bet et te eee? ay ies

many Prince classics, including the Curtis Mayticld styled title track, **U Got the Look, “TCould Never Take the Place of Your Man,”

bes CM Ae Melee itapta (Gn Mma TnCOn OnCOK aii (0) comme

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Lovesexv (1988)

Released after the ultra-rare Black Album was |

pulled, Prince’s music lost something after

this;never since has he captured the freshness, | Vitality and exuberance ofthis recording. Con- | lains two tremendous songsin**Eye No” and | “Alphabet Street’ and the rest has lots of |

ae despite some paste. (8)

Batman (1989)

PSEA TEI emer UTR eam

Purple Rain,the crassly commercial Batman soundtrack is largely filler, redeemed only by three very good songs (**The Future,’ **Elec- (OHV omar ae HICH COMME OTT Te OTe hit). The Sheena Easton duct is casily the UTS S TT ema Cam eect ete

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Graffiti Bridge (1990) BCU a an era e nie MT Tet Tack to the truly horrible movie is muddled by

Cameos from the Time, Tevin Campbell and |

uy embarrassing Mavis Staples. It also fea- WETS atl amountofjunk, like the bathetic litle track. This is his most successful work Utilizing rap rhythms and is generally pretty brilliant, but it also marks the beginning of a lack oftunesand heart that hasmarked his work Sailer

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ic. ae

e ‘ e** PRINCE | .° Raa ene are

Diamonds and Pearls (1991)

This one’s plenty of fun and contains the rib- shaking, bass monster ‘“Gett Off,” but the balladsare vacuous, ‘Push’? isan **It’s Gonna be a Beautiful Night” retread, and the rap s belong onsomeone clse’salbum.

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PO Pe ae ee” ©

‘*The message is clear: Prince does ita lot and he would like to do it with you, please.’’

David Sinclair

Symbols Prince (Warner Bros.)

Prince’s latest, Symbols (5), contin- ues in the same vein as Diamonds and Pearls, but is an even weaker album than its predecessor. Spiked

with funky grooves, some jazzy big band arrangements and his usual unidentifiable rhythmic devices, Symbols weakness is in the songwriting. Prince’s work is al- ways fascinating if only to listen to the complexity and depth ofhis crea- tions. Still, there’s loads of filler here: ‘‘Three Chains of Gold’’ is horrible and can’t hide its Queen influences, lots of chants like ‘*Sexy motherfucker, shakin’ that ass’’ or ‘**More fuck for your buck,’’ and the ballads are vapid -- songs like ‘‘When DovesCry’’ and‘‘ If IWas Your Girlfriend’’ were crucial to adding another dimension to these adoles- cent sex fantasies.

His worst album since the Batman soundtrack, Symbols degenerates further into the hyperactive sonic cuts that mark his recent work. At long last, Prince is the machine his critics have always claimed he was.