I used to think "Dirty Mind" was the superior album, and it is definitely a great album..but then I gave "Controversy" a REAL chance and found myself having that album on repeat more than "Dirty Mind" ever was.

The only thing in my mind is that "Dirty Mind" has "When You Were Mine" which KILLS any one song in "Controversy", but I feel that "Controversy" is more diverse and interesting.

Does anyone else out there agree??

I prefer Dirty Mind.

controversy all the way.

seems to be the first true prince album. the prince we all know...knew

I agree with Nvncible1. Controversy was the first to really start to flesh out the Prince sound we all know and love. Linn drums etc. You know "Let's Work" is the effin jam. I love all Prince albums, but I prefer Controversy over Dirty Mind.

I do!

To me Controversy is where Prince came into his own and started to really push himself.

Dirty Mind is probably more consistent, but if was forced to choose, I'd go with Controversy if only for genius of "Controversy", "Sexuality", "Do Me Baby" and "Let's Work". The rest is a bit hit and miss (in comparison to these gems).

I think Dirty Mind is the superior album.

But, I'll put songs like Controversy, Do Me Baby, and Let's Work up against any 3 other songs in Prince's catalog.

They're as good as anything else he's ever written.

But Dirty Mind I think is a better overall statement as a record.

Both are brilliant albums.

those were the days......

Controversy. Sure some of it sounds a little campy, but some of the Dirty Mind keyboards sound like the Munsters Theme outtakes(When You Were Mine, B-side Gotta Stop Messin' About) Both great albums, but on Controversy, he was so close to finding his sound!

I think that Prince is superior to them both.

I'd go with Dirty Mind even though I think "Private Joy" is the best song Prince released during that period.

I feel like we had this thread not too long ago

I'll reiterate what I always say: A lot of people look at Controversy as a lesser Dirty Mind part 2, where as I prefer to view it as a proto-1999.

I feel like we had this thread not too long ago

I'll reiterate what I always say: A lot of people look at Controversy as a lesser Dirty Mind part 2, where as I prefer to view it as a proto-1999.
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[Edited 9/20/10 2:49am]

NouveauDance said:

Yes. FAR superior imo.

Interesting.

I don't think i could co-sign that. In my mind I always viewed "Controversy" as the next logical step after "Dirty Mind". Prince was going through such musical growth in the early days. If you think about it, "Dirty Mind" was truly groundbreaking in the fact that a previously labelled "R & B" artist hadn't really embraced the at the time "new genre" of New Wave quite like Prince did on "Dirty Mind".

That album cover really put you on notice that what was inside was going to be a great deal different from the previous two efforts.

"Controversy" was a little bit more heady. The subject matter was as political as it was sexual. More intelligent and bit more complex, for sure. Superior? Not in my mind.

Excellent topic, though!!!!

[Edited 9/20/10 3:42am]

[Edited 9/20/10 3:43am]

Considering how I have never heard the Controversy album, I am going to have to go with Dirty Mind.

NouveauDance said:

I feel like we had this thread not too long ago

You could post the same thing on pretty much every thread here these days.

Me, I prefer Controversy.

I agree. I have always believed that Controversy is not only superior, but it is really the first album that ushered in the classic Minneapolis Sound. To me this has always really been the first true album of his classic 80's sound.

I love Dirty mind, but on a different level. It feels more like a great stand alone classic indie album from Prince, whereas to me Controversy was the album to get the purple ball rolling.

I love them both but Dirty Mind was special.

That's a very hard choice since those are two of his best albums of all time. I guess I'll go with "Dirty Mind", but just slightly.

Love them both, but I have to go with Controversy!! Pure genius work, love, love, love that ablum!

smoothcriminal12 said:

Considering how I have never heard the Controversy album, I am going to have to go with Dirty Mind.

You haven't lived my friend

As for me it took me a while to embrace Dirty Mind, but I adoooore the album now, BUT Controversy was the first Prince album I bought when I got into him, purely because of the cover and there is a fair bit more to it than Dirty mind (undoubtebly due to to the production values of it) but at the same time you have a kick ass opening track that has since become more of a statement of Prince as a person and singer/songwriter through the years, the very synth driven underrated Annie Christian, the ultimate track Private joy, a legendary ballad Do me baby the killer bass of Let's work and even Sexuality and Private joy I hold in high regard......................................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................................................

...........Alright and Ronnie talk to Russia I like as a filler/seague

NouveauDance said:

I feel like we had this thread not too long ago

I'll reiterate what I always say: A lot of people look at Controversy as a lesser Dirty Mind part 2, where as I prefer to view it as a proto-1999.

I see it as both an expansion of "Dirty Mind" and a preparation for "1999" all rolled up into one. Kinda like a stepping stone into the next phase.

Prince has several transitional albums. Controversy is one of them. Dirty Mind was great, Controversy felt unresolved. 1999 was great, but Purple Rain took it to another level. ATWIAD was psuedo-trippy, but Parade was honestly trippy. Yeah, like that.

I've always thought that Dirty Mind (the album) was slightly overrated. I love the album, but I think it gets more notoriety because it was first. Do It All Night and Gotta Broken Heart Again have always seemed like filler to me and stand out more as such by being song #3 and #4 on the album.

Controversy, on the other hand, seemed to have only one possible filler of Ronnie Talk To Russia.

Controversy all the way.

Controversy is more musically diverse and vocially diverse and has an enhanced polished sound quality. Dirty Mind are crude raw demo recordings and exclusively features falsetto vocals and is all funk jams and soul ballads. Lyrically their both very daring and blunt with Dirty Mind's Sister and Head, Controvery's Sexuality, Ronnie Talk to Russia, Annie Christian and Jack U Off.

"Controversy" is my favorite, partly because the title track is the first Prince song I can remember hearing, on AM radio no less ! I was just a couple years past potty training when the album came out. I can even remember the radio commericals when the Prince/Time tours would come to town. Man, I'm old... "Let's Work" is my jam!

I didn't hear "Dirty Mind" until the early 90s. It's a good, raw album. The standout track for me is "Do It All Night", mostly because of the keyboards and bass.

Swa said:

To me Controversy is where Prince came into his own and started to really push himself.

I would have to agree with Swa on this one--I don't think that you can say one album is more superior than the other...but truly Prince started pushing out of the box he was being labeled with when he did the Controversy album IMO.