Studio album by Prince and The New Power Generation | ||||
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Released | October 13, 1992 | |||
Recorded | September 1991 – March 1992 | |||
Genre | R&B, pop, soul, funk, rock | |||
Length | 74:56 | |||
Label | Paisley Park, Warner Bros. | |||
Producer | Prince and The New Power Generation | |||
Prince chronology | ||||
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Singles from Love Symbol Album | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Chicago Tribune | |
Christgau's Consumer Guide | A− |
Entertainment Weekly | A− |
The Guardian | |
Los Angeles Times | |
Q | |
Rolling Stone | |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 7/10 |
is the fourteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince, and the second (and final) to feature his backing band The New Power Generation. It was released on October 13, 1992 by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. The title of the album is an unpronounceable symbol as depicted in its cover art, which Prince adopted as his stage name in 1993. As the symbol was copyrighted under the title "Love Symbol #2", the album is commonly referred to as the Love Symbol Album, but alternatively as the Symbol Album, Love Symbol or simply Symbol.
The album contains elements of musical styles including funk, R&B, hip hop, jazz, reggae, and synthpop. The album was originally conceived as a "fantasy rock soap opera" with various spoken segues throughout. It has sold over five million copies worldwide.
The album's first two singles, "My Name Is Prince" and "Sexy MF", achieved modest success on the US pop chart, 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.
An early configuration of the album contained as many as eight segues as well as an intro. Together they explained the album's storyline. 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 unreleased segues have been bootlegged since.