Publication: The Metropolitan Spirit [US]
Date: February 2, 1995
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Title: Black Album Review
Reviewed By: Greg Foreman

PRINCE
The Black Album
(Warner Bros.)

Seven years after becoming the most famous unreleased album in history, "The Black Album" is no longer unreleased. Ironically, it's a better album than anything Prince has released in the meantime.

Backed by the same band that recorded "Lovesexy" (including Eric Leeds on sax and Sheila E. on drums), this is Prince at his funky, ribald best. Even though the arrangements often seem elemental, they generally feature a compelling and complex mix of multiple vocalists, guitars, pop-gun bass, horns, synths and percussion. The disc starts off with two slabs of classic funk.

The dance groove "Le Grind" is a catchy 6 1/2 minute paean to Prince's favorite activity. The chorus is a simple chant of "Up and down/ Up and down/ Feels so good/ Up and down/ Up and down/ Like a pony would." Even more salacious (heck, obscene) is "Cindy C," his tribute to supermodel Cindy Crawford. "Oh Cindy C/ Will u play with me?" is Prince's needy love call, while the rhythm section slams with the intensity of the act Prince is attempting to simulate.

If nothing matches those two high points, the rest of the album remains quite strong, with "When 2 R in Love" (the lone ballad and the lone previously released track) the lone lame track. "Jam On It," Prince's first rap, is simultaneously a put-down of rappers. The purple one's rap is kinda simplistic, but the groove the creates is slammin'. "Superfunkycaliragisexy" and "Rockhard in a Funky Place" may be simple funk rock patterns, but they're as tight as a James Brown dance routine. Even the mostly instrumental "2 Nigs United for West Compton" jams.

The oddest track is "Bob George," which features George Clinton [Comment: This is not true] on vocals. Anticipating gangsta rappers, Clinton takes on the role of a foul-mouthed, hot-head, cussing out his two-timing girlfriend. The track climaxes with Clinton blowing her away with an automatic weapon, getting into a stand-off with the police and then telling-off his conscience. Seven years ago, reviewing a bootleg copy of this album, I surmised that Prince decided not to release this album because it was too unpop. How odd that seven years later, "Cindy C" and "Le Grind" remain catchier than anything he's released in the interim.