The Black Album |  | Artist: Prince
Label: Warner Bros / Wea
Category: Music
List Price: $16.98
Buy Used: $11.95
You Save: $5.03 (30%)
New (7) Used (27) Collectible (7) from $11.95
Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 64209
Format: Original Recording Reissued
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 093624579328
EAN: 0093624579328
ASIN: B000008JLN
Release Date: November 22, 1994
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: 100% GUARANTEED! Fast shipping on more than 1,000,000 Book, Video, Video Game & Music titles all in one location! Discover Your Entertainment at goHastings.
| |
| Tracks:
| • | Le Grind | | • | Cindy C. | | • | Dead on It | | • | When 2 R in Love | | • | Bob George | | • | Superfunkycalifragisexy | | • | 2 Nigs United 4 West Compton | | • | Rockhard in a Funky Place |
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Album Details
The legendary Black album.
|
| Customer Reviews:
I really enjoy this album October 14, 2008
Said Head (MN, USA)
I suppose people think of this as a bad release because it wasn't originally intended to be so. Well, get off the hype machine and actually listen to this album. I really don't get it, all the tracks on this album are strong, some rather strange, but you can't be a Prince fan without getting into his eccentricities, that's what makes him such an influential artist, not just being catchy and living off of Purple Rain (Prince has never tried to make another Purple Rain, except maybe for 'Around The World In A Day').
My favorite tracks would be 'Le Grind', 'Bob George', and 'Superfunky...'; but honestly I don't hear a single weak piece in the entire mix, and while 'When 2 R In Love', an awesome ballad, does bring down the tempo, it still works sandwiched between the two minimalist hip hop pieces.
There isn't really any underlining theme to this album, but overall it's a good listen.
 For completists only August 25, 2008
D. J. Walsh
The reason he put it out was because it was leaked out when he was at his commercial peak, and wanted to put an end to the low grade bootlegs people were spending a lot of money on. The original copy (if you can find them) is still a highly valued collectors item. It was also towards the end of his contract with Warners and figured he might as well put this out. He did no promotion for it, although he had done a couple of the songs live.
It's a fun, loose jam session that ties in to "Sign O' The Times" and "Lovesexy" ("When 2 R in Love" was the only one that wound up being released from here). It is good, but not great, and if you're going to buy it because you're either getting into his music, or have everything else he's put out, this would be one of the last to get.
"Crystal Ball" also has a lot of material from this era.
 Killer, but not for everyone. April 2, 2008
Itchy T (S.F., CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Basically, if you enjoy the weirder, more experimental side of Prince's output, you will dig this CD. If you like Prince only for his hit singles and pop anthems, then stay away. I love this time period of Prince's career, and I stood up and cheered when this was offically released....allowing me to throw away my hissy bootleg copy. This is actually one of my favorite Prince records.
Y'all are crazy... March 25, 2008
Randall S. Russell (Nashville, TN)
FUNKY! a party record for sure. This is a street cred album, not a pop record. It's more along the lines of the things Prince is doing today, but with some Prince in his prime authenticity. Very horn driven. Buy the black album and put it on at a party.
Prince has done so much better... March 25, 2008
finulanu (Here, there, and everywhere)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
The Holy Grail for Prince fans, a project that was scrapped mere days before its release, for reasons still unknown. It was eventually put out after years of being bootlegged so Prince could get out of his contract with Warner Bros., only to be taken out of circulation again shortly afterwards, because most fans already had a bootleg copy. I managed to snap it up on cassette for five bucks, and I felt extremely lucky that I had. After all, it's The Black Album (technically it's untitled - Prince didn't put any identifying marks on it). The "infamous Black Album". The "notorious Black Album". The "legendary Black Album". The only problem with it is that this bad mother is boring. One of the speculated reasons why it was left unreleased was that Prince was unsatisfied with it. And I think it's the most logical of them. The "explicit-lyrics" theory doesn't work for me, because Prince never cared how explicit his lyrics were in the first place. And that's the only justification I can get out of it. There are eight tracks here. Two are fantastic. Four are rote but acceptable. Two are poor. On the "fantastic" end, we've got the gorgeous ballad "When 2 Are in Love", which later resurfaced on Lovesexy; and the inspired lunacy of "Bob George", with a deep voice produced by Prince slowing his vocals down. Maybe this "Bob George" guy should duet with "Camille". Then there's the mediocrity. "Le Grind", "Cindy C" and "Superfunkycalifragisexy" aren't bad songs at all. In fact, they're entertaining to a degree. But there are so many Prince songs that serve the same purpose as they do - the dirty, unabashedly sexual funk song - much better. And one of them have the usual eccentric arranging touches Prince puts on his best material. "2 N**s United 4 West Compton", meanwhile, begins as a good James Brown-inspired instrumental. But then the group runs out of interesting licks, and it's just disoriented vamping for the rest of its running time. Lastly, you have the pair of flops. The losers. Granted, neither is ugly. Pretty much the only thing separating them from the decent songs are bad grooves, rather than good grooves. But they are some pretty lousy grooves, you gotta admit: I don't think anyone will ever associate Prince with the rapper-diss "Dead on It" or the raw-but-routine "Rockhard in a Funky Place" (one guess what the main lyrical conceit is there). The quality here is disappointingly mediocre, and there's no real reason to go out of your way for a copy, which you of course have to do to get it. It's pretty much reserved for perfectionists and gigantic Prince fans. You know, the kind of people who bootlegged it eons ago in the first place.
|
|
|
