I love The Black Album, it has a unique experimental dark enriched funk, it's sound is a unique sound from all his other albums he released in the 80's.

It's just hard to think that this was the follow up album to Sign O' The Times...

Rumour has it Prince wrote The Black Album as he was dissapointed in the commercial performance of SOTT and Alan Leeds even stated after Prince lost the Grammy to U2 he felt very angry. Lastly there is also the infamous extacy trip... But on it's own The Black Album is a strong creative album, obviously not meant for anything commercial and I think Prince did this album in rebellion to his frustations with a genius album like SOTT not receiving the credit it deserves.

But what also strikes me is that The Black Album was supposed to be the follow up album to SOTT... Something wants me to praise the diversity of The Black Album but another part of me feels really dissapointed that this was the album that was supposed to be released after the genius SOTT.

It feels a Purple Rain - ATIWAD feeling... It just kind of took you off guard. Everytime we get a brilliant album delievered the next one is a whole different vibe and I think that's how he lost a lot of "general" and "casual" listeners.

I love both albums, but I think The Black Album is more cohesive than Sign O The Times. I've never felt it would have been a disappointing follow up. If anything, I would have been disappointed if he'd come out with more of the same.

If he'd consistently put out the same kind of material album after album, he might have had more short-term commercial success, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have remained one of his fans. The fact that you never knew what you were going to hear from one album to the next through the 80s is exactly what made Prince Prince.

airth said:

TBA was largely made up of odds and sods recorded during the same time as period as SOTT, so I never really look at it as the next step for Prince after SOTT. He was already up and working on Graffiti Bridge after SOTT, so I look at it more like TBA was going to be a quick release - given it was being released in 1987, leaving 1988 for the "proper" follow-up album - Graffiti Bridge.

Maybe he was intending to promote TBA properly once it was released and it's initial marketing trick was used and done with, I don't know. But it seems to me it would've been more comparable to Madhouse or Exodus, or maybe more accurately the Camille album, which the TBA I guess carries over from in terms of releasing it clandestinely. But GB was the next project, it just got delayed a couple of years because of first the cancellation of TBA being the catalyst for Lovesexy and then the commercial carrot of doing the Batman soundtrack, by which time GB had gone through a whole host of changes resulting in it being the tacked-on sequel to Purple Rain. Not that the original script made any more sense, it reads just as much like career suicide as the released version did - it's out there floating around, should be easy to find.

Agree with all that.

i personally think the black album was never meant to come out and the whole bootleg, ecstacy trip thing was part of his marketing ploy, etc. just think about it. everything he does is for some sort of effect or reaction. he played songs from it on the tour. if it was so evil, why do that?

tab32792 said:

he played songs from it on the tour. if it was so evil, why do that?

To have part II of the concert being about redemption.
Did you even see the '88 Dortmund concert?

All the tracks but one were recorded BEFORE the release of SOTT and at the time intended for private use only, so it was not recorded with being the follow-up to SOTT in mind. Compiling the tracks as an album was reportedly a reaction to both some critics saying wasn't "black" enough anymore and 's frustration at life in general at the time (from the UTCM fiasco to disbanding of The Revolution and the final break-up with Susannah to WB declining to release his opus magnum -Crystal Ball- and having to rerecord and re-shoot almost the whole SOTT movie, had had a frustrating year).

Released right b4 TBA oughta been released was 16. Based on the latest recording sessions, the progression would in fact be as follow:

SOTT -> SOTT Live -> 16 -> TBA

However SOTT Live was an extension of SOTT, so what I find interesting is the fact that 16 and TBA are the 2 next projects, both showing a very agressive sound and quite a dark mood, like evil twins. was angry at the time, and it shows in both projects.

[Edited 12/8/14 6:53am]

tab32792 said:

i personally think the black album was never meant to come out and the whole bootleg, ecstacy trip thing was part of his marketing ploy, etc. just think about it. everything he does is for some sort of effect or reaction. he played songs from it on the tour. if it was so evil, why do that?

I think we've already had this discussion (I guess it was with you). What we think is irrelevant and only research and factual data should be taken into account. Research and factual data contradict every inch of this theory. The ecstasy trip story was told to Per Nilsen a decade after the facts by ex associates who were long gone and far from 's influence and who all confirmed that TBA was intended for release, so this could by no means have been part of any "marketing ploy". certainly used the hype that was floating around the cancelation and the bootleg to enhence his sulfurous reputation, there is little doubt about this. However, saying that all that has four legs is a dog because all dogs have four legs isn't morally acceptable. Please don't feed the young people who come here with conspiracy theories. Peace

bonatoc said:

tab32792 said:

he played songs from it on the tour. if it was so evil, why do that?

To have part II of the concert being about redemption.
Did you even see the '88 Dortmund concert?

tab32792 said:

i personally think the black album was never meant to come out and the whole bootleg, ecstacy trip thing was part of his marketing ploy, etc. just think about it. everything he does is for some sort of effect or reaction. he played songs from it on the tour. if it was so evil, why do that?

If that was true, they wouldn't have pressed and destroyed copies of the album.

No doubt they used it as marketing for Lovesexy and Prince's mystique in general after the fact.

NouveauDance said:

tab32792 said:

i personally think the black album was never meant to come out and the whole bootleg, ecstacy trip thing was part of his marketing ploy, etc. just think about it. everything he does is for some sort of effect or reaction. he played songs from it on the tour. if it was so evil, why do that?

If that was true, they wouldn't have pressed and destroyed copies of the album.

No doubt they used it as marketing for Lovesexy and Prince's mystique in general after the fact.

Tab believes WB was also a victim of 's mischievous ploy, I think

databank said:

O( >'s frustration at life in general at the time (from the UTCM fiasco to disbanding of The Revolution and the final break-up with Susannah to WB declining to release his opus magnum -Crystal Ball- and having to rerecord and re-shoot almost the whole SOTT movie, O( > had had a frustrating year).

Exactly. The rest, all the mystique (created by the very fans, by the way) that followed was Prince surfin' on that.

feeluupp said:

I love The Black Album, it has a unique experimental dark enriched funk, it's sound is a unique sound from all his other albums he released in the 80's.

It's just hard to think that this was the follow up album to Sign O' The Times...

Rumour has it Prince wrote The Black Album as he was dissapointed in the commercial performance of SOTT and Alan Leeds even stated after Prince lost the Grammy to U2 he felt very angry. Lastly there is also the infamous extacy trip... But on it's own The Black Album is a strong creative album, obviously not meant for anything commercial and I think Prince did this album in rebellion to his frustations with a genius album like SOTT not receiving the credit it deserves.

But what also strikes me is that The Black Album was supposed to be the follow up album to SOTT... Something wants me to praise the diversity of The Black Album but another part of me feels really dissapointed that this was the album that was supposed to be released after the genius SOTT.

It feels a Purple Rain - ATIWAD feeling... It just kind of took you off guard. Everytime we get a brilliant album delievered the next one is a whole different vibe and I think that's how he lost a lot of "general" and "casual" listeners.

The album was compiled and shelved several months prior to the Grammy loss, so that wasn't it.