Black Album

The Black Album is the sixteenth studio album by Prince that was originally planned for release on December 7, 1987, as the follow-up to Sign o' the Times. Instead, it was released on November 22, 1994. Referred to as 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. 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...