I like it alot.But it is overblown(less is more)But sexy mf,morning papers,CONTINENTAL( )7,the max(I know people hate the lyrics....but I dig the funk)all are very cool.I like it more then lovesexy Kirstie needs to go though.

although i don't like the symbol album, it was nice of prince to do something for the deaf fans.

somebody edit together the Symbol album and Diamonds and Pearls, and cut the sub par stuff.... they were done from material in the same sessions, right?

djcreep said:

This is by far my fave Prince album, ever. Even the worst track (The Flow) is at least partially listenable due to the music itself.

However, don't say that the mainstream started to let go of P with this CD. That would be rather untrue and unfair. What slowed the momentum on this CD was the choice of singles and the order of their release. MNIP and Sexy M.F. were not especially great lead-off singles. However, still sold better than several recent releases, including LoveSexy and GB. I would say Come was the real drop off point. By that time there was a lot of odd P news floating around.

...3 Chains O' Gold...will always be one of my absolute favorite songs...I know alot can't dig it...but what the hell..I love it....I aint real sure about callin' this album a classic tho'...

I think it's a great song too.

There are some great songs on , but the whole album is overblown and has way too strong a hip hop influence altogether.

i only like the 1st 4 songs on that..

It had it's good , and it's bad . What was worth listening to - as usual - was his use of different genres ( which unfortunately , included Tony M's raps - was it me , or did that brother have a problem enunciating some words because of his grill ? ) . No other artist to this day is able to pull all that off and still be able to sound at least like a competent musician . but the production on the actual songs was good , and there are some strong grooves to be found . And "My Name Is Prince" is worth it just for the inherent knock at Michael Jackson.

well i mean the album is not that bad to me.

In my opinion:

I thought that 3 chains o' gold was good, up until mayte comes on the song with that crazy bulls**t, then thats when i turn to the next one. Can get into the Sacrifice of Victor unless i'm in a certain mood.

Other than that I liked the album pretty much. I still skip the max though....

metalorange said:

I love "My Name Is Prince".

"My Name is Prince and I am funky,
My name is Prince the one and only,
I did not come to f#%k around
Till I get your daughter I ain't leavin' town.....

What would be a good price (£) for the special limited edition of 'Symbol'?

The Musicians on the album are AMAZING!!!!



Prince should cooperate with the input from the band more. Levi, Tommy, Sonny & Michael worked a ton on this one.

Bleh! I haven't listened to this disc in ages. The D&P, 0+> albums are my LEAST favorite.

"7" is one of my favorite Prince songs, and I think he did some great stuff on this album. Is it hit or miss? Sure...but just about everything Prince did during this time was a bit over the top and had tracks that many of us would be considered filler.

The important thing to remember is that we could argue until we're blue in the face about which songs to cut from these albums..., Emancipation, etc. to trim them down to a "tight, 12-track" disc...and we'd never agree. It's the reason why I'm thankful that Prince just dumps it all out there for us. He's smart and knows that some songs will mean nothing to some of us but a whole lot to others. It is the reason why he may never reattain his earlier commercial success, but it's the same reason why fans are so loyal to him. He gives you a lot and lets you choose.

Remember that the next time you hit the skip button. If you're like me, you don't even have to do that too often as long as it's Prince on the stereo.

Keith/Kacey

Hear, hear, Kacey! So true that no one can agree on what the good songs are. I also enjoy the breadth of tunes on something like Emancipation. Because you can always discover songs later on.

For all that I was a P fan as a teenager, the Symbol album ushered in my coming-of-age as a fan and wanting to get hold of bootlegs and stuff like that. So, it was very important to me. Some stuff doesn't sound as good to me as it did in those days -- 7 comes to mind here even though I think it's brilliant, and I never liked the bombast of 3 Chains o' Gold -- but I still consider the album a classic.

My 2 cents on Tony M is that he mostly sounded good in the studio, especially on this album, it was live where he kind of crapped out. I liked that feeling of P as a band leader with Tony as his attack dog saying stuff that was too aggressive or unsubtle for P to say himself.

Continental and 2 the 9's are just awesome and my appreciation for the Morning Papers has only grown over time.

As for P's revisionist view of himself -- well, he's the guy who pulled the Black Album. I think there's a fair amount of anger and frustration on this album, I can certainly see how he could feel happier recording Rainbow Children. But to me that's not the measure of the music. The Symbol album has some very spiritual messages. SOTT and Lovesexy were done when he was very much under contract.

I wore this album out a bit when it came out, but it mostly recovers pretty well.

I never play mine anymore because I replaced my old cassette copy with a used CD that turned out to be the "clean" edited version. You know, "You sexy mutha-AOOOOOAAAAhh!". Kinda funny but that censor-scream wears on ya after about the 50th time.

thesexofit said:

I totally agree... my first Prince album was D&P and this was my 2nd. It left me very impressed with his diversity and funkiness. I still love the album and think it sounds quite fresh still. I thought it was just me.

i burned my own version of it, taking out the silly segues, and the 3 weak tracks (The Max, Arrogance and The Flow).

Much more listenable than the actual version

There are some great songs, And God Created Woman, The Morning Papers, 7....