Probably none of y'all, unless you hated the album.

Cinny said:

Cinny said:

Probably none of y'all, unless you hated the album.

Not me, because no one I ever knew had a great copy of it. So to have it on CD at the time was a blessing. There were only what - 500K copies pressed? So yeah, I jumped right on it to have a clean copy. The rub of that is that it's so deeply rooted in 80s analog, it sounds muddy anyway. But less muddy than the 4th or 5th generation tape I had.

I didn't have it before 1994. PM Dawn had sampled it in 1991, and I had known it existed but no way to get my hands on a boot.

I bought it in 1994 ON CASSETTE

I later ended up buying the 1994 CD a couple times AND an earlier bootleg sourced from tape which had a charm of its own.

I just copped a bootleg on clear vinyl because I can't find the 1994 pressing, and a reissue hasn't come out yet.

All so I can listen to something people stream for free.



(So peace! Stay off my back / or I will attack / and you don't want that)

TrivialPursuit said:

Cinny said:

Probably none of y'all, unless you hated the album.

Not me, because no one I ever knew had a great copy of it. So to have it on CD at the time was a blessing. There were only what - 500K copies pressed? So yeah, I jumped right on it to have a clean copy. The rub of that is that it's so deeply rooted in 80s analog, it sounds muddy anyway. But less muddy than the 4th or 5th generation tape I had.

Interesting that "Bob George" started as a drum beat back in the Purple Rain era. That one sounds good clean or muddy!

Nonsense thread (sorry)


Prince's The Black Album is a Prince classic, the little brother or even the cousin to Camille and the Sign O' The Times albums.

9.5/ out of 10 imho.. masterpiece no less.

No one in their right mind would prefer a 1988 TBA-bootleg to "the original" 1994 release.



TBA: So much nerve so very edgy and so very original..

thedance said:

Nonsense thread (sorry)


Prince's The Black Album is a Prince classic, the little brother or even the cousin to Camille and the Sign O' The Times albums.

9.5/ out of 10 imho.. masterpiece no less.

No one in their right mind would prefer a 1988 TBA-bootleg to "the original" 1994 release.



TBA: So much nerve so very edgy and so very original..

true ..but still needs a remastering thing with bonus tracks

I think you know the point I am trying to make without hijacking the Eye Records lawsuit thread.

I still bought it, hoping it would be an upgrade from the boots... it wasn't, but that's ok.

Of course I picked it up regardless of the many bootleg CD and vinyl versions I already had

... simply because you wanted pristine official quality.

What's funny is one of my boot CD's sounded better (it must havebeen off a clean vinyl and had more range of highs and lows)! But that same boot had a little digital blip in one song that ruined it.

If you heard the sound quality of the boot I had, you wouldn't even ask.

Bought it five times.

-

First (and second) as a very bad quality bootleg on vinyl, and a few days later on cassette. (paid way too much for both, and was dissapointed.) (still have 'm )

Third time a few weeks later, but this time an excellent copy again on vinyl.

(...and again, paid a lot; I remember it well; 5000 Belgian Francs, in 1988, or 125 EURO.

I worked hard as a student to be able to save and buy these releases.

The 'illegal-ness' of it all was unimportant and unaware to me, and as a 20 year old I was proud to have 'm.)

Fourth time an illegal CD version, bad quality too, paid a normal CD price back then.

Fifth time on CD release right when it came out in 1994. Normal price paid in 1994 (basically the same price as today).

-

Mind that back in time, it was not possible to listen to bootlegs when you wanted to buy them.

At least not where I found them.

It was a maater of take-it-or-leave-it.

-

By that time, the boots were great quality. I just couldn't get excited about the release. I wasn't the only one. I was working for a major record company chain when it came it and it hardly sold at all. Even WB couldn't be bothered to promote it. I think I picked it up years later in a bargain bucket somewhere.

A (UK) penfriend had sent me a cassette copy of it circa 1988, which I played almost incessantly at the time, despite its very 'muffled' sound quality (to say the least). I still skipped the purchase in 1994, then having had my own doubts about the inspiration behind the album. In 2007, I was given a much better digital copy of it, which I was happy to have as it nicely completed my digital Prince collection. I must admit, I rarely listen to it nowadays, but whenever I do, it sure does bring back the magic.

thedance said:

Nonsense thread (sorry)


Prince's The Black Album is a Prince classic, the little brother or even the cousin to Camille and the Sign O' The Times albums.

9.5/ out of 10 imho.. masterpiece no less.

No one in their right mind would prefer a 1988 TBA-bootleg to "the original" 1994 release.



TBA: So much nerve so very edgy and so very original..

THANK YOU!!! Who in their right mind wouldn't get a crystal clear copy of The Black Album as opposed to the muddy sounding audio of the boots. I'm not trying to be mean but this is kind of a dumb question.

At the time, that it came out I was a bit iffy about Prince.

.

I had a boot, but my continuance in Prince music canon wasn't high at the time. I had a spark of excitement when I saw it, took me back to when I heard and received the Black album late 87

.

I had a rush, and then remembered where he was at currently and felt deflated and passed it over.I bought it a bit later though.

I had a bootleg copy on vinyl that a friend had given me in 1990 or 1991. But I didn't have a turntable, so it sat on my shelf unplayed for 3 years. (Luckily, my friend had also made me a very VERY low-quality copy on cassette, so I did get to hear the music.)

.

But then, sometime later, at my local wrecka stow, I found a bootleg CD. So I paid a pretty penny for that gem, and was able to hear it a tad clearer.

.

When I heard about the official release in 1994, I was ecstatic. I went to the very same wrecka stow the day it came out and bought the first copy on the shelf. I then gave my bootleg CD to a very attractive young woman I was wooing at the time. (Spoiler alert: my musical gift worked like a charm... Thank you Prince!)

.

To this day, "Le Grind" and "Bob George" are in my Top 20 favorite Prince tracks. I could listen to "Le Grind" all day long... what an awesome beat.

I didn't even know it was being released officially until I saw it in the record store and almost died. I bought one which was a definite upgrade from the bootleg LP I had owned for 5 or 6 years prior to the official release.

Genesia said:

If you heard the sound quality of the boot I had, you wouldn't even ask.

Ayyy my boot wasn't so bad.

GiggityGoo said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

At the time, that it came out I was a bit iffy about Prince.

.

I had a boot, but my continuance in Prince music canon wasn't high at the time. I had a spark of excitement when I saw it, took me back to when I heard and received the Black album late 87

.

I had a rush, and then remembered where he was at currently and felt deflated and passed it over.I bought it a bit later though.

I was iffy on Prince's output of the early to mid-90s myself, but I ran right out and bought The Black Album on CD right away. It was definitely a sonic improvement over a copied cassette of a bootleg.

My bootleg CD sounds like it is TAPE sourced, but it isn't light and hissy, it fuckin' THUMPS! Some days I prefer it to the official Warner Brothers release - but make no mistake I would cop an authentic 1988 or 1994 vinyl pressing given the chance.

Heck, I bought two!

After having purchased at least 1/2 dozen different bootlegs, including a near perfect sounding LP and a perfect sounding CD... yes I bought the official CD, and would have bought the official LP if I ever saw it in a wrecka stow. In fact I'll still buy an official viny if they ever get around to a reissue.

djThunderfunk said:

After having purchased at least 1/2 dozen different bootlegs, including a near perfect sounding LP and a perfect sounding CD... yes I bought the official CD, and would have bought the official LP if I ever saw it in a wrecka stow. In fact I'll still buy an official viny if they ever get around to a reissue.

I could have sworn I heard an official vinyl reissue was in the works, right after originals were selling for crazy on Discogs.

Cinny said:

djThunderfunk said:

After having purchased at least 1/2 dozen different bootlegs, including a near perfect sounding LP and a perfect sounding CD... yes I bought the official CD, and would have bought the official LP if I ever saw it in a wrecka stow. In fact I'll still buy an official viny if they ever get around to a reissue.

I could have sworn I heard an official vinyl reissue was in the works, right after originals were selling for crazy on Discogs.

They announced that one prematurely. I think they had a "one-time limited edition" deal to release the 94 version that prevents reissues.

[Edited 9/6/18 12:33pm]