Track Listing

1. My Name Is Prince
2. Sexy MF
3. Love 2 The 9s
4. Morning Papers
5. Max
6. Segue
7. Blue Light
8. I Wanna Melt With U
9. Sweet Baby
10. Continental
11. Damn U
12. Arrogance
13. Flow
14. 7
15. And God Created Woman
16. Three Chains O' Gold
17. Sacrifice Of Victor

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32972 in Music
• Released on: 1992-10-05
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

CD Description
This album followed Prince's debut with the New Power Generation, DIAMONDS AND PEARLS, and marked a turning point in the career of one of the most talented, prolific, and successful pop stars of the '80s and '90s. For many, the album introduced a new Prince whose music now encompassed rap and othercontemporary radio-friendly sounds. For others, SYMBOL signaled the beginning of Prince's downward spiral into self-indulgence and lack of focus. After the album's release, Princechanged his name to the unpronounceable symbol emblazoned on the cover.
It is hard to argue with Prince's innovative, accessible, and utterly singular musical vision. While noteverything on this double-length set is strong, SYMBOL offers such an abundance of material that there is sure to be something here for everyone. Dance floor booty-movers like "The Max" and "Damn U" alternate with atmospheric ballads ("Sweet Baby") Other tracks (the chaotic free-funk of "Arrogance;" the dark gospel pulse of "7") are more resistant to categorisation. The hit singles "My Name Is Prince" and the irresistible James Brown-style jam (complete with JB's-ish horns) of "Sexy M.F". provide sing-along dance anthems. There is enough intensity and diversity here to prove that Prince is still a force to be reckoned with.

Customer Reviews

Musically accomplished
Musically, this is an experimental, but very good album. The styles Prince performs confidently range from funky soul, to techno, power ballads, even reggae. This does however, present the album with its only real problem, consistency.
The album begins with probably one of the best album openers I've ever heard, in 'My Name Is Prince'. A funky, relentless track that is so intense it could literally blow your headphones out of your ears. Lines like "I did not come to funk around / 'till I get your daughter I wont leave this town" are an instant reminder of why Prince is the man, and a perfect introduction to the album.
The albums next track, Sexy MF is a good progression from the first, and has the listener thinking that, actually, this could be a really good album. This carries on to the third track, Love 2 the 9's, a silky RnB song, confident in its direction and in traditional Prince style, completely effortless in its delivery.
As the album moves on, however, problems with consistency arise. With Princes creative mind going in so many directions, it can sound a tad incoherent all on one album, the tracks jumping from guitar laden power ballads to techno inspired dance tracks without any real warning. Numerous tracks are also spoiled by the needless addition of Tony M's capable, but sometimes over extended raps. Tracks like the sublime '7' and 'And God Created Woman' however, reassure just how good a songwriter Prince is.
Whatever direction Prince chooses to go in, he does it well. Perhaps this album is a little less commercial than his previous works, however it is no less great. This is 'Prince to the extreme', a less marketable but musically accomplished body of work, perhaps not a great introduction to Prince the rock star, but a good introduction to Prince the musical genius.

The Symbol Cometh...
For reasons of simplicity I will call this "Symbol album". It came on the back of Prince's then record breaking $100m record deal with Warner Bros, due in no small part to the bargaining power "Diamonds and Pearls" being a major success had given him.

Prince attempted to incorporate a storyline into this album (featuring Kirstie Alley as a reporter) in a "Rock Opera" type style. However these segues fragment the album, leave the listener confused, and are rather ineffective. We are better to look at the music imbetween. :)

Kicking off with the raw and angry "My Name Is Prince" he lets everyone know he is still the best and makes thinly veiled digs at Michael Jackson amongst others. He half raps the vocal and Tony M joins in at end (As with Diamonds And Pearls he is all over the album). Then follows the homage to James Brown "Sexy Mf", in an edited format it was a substantial single. Very funky and addictive it is too. :)

"Love 2 The 9's" is clever and complex although its attempt to weld two different songs falls a little short (Delicate R&B and hardcore rap chant). "The Morning Papers" is a pretty, swaying rock song with nice guitar solos. "3 Chains O' Gold" is Prince doing "Bohemian Rhapsody" and very interesting, is he being ironic? Is it a pastiche? Nevertheless it's a fun song. :)

Two other highlights in my eyes are "7" a steadily-paced mid-tempo rock song which starts a cappella and the funky gospel chant "Sacrifice Of Victor" which closes proceedings.

Disregarding the "storyline" this long album (16 tracks) is as always diverse in genre (Hip-hop to rock), generally consistent and contains trademark Prince songs "Sexy Mf" and "7" so it is well worth checking out. I prefer the previous years "Diamonds and Pearls" overall though.

Prince at his best!
This is an album which defys the myth that all of Prince's good music was released in the late 80's. Each track is good enough to have been released as a single. The outstanding tracks include 'Love 2 the 9's', 'The Morning Papers', 'And God Created Woman', and '3 Chains 'O Gold'. 'Love 2 the 9's' and 'The Morning Papers' are delightful ballads, worthy of comparison to 'Rasberry Beret' or 'The Most Beautiful Girl in the World'. '3 Chains 'O Gold' is the first song from an opera written by Prince but, I believe, never released. All in all, an outstanding album and an excellent introduction to Prince's work for newcomers.