PRINCE - CONTROVERSY

"Controversy" is Prince's fourth studio album and of the previous four, arguably the best. Prince was on my radar with '1999'. At the time, my sister was really into music and she was a huge Michael Jackson fan. The first time I saw the video for '1999' I loved the song, but for some reason I thought it was the Jacksons. Because I avoided everything my sister liked, I wrote it off. I discovered "Purple Rain" through a friend of mine at school. He brought the tape to Woodshop class and we listened to it on a tape recorder there. He let me borrow it and I was hooked.

For me, discovering Prince was a backwards experience. I learned of older records and bought them one at a time until I had them all. The first I bought was "Prince"; which I thought was complete crap compared to "Purple Rain". It was more like a hit and miss scenario when it came to his older material. As I grew older and gained more perspective, I began to see the evolution of this singular artist. "Controversy" is the album Prince really began using the Linn Drum Machine and also where he started to fully realize his style. His style, or Minneapolis Sound, relies heavily on synthesizers playing melody lines normally played by horns in R&B groups. His blend featured strong and odd sounding rhythm tracks enhanced by melodic keyboards and augmented by bass and guitar. Prince was New Wave without fully embracing the genre.

"Controversy" is also interesting in that it continues a theme Prince actually started in his previous album and would continue to use throughout his career. A unifying call to like-minded people who shared his belief of finding God through physical love. Although his definition of love has changed over the years; Prince has continually called his fans away from governments and media propaganda.

With the opening track, 'Controversy', Prince predicts his climb to fame will be a rocky one complete with scandal and controversy. It's a great tune although a bit long. It's followed by 'Sexuality', another brilliant number. It's here that he starts his call to unification. He calls for a "New Breed" of leaders and thinkers to take control. 'Do Me, Baby' is a song steeped in scandal and is fairly explicit in a soft core porn way. Prince simulates an orgasm toward the end of the track. I find the song mediocre and somewhat dull. It doesn't surprise me that Andre Cymone, a former band member claims he wrote the music for the song. It's hardly up to par with the rest of Prince's material. Still, he seems to like it. It continues to surface in live shows. It's by far my least favorite track on the album.

Back in the days of cassette tapes and lps, you'd be turning the disc or tape over at this point to hear side two. It starts off with 'Private Joy'. Not only are you treated to an awesome groove here, but the song is infectious with hooks and great lyrics. It's almost got a "West Side Story" feel to the narrative. It segues flawlessly into the rockin' 'Ronnie, Talk To Russia'; a song that's basically an open letter to President Ronald Regan about finding a way to work with Russia to avoid nuclear destruction. It segues into 'Let's Work' one of the funkiest tracks I've ever heard. This is an example of why Prince is such a super star. He produces tracks of this calibre. It's so much fun and the music is dead on.

'Let's Work' goes into 'Annie Christian'. This song is considered an experimental track of sorts. He creates another narrative around fictional characters. The track is a social commentary of sorts, but it's the soulless vocal delivery and minimal musical arrangement over a Casio keyboard beat that really makes the track so haunting. What strikes me the most about this track is the way Prince uses all sounds including his vocal delivery to create a mood. It's an aggressive tune and truthfully, I think it's one of the most overlooked songs he's ever written. The rockabilly 'Jack U Off' rounds out the album displaying that Prince isn't limited to one sound. His greatest strength was his ability to amalgamate all different kinds of music styles and use them efficiently with his own sound. He had the ability to create something new with each foray into another musical genre. Sadly, he seems to have lost that ability. These days, he rarely ventures beyond his relegated funk/soul roots.

The packaging of the album is also noteworthy. Prince is surrounded by a fictional newspaper called "The Controversy Daily" with headlines like; "Free Food Stamps for Good Samaritans", "U.S. Goes to Zoo - Refuses to Feed Guerillas" and "Do You Believe in God". Once again, he attempts social commentary but in such an interesting way. When it came out, I'm sure "Controversy" was extremely controversial. These days the material seems more like fluff than radical. Irregardless, you can't diminish the impact Prince had on society with records like this. Whether you know it or not, he changed the lives of young people who would go on to make films, music, become law makers and politicians, talk show hosts, etc. etc. And whether or not they agreed with him, he helped formulate their fundamental thinking to such a degree that they effect the lives of everyone all over the world. The same can be said to be true about virtually every influential musician or celebrity. Like many others, Prince geared his social commentary to effect these people. He called for a change. Whether you like him or not, his impact is real. My final words: FORESHADOWING THINGS TO COME, BUT PERFECT BY ITSELF. 

PRINCE - CONTROVERSY
01. Controversy
02. Sexuality
03. Do Me, Baby
04. Private Joy
05. Ronnie, Talk To Russia
06. Let's Work
07. Annie Christian
08. Jack U Off