Black Album destroys Lovesexy .. I keep my Black Album unedited on a mixtape with the Crystal Ball 86 tunes .. I have another mixtape called Lovesexy vs. Batman .. Lovesexy is mostly gutted with extended mixes but Batman remains mostly intact save for switching in the extended Vicki Waiting and dropping Electric Chair and adding Sex

mydrawers said:

I would've once said The Black Album by some distance, but Lovesexy seems to have grown on me since then. Still gonna give it to TBA by a whisker or two, though. As others have said, they're two albums that seem to have a symbiotic relationship with each other.

[Edited 2/4/20 15:08pm]

mydrawers said:

Black Album all day (although I DO love LoveSexy)!

I prefer The Black ALbum overall but I think Lovesexy has the higher measure of standout tracks (Annastasia, Positivity, Dance On, I Wish U Heaven, The title track). I just always preferred the funkier stuff so shit like Supercalifunk, Bob George, Rock Hard and LeGrind just grind my gears.

And, to some extent, I found Lovesexy to be a tad overdone - including the concert. It was like, I GOT what he went for and appreciated it, but it didn't always land for me.

It came up in another thread, but I'll go to my grave believing that Prince orchestrated the entire replacement strategy - yanking TBA and releasing Lovesexy instead - and purposely leaked TBA to fuck with WB and do things his way. Truth be told, it should have been a double album (good/evil and light/dark and heaven/hell) and given how he staged the tour and the setlist, I honestly believe that was his intention.

But he'd never get another double album over on WB after SoTT/Crystal Ball. We all know one of his biggest problems with the record companies was wanting to release more music than they could market so I think he did it anyway on his own in whatever way he could. Which was rather brilliant. He created the single most bootlegged album of all time (at the time).

I never bought the whole "Black Album is Evil, Don't Buy it, I am Sorry" story because then why do 1/3 of your set list with this whole message behind it on this totally over the top tour? Or even agree to let WB release it officially? When Prince felt strongly about something (like cursing on songs) he STOPPED. We knew he was serious. I think he was fucking with WB and arranged The Black Album's release through back channels. Wouldn't be suprised if he made some money but even if he didn't, he generated that mysterious hype he loved.

I'll go one further and state that Exodus > The Black Album as a True Funk Bible.

Lovesexy by the length of our galaxy

TrevorAyer said:

Lovesexy. (When 2 R in love doesn't work on the black album.) I still like the black album.

controversy99 said:

Lovesexy by a wide margin.

Don't get me wrong, I like Lovesexy, but The Black Album is the one for me, it is funky and fierce and unpretentious.

I wasn't really into the spiritual/religious theme of LoveSexy, I thought it was all a bit preachy and pretentious. At least, that's the way it came across to me. Also I thought Lovesexy was a bit over the top production-wise, too much going on, too dense often.

I blame the Paisley Park studio's for this, plus the arrival of samplers around the same time. In my opinion Prince had too many toys at his disposal in PP and from that time on we have seen Prince's albums often cluttered with all sorts of extra layers in the music, plus all kinds of added 'noises'. Sometimes that would work out really cool, but more often it was unnecessary and the bells and whistles would distract from the song, or were used to dress up songs that weren't that great to begin with.

Still a lot of good songs on Lovesexy. I also agree these two albums would make a fantastic double album. Also I agree that the Lovesexy tour was a bit over the top/too much as well, however great the band was and however great a show it was. I was there standing front row and had a great time during the show. Nevertheless -in hindsight- it felt like he was trying a bit too hard at that time to impress the audience. Plus I didn't really enjoy the preaching bits.

kewlschool said:

Lovesexy. (When 2 R in love doesn't work on the black album.) I still like the black album.

Man, no shit. I don't like that song to begin with and its inclusion on TBA doesn't fit.

funkaholic1972 said:

Still a lot of good songs on Lovesexy. I also agree these two albums would make a fantastic double album. Also I agree that the Lovesexy tour was a bit over the top/too much as well, however great the band was and however great a show it was. I was there standing front row and had a great time during the show. Nevertheless -in hindsight- it felt like he was trying a bit too hard at that time to impress the audience. Plus I didn't really enjoy the preaching bits.

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one so thanks for writing that.

To me, it felt like a Madonna or Cher concert or something. I always felt that the more theatrical and thematic Prince got, the more the music suffered and got dragged down a notch. That's why the aftershows and shit like The Undertaker are so great. Or why that cheeky one off Super Bowl "press conference", the Musicology acoustic set (and that tour in general) or the R&RHoF performance resonated so well.

For the most part, the more prince tried to tell a story or narrate a message around the music, the more it detracted from my enjoyment (Rainbow Children, Three Chains of Gold, Grafitti Bridge and Under the Cherry Moon movies, the annoying seques he liked to do, his god and anti drug chat, etc).

Lovesexy tour was SO theatrical, SO message driven, SO choreographed and SO just sort of throwing everything at the wall as if Prince had been saving up a musical orgasm and been edging since Sign O the Times that parts of it were sort of...I dunno...distracting or baffling I guess.

The Lovesexy album is a journey....."a mind trip",as Prince once described it.It's a very consistent album that flows beautifully from one track to the next.It's a thrilling trip to take.

The Black Album is fun,funky and at times,nasty......I enjoy it,but I don't find it to be a big,important, substantial album in Prince's catalog.

They are both albums made while Prince was at his imperious best so they are both amazing, classic records. Having said that I like the in yo face funk of the Black Album best - I find the songs more engaging and the the grooves harder. I also like the sound of the Black Album better than the open, multi layered production of Lovesexy despite Alphabet St & Eye Wish U Heaven being some of my all time fav P songs.

SoulAlive said:

The Lovesexy album is a journey....."a mind trip",as Prince once described it.It's a very consistent album that flows beautifully from one track to the next.It's a thrilling trip to take.

The Black Album is fun,funky and at times,nasty......I enjoy it,but I don't find it to be a big,important, substantial album in Prince's catalog.

.

.

Agree entirely. I go even a step further because Lovesexy is my personal, desert-island, carry-it-with-me-to-the-afterlife, so-good-I-cry FAVORITE Prince album, period.

.

For me, Lovesexy is Prince demonstrating his artistry in its utterly highest form - the culmination of a decade-long period of stepping forward from album-to-album in a way established a class of his very own.

.

And then yeah, Black Album is a good party - one that starts off like gangbusters with twin classics - but ultimately fits rather comfortably into the "afterthought" category established by its eventual offical release.

.

Had it been released when originally planned, it would've been the low point of his '80s output. Some might argue Batman, but for me personally I prefer the overall concept of Batman far better.

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I cherish "When 2 R in Love" as one of my most-loved romantic Prince ballads but it fits like a glove on Lovesexy while sticking out like a sore thumb on Black.

^^^My desert island disc is 1999^^^

I still maintain that Prince released a double album on the sly and figured out a way to get them both out there, generating a lot of buzz about the "pulled record" that became the most saught after bootleg of all time for a bit.

If he really didn't want anyone to hear it, he wouldn't have incoporated so many songs from it on the tour. He did it all intentionally and it was incredibly clever. I'm gonna have to give both these albums a listen soon, maybe back ti back. It's been a minite since I dove into either one.

I'd say TBA is the one I can listen to straight through but Lovesexy has the stronger songs. Which is weird since Lovesexy, out of the two, was the disc designed to listen to as a whole and famously had the CD released without track skipping as an option.

I like them both for different reasons but hell if I don't prefer the funk. I'm willing to even argue that Exodus delivers on what TBA promised and is the real Funk Bible in his catalog. To each their own I suppose.

It's really a lot of fun how diverse Prince was and the how wildly all over the place the taste of his fans treads all over the map. I can't think of another artist whose fan base argues so much about what constitutes his best material. We'd all have a different Best Of given the chance.

herb4 said:

^^^My desert island disc is 1999^^^

I still maintain that Prince released a double album on the sly and figured out a way to get them both out there, generating a lot of buzz about the "pulled record" that became the most saught after bootleg of all time for a bit.

If he really didn't want anyone to hear it, he wouldn't have incoporated so many songs from it on the tour. He did it all intentionally and it was incredibly clever. I'm gonna have to give both these albums a listen soon, maybe back ti back. It's been a minite since I dove into either one.

I'd say TBA is the one I can listen to straight through but Lovesexy has the stronger songs. Which is weird since Lovesexy, out of the two, was the disc designed to listen to as a whole and famously had the CD released without track skipping as an option.

I like them both for different reasons but hell if I don't prefer the funk. I'm willing to even argue that Exodus delivers on what TBA promised and is the real Funk Bible in his catalog. To each their own I suppose.

It's really a lot of fun how diverse Prince was and the how wildly all over the place the taste of his fans treads all over the map. I can't think of another artist whose fan base argues so much about what constitutes his best material. We'd all have a different Best Of given the chance.

.

Not sure I'd agree about the Black Album theory - if there was money to be made, which there was, I think Prince would've preferred to make it. Rather than let bootleggers pocket it. I guess I was one of probably the relatively few serious P fans who actually followed his directive about not buying it. I never heard it until I bought the official release.

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But definitely a good point about him incorporating songs from it in live performances.

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I would say that Black album is obviously more focused on being funky throughout - but for my money "Eye know," "Alphabet," and "Dance On" are all funkier than anything on Black.

CAL3 said:

SoulAlive said:

The Lovesexy album is a journey....."a mind trip",as Prince once described it.It's a very consistent album that flows beautifully from one track to the next.It's a thrilling trip to take.

The Black Album is fun,funky and at times,nasty......I enjoy it,but I don't find it to be a big,important, substantial album in Prince's catalog.

.

.

Agree entirely. I go even a step further because Lovesexy is my personal, desert-island, carry-it-with-me-to-the-afterlife, so-good-I-cry FAVORITE Prince album, period.

.

For me, Lovesexy is Prince demonstrating his artistry in its utterly highest form - the culmination of a decade-long period of stepping forward from album-to-album in a way established a class of his very own.

.

And then yeah, Black Album is a good party - one that starts off like gangbusters with twin classics - but ultimately fits rather comfortably into the "afterthought" category established by its eventual offical release.

.

Had it been released when originally planned, it would've been the low point of his '80s output. Some might argue Batman, but for me personally I prefer the overall concept of Batman far better.

.

I cherish "When 2 R in Love" as one of my most-loved romantic Prince ballads but it fits like a glove on Lovesexy while sticking out like a sore thumb on Black.

For me its the other way, although Prince's intention might have been otherwise, it is the Black Album that demonstrates his artistry at its highest form, in the mix, the tone, the elements and the way the ingredients work together to be instantly accessible yet completely his unique sound. Lovesexy just doesn't work like that for me. Lovesexy sounds like an attempt at being conceptual that doesn't quite hit it for me. Don't get me wrong, I have obsessed over that album, but there's something about the arrangments and mix that doesn't quite work for my tastes, despite the intention of the songs being very interesting. So with Lovesexy, I love to delve into it to figure out his intention, but it didn't quite crystalize. I listened to it over and over to see if I cold get it.

With the Black Album its like with pure instinct and tasteful production, he just killed it with an album that effortlessly felt like an authentic cohesive flavor on first listen or the 100th.

Bob George alone is a Princeverse groundbreaker.

ufoclub said:

So with Lovesexy, I love to delve into it to figure out his intention, but it didn't quite crystalize. I listened to it over and over to see if I could get it.

It seems like alot of people didn't really get it.They didn't get the message,the vibe,the sin and salvation theme.But it really resonated with me.Even now,there are times when I'll listen to "Anna Stesia" and I'll get that incredible,unexplainable feeling again....the same feelings I had in 1988.There's alot of soul searching going on in those songs.Very intriguing stuff!

CAL3 said:

Had The Black Album been released when originally planned, it would've been the low point of his '80s output.

It's interesting to think about how it would have been received if it has been released.There are no obvious "hit singles" on it and I doubt that radio (pop or R&B) could have played much of it.

Black Album by a mile for me. Never really liked Lovesexy that much, especially the second side.

SoulAlive said:

ufoclub said:

So with Lovesexy, I love to delve into it to figure out his intention, but it didn't quite crystalize. I listened to it over and over to see if I could get it.

It seems like alot of people didn't really get it.They didn't get the message,the vibe,the sin and salvation theme.But it really resonated with me.Even now,there are times when I'll listen to "Anna Stesia" and I'll get that incredible,unexplainable feeling again....the same feelings I had in 1988.There's alot of soul searching going on in those songs.Very intriguing stuff!

I think I got the lyrical intent, I meant the sound. As in take away all the lyrics and just leave the album as instrumentals (in your mind) and I didn't quite get the appeal of some of the compositions and arrangments.

2 great styles of his funk

my favorite moment on Lovesexy is these three songs: title track,"When 2 R In Love" and "I Wish U Heaven".All three songs sorta segue into each other and it all flows together effortlessly.The title track is a wild rollercoaster ride ending with the outrageous "tonight we make love with only words" segment with Prince and Cat's voices changing....that's a freakin' mind trip! "When 2 R In Love" sounds horribly out of place on TBA but here,it fits perfectly."I Wish U Heaven" is simply heavenly.

TrevorAyer said:

Lovesexy was a throw away quickie album inspired by guilty feelings that surfaced while on drugs ... everyone gets the theme ... its just got a lotta overworked filler and marks a real drop in production values ... prince even noted that he could never get a good “sound” out of paisley park and it shows on this record ... production aside .. the songs just don’t hold up .. i prefer when 2 are in love to stay on the black album .. eye no is great but hardly a new song ... alphabet is a fun tune that suffers from perhaps his thinnest drum sound recorded to date .. scarlet pussy and take this beat are better than the rest of the half over baked album .. black album rivals dirty mind in relentless uncompromising nasty funk work outs ... had it been released it may not have had a hit single but would have continued his streak of untouchable outstanding records ... lovesexy is a low point and marks the end of his golden era with a limp thud

I wouldn't go this far but the whole thing felt really Try Hard. Too much. Same with the tour.

I appreciated the record with some headphones and and a bowl, amazed at the layering and production he was doing - something I love about his records going back to 1999 - but it's never entirely clicked for me and I have to be in the mood for it.

But you're right. Lovesexy was a total kitchen sink effort designed to be taken as this Huge Grand Artistic Statement, punctuated by the decision to make it one track (which was a huge mistake and hurt sales), and it didn't entirely land, especially after the magnum opus brilliance of SoTT. I tend to like different songs on it than most (Dance On, Lovesexy, Positivity, IWUH) and nothing on TBA is as great as Anna Stesia, arguably an all time top ten or top five track. Lovesexy has the higher "higher points" I think and stronger sond writing.

But some of that rawness on TBA grabs me more, like you said. SFCFS, LeGrind, RHIAFP, Dead On It, are just naked raw. A few of the tracks on TBA go on way too long and drag (2NUFWC, CIndy C) and W2RIL doesn't fit, which takes it down a notch but I don't get the hate for it from a lot of fans overall. Bob George is just sick, stripped down and a highlight center piece from the tour. My man pulled off a funk track with a simple, repetitive beat and and a voice modulater then went George Clinton meets Elton John midway through the tour setlist with it that left jaws dropping.

And I'll go to my grave believing that Prince did the whole thing by design. He didn't "find god". from an XTC trip. He was fucking with us and had more on his mind and too much to say than WB could handle. Truth be told, I've never heard of anyone having a bad XTC trip.

Funny story: The bootleg copy I got on cassette in 88 was dubbed too slow and for years I got used to hearing it that way. When I got my hands on a proper copy, I thought that one was sped up and I had to readjust to the tempo. I'd listened to it too slow for years.