Love Symbol is the fourteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince, and the second of two that featured his backing bandthe New Power Generation. It was released on October 13, 1992 by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. It was originally conceived as a "fantasy rock soap opera" with various spoken segues throughout, and contains elements of R&B, pop, soul, funk, and rock styles. The official title of the album is an depicted on its cover art, which was copyrighted by Prince under the title "Love Symbol #2", and adopted as his stage name from 1993 to 2001 in protest of his treatment by Warner Bros. Records. Hence, the album is referred to as the Love Symbol Album, or alternatively, Love Symbol, Symbol Album, or Symbol. Its first two singles, "Sexy MF" and "My Name Is Prince", achieved modest success on the US pop chart, though both made the top ten in the United Kingdom. Conversely, the third single, "7", was not as successful in the United Kingdom, but was a top ten hit in the United States.
Storyline
An early configuration of the album contained as many as eight segues as well as an intro. Together, they explained the album's storyline: An Egyptian princess falls in love with a rock star and entrusts him with a religious artifact, the Three Chains of Turin during her escape from seven assassins, as referenced in "7". However, in a last-minute attempt to add an additional song, most of the segues had to be cut for album length. The few that remained were somewhat confusing in context. The unreleased segues have been bootlegged since. Garcia would become Prince's wife in 1996. On the released album, the segues featuring Kirstie Alley as reporter Vanessa Bartholomew are mostly kept intact. In them, she attempts to interview Prince but fails; at first, he hangs up when being told he is being recorded, but in a later segue, Prince gives nonsense answers to Vanessa's requests. A few lines in which Vanessa inquires about the Three Chains of Turin was edited out of the final version. 3 Chains o' Gold, a direct-to-video film produced and directed by Prince, was released in 1994. The film is based on the storyline and songs of the Love Symbol Album and contains some of the original segues which were planned to be on the album.
Marketing
Warner Bros. Records pushed for "7" to be released as the album's first single. However, Prince instead pushed for "My Name Is Prince" to serve as lead single, arguing that its sound would appeal better to listeners that had enjoyed Diamonds and Pearls.
Critical reception
The Love Symbol Album was voted the 14th best record of 1992 in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics nationwide, published by The Village Voice. Robert Christgau, the poll's creator, later wrote of the album: "Designed to prove his utter inexhaustibility in the wake of Diamonds and Pearls, by some stroke of commerce his best-selling album since Purple Rain, this absurdly designated 'rock soap opera' proves mainly that he's got the funk."
Track listing
All tracks written by Prince, except where noted; all tracks arranged and produced by Prince and The New Power Generation. Notes:
Every use of the pronoun "I" throughout the song titles and liner notes is actually represented by a stylized "?" symbol. This symbol is commonly transliterated as "Eye" among Prince fans, as "? No" and "I Wish U Heaven" both appeared on Lovesexy.
Special editions
Several editions of this album were released. Early pressings of the album featured an embossed gold love symbol on the jewel case, sometimes matte, sometimes glossy. Later editions feature it printed on the booklet or not present at all. A Special Limited Edition Gold Box CD was released with a purple love symbol engraved in the golden box. 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 the early version of the album with all the original segues. Also, "The Sacrifice of Victor" is slightly longer on the early configuration.
Produced by Prince and The New Power Generation; additional production by Keith Cohen; additional production on "I Wanna Melt with You" by George Black; strings produced by Clare Fischer
Recorded by Michael Koppelman, Dave Friedlander, Steve Noonan, Ray Hahnfeldt and Brian Poer; strings recorded by Larry Mann; Kirstie Alley's voice recorded by Peter Arata
Mixed by Keith Cohen, Michael Koppelman, Tom Garneau, Bob Rosa and Steve Beltran; additional mixing by Dave Aron, Airiq Anest, Steve Durkee, Biran Poer, Steve Noonan and Ray Hahnfeldt
Mastered by Brian Gardner and Steve Noonan
Publishing
All songs published by Controversy Music/WB Music Corp.; except:
* Track 14 published by Controversy Music; additional publishing by Powerforce Music/Budget Music; sample of "Tramp" by Lowell Fulsom published by Blues Interactions, Inc.
