i got both albums 2 years ago ( i know, i'm a bit slow with these things) and I loved controversy straight away yet I could never get into dirsty mind. i've heard Prince fans often debate about these 2 albums. last night i played dirty mind and i actually liked it! it's finally growing on me after 2 years.

anyway, let the debate begin! what are your thought?

It took you 2 years to get into Dirty Mind???

Well, I'm glad you've finally come to your senses.

This one is a bit difficult for me, but I have to go with DM all the way. After all this time, I still pump that album on a regular basis, never skipping any song. It's nearly perfect.

I love Controversy too, and it has "Sexuality" - one of my favorite all-time Prince joints. But it doesn't have the smooth, wham-slam-thank-you-ma'am perfection of Dirty Mind.

FunkMistress said:

what are you're favorite tracks from dirty mind? it's still too early for me to decide. also, which of those 2 cds do you think has more of an electro sound?

dancerella said:

It's hard to pick favorite tracks from Dirty Mind, since to me it's almost like one continuous track, even moreso than Lovesexy. It fits together that well. I adore the title track, and Do It All Night. I've written several times on other threads about the genius of Sister/Partyup.

As far as which album has more of an "electro" sound... I don't think I'm qualified to say.

CONTROVERSY "People call me rude, I wish we all were nude I wish there was no black or white, I wish there were no rules." Sing it! everybody!

As great as Controversy is, the title track is too long, and Do Me Baby isn't a song I like to hear all the way through either.

I like the production better on Controversy and I think Let's Work is one of his funkiest songs (more funky than it's older sibling Head). If it weren't for those two things I mentioned above I might like it as much as Dirty Mind, but as it is, I don't.

And you gotta give Dirty Mind its due for being the first record where Prince had found his ultimate style. The two previous records are good and show signs of that Prince style, but it wasn't fully developed yet.

I like the song Contreversy better than Dirty Mind
but I like the album Dirty Mind better

andyman91 said:

I have to disagree with you there. I think the full-length title track is fantastic all the way through. It's never seemed too long to me.



Let's Work is out of this world. The 12" -- what?? Can't be fucked with.

I think Dirty mind is waay more funky than controversy. I mean Party Up alone is one of the funkiest songs he's done up until then. Dirty mind is like a ongoing jam. I say DM by a nose.

Even tho the first three songs on Controvery are classics the rest of the LP tend to be a little too new wave Plus it has the very annoying Jack you off on it.
[Edited 12/8/04 11:31am]

FunkMistress said:

"...May day..."


The Dirty Mind album is my fave of the two. It's a hard choice though. I have the same taste as Funkmistress. Dirty Mind is perfection in it's inperfection. I mean you can literraly hear some of the mistakes in this album, very minor, but they are there. I wouldn't have it any other way. Controversy is more polished. I love Sexuality, Private Joy and Let's Work. I think it's definately more "electro". Dirty Mind has more of an accoustic feel in the beginning.

Miguel

FunkMistress said:

I would've liked it okay by itself but I think it's so long it takes away from the flow of the album. I think long songs work better later in albums, like DMSR or Automatic. But I'm not really trying to take anything away from it as a song.

CONTROVERSY! Hands down!

Dirty Mind of course!

Although Controversy also is one of my favourites...

I had the dirty mind album for years before figuring out that he was posing in front of a stripped down mattress, just the coils. Wore that fucker out!

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

So did I! I don't know why I never looked at it closely until years later. I always thought it was just bright lights. Brilliant.

FunkMistress said:

...and what's that shadow of Prince doing with his pants down on the backside of the album cover?
[Edited 12/8/04 13:11pm]

Soulchild82 said:

i don't like jack you off either. it's silly.

dancerella said:

I only do it for a worthy cause...virginity or menopause...

Haters.

Dirty mind hands down...this is prince in the raw.

Dirty Mind wins hands down in my book.

It has an overall warm feeling to it and like many have said, it is a very sequenced CD so I like every song on it. A bit on the short side, but the peculiar things make it better.

Controversy, in my opinion, only has 3 good songs on it; the title trac, Do Me Baby and Let's Work. Everything else on the album sucks.

controversy is great, but I'll take Dirty Mind. Not a weak song on that album

Toss up. Truly depends on what I'm in the mood to hear. Both of these albums fall under the "you had to be there" catagory. I guess that's why I just don't get how it could take someone two years to get into Dirty Mind.

Now this is a VERY tough choice because these are two of my all-time favorite Prince albums. If my arm was twisted, I would have to go with "Dirty Mind" just slightly.

As an album, I'd have to go with 'Dirty Mind'. All the songs are great and it
flows extremely well as a whole. 'Controversy' does have some great songs on
it too (I'd say some of them are better than the ones on Dirty Mind), but I
don't think it flows half as well as a consistent whole. It also includes 2
real throwaway tracks (Jack U Off & Ronnie Talk To Russia).

BorisFishpaw said:

Exactly!

Songwise, "Head" is my all-time favorite Prince song and "Let's Work" is my second favorite. I love them equally as much and always play them back to back but I guess I'm more partial to "Head" because it is the song that hooked me to Prince for good.

Controversy is my favourite Prince record, but Dirty Mind is the classic album.

Dirty Mind is a faaaaantastic album. The guitar sound he got there is
just a filthy dirty funk sound, no better demonstrated than on Party Up, it snaps crackles n pop's along.

Controversy is a great album, but for me, not as good.
I always thought that Controversy had an electronica sound integrated into
the Dirty Mind sound, which then gave birth to 1999.

A great evolving period in his career.