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Released: November 1981


Rating: 3.908 (average of 9 ratings)


Genre: R&B


Quotable: --


Album Tracks:

  1. Controversy
  2. Sexuality
  3. Do Me, Baby
  4. Private Joy
  5. Ronnie, Talk to Russia
  6. Let’s Work
  7. Annie Christian
  8. Jack U Off


Sales:

sales in U.S. only 1 million
sales in U.K. only - estimated --
sales in all of Europe as determined by IFPI – click here to go to their site. --
sales worldwide - estimated 2.5 million


Peak:

peak on U.S. Billboard album chart 21
peak on U.K. album chart --


Singles/Hit Songs:

  • Controversy (9/26/81) #70 US, #5 UK, #3 RB
  • Let’s Work (1/23/82) #9 RB


Controversy
Prince
Review:
Controversy 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. It is also more ambitious than its predecessor, attempting to tackle social protest (Controversy, Ronnie, Talk to Russia, Annie Christian) along with sex songs (Jack U Off, Sexuality), and it tries hard to bring funk to a rock audience and vice versa. Even with all of Prince’s ambitions, the music on Controversy doesn’t represent a significant breakthrough from Dirty Mind, and it is often considerably less catchy and memorable. Nevertheless, Prince’s talents as musician make the record enjoyable, even if it isn’t as compelling as most of his catalog” (Erlewine).


Review Source(s):


Related DMDB Link(s):

previous album: Dirty Mind (1980) Prince’s DMDB page next album: 1999 (1982)


Last updated April 15, 2008.