So,Prince's "the black album" served to end an era,in my opinion.He may not have meant it that way ,at the time,but it ended that linear funk sound.Then,tMetallica's "black" album ended an era for them.Now,Jay-Z-'s "The Black Album" is ending an era for him.

I think these albums all have that in common.I also think they are albums that are a reacytion to what each artist has done in the past.They are all confronting and reacting to their own past.That's cool.

Prince was saying that I can still be as funky as I was,as funky as you want me to be,and no one can be anywhere neara s funky as me.Then,Metallica saw things changing and wanted to branch out and focus ina differentw ay.They wanted mass appeal and to branch out melodicallya and in a tight song structure and still be hard.Their fans demand a hard edge and they couldn't come out soft yet,they didn't want to scare the masses as they had,in the past.Then,Jay-Z is very honest in "moment of clarity" when he says"I dumbed down for my audience and doubled my dollars...".He admits that he would lyricize on a higher level if it wasn't about "winning".So,he is closing this era and going in different directions.He is saying that I can do the other thing all day and all night without even trying.

I just noticed these commonalities in theme and purpose and thought it was interesting.Now,if we can just get most of the cookie cutter pop acts to do their black albums and then leave the industry.

Yeah, I see what you mean with regards to Prince's Black Album (don't know the others).

I guess he was trying to expand on himself, and he got criticised for it, so he said "Hey, you want funky, well here it fucking is - I can do this shit in my sleep, but I want to try some different stuff too, so here's this for you, now shut the fuck up and let me try something else".

Beatles' White Album was an end of an era, too.

Spinal Tap's "Smell The Glove" should also be on that list.