The love symbol album is fantastic and it has given me so much pleasure over the years. It's among very best albums for sure. 5/5
A couple of other obscure tracks related to this album too that we could discuss at the same time - The Ryde Dyvine (from the MPLS single) and Whistling Kenny from the 'Standing At The Alter' single by Margie Cox. He was a busy man over these years wasn't he!
I’ve already gone on record as thinking highly of this album. It’s definitely bloated, but what a ride. It really is a journey, and it’s certainly not boring. A stylistic hodgepodge. The addition of the horn ensemble is the most exciting new color to his palette since Clare Fischer and Eric Leeds. If this album had come from anyone other than Prince the Former Innovator, it would have been rightly regarded as a high point in early 90’s R&B. There’s an abundance of musical invention and melody, but it’s just not inventing the future. After this, P would start to seem more like an underground artist , and it made for quite an interesting time. But as an (almost) farewell to the mainstream, it’s a solid send off. 4/5
So this is where I come in. I believe this was the first Prince album I got, though I had been aware of him for several years of course. As such, the Symbol album is a bit of a benchmark for me, my first impression of what a Prince album could be. When I got his other albums there were certainly some that were better (to give just a few examples of those we've discussed: Purple Rain, Parade, Sign 'O' The Times) and some that were not as good (like the pre-1999 albums or Graffiti Bridge). So I consider O+> a good middle-tier Prince album. One that certainly has some classic tracks (the opening double-punch of My Name Is Prince and Sexy M.F.) or near-classics (closer The Sacrifice Of Victor).
Been a few busy nights.. Sacrifice of Victor: An encore to the real closer: 3 Chains Always loved this song, and as a bonus taught me how to spell Sacrifice correctly (instead of sacrafise or sacraphise). 4/5 SYMBOL: NPG in mass attack.. a HUGE step up from Diamonds and Pearls but they still feel like a pair. It does feel kinda cringy at times as it seems too many of these songs are about Mayte even though I suppose they are not- I try to ignore that aspect since dude was surrounded by so much… well, you know. And as said, it’s been addressed by Mayte herself and was even a thread of the record with the segues. Not just a decent album overall but the CD packaging- both the gold-foil fancy one and the regular with the symbol printed on the CD case are first rate. I rate the album 4/5
I think this is a really under-rated album by a lot of fans, that I think get caught up in the 90s production (although let's face it, there's just as much 80s style production on the 80s stuff - you pays yer money you takes your choice), being born in 1982 I think the 90s production is easier for me to palette because it's what I grew up with (there was a period though, when I struggled to get passed some of the 80s production of his imperial phase). This album has a number of strong highlights, and even the weak tracks are not a disgrace, it's also stylistically varied, creative, and Prince is still clearly pushing himself forward on it (even if he's no longer at the vanguard - what Artist is more than a decade into their career?). It's a strong set of songs 4.5/5
Symbol - 2/5 Prince needs to get through this mess of an era in order to reach the creative period of the Come-era.
After the messy Graffiti Bridge and the disappointing Diamonds And Pearls, this album is a return to form. But his 'form' had changed. He was not the same artist that he was in the 80s. In a way, he grew up and consolidated. He was also labeled as an 80s artist. Not yet old school, but only a couple years earlier he was defining musical trends and now music had changed direction and Prince had to make a choice if he was going to follow, or not. And he didn't agree with that. He was 'for crying out loud' the biggest musician around, the biggest star. People 'just didn't know what they wanted'... This resulted in the balls to sign a new contract with Warner with a sword of Damocles to make hit albums. Prince wanted to make a statement. My name is Prince, and I am funky! He could have made a great hit album with the available songs, but that would have been too easy... He probably wanted to do it his way and had a wish list, like making another movie (and no-one interested to make it with him), making another concept album, making another religious statement, showing that he was not just a pop artist, but capable of many styles of music and succeed in all of them.... So, he created . To me, is an album with a lot of ambition and a tour de force, where Prince is giving everything he had to impress on one hand, and be able to do his own thing on the other hand. Nearly all songs are amazing. The level of musical craftsmanship is on a very high level and all songs are interesting enough for repeated listening. There are no songs I would skip. I rated all songs, except two (The Flow and Sacrifice), with a 4 or a 5, so I think that the songs are there. His idea to create this movie style concept album with dialogue on the actual album makes it lesser than the sum of its parts. All the different styles too. Meaning, I love 3 Chain's O' Gold, but not on this long album (it might work on a shorter, more focused album). It's a bit much. He could have edited this album for maximum effect. 'Less is more' could have really worked for this album. The remaining songs could have been used as b-sides with the same praise he got in the early 80s with his b-sides, complimenting the greatness of the era. Like an album with 11 songs, with 5 singles with a new b-side on each single would have been great... Especially if Prince and WB were on better terms in 1992/1993. I think that's part of the lack of commercial success and enthusiasm for this album. On top of that, after recording I Wanna Melt With U, Prince probably thought that the dialogues were unneeded and scrapped more than half of them, creating an inconsistent story and therefore an unwanted part of the album. I really love the music on this album. It kinda falls in-between the disappointing D&P and the great 93-95 Gold era, so I slept on it for years. But I think it's a near classic album today, largely forgotten by the public and fans. It has some brilliant songs, but the amount of songs and the story line make it less than the sum of its parts. So, looking at my rating for the songs the album should fall between a 4/5 and a 5/5. That would result in a 4,5 out of 5 for this collection of songs. As an album I rate it a bit lower... A edited version without story dialogues is a brilliant 5 out of 5. Something like this: Album: My Name Is Prince Sexy M.F. Love 2 The 9's The Morning Papers The Max Sweet Baby The Continental Damn U 7 And God Created Woman 3 Chains O' Gold Singles: Sexy M.F./ Arrogance / The Flow 7 / The Sacrifice Of Victor The Morning Papers / Blue Light Love 2 The 9's / I Wanna Melt With U Damn U / And God Created Woman Looking at the released album, is a strong 4 out of 5
Oh, yeah. I also feel like the soul ballads (quiet storm or whatever) feel more real and from the heart than his earlier ones on this album, like he was always capable of making those in his sleep but here they just sound better and truly inspired.
As I mentioned earlier, there's so much dross on the album that it took me a long time to realize that there was an excellent single album buried within. This is how I listen to it now: Side One: My Name Is Prince Sexy M.F. Love 2 the 9s The Max Side Two: I Wanna Melt With U Damn U 7 Arrogance The Sacrifice of Victor Easy enough to assemble, but you need to do a nip and tuck / crossfade between 'Arrogance' and 'The Sacrifice of Victor' so that "What IS sacrifice?" emerges from the babble at the end to take us to the final track. Guaranteed 100% Kirstie Alley free, but may contain traces of nuts.
Symbol is a great album, with minor flimsy messy moments (The Flow, 3 Chains were always skipped). Much more in tune with himself and sort of a return to conceptual sounds and themes like Lovesexy and 1999. Side 1 is great pretty much the whole way, Side 2's Arrogance/Flow and 3 Chains brings it down a notch. I would have taken other songs he recorded at that time instead like Player. Even the artwork is really cool. 4/5
yeah...its bit of a different crowd, i guess i like it that we're lil'more critical in this thread. i'm always harder on my favorites (as it should be ~), i like to believe that's actually more beneficial to the artist at the end. it looks like our own masswriter is the source for most of the contention over there it's obvioius that he knows the catalog front2back but some misconstrued his differing views as ignorance. i do however like how The Kid backed him up recently...that's always cool ps: i've aways thought masswriter's avatar was 'The Dude' from the Big L. but i just clicked on his homepage for the 1st time and it looks like that's his own picture btw, your name sounds strangely familiar somehow...did you do lot of boot collecting over the net in the mid~late 90's ?? the only way i would remember it is if i were to write your name on the parcel multiple times, either i bought something from you or vice-versa or trading videos.
: A more diverse, interesting, and risky album than Diamonds and Pearls, which is three points in its favor. Trouble is, at least half of it really isn't Prince-worthy. I was more forgiving at the time; that the album's good half bested Diamonds and Pearls softened me toward the rest. But the lesser material kind of rankles me now, and drags the better stuff down. On balance, this one's a 3/5.
The Symbol Album Really one of my least favorite eras in his entire career. The videos, the silly storyline, the Kirstie Alley segues...just very cheesy. As for the songs themselves, these would be the keepers for me: Sexy MF (the first part of) Love 2 the 9s The Morning Papers Eye Wanna Melt With U Damn U 7 And God Created Woman And several of those I would only rate as 3/5. No 5 star songs here. I never need to hear the rest of it again. 2/5
I really like the Symbol album. Some amazing songs and some decent to very good songs. There is nothing I find disposable here, except maybe the segues. Instead of what many are suggesting this could have been released as one great album by culling some tracks, in my alternate Prince universe, I see the songs here broken into two separate albums, with maybe a couple more songs added for each. The first could be the Symbol álbum, the second, 3 Chains ‘O Gold. The second would contain all the segues originally intended, and would be the soundtrack for the 3 Chains ‘O Gold film. The two albums would each have 4 or 5 singles, I think there are enough here to have been worthy of this. They would have been released 9-12 apart from each other, with Prince having a release of all new material in 1993; the release date for the Hits/B-Sise might’ve had to be adjusted to accommodate 3COG. I am on vaca in Mexico right now, and I haven’t lately thought much about the song lists I’d ascribe for each, so I don’t remember how I envisioned the specific songs. When I get home I will look for that info and post it here. I rate the released album as 4.5/5.
Love Symbol may be the most eclectic album Prince recorded. Lot's of ideas here, but not all are executed well. There are some high points like Damn U, And God Created Woman, The Continental, but some average tracks as well. Would've been a 4.5 if Prince had edited well, but he didn't. 4/5
OK, so I thought about it a bit, and at minimum I remember which I would assign as singles for each album: Symbol Album: 1. Sexy MF 2. My Name is Prince 3. And God Created Woman 4 I Wanna Melt With You 5. Love 2 the 9s Sweet Baby could also be a single here. 3 Chains ‘O Gold: 1. 7 2. The Max 3. 3 Chains ‘O Gold 4. The Morning Papers 5. Damn U The Continental could also be a single here. Some of the songs on the 3 Chains videocassette may be on my configuration of the Symbol Album, so the film/video songs would be revised accordingly.
Ha! Yes, I did indeed a lot of boot collecting in the 90s. As a matter of fact there was a period of years where I nearly listened to Prince official stuff and bootlegs over only. I was a addicted to Prince aftershows. I was also very busy on the Housequake forum, so yeah we might had contact I like this thread very much because everyone can post his opinion and that's accepted. I also have no problem with grumpy folks. To make it short, I think the source for most of the contention over there at the "other thread" is not our beloved masswriter but an unbearable amount of stupid blah blah blah
It really is misfiring on all cylinders. Pretty similar to my take on the best songs off the album. Ditto, although I'd give a 5 to "Sexy MF", which is actually one of his best funk workouts. However, to only have one great funk number out of, what, 4 or 5 on the record is a pretty terrible batting average.
Today's song is "2 Whom It May Concern", written and produced by Prince (credited to Prince & The New Power Generation.) Prince and the New Power Generation – 2 Whom It May Concern Lyrics | Genius Lyrics "2 Whom It May Concern" was recorded in Summer 1992, after the album was completed. It was released as a B-side on both the Damn U and 7 singles. The backing track is sampled from "7 [After 6 Long Mix]" Prince: all vocals and instruments Levi Seacer, Jr: rhythm guitar Tommy Barbarella: keyboards Sonny T: bass guitar Michael B: drums Mayte: vocals
Well, that's one way to take the better cuts from Symbol and make them into something annoying and unlistenable. 1/5
Our votes for " " (26 votes): 1 - 0x 2 - 3x 3 - 7x 4 - 11x 5 - 5x Average: 3,5827 Average on a song-by-song basis: 3,54 Summary of our votes for the individual songs: My Name Is Prince: 3,37 Sexy M.F.: 4,16 Love 2 The 9's: 3,77 The Morning Papers: 3,98 The Max: 3,40 Blue Light: 2,73 I Wanna Melt With U: 3,73 Sweet Baby: 3,26 The Continental: 3,19 + Tell Me How U Want 2 B Done 2,63 (from Crystal Ball '98) Damn U: 4,30 Arrogance: 2,91 The Flow: 2,23 7: 4,33 And God Created Woman: 4,29 3 Chains O' Gold: 3,53 The Sacrifice Of Victor: 3,38 The most popular song on is 7 The least popular song on is The Flow Looking at our top50 Prince songs, there are no new entries. 7 is the highest entry at #75. You can find our top50 here: Ocean of Violets: Prince song by song
