PROLOGUE

Photos: Jeff Katz

Following a string of both critically and commercially successful albums in the eighties, Prince was all set to continue his streak of greatness by releasing a Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic album in 1989, but Prince's record company Warner Brothers would not release a new album so soon after the Lovesexy album. But then Prince was approached about writing a few songs for a Batman movie and he grabbed the opportunity to get some new music released, resulting in an entire Batman album. Although it contained some great tracks, it wasn't exactly the great follow-up to Lovesexy which both critics and fans had dreamt of. They didn’t lose faith in Prince, though, as it could be excused as being a soundtrack album. However, in 1990 Prince disappointed with the introduction of the Game Boyz rappers on the Nude Tour and with the Graffiti Bridge album that would have been great if it had been just a Prince album rather than a collection of songs also featuring his protégées of the time. Again, it could be excused as being a soundtrack album to the critically lambasted movie of the same title which went straight to home video in Europe.

In 1991 Prince wrapped up work on the Diamonds And Pearls album that pandered a lot to popular trends in music where it used to be Prince himself who set the trends for others to follow. And this album couldn’t be excused as being a soundtrack album. However, Diamonds And Pearls became a huge commercial success. It reached number three on Billboard’s Pop Chart and spawned four hit singles. It sold about 2 million copies in the US and almost 4 million copies outside of the US.

But while waiting for the Diamonds And Pearls album to get released on 1 October 1991, Prince had already started work on his next album, the 1992 O(+> album that would also spawn a home video collection and a comic book telling the story of the O(+> rock opera storyline from the album. And Prince’s fans would generally be pleasantly thrilled with the project, some calling it a return to exciting form. Here is the story of the O(+> album, as well as of the side-projects he worked on at the same time – abandoned songs for the I’ll Do Anything movie and albums with Carmen Electra, the New Power Generation, George Clinton, Mavis Staples, MPLS, Rosie Gaines and Tevin Campbell – it’s all entwined. And all this while touring in support of the Diamonds And Pearls album too.

Photos: Lynn Goldsmith