LovesexyIsThe1 said:

LMAO!!!

I wouldn't say that about Emancipation.

But, I would reapeat your question and replace Emancipation with Hit N Run Phase One.

Or 20Ten, or NuPowerSoul, or PlectrumElectrum, or Art Official Age....

MattyJam said:

feeluupp said:

skywalker said:

feeluupp said: Think about that. Prince...in the 1980's, 4 years removed from Purple Rain, couldn't sell over a million copies of his new album in the USA?

The only real commercial success he had in the 80's after Purple Rain was with the BATMAN album which was due to the fact it tied in directly with the blockbuster movie... Yet sales for that album were still modest with 4.4 million at the time.

Diamonds & Pearls did pretty well. Also, I'd like to live in a world where 4.4 million is "modest" by any measure.

MattyJam said:

nyse said:

Love the album but i think this is where pfince started to perform questionable decision making... the nude album cover.... kept it out of many stores and hurt sales The CD format was one continues track which you could not skip songs was a horrible decision. the shoddy video for alphabet street looked sub par glamslam and wish you heaven were not the best single choices... the album did not crack the top 10... even though i lovethis album, i rather listen to any single disk from emancipation

You say Glam Slam and I Wish U Heaven were not good single choices, but the record was hardly brimming with potential hits. What songs do you think would've been better as singles?

The title track. Other than that, you're right though. It's not a singles laden album like D&P.

Had I been in charge, I might have taken a stab at "Dance On' as a single or maybe "Anna Stesia", except the run time is too long and editing i down would cut out the best parts.

Anna Stesia should be single. great song.

214 said:

NorthC said:

214 said:

Anna Stesia should be single. great song.

It is. But the "Girls and boys love God above" part ruined any hit potential it might have had. Girls and boys don't wanna hear that when they're listening to the radio. Prince himself said in an interview with Chris Rock in 1996 that he used "Let's Go Crazy" as a metaphor for God because you couldn't say "God" on the radio. That was in 1984. A year later, Kate Bush was faced with the same problem when she wanted to release a single called "A Deal with God". It had to be retitled "Running Up That Hill". And it became her biggest hit in the US. So the word God is very touchy when it comes to single releases. Most radio stations don't want to burn their fingers on it...

Really? why is that, it's foolish.

NorthC said:

214 said:

Anna Stesia should be single. great song.

It is. But the "Girls and boys love God above" part ruined any hit potential it might have had. Girls and boys don't wanna hear that when they're listening to the radio. Prince himself said in an interview with Chris Rock in 1996 that he used "Let's Go Crazy" as a metaphor for God because you couldn't say "God" on the radio. That was in 1984. A year later, Kate Bush was faced with the same problem when she wanted to release a single called "A Deal with God". It had to be retitled "Running Up That Hill". And it became her biggest hit in the US. So the word God is very touchy when it comes to single releases. Most radio stations don't want to burn their fingers on it...

Really? why is that, it's foolish.

feeluupp said:

Prince's last GENIUS album? Or as Alex Han said, an album wiht a few excellent tracks, but LOVESEXY was the first PRINCE album that nothing new was invented... Every Prince album his sound evolved musically, and with Lovesexy it was if we had heard everything before already...

Real mixed reactions for me...

Lovesexy sounded like something before it? What? It's nothing like SOTT or The Black Album, or Parade (Except W2RIL, which sounds out of place on Black anyway).

Aerogram said:

james said:

.

I've always had a theory about this...

.

He was at a creative peak after SOTT, The Black Album and then Lovesexy... although Lovesexy was quite a different album!

.

Then, Batman came along, and Tim Burton, and Princes entire outlook changed. Overnight he seemed to go from being happy to be creative to chasing a Top 10 hit... and that's the mode he's been in ever since (pretty much).

More like Lovesexy was a huge commercial flop. The sounds most of this board cherishes, the Prince we nearly all adore -- found himself with dismall chart numbers and half empty arenas. Should he have doubled down and release more Lovesexy-esque records, to dwindling returns?

The Lovesexy tour was a massive success (As was the release of the Live VHS), although it was expensive to put on, and Alphbet Street was a HUGE hit. Glam Slam got a lot of air play too.

.

He got critisised for the cover, but that was the only downside to the release (got him PR though)

SoulAlive said:

The title track should have been the second single.That song had alot of hit potential.

Lovesexy (the song) certainly has some catchy elements and I absolutely love it as a Prince fan, but as a song it is something like "1999-on-steroids": both songs have a huge beat and great synth brass chords, but Lovesexy is completely over the top in arrangement and production. Very busy arrangement, the song goes in many directions while at the same time it is also quite repetitive. I think it would have been too much (too difficult/complex) for the general public on commercial radio. Although a very clever single edit might have done the trick, who knows. Great song anyway, Lovesexy, that beat is slamming..