I just bought chaos and disorder cd at the goodwill today since I used to play this cd a lot back in the late 90s especially for the entire year of 1998 and part of 1999. I remember when I met michael bland at the airport back in 2009, I told him that I liked the chaos and disorder cd because it was all out rock n roll and he said "that is rare because a lot of people didnt like that album". the only song that I couldnt stand to listen to back then was "I rock, therefore I am" but I remember that I thought that the artwork was very captivating especially with the 1999 record being crushed and stepped on with a boot print visible while there is a tear falling from the eye on the label. The inner sleeve is just as captivating because there is needle with money inside with pictures taken inside the vault with all the gold and platinum albums and the console to what looks like the reel to reel recordings of the entire Prince back catalog and a room with all of Prince's guitars with an old bible that Prince grew up with and another photo with a heart inside of the toilet. I also thought that there was always a deep message to "Dig, U better dead" which talks about the valleys and pitfalls of life and nobody really appreciates you until you dead and cold but that same person would rather see God is what we say that he truly is. Very deep message within that song and Had you is so brief but has such a gloomy tone.

I remember seeing a very short clip of dinner with delores which was the single off the album. that song was funny to me back then because its basically about a nympho and I remember that they had the entire promo video of the same december which was also the second single off the album posted at npgmc.com back in 2003 or 2004 but nothing was really captivating about those videos other than how in one scene of the same december, the 1999 record with the eye crashes and breaks and morris hayes staring at the tv screen with turned out to be a rather boring video.

the promo video for I like there was also released on npgmc.com when it existed and that is the only video from this album that really caught my attention especially with Prince flipping off the camera while changing chords on the fretboard. He did most of the promotion of this album on npgmc.com with releasing the promo videos especially I like it there.

[Edited 4/1/13 6:36am]

I was surprised to find out yesterday while I was on ebay that chaos and disorder album actually went platinum in the UK.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/P...1269wt_646

I think that the songs written for chaos and disorder was more about how crazy times were for him during the name change/SLAVE period with warner bros. especially since its a contract filler.

I've always had an affection for this album. I love 'fast and loose' Prince. And I Will is certainly among P's finest moments, in my opinion.

But yeah, those rappers sure do screw things up, though...

outsideofthebox said:

I was surprised to find out yesterday while I was on ebay that chaos and disorder album actually went platinum in the UK.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/P...1269wt_646

Don't believe everything you read. I call fake and bullshit on that. I read at one point it sold a derisory 16,000 in the UK, a terrible result. Obviously that figure could be bullshit and that was years and years ago, but i'd bet it's nowhere close to 300,000. No way it's officially platinum. My arse.

SuperSoulFighter said:

Another overproduced underpromoted throwaway contract-filler album that I just can't throw away because it's got Into the Light/I Will on it. And I like I Rock Therefore I Am. But it's ruined by hat rapper.

Lol. Very true, however I Loved the opening track, Dinner with Deelores and Dig you Better Dead.

I have always loved this album!

Took a while for me to get into 'Right The Wrong' and 'I Rock Therefore I Am' but I have grown to appreciate these as well. I have raved about 'Into The Light/ I Will' for so long, I don't want to bring more justice to the song, BUT THESE Songs are a highlight. Especially 'I Will' shame he never performed them? BUT, what great outstanding tracks!

I so love 'Dinner With Delores' as well! Everything really sounds in your face, the drums are in your face; KILLER guitar throughout. I have always thought this was so under appreciated. Because a lot people ignored it when it came out, and even now. This Contract Filler we use to excuse the massive element of these songs, is kind of lame. They aren't bad songs

I love even the flow of how the vocals are delivered. It's to the maximum Haha ROSIE could not sound better!

It's an interesting look into Prince as an artist, especially since it sounds like it was recorded so quickly! That is what I like about it.

Prince often performs 'I Like It There' and 'Chaos & Disorder' from it..IF he can add 'The Same December' to that list and the rest of them, YES! That would be completely awesome!

AND YES..I put it on the TOP 10 albums from Prince! Haha

MUCH APPRECIATION FOR IT!

I really like the Chaos and Disorder album (but then I like all of Prince's work). I think Prince at some point said he threw songs on there that were supposed to be just for his friends? I seem to recall the album was compiled by Prince as filler for his 10-album contract with Warners, but nonetheless contained gems. It was real nice to get an album that was mostly his rock side--a nice break from the standard one or two rockk songs per album release.

"Chaos and Disorder" is such a cool song. Love the energy of it! Don't get me playing that song back-to-back with "Computer Blue"; I'll start glowing in the dark. "Dinner with Delores" is a great number. LOVE the first 30 seconds of "Zanalee"--gets me super-charged up. "I like it there" took a minute to grow on me, but damn if it isn't catchy as all get out. Prince has this superior sense of musical timing that gives him the ability to breathe life into a song that might otherwise feel a bit dry and unfriendly. I never quite connected musically with "Right the Wrong", though I appreciate its message. "I Will" is simply beautiful. Love the music, its theme of reincarnation, and I enjoyed how Prince switched the gender roles by taking on the higher-range vocals, while Rosie Gaines sang in the lower register.

"Had U" is darkly beautiful, brooding, gets under the skin. In terms of its sound, this song is such a rare find--no other song in Prince's commercial releases sounds quite like it. When I first listened to "Had U", the song reminded me very much of a Nine Inch Nails song with similar lyrics and made me wonder if Prince had been influenced by them when he wrote it. (NIN's Trent Reznor is a big fan of Prince's music. )

Outsideofthebox made some great observations on the album artwork. It is worth taking a little time to study the imagery as it does provide insight into Prince's perspective, clarifies his articstic vision, adds a dimension of meaning to the music.

Some good songs for sure, but as an album it's unsatisfying (intentional?)

Throw out the title track (bleurgh), I Rock Therefore I Am (sounds more like the out-takes from Exodus) and Dig U Better Dead - Replace with Empty Room, Da Bang, and maybe What's My Name - job done.

NouveauDance said:

Some good songs for sure, but as an album it's unsatisfying (intentional?)

Throw out the title track (bleurgh), I Rock Therefore I Am (sounds more like the out-takes from Exodus) and Dig U Better Dead - Replace with Empty Room, Da Bang, and maybe What's My Name - job done.

Well I dig the title track, much of it is great. That's why he plays some of it these days. It's got a cult following now i think.

Hate 'I Rock' cause it's rubbish. 'Right The Wrong' is a major shitstain in Prince's pants.

Thinking further on this, I think what I love about this album is that (for the first time since Lovesexy?), it sounds like an album by a guy who doesn't give Shit One about what anybody thinks. Contrast that with Emancipation, released in the same year, which sounds (to me) like a desperate attempt to be contemporary and popular (the Oprah special certainly didn't help).

I've said it once, I'll say it again: I'm always happier to see P stick his neck out and (depending on your tastes) fall on his face (C&D, N.E.W.S., The Rainbow Children) than play it safe and be met with a resounding "meh" (Emancipation, Rave, Planet Earth).

Marrk said:

Well I dig the title track, much of it is great. That's why he plays some of it these days. It's got a cult following now i think.

Hate 'I Rock' cause it's rubbish. 'Right The Wrong' is a major shitstain in Prince's pants.

I actually quite like Right The Wrong now (like as in don't mind it, not like as in would actually listen to that album specifically for that track). At the time it was seen as "OH NO!.. the COUNTRY track" - But the reactions to it don't seem as harsh these days, was it ever really Country? - I think it's found itself a niche in the catalog since then.

The title track is alright I suppose, but it doesn't do enough of anything to me and has some awkard lyrics - better left as the air-punching end jam to Peach imo.

[Edited 4/1/13 17:25pm]

Count in the group that loves this album. After loving much of Crystal Ball, I was hoping he'd do something like this. Almost like a Crystal Ball disc 5. You know Prince did not consider this a "Parade" type of an effort, but he thought, "here's some songs to play with until I throw Emancipation at you."

NouveauDance said:

Marrk said:

Well I dig the title track, much of it is great. That's why he plays some of it these days. It's got a cult following now i think.

Hate 'I Rock' cause it's rubbish. 'Right The Wrong' is a major shitstain in Prince's pants.

I actually quite like Right The Wrong now (like as in don't mind it, not like as in would actually listen to that album specifically for that track). At the time it was seen as "OH NO!.. the COUNTRY track" - But the reactions to it don't seem as harsh these days, was it ever really Country? - I think it's found itself a niche in the catalog since then.

The title track is alright I suppose, but it doesn't do enough of anything to me and has some awkard lyrics - better left as the air-punching end jam to Peach imo.

[Edited 4/1/13 17:25pm]

Actually, I was wondering if you'd accidentally left "Right the Wrong" out of your earlier "replace these tracks with these and you've got an album" post. Not because you've ever said anything against it, but just because it seems like so many people automatically say something against it. I always liked it--even on the first spin.

And I have never understood the "country" tag--country doesn't have those horns; country doesn't have that drumbeat. I don't hear country in the vocals, for the most part. Except for some of the spoken parts "twangy-ness" I don't hear much country anywhere in it, except... maybe an incompetent musical theatre composer might think a few moments (the bit beginning around 2:30) are country--and maybe Prince does, since I can't think of anything in his work that indicates any real knowledge of or appreciation for country music as a worthwhile genre--that whole part feels like a dance break for a musical I don't want to see. The Yee-hoo! is embarrasing. But the core of the song doesn't seem like country to me.

Marrk said:

Well I dig the title track, much of it is great. That's why he plays some of it these days. It's got a cult following now i think.

Hate 'I Rock' cause it's rubbish. 'Right The Wrong' is a major shitstain in Prince's pants.

The only saving grace is that I pretend the lyrics are;

"An Indian woman buried her grandpa in black heels..."

So it becomes a song about a woman with a drag queen for a grandpa.

C&D live is the bomb, I've heard it...

Can 3rdeyegirl do it too?

udo said:

That whole album is great, it lacks any of the self indulgence and plastic sounding overproduction of his other 90s stuff. I mean TGE and Come are good two, but even they have some filler and plasticy over the top production.

Not this album its pure rawk and roll. Chaos and Disorder and I like it there are tight. Dinner with Delores is pretty good and the rest is okay at least. Only Scrap D lets the album down. I rock therefore I am, has a good mixture of ragga and rock and Steppa Ranks (Obviously a ripoff of Shaba) ragga rap rappae, is a lot better than scrappy doo.

In to the light and I will are standard Prince sugar, pop lite ballads, but they are okay. Dig U better dead has a nice chugging rhythm and Zannalee is always good. Right the wrong has weird lyrics, but again rhythmically good and catchy and he adds some great yelps in the chorus "Right the wrong baybeee".

Why people slag it off and say its self indulgent crap is beyond me, this is Prince stripped to the bone, he talks about doing it off in his sleep and as an FU to Warners, if thats the case perhaps he should get more pissed at the record company more often.

And then theres the awesome bass and drum feel courtesy of Mr Bland and Mr Thompson.

Its streets ahead of the over bloated and self indulgent mess called Emancipation, yes it has some great songs, but theres a lot of rubbish and filler too and just boring go nowhere jams. You have to dig to find the gold, but on this album its right there, under your nose.

SuperSoulFighter said:

udo said:

C&D live is the bomb, I've heard it...

Can 3rdeyegirl do it too?

Cough up $277 + a ticket and U'll know.

Hmm. I won't travel to the USA until after the revolution or whatever happens.

But thanks for the suggestion.

udo said:

Pretty cool album, imo underrated by many. The only trouble is I can't stand I Rock Therefore I Am and Dig U Better Dead, which are always skipped.

A while back, I made my own revised, expanded version of this album, filling up most of one CD -

1. Chaos and Disorder

2. I Like It There

3. Dinner With Delores

4. The Same December

5. Right the Wrong (one of my fave tracks on here, kind of tongue in cheek but with that Hendrix Native American vibe too), with one of the best track changeovers ever, into -

6. Zannalee

7. Into the Light

8. I Will

9. The Undertaker (similar rocky, ominous vibe to much of C & D album imo)

10. Poor Goo (from similar era and it fits well here)

11. Hide the Bone (ditto)

12. Da Bang (ditto)

13. Slave 2 the System (ditto) - cool Vault track

14. Ain't No Place Like U (Mayte guest slot taken from her album, with the same 'Slave' drums as on previous track)

15. Days of Wild (Crystal Ball version)

16. Snowman (Nice calm, circulating Vault track from roughly similar era with Nona Gaye lead vox)

17. Rock n' Roll Is Alive (from similar era and it fits well here)

18. Had U

In short, a cool, vaguely 'punky', 'trashy' hard funk-rock album with some nice smoother sides to it. IMO much more consistent and satisfying than the original C & D release .

jtfolden said:

Marrk said:

Well I dig the title track, much of it is great. That's why he plays some of it these days. It's got a cult following now i think.

Hate 'I Rock' cause it's rubbish. 'Right The Wrong' is a major shitstain in Prince's pants.

The only saving grace is that I pretend the lyrics are;

"An Indian woman buried her grandpa in black heels..."

So it becomes a song about a woman with a drag queen for a grandpa.

Love C&D - wish Zanalee was longer and Empty Room would work well on it.

Had U is a beautiful end to a great rock and roll record.

every 3 or so months a "Chaos and Disorder" appreciation thread appears on prince.org, and each time there is less and less hate for it. I remember around 10 years ago on the org posting that I loved Right the wrong and I got absolutely sluaghtered for it. C&D was seen as a black mark in Prince's repertior back then for sure. I guess many years later and (many bad albums later), C&D is not seen as so bad anymore I guess??

I do remember it came out with barely no publicity, I remember it was an "almost" live recording and I remember listening to the tape in my car on the way to work almost every day for about a 1 year. I remember waiting for Emancipation for weeks, and when it came out I reverted to C&D again for several months waiting for the next Prince album. Unfortunately I dont think there has been an album since C&D that has been as good as C&D (yes its just my opinion).

The first side of C&D, title track, like it there, last december, dolores, right the wrong and zanalee have to be some of the most pleasurable Prince listening ever! Im gonna put it on now

[Edited 4/3/13 23:59pm]

the first half of the C&D album is brilliant,

but there's some weak songs ind the second half...

If:

Calhound Square,

What's My Name

Empty Room

had been there instead of:

I Rock Therefor I Am,

I Will,

Into the light.

Then it would have been brilliant all the way through..