jaawwnn said:

SOTT is his greatest album!!

Prince's early albums need to be listened to in order with the associated artist albums in the right place.

Then you get to hear the incredible musical progression for how they all fit together!!!

Strip out the lyrics and the rapping and Jughead would be a fine instrumental funk jam. The beat and the playing on it is perfectly fine.

"Annie Christian" is great! Love it! very dark and experimental

I'd put it somewhere in the second tier alongside the likes of Parade and ATWIAD. As others have said, there are four or five tracks on it that rank among his very best, but also a few misfires and experimental bits that I'm not 100% sure work.

There is a good argument for it. He was still edgy, funky and had a chip on his shoulder. Annie Christian and Sexuality are as good as anything he has ever done. Do Me Baby is probably the best love making song ever. The vocals on Private Joy is among his best performances. The intro to Let's Work is sick. This is the album that made me a fanatic.

donnyenglish said:

I LOVE Controversy. I wouldn't call it his greatest album. But all the 80s albums to me are neck in neck.

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Controversy was 'rushed' in way. I think he could have explored it more, pushed it a little more.
I wish Tick Tick Bang was a B side

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He had some hot outtakes. But many were not 'Controversy' but more or less relationship subjects with some hot energy: Hard 2 Get, Kiss Me Quick etc

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These need to be heard in their fullness.

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Controversy felt dangerous. And I loved it.

When I bought Dirty Mind, I felt I bought a xxx magazine and rushed it home under my pillow. But Controversy felt like I bought a book on dark knowledge.

And for me this is why it is on the edge of greatness.

soladeo1 said:

Good point. Controversy is somehow, to me as well, underplayed compared to other albums.

It's a very great album, with two of his very top-tier songs on it. (Controversy and Annie Christian)

Reason i never played it AS much as the following albums are Sexuality and Let's Work, which are filler to me (and they drag on and on).

[Edited 10/23/19 2:55am]

"Sexuality" is 4:20 and "Let's work" is 3:54 not exactly songs that drag on. I mean compared to "Controversy" at 7:15 and "Do me baby" at 7:43 these two songs are but a sneeze
I get it though, when you don't like a song it can seem to drag.

djdaffy1227 said:

"Sexuality" is 4:20 and "Let's work" is 3:54 not exactly songs that drag on. I mean compared to "Controversy" at 7:15 and "Do me baby" at 7:43 these two songs are but a sneeze
I get it though, when you don't like a song it can seem to drag.

well,, i mean it's so repetitive (esp. let's work) that it seems to drag after 10 seconds

If you like to shake a hip, that's really cool, though--Aouah!!!

It's also the first album where he broke out with that classic vocalization, isn't it?

TheFman said:

djdaffy1227 said:

"Sexuality" is 4:20 and "Let's work" is 3:54 not exactly songs that drag on. I mean compared to "Controversy" at 7:15 and "Do me baby" at 7:43 these two songs are but a sneeze
I get it though, when you don't like a song it can seem to drag.

well,, i mean it's so repetitive (esp. let's work) that it seems to drag after 10 seconds

Controversy is the bomb diggity---this is the album that Prince put his shit together and took his studio wizardry to the next level from Dirty Mind. He learned to "freak" the slow song with Do Me baby.He learned to punk funk the jam with Controversy--that opening to Controversy--wa wab--is the shit. The whole song screams of a Prince manifesto,lyric and music-wise. The chicken scratch guitar alone makes it a classic...the odd synth--the lords prayer-the grunts of "ugghs" on the back beat..the whole damn thing is the ultimate Prince song. Vintage Prince shit. Sexuality shows his new wave influence,and intoduces his trademark aoohoo scream. Do Me Baby he realized what he could actually do in a dark studio..precursor to all slow jams being freaked and an album before International Lover. Private Joy with that Linn-drum machine is ultimate pop. Very underrated. I love the voice he uses in it especially when he says "cant get enuff cant get enuff". Lets Work, rubbery bass and razor synth that goes together and jams. This is the MN. sound. Annie Christian-anti music, Prince weirdness that
made him Prince. And driving it back home, J U Off, his rockabilly rock pre Delirious Elvis imitation. Controversy is the essence of Prince music. This is one of those records that I want to fuck. This is not music, this is a trip. Every home should have one.

[Edited 10/23/19 9:52am]

ChickenMcNuggets said: