I've been grooving on this a LOT on lately.

I truly love every track! I used to feel "Into the Light" was kind-of schmaltzy...but not so much anymore.

The whole CD is cohesive and just such a great vibe and rocker throughout.

"I Like It There" is truly one of his top, top hard-rocking hits.

And "Had U" can be on repeat for a long, long time.

His whole "Slave-era" is my favorite time of his; he uniquely sabotaged his own commercial success in favor of doing his "art."

dance4me3121 said:

rusty1 said:

Awful album A complete throwaway

Only in your opinion.

dance4me3121 said:

I like "Right the wrong". I totally imagine some rednecks dancing to that in a circle.Especially the last minute of the song. [Edited 2/15/17 13:32pm]

It's so unique in his catalog.

rusty1 said:

RJOrion said:

rusty1 said:

Awful album A complete throwaway

i agree...Prince's worst album

And yet you'd all have been willing to spend twice or thrice the price of a retail CD to purchase the bootleg at the time if it hadn't been released. Pearls b4 the swine indeed I'm telling ya. It's not a perfect album, but it isn't half as bad as you say.

"I Rock Therefore I Am" is a great track.

[Edited 7/11/20 21:40pm]

I love it.

I never thought it was "a classic", but I played it a lot when it came out and I still enjoy listening to it more than most of 90s work.

People have stated that it should have been a rock album all the way through, but the two dancey tracks really work in the sequence.

Maybe "Right The Wrong" could have been a B-side (it's still pretty enjoyable stuff as such). The Inclusion of "Empty Room" might have made it a better album, but I guess Prince just wasn't into the thought of releasing such an old track at the time (a track that had its origins in the 80s, at least).

I like many tracks on this album (being Chaos and Disorder and Dig U better dead my favorites) but Dinner with Delores and The Same December should have been buried in the vault forever.

[Edited 2/16/17 4:25am]

NorthC said:

dance4me3121 said:

I like "Right the wrong". I totally imagine some rednecks dancing to that in a circle.Especially the last minute of the song. [Edited 2/15/17 13:32pm]

Sure... After a few

"Right the Wrong"--a bold message song for people to rise up and claim their due in the face of broad theft and indignation and warn the perpretrators of what may come in the end. It gives me a lively kick!

>

The rap on "I Rock, Therefore I Am" is a bit throwaway, but it still flows ok. I like Chaos and Disorder well enough to keep it in listening rotation.

jdcxc said:

Decent album. Dinner With Delores is brilliant...classic Prince songwriting.

"Introduce the carpet to something other than your knees!"

Wallowing in Chaos & Disorder, Gold, and Come right now.

.

I Like it There, Dinner With Delores, The Same December, Zannalee, Into the Light, I Will, Had U....reaaaallly like this album.
.
And haaaa at doing Dinner With Delores on Good Morning America, because of course.

It's a perfect album in context — important to remember where Prince was mentally/emotionally at the time with Warner Bros., and this was his final kiss-off. Through that lens, it's perfect.

Goals:
• Deliver material that would fulfill a contract, but songs that Prince didn't have strong feelings about
• For hard-core fans, there should be hidden treasures
• Be as concise as possible

C&D checks off all those boxes.

[Edited 2/16/17 16:24pm]

Dinner with Dolores would made it a great single.

And...Dig U Better Dead! One hell of a song.

I've never warmed to I Rock Therefore I Am--but I like the rest of the album. I don't think any of it reaches greatness, and some tracks are just so mid-90s Prince that it's funny (The Same December is pretty much what you'd come up with if you ran a whole bunch of other same-period NPG-does-rock tunes through a blender), but it's all pretty listenable--except I Rock (and shouldn't it rock?--that's always seemed weird to me). I'm not sure how Dig U Better Dead would seem if it were the only dancier song on the album--it might benefit from the presence (and relative weakness) of I Rock Therefore I Am, and if it appeared by itself it might seem a jarring change of pace. As it is, though, I think it's one of the stronger tracks. The others are all (at least) good, though maybe marred by some cutesy or gimmicky touches (like Zanalee's cops) or by being a bit antiseptic sounding--but the songs from the album that he did live all worked pretty well in that setting.

[Edited 2/16/17 20:49pm]

I have never felt Chaos & Disorder was a very complete album or one that Prince spent a lot of time recording and compiling. Having said that it has a great spirit throughout and some classic tracks - Chaos and Disorder" (great riff) , "I LIke It There"
(one of my all time favourite P rockers) , "Dinner With Delores" (one of P's great solos) and some nice ballads. Again not a totally conceptual record (as said by P I think in the liner notes more of "a compilation") but has so many fun moments I go back to it regulalry.

EddieC said:

I've never warmed to I Rock Therefore I Am--but I like the rest of the album. I don't think any of it reaches greatness, and some tracks are just so mid-90s Prince that it's funny (The Same December is pretty much what you'd come up with if you ran a whole bunch of other same-period NPG-does-rock tunes through a blender), but it's all pretty listenable--except I Rock (and shouldn't it rock?--that's always seemed weird to me). I'm not sure how Dig U Better Dead would seem if it were the only dancier song on the album--it might benefit from the presence (and relative weakness) of I Rock Therefore I Am, and if it appeared by itself it might seem a jarring change of pace. As it is, though, I think it's one of the stronger tracks. The others are all (at least) good, though maybe marred by some cutesy or gimmicky touches (like Zanalee's cops) or by being a bit antiseptic sounding--but the songs from the album that he did live all worked pretty well in that setting.

[Edited 2/16/17 20:49pm]

That's why I love it

.

Agree on Dig U Better Dead - strange inclusion, so out of place

sro100 said:

Always liked the album, but it was too short.

As far as his 1990's (WB) albums, I rank them this way:

THe Symbol Album

The Gold Experience

Chaos & Disorder

Come

Diamonds & Pearls

The Non-WB years:

Emancipation

Crystal Ball

New Power Soul

Rave

I've liked this album since day one. Like the Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale, it works cause it a concise little album with mostly good songs, and a couple killers (I Like it There and Same December imo).

Is it a masterpiece, no way, but it works for me...and I don't care what anyone says, Right The Wrong is a decent song, with a strong message. The one tune I am not crazy over is I Rock Therefore I Am, but even that one is listenable.