dodger07 said:

TrivialPursuit said:

I agree on both counts. He had to sign off for the 500K copes in 1994. I forget if that was part of his exit-deal with WB or not. I don't think it did, (?) which added to his 'slave' stance. They were wanting albums, but not counting them toward his contract fulfillment. *

As far as his pseudo-spiritual stance, it was folklore. He had a moment and just rode hard for it in the long run for the sake of it. He didn't care about those songs as if they were spawned from evil. He was tripping drugs when he had that alleged epiphany. And even the widow-wannabe Sheila E. said it was just meant to be party music or something. Private use. So even those two story lines never gelled.

*there used to be a link somewhere laying out the $100M deal, but I can't find it.

Yes, the party music/private use line never seemed completely true since he put 1 of the tracks on Lovesexy and played a couple of others on the LS tour. . Always thought When 2 R In Love was a strange inclusion on TBA

I agree. I get there were moments of god-adjacent stuff in it, but it felt very weird and overtly sexual on that album. The title track is the only really sexual song on there, IMO. "Alphabet St" would be the only other one, as memory serves. There had to be another song from that time that would've worked a bit more. Not that W2RIL is bad.

the album had sex in the title

it was def not a 'pure' or 'chaste' album (eg 'Have you ever wanted to play/With someone so much you'd take/Any one boy or girl?' or 'I know I hold you too tight/I just can't seem to get close enough/I want to hold you every night/I'm so horny and you're the stuff' etc. need i go on? lol)

could prince even pull that off?

i doubt it.

when 2 r in love fits on LS as its got that slightly mannered vibe that he has on some other songs

and its incredibly pretty musically, like i wish u heaven

its also one of his most delicate songs ever, which fits the overall aesthetic - when i see that album cover, its not a song like alphabet st that fits, its when 2 r in love or IWUH

Prince was also comparing sex and orgasms to being close to God, which he often did. Lovesexy is the title, not Love Sex Y? or something. Sexy is the word you're trying to chop up.

I really understand where Prince was coming from trying to comingle sex and spirituality. I think he chased pussy as much as he chased spiritual fulfillment. And in his 20s and 30s, having sex was as close as he could get to God.

Not only is sex a gift from God for us to have enormous amounts of pleasure, but the very idea of endorphines, and other body chemicals oozing inside out, our brains a-fire with electrical pulses on full blast - that has to be 1/10th of 1% of what it is like in God's presence.

When you're having so much fun sexually that you have zero appetite for food, you literally forget what time it is (Falling leaves will appear 2 them like slow motion rain), you have zero inhibitions with your body, clothes are irrelevent, you fully embrace utter abandon and have zero shame (nothing's forbidden and nothing's taboo)... that is freedom.

And everyone's bible says, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty," as in that place, in that moment. So for Prince to feel that sort of freedom and elation; he hooked that to being nearer to God.

It's clear in his lyrics that's where he was coming from. It's also why he said, "Lovesexy isn't a feeling you get from a girl or a boy, but from God above." Love is God, God is love. Lovesexy is a conjunction of God and sexual intimacy.

So is it a racy album? Ehhhhh. Racy-adjacent, because he wasn't just fuckin' this time. In his mind.

I never said it was pure or chaste. Far from it. But he was leveling up his sexuality in the only way he knew how (to that point).

Aside from ATWIAD being a downturn from Purple Rain, Prince was on a pretty steady incline with every single album (Purple Rain being the outlier). The Black Album would have been a sharp decline from Sign "O" The Times, and I think would have probably failed at that time.

There is a case for calling every 80s-era album a masterpiece, but IMO, The Black Album would have been the only one to not fit that category. And perhaps Batman, athough I do love both.

Side note: my cassette boot copy had Bob George as the first track -- so that's how I experienced the album and still to this day almost prefer it that way.