Controversy (Prince album)

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Controversy
File:Prince Controversy.jpg
Studio album by Prince
Released October 14, 1981
Recorded 1981
Studio Uptown, Sunset Sound, Hollywood Sound
Genre
Length 37:15
Label Warner Bros.
Producer Prince
Prince chronology
Dirty Mind
(1980)Dirty Mind1980		 Controversy
(1981)		 1999
(1982)19991982
Singles from Controversy
  1. "Controversy"
    Released: September 2, 1981
  2. "Let's Work"
    Released: January 6, 1982
  3. "Do Me, Baby"
    Released: July 16, 1982
  4. "Sexuality"
    Released: 1982

Controversy is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on October 14, 1981 by Warner Bros. Records.

Music and lyrics

According to Blender magazine's Keith Harris, Controversy is "Prince's first attempt to get you to love him for his mind, not just his body", as it "refines the propulsive funk of previous albums and adds treatises on religion, work, nuclear war and Abscam."[1] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic also remarked on its music in how it "continues in the same vein of new wave-tinged funk on Dirty Mind, emphasizing Prince's fascination with synthesizers and synthesizing disparate pop music genres".[2]

Controversy begins with its title track, which raises questions that were being asked about him at the time, including his race and sexuality. The song "flirts with blasphemy" by including a chant of The Lord's Prayer. "Do Me, Baby" is an "extended bump-n-grind" ballad with explicitly sexual lyrics, and "Ronnie, Talk to Russia" is a politically charged plea to President Ronald Reagan. "Private Joy" is a bouncy bubblegum pop-funk tune, "showing off Prince's lighter side", followed by the "childlike treatment of evil" in "Annie Christian", which lists historical events such as the murder of African-American children in Atlanta and the death of John Lennon. The album's final song, "Jack U Off", is a synthesized rockabilly-style track.[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3.5/5 stars[2]
Blender 4/5 stars[1]
Robert Christgau A−[4]
Entertainment Weekly B+[5]
Rolling Stone 4/5 stars[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide 3.5/5 stars[6]
Spin Alternative Record Guide (8/10)[7]
Virgin Encyclopedia 3/5 stars[8]

In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, music critic Stephen Holden wrote that "Prince's first three records were so erotically self-absorbed that they suggested the reveries of a licentious young libertine. On Controversy, that libertine proclaims unfettered sexuality as the fundamental condition of a new, more loving society than the bellicose, overtechnologized America of Ronald Reagan." He went on to say, "Despite all the contradictions and hyperbole in Prince's playboy philosophy, I still find his message refreshingly relevant."[3] Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic in a generally favorable review for The Village Voice, in which he wrote that its "socially conscious songs are catchy enough, but they spring from the mind of a rather confused young fellow, and while his politics get better when he sticks to his favorite subject, which is s-e-x, nothing here is as far-out and on-the-money as 'Head' or 'Sister' or the magnificent 'When You Were Mine.'"[4]

Controversy was voted the eighth best album of the year in the 1981 Pazz & Jop, an annual critics poll run by The Village Voice.[9]

Track listing

All tracks written, composed, and arranged by Prince.

Side one
  1. "Controversy" – 7:15
  2. "Sexuality" – 4:21
  3. "Do Me, Baby" – 7:43
Side two
  1. "Private Joy" – 4:29
  2. "Ronnie, Talk to Russia" – 1:58
  3. "Let's Work" – 3:54
  4. "Annie Christian" – 4:22
  5. "Jack U Off" – 3:09

Personnel

  • Prince - all other vocals and instruments
  • Lisa Coleman - backing vocals (on "Controversy", "Ronnie, Talk to Russia" and "Jack U Off"), keyboards ("Jack U Off")
  • Dr. Fink - keyboards ("Jack U Off")
  • Bobby Z. - drums ("Jack U Off")

[10]

Singles and Hot 100 chart placings

  1. "Controversy"
  2. "When You Were Mine"
  1. "Let's Work"
  2. "Ronnie, Talk to Russia"
  3. "Gotta Stop (Messin' About)" (US 12")
  1. "Do Me, Baby"
  2. "Private Joy"
  • "Sexuality" (German/Japan/Australia single)
  1. "Sexuality"
  2. "Controversy" (DEU, JAP)
  3. "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (AUS)

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart Position
Australian Kent Music Report[11] 55
US Billboard 200[12] 21
US Billboard R&B Albums[12] 3

Year-end charts

Chart (1982) Position
US Billboard Pop Albums[13] 59

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United Kingdom (BPI)[14] Gold 100,000
United States (RIAA)[15] Platinum 1,000,000

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Notes

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References

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External links

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Prince: Controversy at AllMusic. Retrieved September 15, 2011 (2011-09-15).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Hoard (2004), p. 655. Portions posted at Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ http://princevault.com/index.php/Album:_Controversy
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter Controversy in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
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