Miles Davis once said that The Black Album is P's greatest!!! I agree that it's highly underrated. The instrumentation: jazz, funk, hip hop...all that shit. It's a terrific album.

Musicology v. Black Album? BA hands down!!!!! No synthesized horns, drum beats...Sheila's tearing it up...not to mention some of the most hilarious writing ever!!!!


[Frankie, play somethin' bitch...bitch, who you callin' bitch, black ho bitch...]

To what I hear in the org, the black album get's a lot of respect.

The Album Rocks - it should be respected

I can remember getting my copy of The Black Album from a friend on a cassette made from his bootleg in like 89 or so. I was so excited to have the "forbidden" music that i never really questioned its quality. When i finally got my own CD boot of it, it came with Crystal Ball (that hideous quality one) as well, I thought I'd found nirvana. Now, some 15 years removed, I still find myself loving The black Album, even after mass market release. So I guess I'd agree it is a great album.

I really miss the feeling that "bootlegs" gave me back in the day.
[This message was edited Thu Apr 22 16:27:52 2004 by TampaPurple]

Bob, if you out there...let me see you dance. You said you was funky!

Underrated to some..overrated to other's

The music's fucking great - but the CD needs remastering in a big, big way.
I think i play this album in my car more than any other P album.

Definitly one of his best albums!!
No song is weak!!

I love it, could hear it everyday.

Dead on it, Bob George, LE Grind and and and!!

It´s an masterpiece record!!

i got a gold tooth, cost more than your house,I got diamond rings on 4 fingers each one the

size of the mouse!!!!!

Dead on it, one of his funkiest song ever!!

I love the Black Album

Unfortunately I don't think you're going to get the response that this post deserves. Let

me bring the spice. Prince.org is basically, from what I have been able to tell over the

three years that I have been a spectator and the month or two that I have been a

participant, Prince for the light at heart. TRC, Lovesexy, and TGE are all fan favorites

here. Off Musicology, “Million Days” and “Cinnamon Girl” seem to be fan favorites.

Don’t get me wrong, that’s cool, one of the great things about Prince is that he

attracts people that like all kinds of music. But the darker records like Dirtymind, 1999,

and, yes the classic, Black Album don’t get the respect they deserve. All three records

are leaps and bounds (funkier, edgier, more vital, rawer, more experimental, more musically

interesting, etc.) beyond the TGE-TRC drivel. To each his or her own. But I prefer the

Dr. Mr. Man, ICPC, Man in Ur life, Prince. And yes the Black Album is underrated – it’s

on par with Dirty Mind, right behind 1999 and Sign of the Times, one of the four best Prince

records he ever recorded. Peace.

Black is an amazing album.

I can't help but think what would've happened if he hadn't decided to scrap it's release.
Lovesexy is awesome...but BLACK is amazing.

Imagine if you will...a DOUBLE album release in 1989...The Black Album & The White Album...the world would be a much better place today.

Yup Black Album very good. But 1999 album needs some serious remastering, more so than any other album. For You has better sound quality that 1999. Not sure what happened in the studio with this one, but I am very surprised it made it to press sounding like that. But then again, it does give it a certain feel.

By the way NEWS rocks, listening to it right now, give it a chance people! Take it for what it is

i actually think TBA is overrated among P die-hards.

It was such a thrill for me to finally find that bootleg copy of TBA. I had a horrible cassette for a couple years.... and it had this magical aura about it... like forbidden fruit....

But I couldn't really tell how good it was on the bad cassette I had.... or bad....


When I got the CD... eh. The material is just not that strong. It sounds like a collection of throways patched together. I think that's why P shelved it. And then it had this mystique.... the mystique was stronger than the real thing.

laylow03 said:

DEFINITELY UNDERRATED!!!!

That album was the bomb and I'm always listening to "Bob George" and "Le Grind". Those songs have a bass line in it that won't quit.

However, I just fit it in the category of great Prince projects. All his work is good to me. So, I don't know if Musicology and the Black Album can compete with one another, as with any other Prince CD.

GeSmi1

the black album rules!

if anything, i think it's overrated.


it's nice enough, and the music is pretty great. but, in reality, all it is is a bunch of leftovers of leftovers from SOTT. this is stuff that, for the most part, wasn't even worthy of the Dream Factory and Crystal Ball incarnations of that album.


i think it's great. but not underrated.

It's in my top 3.

17ways69days said:

Dude, there are plenty (and by that I mean loads) of hardcore dirty mind, 1999 & Black supporters at prince.org! And damn vocal ones, too.

17ways69days said:

Lets get married. If yer a girl; yer lucky.

But SO true. I like the Prince music where he pushes his boundaries.

I am now gonna play me some Dirty Mind....

17ways69days said:

you think TRC is a fan favorite here, over Dirty Mind and 1999? goodness.... i guess 3 years isn't enough to come up with an accurate profile of the org.

or maybe i've just missed something in the 8 years i've been here...

TheFrog said:

Dude? I thought this was a girl, but I can be mistaken.

And yes, Froggieman. I am a supporter of everything dirty.

I think YOU are dirty. Need a shower?

gooeythehamster said:

I call everyone dude. Apologies Dudess.

Actually i'm surprisingly clean today. Just had my annual shower.

TheFrog said:

Uhmmm.

Lemme have a sniff...

Love it

It's not under-rated by me, it's one of my top 5 (top 3?) Prince records.

Check username/sig

What I have found about the org is that there is someone here who loves EVERY album the best. Which I think is cool. I always thought TBA was one of the ones most often given props.

Personally it didn't do much for me at first. I never bought a boot and didn't get it until the Warner's re-release. I listened to it a couple of times and didn't see what the big deal was so I moved on.

But lately for some reason I ended up at work with a CD walkman, TBA and MUSICOLOGY. So I listen to them both all day. And I must say TBA is a great headphone album. SUPERFUNKACALIFRAGISEXY and ROCK HARD IN A FUNKY PLACE are particular favorites. LE GRIND... etc. And I like WHEN 2 R IN LOVE better on TBA also.

And my faves on MUSICOLOGY are ICP&C *and* A MILLION DAYS. So I guess I'm right down the middle!!

The Black Album is popularly known in MUSIC as the greatest bootleg album ever...

So how in the world do you dream up that its underrated???

Savannah said:

IMO, it was much better as a bootleg from 1987-1993 than it was as an actual release in 1994. when it was mysterious, and secret, and taboo, it held a mystique that it lost when it became official.


it's great. but without the story of it being pulled/shelved/destroyed, it would have just been a fairly decent bridge between SOTT and Lovesexy, and it wouldn't have gotten the acclaim it has received in the interim.

For years I thought that album was pure shit, then somebody called me on it. I think it was Gooey He had such enthusiasm for it, made a good case. I went back & listened - I still don't listen to most of it but I realized how much ass RockHard in a Funky Place TRULY kicks

17ways79dayssaid:-[b]But the darker records like Dirtymind, 1999,

and, yes the classic, Black Album don’t get the respect they deserve. All three records

are leaps and bounds (funkier, edgier, more vital, rawer, more experimental, more musically

interesting, etc.) beyond the TGE-TRC drivel. To each his or her own. But I prefer the

Dr. Mr. Man, ICPC, Man in Ur life, Prince. And yes the Black Album is underrated – it’s

on par with Dirty Mind, right behind 1999 and Sign of the Times, one of the four best Prince

records he ever recorded. Peace.[/quote[/b]]

"More vital", hey i don't mind peoples different opinions but don't get snobby on people who like diifferent music to you! Diffrent types of music does different things to anyone! I dont see why so-called edgier albums like "Dirty mind" deserve a critiques aclaim when actually u could argue that his earlier albums are musically simpler and more amatuarish than his later sstuff! If you prefer it, and u want to talk about it, that's great, but dont go around being a snob by giving bad reviews to things for the wrong reasons! U proberly prefer those albums because u were around at that time and then it was new to u! Now new generations are doing the same to his later stuff!

Hey I love Milli Vanilli as well as "1999" and "The black album", does that make me more open-minded about music? Proberly.....[quote]
[This message was edited Sat Apr 24 5:32:48 2004 by thesexofit]
[This message was edited Sat Apr 24 5:34:32 2004 by thesexofit]

GrayKing said:

Yup you da man!
I forget who said it once in the org.. that Lovesexy/Black would have made the perfect double album.. when 2 R in Love