Love Symbol Album

(Love Symbol Album)
Studio album by Prince and The New Power Generation
Released	October 13, 1992
Recorded	1991–1992
Genre	R&B, pop, soul, funk, rock[1]
Length	74:56
Label	Paisley Park/Warner Bros.
Producer	Prince
Prince chronology
Diamonds and Pearls (1991) Love Symbol Album (1992) Come (1994)
Singles from Love Symbol Album
"Sexy MF" Released: June 30, 1992 "My Name Is Prince" Released: September 29, 1992 "7" Released: November 17, 1992 "Damn U" Released: November 17, 1992 "The Morning Papers" Released: April 3, 1993

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	A−[2]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[3]
Mojo	(favorable)[4]
Q	[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[6][7]
Piero Scaruffi	6.5/10[8]
Spin	(7/10)[9]
Yahoo! Music	(mixed)[10]

is the fourteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince, released October 13, 1992 on Paisley Park and Warner Bros. Records.^[11] Due to its official title being an unpronounceable symbol, which Prince later adopted as his name, the album has been referred to as the Love Symbol Album, or simply Symbol. It is Prince's second album to feature his backing group, The New Power Generation, which received co-billing for the release. The album contains elements of musical styles including funk, R&B, hip hop, jazz, reggae, and synthpop.^[12]

The album's first two singles, "My Name Is Prince" and "Sexy MF", achieved modest success on the US pop charts, though both made the top ten in the UK. Conversely, the third single, "7", was not as successful as the first two singles in the UK, but was a top ten hit in the US. The album was originally conceived as a "fantasy rock soap opera" with various spoken segues throughout.^[13] However, in a last-minute attempt to add an additional song ("I Wanna Melt with U", which was originally considered to be a B-side to the "7" maxi-single, and which contains several sampled sounds also present in "7"), most of the segues had to be cut for album length. The few that remained were somewhat confusing in context. The album debuts Mayte Garcia, who plays a part in the album's storyline and would become Prince's wife in 1996. Early pressings of the album featured an embossed gold love symbol on the jewel case, while later editions feature it printed on the booklet or not present on either.

3 Chains o' Gold, a direct-to-video film produced and directed by Prince, was released in 1994. The film is based on the plotline and songs of the Love Symbol Album and contained some of the original segues which were planned to be on the album.

Track listing

Produced, arranged and performed by Prince and The New Power Generation.
All songs composed by Prince, except where noted.

1. "My Name Is Prince" (Prince, Tony Mosley) – 6:39
2. "Sexy MF" (Prince, Levi Seacer, Jr., Tony Mosley) – 5:25
3. "Love 2 the 9's" – 5:45
4. "The Morning Papers" – 3:57
5. "The Max" – 4:30
6. "Segue" (spoken word with Prince and Kirstie Alley) – 0:21
7. "Blue Light" – 4:38
8. "I Wanna Melt with U" – 3:50
9. "Sweet Baby" – 4:01
10. "The Continental" – 5:31
11. "Damn U" – 4:25
12. "Arrogance" – 1:35
13. "The Flow" (Prince, Tony Mosley) – 2:26
14. "7" (Prince, Lowell Fulsom, Jimmy McCracklin) – 5:13
15. "And God Created Woman" – 3:18
16. "3 Chains o' Gold" – 6:03
17. "Segue" (spoken word with Prince and Kirstie Alley) – 1:30
18. "The Sacrifice of Victor" – 5:41

Alternate versions

Several special editions of this album were released; one boxed set came with a bonus "Sexy MF" CD single, another with a specially-created CD single of "My Name Is Prince" mixes.

Early configuration

Below is an early version of the album with all the original segues which help explain the album's storyline better.^[14]

1. "Intro"
2. "My Name is Prince"
3. "Sexy MF"
4. "Segue"
5. "Love 2 the 9's"
6. "The Morning Papers"
7. "The Max"
8. "Segue"
9. "Blue Light"
10. "Segue"
11. "Sweet Baby"
12. "Segue"
13. "The Continental"
14. "Damn U"
15. "Segue"
16. "Arrogance"
17. "The Flow"
18. "Segue"
19. "7"
20. "Segue"
21. "And God Created Woman"
22. "3 Chains o' Gold"
23. "Segue"
24. "The Sacrifice of Victor"

This original version contained eight segues as well as an intro. When "I Wanna Melt with U" was added a lot of these segues had to be cut for album length; these segues have been bootlegged since. Also, "The Sacrifice of Victor" was slightly longer than the released version.

Charts

Singles and Hot 100 chart placings

• "Sexy MF" maxi-single (#66 US, #76 R&B, #4 UK)
• "My Name Is Prince" maxi-single (#36 US, #25 R&B, #7 UK)
• "7" maxi-single (#7 US, #3 R&B charts, #27 UK)
• "Damn U" (#105 US, #32 R&B)
• "The Morning Papers" maxi-single (#44 US, #8 R&B, #52 UK)

Notes

References

• Nathan Brackett, Christian Hoard (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely Revised and Updated 4th Edition. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.