Prince (December 8, 1987) The Black Album – Original Withdrawn LP Germany
- GlamSlamEscape
- Dec 8, 1987
- 2 min read
The infamous withdrawn 1987 album The Black Album — Prince’s darkest, most explicit project — pressed in extremely limited quantities before being pulled at the last minute, making original copies among the rarest Prince records in existence.
RELEASE / PUBLICATION DETAILS Artist: Prince
Title: The Black Album
Date: 1987 (Withdrawn Original Pressing)
Label: Warner Bros. Records Format / Type: Vinyl, LP, Album Country: Germany / Europe Catalogue: 925 677-1 / WX 147
TRACK LIST
Side A
Le Grind
Cindy C.
Dead On It
When 2 R In Love
Side B
Bob George
Superfunkycalifragisexy
2 Nigs United 4 West Compton
Rockhard In A Funky Place
THE STORY Recorded in 1986–1987 as a follow-up to Sign o’ the Times, The Black Album was fully pressed and scheduled for release in late 1987. Just days before street date, Prince ordered its destruction. Only a very small number of copies survived, primarily from the European (German) pressing run.
CONTEXT & NOTES This original 1987 pressing is highly sought after by collectors. Key identifiers include the embossed Warner “W” logo on the cover, specific matrix numbers (R/S Alsdorf), and the white “33” in the orange triangle on the labels. The official version was not released until 1994.
PERSONNEL
Prince – vocals, instruments, production
PRODUCTION Produced, Arranged, Composed and Performed by Prince
CHARTS Weekly Charts N/A (withdrawn before release)
PACKAGING / ARTWORK HIGHLIGHTS
Minimalist all-black sleeve
Embossed Warner “W” logo on front
Barcode/legal text sticker on back
WHAT THE SLEEVE SHOWS Completely black matte cover with subtle aging and texture. The back features a small white sticker with barcode and manufacturing details. Labels are black with white text and the classic Warner Bros. orange triangle.
RELATED MATERIAL See tags at foot of page.
SOURCES Discogs, collector references, original pressing data and Sleevographia2
All album artwork, photographs, labels, and original text excerpts remain the property of their respective copyright holders. This entry is a transformative, non-commercial archival summary created for historical documentation and educational reference.
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