The only album that counts actually.

This is where he learned to 'freak' the slow jam (Do Me Baby)

Created his calling card song that epitomizes what he is about (Controversy title track)..his Purple Manifesto that's a throbbing mass of awesome chicken scratch, synth wabs that are THICK and funky (the funkiest thing he has done outside of The Time debut?) and adds the blasphemous gall to incite the lords prayer into it. And folks got mad at the TRC doctrine? lmao

Sexuality--punky new wave that again stamps his doctrine mantra statements for all to hear (later to be dumbed down for the masses via Purple rain, a more commercial "follow me, I'm your leader" song)

Private Joy..the best pop confection he's done. F a Raspberry Beret or Take Me With..(wait a minute TMWU is the cut). Orgasmatron..shit just the way he sings in a lower register was cool. Not a hint of the last decades whine but almost a precurser to the Delirious Elvis Presley impersonation he would do later. And those drums! The linn! God this is like cream.

Lets Work? Forgetabbouddit. That bass pop lockin...the long version where he would make a released song a new one and take it higher...using the studio member chant/yells that would become a trademark of The Time. Lets Work not only funks a bit but it "swings" if that makes any sense (hi Supernova, I miss you).

Then the most underrated piece of his catalogue..Annie Christian...its almost anti-music..nobody seems to give A damn about the underlying guitar solo-ing thats embedded deep in the mix. Most guitarists would put that up as a whole song or an interlude..Prince was burying these solo's as an off kilter to the main melody..oh for that solo to be seperated and put out alone would be heaven. And seeing this song played live in that 81 concert thats going around looks like being in the pit of hell with the presenation and light show. Somehow he seemed...dangerous..the song and performance. I know the sistas were confused as funk...hell putting this on wax and the lords prayer and such, its no wonder folks in middle America etc and christian families were 'this guy..smh" lol. Seriously...blast this shit at night , lights down low or even off..its almost akin to a musical Bloody Mary Bloody Mary or Candyman, Candyman vibe. This song seperated Prince from the rest of the rnb funky bunch. No wonder he has went whole hog for jesus..I would too after half the shit he did on this album. Talk about a dirty mind lol.

And to cap it off, Jack U Off, a rockabilly showcase to show that he can do it all..a rock rave up in tribute to Lil Richard, shut up!

It had it all..funk, rock, pop, new wave, soul, and maybe even gospel.

Yall betta recognize Controversy..you bandwagon-ers, late to the show-ers, W&L flower picking day dreamers, Lovesexy salvationers, Gold experience era reminiscers....Controversy is greater than your mom.

.

[Edited 10/15/11 21:03pm]

Love it!!

Annie Christian...its almost anti-music

i love this

[Edited 10/14/11 10:08am]

rdhull said:

The only album that counts actually.

This is where he learned to 'freak' the slow jam (Do Me Baby)

Created his calling card song that epitomizes what he is about (Controversy title track)..his Purple Manifesto that's a throbbing mass of awesome chicken scratch, synth wabs that are THICK and funky (the funkiest thing he has done outside of The Time debut?) and adds the blasphemous gall to incite the lords prayer into it. And folks got mad at the TRC doctrine? lmao

Sexuality--punky new wave that again stamps his doctrine mantra statements for all to hear (later to be dumbed down for the masses via Purple rain, a more commercial "follow me, I'm your leader" song)

Private Joy..the best pop confection he's done. F a Raspberry Beret or take Me With..(wait a minute TMWU is the cut). Orgasmatron..shit just the way he sings in a lower register was cool. Not a hint of the last decades whine but almost a precurser to the Delerious Elvis Presley inpersonation he would do later. And those drums! The linn! God this is like cream.

Lets Work? Forgetabbouddit. That bass pop lockin...the long version where he would make a released song a new one and take it higher...using the studio member chant/yells that would become a trademark of The Time. Lets Work not only funks a bit but it "swings" if that makes any sense (hi Supernova, I miss you).

Then the most underrated piece of his catalogue..Annie Christian...its almost anti-music..nobody seems to give A damn about the underlying guitar solo-ing thats embedded deep in the mix. Most guitarists would put that up as a whole song or an interlude..Prince was burying these solo's as an off kilter to the main melody..oh for that solo to be seperated and put out alone would be heaven. And seeing this song played live in that 81 concert thats going around looks like being in the pit of hell with the presenation and light show. Somehow he seemed...dangerous..the song and performance. I know the sistas were confused as funk...hell putting this on wax and the lords prayer and such, its no wonder folks in middle America etc and christian families were 'this guy..smh" lol. Seriously...blast this shit at night , lights down low or even off..its almost akin to a musical Bloody Mary Bloody Mary or Candyman, Candyman vibe. This song seperated Prince from the rest of the rnb funky bunch. No wonder he has went whole hog for jesus..I would too after half the shit he did on this album. Talk about a dirty mind lol.

And to cap it off, a rockabilly showcase to show that he can do it all..a rock rave up in tribute to Lil Richard, shut up!

It had it all..funk, rock, pop, new wave, soul, and maybe even gospel.

Yall betta recognize Contorversy..you bandwagonw-ers, late to the show-ers, W&L flower picking day dreamers, Lovesexy salvationers, gold era reminiscers....Controversy is greater than your mom.

He had me at

If anybody asks you, you belong to Prince.

Spot on. Except you overlooked the greatest song in the Prince canon: RT2R.

He had me at

If anybody asks you, you belong to Prince.

this is the 2nd best part of the album, behind the entirety of Jack U Off

[Edited 10/14/11 12:25pm]

NouveauDance said:

Spot on. Except you overlooked the greatest song in the Prince canon: RT2R.

Right on !!

Then the most underrated piece of his catalogue..Annie Christian...its almost anti-music..nobody seems to give A damn about the underlying guitar solo-ing thats embedded deep in the mix. Most guitarists would put that up as a whole song or an interlude..Prince was burying these solo's as an off kilter to the main melody..oh for that solo to be seperated and put out alone would be heaven. And seeing this song played live in that 81 concert thats going around looks like being in the pit of hell with the presenation and light show. Somehow he seemed...dangerous..the song and performance. I know the sistas were confused as funk...hell putting this on wax and the lords prayer and such, its no wonder folks in middle America etc and christian families were 'this guy..smh" lol. Seriously...blast this shit at night , lights down low or even off..its almost akin to a musical Bloody Mary Bloody Mary or Candyman, Candyman vibe. This song seperated Prince from the rest of the rnb funky bunch. No wonder he has went whole hog for jesus..I would too after half the shit he did on this album. Talk about a dirty mind lol.

Funny how you mention these deeply embedded guitar parts. I have noticed thats a 'trick' Prince does (did?) more often, put certain interesting textures, often greatly played deep down in the mix. For example: Positivity on the Lovesexy album. When you listen closely to the guitarparts in the background you can hear those are played tremendously.

In general i have mixed feelings about the Controversy album: on the one hand i think its a more 'produced' version of Dirty Mind, but IMO Dirty Mind was a more balanced collection of songs in general. I am also not very fond about the rather naive / sketchy 'political' lyrics on this album.

What i like about the album is that on certain songs (Sexuality and Annie Christian especially) the production / instrumentation reminds me more of the eerie, skeletal sound of an act like Kraftwerk, then the more 'obvious' R&B and rock-influences on his first two albums.

While 1999 was the album he really seemed to embraced 'electronics' into his music, Controversy shows him exprimentating with that type of sound allready. It shows he is opening up to more 'alternative' types of music peformed by artists of his own generation.

NouveauDance said:

Spot on. Except you overlooked the greatest song in the Prince canon: RT2R.

This fool..this..Prince..actually put the sound of actual gunshots in the song alluding to when Reagan got shot. "Don't say I didn't warn ya!"..bang bang bang bang cap bang

this... was...punk... as hell

"A Musical Ourage" ...."Oh, inDEED(c) Omar/The Wire

.

[Edited 10/14/11 21:17pm]

"RT2R" is friggin' awesome!!!!!!!!!!!

Riverman37 said:

Then the most underrated piece of his catalogue..Annie Christian...its almost anti-music..nobody seems to give A damn about the underlying guitar solo-ing thats embedded deep in the mix. Most guitarists would put that up as a whole song or an interlude..Prince was burying these solo's as an off kilter to the main melody..oh for that solo to be seperated and put out alone would be heaven. And seeing this song played live in that 81 concert thats going around looks like being in the pit of hell with the presenation and light show. Somehow he seemed...dangerous..the song and performance. I know the sistas were confused as funk...hell putting this on wax and the lords prayer and such, its no wonder folks in middle America etc and christian families were 'this guy..smh" lol. Seriously...blast this shit at night , lights down low or even off..its almost akin to a musical Bloody Mary Bloody Mary or Candyman, Candyman vibe. This song seperated Prince from the rest of the rnb funky bunch. No wonder he has went whole hog for jesus..I would too after half the shit he did on this album. Talk about a dirty mind lol.

Funny how you mention these deeply embedded guitar parts. I have noticed thats a 'trick' Prince does (did?) more often, put certain interesting textures, often greatly played deep down in the mix. For example: Positivity on the Lovesexy album. When you listen closely to the guitarparts in the background you can hear those are played tremendously.

In general i have mixed feelings about the Controversy album: on the one hand i think its a more 'produced' version of Dirty Mind, but IMO Dirty Mind was a more balanced collection of songs in general. I am also not very fond about the rather naive / sketchy 'political' lyrics on this album.

What i like about the album is that on certain songs (Sexuality and Annie Christian especially) the production / instrumentation reminds me more of the eerie, skeletal sound of an act like Kraftwerk, then the more 'obvious' R&B and rock-influences on his first two albums.

While 1999 was the album he really seemed to embraced 'electronics' into his music, Controversy shows him exprimentating with that type of sound allready. It shows he is opening up to more 'alternative' types of music peformed by artists of his own generation.

Yeah I loved that enbedded instrument trick he emploed back then. Oh those guitar parts are wonderful. Especially The Time's Get It Up...he plays and plays underneath it all on these tunes and you can hear where the solo's end and its like a refractory period. It was too the real forefront on When Doves Cry..he learned to put it out there for that one thank god.

Im going to have to relisten to positivity on some good equipment. I know listening to his releases on cassettes such as GB , I heard a lot that didn't come out on the other media as well esp. We Can Funk.

Yeah its seen as a followup cousin to DM..some said Controversy was just Dirty Mind 1981 but he expanded "everything" on this one as you sate, even production wise, as you again state. He got his home studio going and it must have been a hell of a summer back in 1981 lol. Im not all aghast against his political tries as i dont really care, and the mix mash of styles does seem to make it schizophrenic but i likes that about it. Its all over the place..it's..a trip and a half.

He became "Prince" on this one.

2nd favorite album. Genius just pure genius!! Unskippable, every song is either a masterpiece or almost one (aside from Jack U Off which is still good). This album made Prince, Prince. Dirty Mind invented the Prince style, Controversy enhanced it. Controversy is a funk masterpiece. The lyrics and melody are to die for. Do Me, Baby is the best slow sex song he ever made. Love it!

Order by favorite:

1. Controversy

2. Do Me, Baby

3. Sexuality

4 or 5. Annie Christian

4 or 5. Private Joy

6. Le's Work

7. Jack U Off

Genesia said:

He had me at

If anybody asks you, you belong to Prince.

It's funny you mention this because I remember reading something way back when about Prince discussing with the band that Rudolph Valentino had thousands of women present at his funeral. It appears Prince was/is reaching for that goal as well.

.

[Edited 10/16/11 8:54am]

I think Controversy, Do Me Baby, and Let's Work are 3 songs that I would put up against any other 3 Prince songs from any album.

Hell, I'd put those songs up against just about anyone else's catalog!

This tune was beyond it's time when it was released 30 years ago, and the current live version of it is off the hook

aardvark15 said:

2nd favorite album. Genius just pure genius!! Unskippable, every song is either a masterpiece or almost one (aside from Jack U Off which is still good). This album made Prince, Prince. Dirty Mind invented the Prince style, Controversy enhanced it. Controversy is a funk masterpiece. The lyrics and melody are to die for. Do Me, Baby is the best slow sex song he ever made. Love it!

Order by favorite:

1. Controversy

2. Do Me, Baby

3. Sexuality

4 or 5. Annie Christian

4 or 5. Private Joy

6. Le's Work

7. Jack U Off

And of course you left the best song on the album out of that list because it is obviously a given that's it's better than all of them and not even needed to be included

Wow 30 yeas already!!!

i luv this album, i still have the vinyl that i bought 30 yeas ago!!!

first track i fell in love with besides Controversy was Lets Work - its just so funky

and my fav part of the whole album - these lyrics.....

if I could get you in the raw, I'd make you climb the walls

even now that sounds soooooooooooooooooooo funky H O T!!!!!!!

i think i'll just listen to this now

[Edited 10/15/11 4:15am]

Brilliant. This is one of his albums that changed me as a teenager and adult, and listening to someone that I could 1110% relate to its amazing. And as today as I listen to my japanese vinyl copy to cd (which is fab quality btw) and look down at my ickle symbol tattoo, blasting the album out yes 'If anybody asks you, you belong to Prince' yes I do.

Not to mention the background grunts on the beat of the title track..buried a bit but still there...did Lindsey Buckingham get the idea from it to do the Tango In The Night lead single Big Love?

.

[Edited 10/15/11 9:03am]

rdhull said:

not to mentuon the background grunts on the beat of the title track..buried a bit but still there...did Lindsey Buckingham get the idea from it to do the Tango In The Night lead single Big Love?

Yeah I can hear it...maybe he did take inspiration from it. It's like the heavy panting in Private Joy you can hear the exact same type of panting in other artists songs.

I am currently waiting on the delivery of my 180 gram vinyl of this fantastic album.

It's by far his most underrated album. I'm alking about hardcore fans by the music press and general listeners. You never see it in any lists or hardly mentioned.

For me it's his 2nd best album. It put it slightly above Dirty Mind and Purple Rain.

I love every second of it.

Wish we had more outtakes from 1980-1981

Wh cant all posts be like this??

Been playing it all day............Private Joy what a great little song on an outstanding album...Love it!

jonylawson said:

Wh cant all posts be like this??

I know. So far there's not any talking of Prince sucking now because of him being a Witness. Uh oh...

i must admit to possibly not appreciating the album as a whole. i'll have to give it a FULL listen. but when i DO put the joint on, its because of Annie Christian. That is just badass. He definitely distinguished himself from urrrbody else with that song. the musicianship is insane, and layered. the track is techno. i'll have to find the video of him performing it from 81!

davetherave6767 said:

Been playing it all day............Private Joy what a great little song on an outstanding album...Love it!

Private Jooooooooooooy!!!

Romeoblu said:

I am currently waiting on the delivery of my 180 gram vinyl of this fantastic album.

It's by far his most underrated album. I'm alking about hardcore fans by the music press and general listeners. You never see it in any lists or hardly mentioned.

For me it's his 2nd best album. It put it slightly above Dirty Mind and Purple Rain.

I love every second of it.

Wish we had more outtakes from 1980-1981

I just got mine a few weeks ago but I have a cheap Technique turntable/needle and Kenwood speakers. Ive read about the great sound quality though, especially on JUO oddly.

Oh, and it still even comes with the great shower poster lol

How does that happen? Do they remake those or have them in a plant somewhere?

aardvark15 said:

Do Me, Baby is the best slow sex song he ever made. Love it!

In many ways, its better than Adore as it's genuine and raw as compared to Adore. But i wont get into that again right now lol.

meisme said:

I love this album except for private joy. When I was a kid in the nineties I used to blast this shit. Annie Christian is still the track I play for people to prove he has musical bravery.

What do you dislike about Private Joy..joy..joyyy..?

Seriously. Why don't you like it? Is it too pop? To jumpy?