eccotides said:

Finish your collection.....buy it!!!!!

Its an excellent album, but not quite as excellent as its predecessor and successor, if it had not come out between Dirty Mind and 1999, it would still be head and shoulders above everything. Its my 6th favourite Prince album. I think I gave it 78 or 79 out of 100.

Easily the best songs are Do Me Baby and Sexuality, but the Title track and Lets Work are worth the money alone. The other three tracks are still good.
Controversy still sounds fresh and it showcases Prince in transistion from tight shock briliance (Dirty Mind) to loopy quirky brilliance (1999) Absolutely mind blowing stuff, a must for any fan, BUT compared to the other two gods around it, its a Hercules instead.

4 out of 5 excellent

PS Please dont hate me!!

BorisFishpaw said:

I'm with you all the way on that. Looked at in the perspective of his career arc, you can see the progression - obviously, without 'Controversy' '1999' would have been an entirely different record. But you're right, as an album it's one of the weakest (if not the weakest) of the first half of his career.

As much as I like it, it's not a classic Prince album.

8up said:

nah I was too young for this
but what's funny is that
a few years ago... my lil brother
overheard me listening to For You
and asked for a copy
I misunderstood and I thought
he wanted Dirty Mind...

so as I was burning him a copy
I figured... "hey, this is a pretty short album
maybe I can stick another at the end..."
so I decided to put Dirty Mind & Controversy
onto the same CD...

needless to say
he loves it
like cooked food
[Edited 1/30/06 5:05am]

DirtyChris said:

It's a nice story!

Those two albums with "Gotta Stop (Messin' About)" on the same CD... ...one of the sexiest things in the world!!!

tane1976 said:

Predecssor wise it is way better than for you (I don't hate you)

The song "Controversy" is one of my all time fave songs by P. The album, as a whole is good. He was finding his way after Dirty Mind. It's a very erratic album. Cuts like the title track, "Let's Work", "Do Me, Baby" and "Private Joy" are great. He wanted to make a statement, more on worldly views, more political. Which isn't P's srongest talent. Really, the material on the The Time's first album, overall, is more cohesive than this album. Which P recorded right before Controversy. He learned how to mix what he was trying to do on this album and perfected that on 1999. But, it's a crucial album by Prince, no doubt about it.

9 outta 10. the poster that came with it is responsible for getting a point docked (and even then, i'm being generous with the one point dockage)...

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

I have it on vinyl but it didn't include that poster!

Never really liked it that much. "Controversy" is a great track, as is "Do Me, Baby", but I've never cared much for the rest of it. Side two of it is patchy as hell and veers from the cheesy ("Jack U Off") to the crass ("Ronnie Talk 2 Russia") and the downright poor ("Annie Christian").

U gotta get it!

A true masterpiece! the only song i don't LOVE is ronnie talks 2 russia. and the title track may be the greatest song he ever recorded,

Good songs: Controversy, sexuality, Do me baby, and Let's work. Bad songs: Annie Christian, Ronnie talk to russia, private joy, and jack u off.
Normally I would give it a five but the good songs are really good so I will give it a seven.

why ya'll doggin "annie christian"? that's one of my favorite tracks on the whole album...i can't tell ya exactly what it is about it that i dig, but i just do. probably because it sounds somewhat outta joint...





being good was such a bore...so she bought an edit
[Edited 1/31/06 14:03pm]

"Annie Christian"
&
"Ronnie, Talk To Russia"

are the main reasons
I love this album the way I do...
that whole new wave shit
drives me crazy...

controversy is one of my top 4 Prince albums because i love every song on the entire cd.it really does show the elements of prince coming into himself, and not using so much falsetto in his voice, which can be nice, but this just shows even more of his song writing talent.

About three stars out of five. Weak political pap, almost republican in tone, mars this release. Do Me Baby saves the album, plus Private Joy. Annie Christian is great, and Jack U Off is fun, throwaway fluff.

2freaky4church1 said:

Genius music! Prince was giving up the Funk.

Controversy [Warner Bros., 1981]
Maybe Dirty Mind wasn't a tour de force after all; maybe it was dumb luck. The socially conscious songs are catchy enough, but they spring from the mind of a rather confused young fellow, and while his politics get better when he sticks to his favorite subject, which is s-e-x, nothing here is as far-out and on-the-money as "Head" or "Sister" or the magnificent "When You Were Mine." In fact, for a while I thought the best new song was "Jack U Off," an utter throwaway. But that was before the confused young fellow climbed onto the sofa with me and my sweetie during "Do Me, Baby." A-

Robert Christgau

Damn, bitches. Controversy ruled the ghetto blasters back when it broke. A few of ya'll lost touch with the Purple roots...

Play this record for any head bobber today; they may laugh at ya.

Controversy and Sexuality are the best opening tracks from any of his albums (in my opinion) and are also his best videos.

I really don't think "Do me" fits on the album though, but a 9 out of 10.

I give it a 6. It's ok. One of his cool slow jams came off of that one. (Do Me Baby)

eccotides said:

Yo man, this was the dope that got me strung out in the first place! Been riding this train ever since and hipping others as I've gone along. Anything that was recorded earlier came as a later experience for me in terms of a complete LP experience as opposed to individual tracks that received radio play. It was the FIRST LP that I bought with my own money, and well worth those hard to come by few dollars. Prince was just fantastically wild and funky and the record made such an impression on me that if I met someone who not only knew who Prince was, but had and loved Controversy, I immediately considered that person as someone of real worth and substance.

Side note: While never having any homosexual interest in him at all, I can say that many times I would just check out his picture on the cover of that LP and seriously ponder the question, "Is it possible for a MAN to be so pretty?" It really tripped me out, and it was obvious to me that trying to emulate his look was a worthwhile endeavor because all of the finest girls on my wish list LOVED Prince.

Anyway, Controversy will always stand as the first of many funky waters that P has poured out and I gleefully waded through. Peace!

DiamondGirl said:

Well said! Nothing dated about it, still sounds hot and fresh 2 me!

A must have for any Prince fan. Hell, it's a must have for any old school funk/R&B lover whether they are a Prince fan or not. Prince in his prime. Buy it immediately.

Its worth getting for the 7 minutes of Controversy alone. Throw in Do Me Baby and Sexuality as well, and you need not want anymore. The fact that you also get the great pop of Private Joy and the funk of Lets Work is justr a bonus. The rest i can take or leave, sounds like he threw the second half of the album together, the songs simply aint strong enough.

I like to imagine him putting controversy out with some of the better time tracks from this era. The inclusion of Cool and The Stick would make this album too fucking funky.

Yeshua4all said:

If Prince's music was a religion then this would be the pope!!!!

heckaslammin said:

Private joy is a good song