On October 13, 1992, Prince and the New Power Generation released their album in the U.S. with no words on the cover, just a symbol. Fans call it the Love Symbol Album or simply Symbol, and within a year that same glyph would replace Prince’s name altogether.
What It Was
The album was Prince’s 14th studio LP and the second, and last, credited to Prince and the New Power Generation, released through Paisley Park and Warner Bros. It came out in Europe on October 5 and hit U.S. stores on October 13, according to Prince Vault.
Prince first pitched it as a “fantasy rock soap opera.” The storyline follows an Egyptian princess, played by Mayte Garcia in her first appearance on a Prince album, who trusts a rock star with a sacred artifact. Actress Kirstie Alley even shows up in the spoken segues as a reporter. A late addition, “I Wanna Melt with U,” forced Prince to cut many of those segues, which is why the story feels half-told.
Why It Matters to Hip Hop Heads
This is Prince fully leaning into the rap era. NPG rapper Tony M. is all over the record as a co-writer and MC, and “My Name Is Prince” rides samples of Prince’s own catalog like a producer flipping his own crates. Love it or not, it was a legend proving he could hang with the sound that was taking over the early ’90s.
The Standouts
- “7” – the biggest U.S. hit, reaching No. 7 on the Hot 100 and No. 3 on the R&B chart.
- “My Name Is Prince” – the swaggering opener, a top 10 hit in the U.K.
- “Sexy MF” – too raw for a lot of U.S. radio but a No. 4 smash in the U.K.
- “Damn U” and “The Morning Papers” – the slow-burning ballads.
Charts and Certifications
Per Prince Vault, the album peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and No. 8 on the R&B albums chart, and it hit No. 1 in the U.K. The RIAA certified it platinum on December 17, 1992. Critics noticed too: it placed 14th in the 1992 Pazz & Jop poll.
The Legacy
The album’s real legacy is that symbol. Prince copyrighted it as “Love Symbol #2” and used it as his name from 1993 to 2000 in his fight with Warner Bros. over ownership and control of his work. Long before artists were tweeting “own your masters,” Prince was writing “slave” on his face and changing his name to make the point. He also turned the album’s story into the 1994 direct-to-video film 3 Chains o’ Gold.
Thirty-four years later, it still sounds like a genius daring the industry to keep up. What’s your favorite cut? For more from The Archive, revisit Salt-N-Pepa’s Very Necessary and Ja Rule’s Pain Is Love at 25.
Sources: Prince Vault | Wikipedia
