Love Symbol

Last updated

Love Symbol
Love Symbol Album (Prince and the New Power Generation album - cover art).jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 13, 1992
RecordedSeptember 11, 1990; December 1990; May 12, 1991; September 18, 1991 – March 1992; July 1992[ citation needed ]
Genre
Length75:00
Label Paisley Park, Warner Bros.
Producer Prince and the New Power Generation
Prince chronology
Diamonds and Pearls
(1991)
Love Symbol
(1992)
The Hits/The B-Sides
(1993)
Alternative cover
Prince and the New Power Generation alternate cover (1992).jpg
Cover without the symbol
Love Symbol track listing
No.TitleLength
1."My Name Is Prince" (Prince, Tony M.)6:36
2."Sexy MF" (Prince, Tony M., Levi Seacer, Jr.)5:25
3."Love 2 the 9's"5:45
4."The Morning Papers"3:57
5."The Max"4:30
6."Segue"0:21
7."Blue Light"4:38
8."I Wanna Melt with U"3:50
9."Sweet Baby"4:01
10."The Continental"5:31
11."Damn U"4:25
12."Arrogance"1:35
13."The Flow" (Prince, Tony M.)2:26
14."7" (Prince, Lowell Fulson, Jimmy McCracklin)5:13
15."And God Created Woman"3:18
16."3 Chains o' Gold"6:03
17."Segue"1:30
18."The Sacrifice of Victor"5:41

Every use of the pronoun "I" throughout the song titles and liner notes is represented by a stylized "👁" symbol. Prince fans commonly transliterate this symbol as "Eye".

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. "The Sacrifice of Victor" is slightly longer on the early configuration.

  1. "Intro"
  2. "My Name Is Prince"
  3. "Sexy MF"
  4. "Segue"
  5. "Love 2 the 9's"
  6. "The Morning Papers"
  7. "The Max"
  8. "Segue"
  9. "Blue Light"
  10. "Segue"
  11. "Sweet Baby"
  12. "Segue"
  13. "The Continental"
  14. "Damn U"
  15. "Segue"
  16. "Arrogance"
  17. "The Flow"
  18. "Segue"
  19. "7"
  20. "Segue"
  21. "And God Created Woman"
  22. "3 Chains o' Gold"
  23. "Segue"
  24. "The Sacrifice of Victor"

Personnel

Prince and The New Power Generation

Additional personnel

Production

Publishing

Singles

Charts

Weekly chart performance for Love Symbol
Chart (1992)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [19] 1
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [20] 1
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [21] 6
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [22] 8
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [23] 5
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [24] 4
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [25] 10
Spanish Albums (AFYVE) [26] 5
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [27] 10
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [28] 4
UK Albums (OCC) [29] 1
US Billboard 200 [30] 5
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [31] 8

Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for Love Symbol
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [32] Platinum70,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria) [33] Gold25,000*
France200,000 [34]
Japan (RIAJ) [35] Gold100,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [36] Gold50,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [37] Gold25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [38] Platinum300,000^
United States (RIAA) [39] Platinum1,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Notes

  1. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Prince & the New Power Generation: The Love Symbol Album" at AllMusic. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
  2. 1 2 Carter, Andrew (June 23, 1999). "The People Formerly Known as Fans". City Pages. Archived from the original on October 14, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  3. "Prince & The New Power Generation Discography". Discogs . Retrieved April 15, 2009.
  4. Willman, Chris (October 11, 1992). "Prince's Latest Fleshed-Out Fantasy". Los Angeles Times . ISSN   0458-3035. OCLC   3638237.
  5. Lussenhop, Jessica (April 22, 2016). "Why did Prince change his name?". BBC News. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  6. Rhodes, Margaret (April 22, 2016). "The Fascinating Origin Story of Prince's Iconic Symbol". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  7. "The lost album segues / original version". dawnation.com.
  8. Hahn, Alex. (2003). Possessed : the rise and fall of Prince. New York: Billboard Books. ISBN   0-8230-7748-9. OCLC   50868280.
  9. Hajari, Nisid (July 24, 1992). "Video Capsule Review: Sexy M.F. (1992)". Entertainment Weekly. Time. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  10. Chicago Tribune review
  11. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (2000). Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishers. p. 252. ISBN   0312245602.
  12. Sandow, Greg (October 23, 1992). "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince(1992): Prince". Entertainment Weekly . No. #141. ISSN   1049-0434 . Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  13. Price, Simon (April 22, 2016). "Prince: every album rated – and ranked". The Guardian . London. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  14. Los Angeles Times review
  15. 1 2 "Prince/Prince & the New Power Generation – Love Symbol Album CD Album". CDUniverse.com. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  16. "Prince: Album Guide". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on March 20, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  17. Weisbard, Eric (October 10, 1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide (1st ed.). Vintage. ISBN   978-0-679-75574-6.
  18. Pazz & Jop 1992
  19. "Australiancharts.com – Prince and The New Power Generation – %5BLove Symbol%5D". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  20. "Austriancharts.at – Prince and The New Power Generation – %5BLove Symbol%5D" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  21. "Dutchcharts.nl – Prince and The New Power Generation – %5BLove Symbol%5D" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  22. Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Prince". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 204.
  23. "Offiziellecharts.de – Prince and The New Power Generation – %5BLove Symbol%5D" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  24. "Charts.nz – Prince and The New Power Generation – %5BLove Symbol%5D". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  25. "Norwegiancharts.com – Prince and The New Power Generation – %5BLove Symbol%5D". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  26. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN   84-8048-639-2.
  27. "Swedishcharts.com – Prince and The New Power Generation – %5BLove Symbol%5D". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  28. "Swisscharts.com – Prince and The New Power Generation – %5BLove Symbol%5D". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  29. "Prince | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  30. "Prince Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  31. "Prince Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  32. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1992 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association . Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  33. "Austrian album certifications – Prince – Love Symbol" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  34. "Billboard". May 22, 1993.
  35. "Japanese album certifications – プリンス&ザ・ニュー・パワー・ジェネレーション – ラブ・シンボル・アルバム" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan . Retrieved September 11, 2019.Select 1994年4月 on the drop-down menu
  36. Sólo Éxitos 1959–2002 Año A Año: Certificados 1979–1990 (in Spanish). Iberautor Promociones Culturales. 2005. ISBN   8480486392.
  37. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Love Symbol')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  38. "British album certifications – Prince – Symbol". British Phonographic Industry.
  39. "American album certifications – Prince – Symbol". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved March 24, 2023.

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References