Prince's ninth album is sadly best known for the cover, on which Prince appears naked, sitting on a lilac. The statement he was trying to make (at least I think!) was that this album is his purest yet, his statement about his beliefs on God, religion and sex. Prince is famous for mixing religion and sexuality and this album is the pinnacle of that
Prince decided to record this album after shelving the "Black album", a funk record he wrote as a comeback against critics accusing him of abandoning his funk roots. The reason he decided to shelve it is controversial and I won't go into it here, but Prince decided he wanted to record a statement about himself and his music and soon his famous creativity kicked in. Supposedly he recorded fully half of this album in one day! And thankfully it doesn't suffer from it in the slightest.
The opening track is "Eye no", detailing Prince's message of love and God. Around this time Prince revealed his alter-egos, the good Camille, and the evil Spooky Electric. Spooky Electric wanted the Black Album to be released, but Camille stopped it and released Lovesexy. Spooky Electric is the bad guy throughout
the record and the negativity that people feel about God and love. The song itself is funky, but sounds very 80s. Thankfully, as with literally hundreds of Prince songs, the sheer quality of songwriting and musicianship, lifts the song above the arguably dated 80s sound (Ironically coming back into fashion now!).
Eye No ends, segueing into the only hit song off of the album, "Alphabet St.". Ironically, this is in my opinion the worst song on the album but on Lovesexy that doesn't really matter as every song is at least very good, with many going to superb. Alphabet St. is again funky, with more guitar in than Eye No. It also has a rap by new band member Cat. Thankfully, unlike many of Prince's later attempts at putting rap into his records, it fits the song nicely and is a nice little touch.
Glam Slam follows, a song with lyrics that are very simple, but perfectly define the feelings one has towards a loved one, 'I know I hold you 2 tight, but I just can't seem 2 get close enough'. The chorus itself is very uplifting and this is my favourite song off of the album. However the song ends with a long instrumental synth 'crescendo'. Personally I like it alot, it's different and leads nicely into the next song, but when played on Radio One in the 80s, the DJ (Steve Wright I think) commented that Prince had at last gone mad, which might give you some idea of the publics perception of this album!)
Anna Stesia is next, and is a haunting and brilliant piano piece. Prince has several songs describing his feelings of loneliness and this one is one of the most personal, opening with the lyrics, 'Have U ever been so lonely that U feel like U were the only one in this world?'. The song builds up into a mighty crescendo and musically is possibly the high point of the entire album.
Starting "Side Two" (as it would be on cassette or LP!) is Dance On, a funk song using the drum machine to absolutely amazing effect. The song opens with a great and fast fill and keeps up the pace all the way through. Prince takes on a lyrical style similar to Sign O' The Times, discussing gangs and violence. Supposedly just about all of the guitar on this album is improvised which is amazing as consistently throughout the album I find the guitar parts to be brilliant (not flashy, just perfect for the song).
The title track, Lovesexy, comes after. It starts slow but quickly gets unleashed into a very funky and danceable synth riff. This is my favourite song off of the album. This song more than any other on the album, details Prince's love of God (though some have mistakenly thought it was about sex for the lyric 'burns rubber in my pants'!)
Two ballads follow, When 2 R In Love (the only track taken from the aborted Black Album) and I Wish U Heaven. These songs are in my opinion two of the best ballads Prince has written, I Wish U Heaven following the simplicity theme, 'If I see 11, U can say it's 7, still I wish U heaven', whereas When 2 R In Love you could say is more standard Prince fare, achingly tender music combined with rather explicit lyrics!
The album ends with Positivity, a song with the message 'Have U had your plus sign 2day?'. It's a good album closer but doesn't match up to all the tracks after Alphabet St.
This album is definately not to everyones taste. Among Princes hardcore fans, it ranks among the top three albums he's ever done (out of the 27 odd he's released!), often coming top in polls. The public rejected it at the time and even the critics, 15 years on, often don't give it much attention.
The album being released as only one track definately didn't help as it makes it harder to get into if you like skipping to the singles or your favourites tracks, but it stands as a testament to Prince's statement and how much he believed in it, and you have to admire that.
If you want to get into Prince then definately don't start here, but if you see the album in a sale for instance, I think it would be a shame if you didn't give it a good chance as it's probably his most underrated album. If you are getting into Prince and are wondering whether to get this album, I'd check out 1999, Purple Rain and Sign O' The Times before this one. But if you're still eager for more after that, chances are he will have had you hooked!
The best years of his music are known from about 1979-1988, and this marks the last Prince album, fans and fellow musicians call the best time for Prince.
At least he went out on a highnote!
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Advantages: An interesting and varied jam on a great track. Cool B-Side too! Disadvantages: It's basically just a jam with a couple of songs tacked on the end.
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