The Black Album (Prince album)

The Black Album is the sixteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on November 22, 1994 by Warner Bros. Records. The album was originally planned for release on December 7, 1987 as the follow-up to Sign o' the Times and was to appear in an entirely black sleeve with no title or even a credit to Prince; hence it was referred to as The Black Album. Dubbed The Funk Bible by preceding press releases, and in a hidden message within the album itself, the work seemed to be a reaction to criticism that Prince had become too pop-oriented. It was his attempt to regain his African-American audience.

The 1987 promo-only release had no printed title, artist name, production credits or photography printed; a simple black sleeve accompanied the disc. On promotional copies, only a song listing and catalog number—25677—were printed on the disc itself. The commercial version was to only have the catalog number printed in the color pink on the spine. The original compact disc pressing was made by Sony DADC rather than WEA Manufacturing. The album was withdrawn a week before its release date, and was replaced with the album Lovesexy, a brighter pop-oriented album with elements of religious affirmation.

The Black Album

The Black Album may refer to:

The Black Album (Jay Z album)

The Black Album is the eighth studio album by American rapper Jay Z, released on November 14, 2003, by Roc-A-Fella Records. It was advertised as his final album before retiring, which is also a recurring theme throughout the songs, although Jay Z resumed his recording career in 2006. For the album, Jay Z wanted to enlist a different producer for each song, working with Kanye West, The Neptunes, Timbaland, Rick Rubin, and 9th Wonder, among others.

When The Black Album was released, it received widespread acclaim from critics. In its first week, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 463,000 copies in the United States. It became Jay Z's top selling record of the 2000s decade, and by July 2013, it had sold 3,516,000 copies in the US. The Black Album was promoted with a retirement tour by Jay Z and three singles that also achieved Billboard chart success, including the top-ten hits "Change Clothes" and "Dirt Off Your Shoulder".

Background

Metallica (album)

Metallica (also known as The Black Album) is the eponymously titled fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on August 12, 1991, through Elektra Records, received widespread critical acclaim and became the band's best-selling album. Metallica produced five singles that are considered to be among the band's best-known songs: "Enter Sandman", "The Unforgiven", "Nothing Else Matters", "Wherever I May Roam", and "Sad but True". "Don't Tread on Me" was also issued to rock radio shortly after the album's release, but the song did not receive a commercial single release. The album marked a change in the band's sound from the thrash metal style of the band's previous four albums to a less harsh one. Metallica promoted the album with a series of tours. In 2003, the album was ranked number 252 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

The recording of Metallica was troubled; the band frequently entered conflicts with Bob Rock, the band's new producer, during production. The album debuted at number one in ten countries and spent four consecutive weeks at the top spot of the Billboard 200, making it Metallica's first album to top album charts. As of February 2016, the album has spent 363 weeks on the Billboard album chart, making it one of the ten longest running discs of all time.

The Black Album (The Damned album)

The Black Album was the fourth album by The Damned, and the first to feature Paul Gray on bass guitar.

It was released in October 1980 on Chiswick as a double album, with "Curtain Call" filling the whole of side 3, and a selection of live tracks recorded at Shepperton Studios for Damned fan club members on side 4.

The song "13th Floor Vendetta" paid tribute to the film The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), opening with the lyrics "...the organ plays to midnight on Maldine Square tonight".

Music

The Black Album represented a change in the career of the group and an expansion of their sound. Allmusic critic Ned Raggett noted that "some of the numbers show the band following their original punk vein, but by this point the four...were leaving straight, three-chord thrash to the cul-de-sac revivalists", and that it was "a chance for the band to try everything from straightforward rock to gentler atmospherics". Raggett described "Wait for a Blackout" as a "dramatic psych/punk surge" with "overtly-serious goth affectations", and qualified "Drinking About My Baby" as "goofy but still enjoyable". Captain Sensible later said that Dave Vanian's vocals were moving to a darker direction, and stated "It is goth; we didn't set out to do that but that is just the way it is. He did have a hearse, he was a grave digger".

The Black Album (Boyd Rice album)

The Black Album is the first release by Boyd Rice. The album was pressed as a 12" vinyl, playable at any speed. Originally released without a record label in 1977, it was reissued in 1981 on Mute Records.

Track listing

No track listing appears with the album.
Side A

Side B

References