I bought a cd copy of the black album from ebay this week and it got delivered today, i got it from germany so it's a european version, but i have a couple of queries about whether it's real or if it's a bootleg, it's supposed to be real.

The main thing that got my attention is that on the tracklist inside the cd it says "ROCKHARD IN A FUNNY PLACE" i could've sworn this song is supposed to be rockhard in a funky place! Is this a known printing error or have i been ripped off?? Apart from the tracklist the only other detail on the cd is the code: P 910003 under the tracklist on the booklet and on the cd spine. The box has the warner logo also in the bottom right corner.

Can anyone tell me whether or not i've got a proper copy!! Thanks!
[This message was edited Thu Jun 3 5:26:42 2004 by phillipt]

Can anyone explain the differences between a "booted" black album...the original release (was it even on CD) and the 1994 release to get out of the contract? And why do people want to own the original..isn't it the same in music/sound as the 1994 release?

I have the 1994 one. It's great..though I hear stuff that it has no bass and sounds terrible. What should it sound like?

I remember as a teen, I saw the Black album on Vinyl. it was all black and had a pic of prince in a matte finish (you had to turn it to the light to see it) on the front and the song titles on the back (also in matte). Was this the original pressing of the vinyl?

Do you really need to be told the difference between a bootleg and an official release???

BorisFishpaw said:

hey, people gotta learn sometimes...

Do you really need to be told the difference between a bootleg and an official release???

I remember as a teen, I saw the Black album on Vinyl. it was all black and had a pic of prince in a matte finish (you had to turn it to the light to see it) on the front and the song titles on the back (also in matte). Was this the original pressing of the vinyl?

superspaceboy said:

no.

superspaceboy said:

no.

BorisFishpaw said:

No, I know the difference between a boot and a release. The ? was more for sound quality than anything

I just have seen different threads talking about the varied forms that TBA came out. I just wanted to know the difference...mostly between the 1987 and the 1994 release as folks talk about it being better. Apparently the differences are slight and one would only want the original pressing to collect.

superspaceboy said:

Well I can't comment on the quality of old black album boots (I only have one, on vinyl).
But as far as the official 1987 and 1994 versions go, they're musically identical. Which is why
the 1994 CD sounds a little flat and quiet (just like Sign O' The Times), because they didn't
remaster it at all from the original 1987 (non)release (the packaging is almost the same too).

superspaceboy said:

Well I can't comment on the quality of old black album boots (I only have one, on vinyl).
But as far as the official 1987 and 1994 versions go, they're musically identical. Which is why
the 1994 CD sounds a little flat and quiet (just like Sign O' The Times), because they didn't
remaster it at all from the original 1987 (non)release (the packaging is almost the same too).

The main thing that got my attention is that on the tracklist inside the cd it says "ROCKHARD IN A FUNNY PLACE" i could've sworn this song is supposed to be rockhard in a funky place! Is this a known printing error or have i been ripped off?? Apart from the tracklist the only other detail on the cd is the code: P 910003 under the tracklist on the booklet and on the cd spine. The box has the warner logo also in the bottom right corner.

[This message was edited Thu Jun 3 5:26:42 2004 by phillipt]

I know that I am gonna get a lot of flack for this but, I like the original bootleg better. To me the CD version sounded "to clean" I actually gave mine away and kept the original bootleg. To me the beauty of the Black album, was that it WAS a bootleg. There are somethings that just don't sound good on cd.