I've heard so much over the years about how Warners was initially hesitant to release TBA because of the content, and how Prince came to his ecstasy-induced senses and decided to spare the world this steaming black hunk of demonic, XXX-rated funk... and, after six years or so of listening to this thing, I have to ask:

WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT IT??!?!?!

I mean, really: What's so salacious and "dark" and smutty and "un-Godly" about TBA that he hadn't already put across in "Sister" or "Head" 8 years earlier? Or "Jack U Off" and the whole "I'm not sayin' this just 2 B nasty" rap in "Let's Pretend We're Married", for that matter? Or even the stuff he had Vanity talkin' about in "Nasty Girl"?

I think this was unquestionably the point at which Our Man started losing touch with the zeitgeist, as they say. I mean, in an era where hip-hop gave us the spirit-of-'66 politics of Public Enemy and BDP, the Oakland pimp chronicles of Too Short, the group-sex fantasies of 2 Live Crew, and the spray-by-spray Glock-totin' narratives of N.W.A./Eazy-E, Ice-T, and (hell) Schoolly-D... in an era where metal gave us necrophilia and Josef Mengele (via Slayer's Reign in Blood and South of Heaven), the Tipper-Gore/censorship/puritanical hypocrisy essays of concurrent Megadeth, Metallica, and Anthrax albums; not to mention Guns 'n Roses' Appetite for Destruction and the big uproar over "One in a Million"... in an era when even Madonna tops herself with the whole "Like A Prayer"/burning crosses/makin'-love-to-a-black-Jesus/Pepsi flap (and, yes, I realize this was actually the following year)... was Prince so cloistered in his own world that he reallly thought a guy going around with a bucket of SQUIRREL MEAT and drooling over Cindy Crawford were the worst things he could foist upon the musical landscape of the late 80's??!?! And I say this with MUCH love for "Bob George"... it's just that, coming from a guy known for pillow talk and high heels, any sense of "danger" was kinda squashed to begin with, no??

ALSO: Am I the only one who believes Our Purple Homey made the right choice in releasing Lovesexy on the heels of SOTT, as opposed to a batch of skeletal, tossed-off party jams??

InNomineSusanas said:

No.
When The New York Times reviewed Lovesexy the writer also had a bootleg copy of The Black Album.
He compared the two & concluded that Prince had made the right choice in shelving The Black Album.
He felt Lovesexy was superior in many ways.

I dont think it was controversial, just Warners didnt like it much and didnt want to release so much material, prince just thought it too negative and so canned it. But i dont recall there being any controversy per se. though i could be wrong.

According to the Alex Hahn book, and other things I've picked up on throughout the years, P felt that TBA represented some dark force at work within him, and consciously constructed Lovesexy as a corrective, with the emphasis on positive vibes. Plus, don't forget those little "don't buy the Black Album... I'm sorry" blurbs whizzing by in the "Alphabet St." video.

Your entire premise is flawed. It was never controversial. Prince just decided not to release it at the time like has done with many albums.

I think the Black Album is a better album than Lovesexy though. I wish it would have been released in '88, but Lovesexy is great and we have them both, so I'm happy.


.
[This message was edited Fri Dec 19 11:00:51 PST 2003 by TonyC]

1. Swearing and graphic sexual imagery
2. Lyrics depicting domestic abuse, violence and murder
3. Lyrics depicting sado-masocism
4. Criticism of rap music

And you have to remember the time to, sure every record these days contains this sort of music, so much so that it's tiresome, trite and completely mainstream - Eminem's "Stan" for example.


Concerning the album's release - remember it was gonna be released with no fanfare at all, no promotion, in a plain black sleeve, with no artist or song information on the outside.

This wasn't the follow-up to SOTT (that was gonna be Graffiti Bridge) - this was a side project of leftovers he'd assembled to show his critics he could still do Black funk.
[This message was edited Fri Dec 19 11:05:48 PST 2003 by Romance1600]

TBA stands out as a dark album. There is little positive about it, and I guess that Prince didn't like it like that. In the examples you've given, the dark elements have only been portions of songs scattered over albums rather than the mood of an entire album.

Controversy or otherwise, I hear TBA as a dark and negative album. I love it all the same, but can understand the hesitation in its release.

Actually, I've long felt that "Bob George" laid the groundwork for Eminem's cinematic domestic-abuse scenarios... to my ears, "this is yo' conscience, muthafucka" in "BG" turns up wholesale as one of Dre's lines in Em's "Guilty Conscience"...

Romance1600 said:[quote]1. Swearing and graphic sexual imagery
2. Lyrics depicting domestic abuse, violence and murder
3. Lyrics depicting sado-masocism
4. Criticism of rap music

And you have to remember the time to, sure every record these days contains this sort of music...

Yes, but far worse examples of 1-3 were all around, even in the music of that time. I just feel that, if P and some of the critics and tastemakers had perhaps been more aware of this, TBA wouldn't have been painted as being so far removed from what he'd already sung about in various songs. Although, "Bob George" by itself (can you tell it's my favorite song from the album?) was something of a departure for him.

cause it was Black

InNomineSusanas said:

People do grow and look back and see things differently etc. Prince realised this and summed it up in the lyrics of I Wish U Heaven (not the album version but the long Parts 1 2 and 3. He reached a point that brought him to Lovesexy and upon reflection pulled the Black Album

"Sister ugly, that's the truth, she's at peace in the back yard, asleep on the roof"

The album became as big as it was just because of the non-release hype. Many people I knew that day had to have this album just because it was withdrawn (which said that it had too be something special).

I agree,I never understood exactly what was so "controversial" about this album.I obtained a bootleg copy of it in late 1988,but before that,I had been hearing reports that it was shocking,nasty,offensive,and controversial.So I was expecting something really "out there",an updated version of "Dirty Mind" or something.But,when I finally heard it,I was kinda disappointed.There's some great,funky jams on it,but nothing all that outrageous.If it had been released in 1987 as planned,I doubt that it would have really shocked too many people.I also feel that,the NON-RELEASE of this album (as opposed to the songs themselves) is what made it so legendary.The fact that it was planned for release,then cancelled,then heavily bootlegged...that's really what makes it so "controversial".


For these reasons,I'm glad that Prince cancelled it's release and put out the superior 'Lovesexy' instead.

heres some pictures of the original 87' CD.












http://users.skynet.be/yo...kalbum.htm

also theres pics of the 87' LP

http://users.skynet.be/yo...lbumLP.htm

Christopher said:

OK, well...wow...um do i say great or my god, they take pictures of the upc code? dif'rent strokes for different folks

InNomineSusanas said:

I still haven't seen this in that video... What part of the song is it?

the3rddoctor said:

right after he says "she'll want me from my head to my feet"

KatSkrizzle said:

its just to verify its a original copy.

InNomineSusanas said:

Listen here, Sparky: Anytime you have a wrecka with the words, "Serve it up, Frankie," you betta expect the townfolk to git riled up. Now, you just gon' 'n git wit' that foolish talk... Young whippersnapper...
[This message was edited Thu Jan 15 8:24:09 PST 2004 by ThreadBare]

Also one of the reasons why Prince MADE this album is, that he was tired of hearing people saying that he lost his "funk". With the release of "Purple Rain" ( a rock album), "Around The World In A Day" (a sort of folk'n Pop album) and "Parade" (a poppy jazz and psychedelic album), it seemed a lot of critics at that time thought that Prince forgot his roots and "funk" sorta speak.
Something to compare with the previous "1999" or "Controversy" etc.. So he made this BLACK ALBUM just to prove he was the master of funk. But a lot or different elements altogether, made him decide to hold it back.
Acoording to Ingrid Chavez it had something to do with him getting a bad trip on XTC or whatever.. Maby it also had something to wo with being at the highlights of his power and stardom.. Or with the fact that he dismantled the Revolution.. or losing a great love in his life. The lack of recordsales in the USA, the flop of Under The Cherry Moon.. The financial problems with Paisley Park, etc.. there were indeed a lot of elements that altogether made him decide to pull it back. NOT the explecit content of the album i think. Of course, he always was very very much into God and believing and stuff. But the album got it's 'dark' or 'black' cloud feel all over it due to all these things happening around him and in his personal life.
I'm pretty much convinced that indeed Warner Brothers as well were a very steady problem at the time. They rejected nearly everything he proposed to them. Like most record companies, they wanted to suck the last commercial drop out of his creations. But Prince has always been that prolific. Hell nowadays, record companies release every fart of major artists with less talent. Due to the DVD addition possibilities and maxi CD output, remixes, enhanced stuff etc. IF only that would've existed back in the time, we were treated a lot better i think.
But still, i considder some of the material on The Black Album being realy rough and quite hard. The sound for one thing, some lyrics - but i agree that they are on the other hand more funny then obscure. BOB GEORGE is one hell of a great lyrical tune. Musically he produced other and better stuff like this before. It's actually based on a sort of Blues riff, but put under a heavy guitardriver beat. Cindy C sounds nearly obsessional about just a model, and is therefor also to be considdered a bit crazy. Superfunkycalifragisexy is hunting and very sexual and goddamn funky in the best way possible. The same goes for Rock Hard In A Funky Place (the title alone..), and 2 Niggs United 4 West Compton.. with it's exploding and very very dark beat and synthlines. Also the intro is spooky. Sounds like he very much wanted us to hear those people on the background as heard through 'high' ears and mind.
Now considdering the fact that you had a lot of younger kids listening to Prince since Purple rain, it si obvious that Warner Brothers thought the content was/is a bit explicit. It's like you have Britney singing Nasty Girl right now. Or Justin singing a Slipknot tune.. you see.
And remember this, if Prince did release Lady Cab Driver after Pruple Rain or Parade, he wouldn't got very far with Warner Brothers concerning any release. That's for instance why it was released before he got a star withot a problem.
)

it was controversial because it was going to be the first album with the parental advisory sticker on it. it is a tame album even by 86-88 standards, but it was going to have the negative distinction of being the first with that label. so there is the controversy, i am personally glad it wasnt released then...there are no singles on it and it would have been crushed in the media and in the public. any momentum from sign o the times would have been halted. releasing alphabet st as the first new single was the better move. I do however love "Bob George"...that is one of the best songs he has ever made.

Maybe it was so controversial because our star had that "ecstacy induced and produced album" rumor floating around him?

CherrieMoonKisses said:

That information wasn't out there at that moment.

Christopher said:

...and so we could tell it apart from Spinal Tap's "Smell the Glove".

Maybe that's why he shelved it. He saw how badly Tap's "Black Album" tanked...