Album: Symbol

1991: Diamonds And Pearls ◄

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Album details Released: 5 October 1992 (UK) 13 October 1992 (USA) Length: 74:58 Label(s): Paisley Park Records / Warner Bros. Studio(s): Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA; Larrabee Sound Studios, North Hollywood, CA, USA Charts, Certifications & Awards Charts America Country: Chart Entry Date Peak Position Weeks in Chart USA: The Billboard 200 31 Oct. 1992 5 34 USA: Billboard Top R&B Albums 5 Dec. 1992 8 35 USA: The Billboard 200 14 May 2016 111R 1 R indicates re-entry of an album that had already charted.   Europe Country: Chart Entry Date Peak Position Weeks in Chart Austria: Alben Top 75 18 Oct. 1992 1(1) 16 Germany: Musikmarkt Top 100 Albums 19 oct. 1992 5 20 The Netherlands: Nationale Top 100 17 Oct. 1992 6 16 Norway: VG-Lista Top 40 Albums Week 42/1992 10 3 Sweden: Top 60 Albums 14 Oct. 1992 10 4 Switzerland: Schweizer Hitparade 18 Oct. 1992 4 12 U.K.: UK Albums Chart 12 Oct. 1992 1(1) 21   Pacific Country: Chart Entry Date Peak Position Weeks in Chart Australia: ARIA Top 50 Albums 25 Oct. 1992 1(1) 15 New Zealand: Top 40 Albums 25 Oct. 1992 4 14 Certifications Institution, Country Date Certification RIAA, USA 17 Dec. 1992 Gold & Platinum (1 million) BPI, UK 1 Oct. 1992 Silver & Gold (300,000) BPI, UK 1 May 1993 Platinum (600,000) SNEP, France 1993 Gold (100,000) ARIA, Australia 15 Nov. 1992 Gold (35,000) ARIA, Australia 7 Feb. 1993 Platinum (70,000) Awards This album has not received any awards in the USA Singles released Sexy M.F. b/w Strollin’ My Name Is Prince b/w Sexy Mutha 7 b/w 7 Damn U b/w 2 Whom It May Concern The Morning Papers b/w Live 4 Love See also 3 Chains O’ Gold (Home video) Act I (Tour) Alternate Album Configuration March 1992, configuration Album Intro My Name Is Prince Sexy M.F. Segue Love 2 The 9’s The Morning Papers The Max Blue Light Segue However Much U Want Segue Sweet Baby Segue The Continental Damn U Segue Arrogance The Flow Segue 7 Segue And God Created Woman 3 Chains O’ Gold Segue The Sacrifice Of Victor 28 May 1992, configuration Album Intro My Name Is Prince Sexy M.F. Segue Love 2 The 9’s The Morning Papers The Max Segue Blue Light Segue Sweet Baby Segue The Continental Damn U Segue Arrogance The Flow Segue 7 Segue And God Created Woman 3 Chains O’ Gold Segue The Sacrifice Of Victor Late Summer 1992, configuration Album Intro My Name Is Prince Sexy M.F. Segue Love 2 The 9’s The Morning Papers The Max Segue Blue Light Wanna Melt With U Sweet Baby Segue The Continental Damn U Segue Arrogance The Flow Segue 7 Segue And God Created Woman 3 Chains O’ Gold Segue The Sacrifice Of Victor

is the 14th full-length studio album by Prince. It’s also the second album co-credited to the New Power Generation. It was released worldwide in October 1992 (twelve months after his previous album Diamonds And Pearls), and would be his last to be co-credited to a band until One Nite Alone... Live!, by Prince and the New Power Generation, in 2002. The album’s unpronounceable name, , often leads to the album being referred to as Symbol or Love Symbol (Love Symbol was used as the identifying name on the top seal of the jewel case CD release and on the Peach single, which included My Name Is Prince as a b-side). would later become Prince’s name, in 1993, and he would go on to release six albums under that name (from 1995-1999). The album’s cover photograph was taken from the 7 video, but on initial CD copies of the album, the symbol was embossed in gold into the jewel case itself; a very unusual move for CD packaging. Sessions and compiling Like the previous album, Diamonds And Pearls, for the most part did not contain any updated tracks from the vault; only The Flow was a re-recording, of the original track recorded in September 1990. The rest of the album’s 16 songs were written and recorded between September 1991, and March 1992 at Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA, with two exceptions: Blue Light was recorded in May 1991, and Wanna Melt With U was recorded in July 1992 as the final track recorded for the album. The released album contains two segues, featuring actress Kirstie Alley as reporter "Vanessa Batholomew" which attempt to create a story for the album. Two early configurations of the album are known (see below for details), which contained additional segues to more fully explain the story of the album; these were removed from the final sequence to include Wanna Melt With U instead. The album featured the same band as Diamonds And Pearls with a few minor changes. Rosie Gaines had left the band, and Mayte was introduced, adding vocals to a few tracks; additionally, D.J. Graves added scratching to some tracks, but he was not considered a member of the band. While eight songs are essentially solo performances by Prince, the remaining eight songs feature Michael B. on drums, Sonny T. on bass guitar, Tommy Barbarella on keyboards, Levi Seacer, Jr. on rhythm guitar, and the rapping trio of Tony M. (performing lead raps) and Damon Dickson and Kirk Johnson (playing percussion and performing background raps/vocals). Additionally, the five-piece horn section of Mike Nelson, Kathy J., Dave Jensen, Brian Gallagher and Steve Strand contributed horns to some tracks. Promotion The album produced five commercially-released singles, Sexy M.F., My Name Is Prince (both of which preceded the album’s release), 7, Damn U (in the USA only) and The Morning Papers. Blue Light, Sweet Baby and Love 2 The 9’s were also planned as singles in early 1993, and acetates were made up for each single, but they were left unreleased, and The Morning Papers was released instead. Prince toured extensively to support the album on the Act I tour (in North America) and the Act II tour, both of which largely focused on the album (although to a lesser extent on Act II); additionally, he regularly played some tracks from the album on the preceding tour, the Diamonds And Pearls Tour, which ended shortly before the album’s release. The storyline of the album was adapted for the Act I tour. It was also the subject of a TV program (Act I) which was developed into a long form video (the 3 Chains O’ Gold home video released in 1994), and a comic-book (Three Chains Of Gold). The album reached number 5 on the US The Billboard 200 Chart and number 8 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums Chart, but reached number 1 on the UK Gallup Top 40 Album Chart. On 17 December 1992, was certified gold by the RIAA, indicating 500,000 copies shipped in the USA. Track listing CD LP My Name Is Prince (6:38) 1  Sexy M.F. (5:24) 2  Love 2 The 9’s (5:44) The Morning Papers (3:57) The Max (4:30) Segue (0:21) Blue Light (4:37) Wanna Melt With U (3:50) Sweet Baby (4:01) The Continental (5:30) Damn U (4:24) Arrogance (1:35) 3  The Flow (2:25) 4  7 (5:12) 5  And God Created Woman (3:18) 3 Chains O’ Gold (6:02) Segue (1:29) The Sacrifice Of Victor (5:41) 6  The vinyl long play format was release at same time as the CD. Side 1: My Name Is Prince (6:38) 1  Sexy M.F. (5:24) 2  Love 2 The 9’s (5:44) Side 2: The Morning Papers (3:57) The Max (4:30) Segue (0:21) Blue Light (4:37) Wanna Melt With U (3:50) Sweet Baby (4:01) Side 3: The Continental (5:30) Damn U (4:24) Arrogance (1:35) 3  The Flow (2:25) 4  Side 4: 7 (5:12) 5  And God Created Woman (3:18) 3 Chains O’ Gold (6:02) Segue (1:29) The Sacrifice Of Victor (5:41) 6  All songs written by Prince, except where noted. 1  Written by Prince, Rap written by Tony M. 2  Written by Prince, Tony M. and Levi Seacer, Jr. 3  Written by Prince and Tony M. 4  Contains a sample of Tramp, written by Lowell Fulson and Jimmy McCraklin, as performed by Lowell Fulson 5  Contains samples of I Know You Got Soul, written and performed by Eric B. & Rakim, Jazz It Up (Jazz Mix), written and performed by C.F.M. Band and Niggaz 4 Life, written by The D.O.C., Dr. Dre and MC Ren, as performed by N.W.A. 6  Contains a sample of God Made Me Funky, written by Bennie Maupin, Bill Summers, Blackbyrd McKnight, Mike Clark, Paul Jackson, as performed by The Headhunters Personnel Musicians Prince - all instruments, except where noted Michael B. - drums on Sexy M.F., Love 2 The 9’s, The Morning Papers, Sweet Baby, Damn U, Arrogance, And God Created Woman and 3 Chains O’ Gold Sonny T. - bass guitar on Sexy M.F., Love 2 The 9’s, The Morning Papers, Sweet Baby, Damn U, Arrogance, And God Created Woman and 3 Chains O’ Gold Levi Seacer, Jr. guitar on Sexy M.F., Love 2 The 9’s, The Morning Papers, Sweet Baby, Damn U, Arrogance, And God Created Woman and 3 Chains O’ Gold Tommy Barbarella - keyboards on Sexy M.F., Love 2 The 9’s, The Morning Papers, Sweet Baby, Damn U, Arrogance, And God Created Woman and 3 Chains O’ Gold Tony M. - rap on My Name Is Prince, Sexy M.F., Love 2 The 9’s, The Max, The Flow, background shouts on Arrogance and The Sacrifice Of Victor Kirky J. - background vocals and shout on My Name Is Prince, Sexy M.F., Love 2 The 9’s, The Max, Arrogance, The Flow and The Sacrifice Of Victor Damon Dickson - background vocals and shouts on My Name Is Prince, Sexy M.F., Love 2 The 9’s, The Max, Arrogance, The Flow and The Sacrifice Of Victor Mayte - vocals on Love 2 The 9’s and The Max D.J. Graves - scratching Michael B. Nelson - trombone on Sexy M.F., Love 2 The 9’s, The Morning Papers, Arrogance, The Flow, And God Created Woman, 3 Chains O’ Gold and The Sacrifice Of Victor (credited as "Mike Nelson") Kathy Jensen - baritone saxophone on Sexy M.F., Love 2 The 9’s, The Morning Papers, Arrogance, The Flow, And God Created Woman, 3 Chains O’ Gold and The Sacrifice Of Victor (credited as "Kathy J.") Dave Jensen - trumpet on Sexy M.F., Love 2 The 9’s, The Morning Papers, Arrogance, The Flow, And God Created Woman, 3 Chains O’ Gold and The Sacrifice Of Victor Brian Gallagher - tenor saxophone on Sexy M.F., Love 2 The 9’s, The Morning Papers, Arrogance, The Flow, And God Created Woman, 3 Chains O’ Gold and The Sacrifice Of Victor Steve Strand - trumpet on Sexy M.F., Love 2 The 9’s, The Morning Papers, Arrogance, The Flow, And God Created Woman, 3 Chains O’ Gold and The Sacrifice Of Victor Kirstie Alley - "Vanessa Bartholomew" on Segue, Damn U, Arrogance and Segue Michael Koppelman - bass guitar and (uncredited) keyboards on Blue Light Eric Leeds - saxophone on Blue Light Atlanta Bliss - Trumpet on The Max (uncredited and sampled from an unknown recording) Carmen Electra - rap on The Continental Clare Fischer - string orchestration on Damn U Chuck Thomas - drums on 7 (uncredited, sampled loop from Tramp by Lowell Fulson) Fred Steele - background vocals on The Sacrifice Of Victor JD Steele - background vocals on The Sacrifice Of Victor Jearlyn Steele - background vocals on The Sacrifice Of Victor Jevetta Steele - background vocals on The Sacrifice Of Victor Production Prince - producer and arranger (credited to Prince and the New Power Generation) Keith "K.C." Cohen - additional production, mixing engineer George Black - additional production on Wanna Melt With U Michael Koppelman - engineer, mixing engineer Dave Friedlander - engineer Steve Noonan - engineer, assistant engineer, mastering at Bernie Grundman Mastering Ray Hahnfeld - engineer, assistant engineer Brian Poer - engineer, assistant engineer Dave Aron - assistant engineer Airiq Anest - assistant engineer, additional programming Steve Durkee - assistant engineer Tom Garneau - mixing engineer Bob Rosa - mixing engineer Steve Beltram - mixing engineer Clare Fischer - orchestra producer and arranger Larry Mahn - recording engineer (strings) at Ocean Way Studios Peter Arata - recording engineer for Kirsty Alley at The Record Plant Brian Gardner - mastering at Bernie Grundman Mastering Jeff Gold - art direction Greg Ross - art direction Sotera Tschetter - creative director Liz Luce - additional design Lorna Stovall - hand lettering Michael Diehl - eye logo Jeff Katz - band photos Tonya Thompson - hairstyles (credited for "Prince and the NPG’s typhoons") Kasha - make-up - visages Thanks none.

Releases
LP, CD, Cassettes and Other versions
Country Format Cat. Number Comments Front Back Label 1 Label 2 This section is under construction Variants, Special Editions and Reissues Country Format Cat. Number Comments Front Back Label 1 Label 2 This section is under construction

Additional Information Promotion (at time of release) Trivia Pre-Release: Flyer distributed to concert goers in Paris - summer 1992 (note the release date was earlier than the final release) Time Of Release: Commercial ad in Japan, WB Records ad in Billboard & in Rolling Stone.     The CD was available in a limited edition hard golden slipcase box (see Variant Editions section for details). The contents of the album, including the booklet, were identical to the regular release. Three early configurations of the album are known, listed in the Alternative Configuration section above. References The Vault: The Definitive Guide to the Musical World of Prince by Per Nilsen & jooZt Mattheij, with the UPTOWN Staff (Uptown 2004) Copyright: US Copyright Office / SR0000146900 / 1992-11-02 supplemented by: SR0000205730 / 1997-07-01 Michael Koppelman Interview by Cateto (housequake.com: 10 July 2006) Certifications: RIAA database, BPI database; ARIA Monthly Certifications 1990-Present by Nelson (Australian-charts.com: 5 Nov. 2013) Charts: www.billboard.com / the-love-symbol-album, UK Official Charts / Prince, Austriancharts.at, Australian-charts.com, Charts.org.nz, Hitparade.ch, Dutchcharts.nl, Swedishcharts.com and Norwegiancharts.com

1991 Diamonds And Pearls

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1993 The Hits 1