. are great......

JoeTyler said:

those two songs together, one of his best album openings ever; don't downplay the force and impact of those two songs, folks

YAAASSSSS one two k.o. jamz

Whole album is, at least by general public. The real follow-up to Parade, IMO - much better than Lovesexy

MendesCity said:

Whole album is, at least by general public. The real follow-up to Parade, IMO - much better than Lovesexy

Agreed, never really got into LoveSexy personally. Too many weak links for me, although still some enjoyable tracks. The Black Album is much more interesting to me.

Scotsman1999 said:

These songs are filled with inspiration...just pure energy and imagination and lust. It's the sound of a man bursting at the seams with ideas. There's more funk genius in one of these tracks than in most of his subsequent albums put together!

And there it is!

Hell yes. They have that perfect dirty 1+2 punch one right after the other.

Heard Cindy's husband threatened to beat up Prince if he released the second song

CharismaDove said:

Hell yes. They have that perfect dirty 1+2 punch one right after the other.

Heard Cindy's husband threatened to beat up Prince if he released the second song

Richard Gere?

I wonder how well the album would have done had it been released as originally planned? Probably not that well. There isnt really any material on it that would have made a good single back then. Lovesexy didnt do that well and that had Alphabet St. Anyway, glad it didnt come out then or we may never have had Lovesexy which would have been a catastrophe!