music.wikisort.org - Composition

Search / Calendar

Controversy is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Prince, released on October 14, 1981 by Warner Bros. Records. It was produced by Prince, written (with the exception of one track) by him, and he also performed most of the instruments on its recording.

Controversy
Studio album by
Prince
ReleasedOctober 14, 1981
RecordedAugust 14–23, 1981[1]
StudioKiowa Trail Home Studio, Chanhassen, Minnesota; Hollywood Sound Recorders, Los Angeles, California; Sunset Sound, Hollywood, California[2]
Genre
  • Pop[3]
  • new wave[4]
  • funk
  • rock
  • R&B
Length37:15
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerPrince
Prince chronology
Dirty Mind
(1980)		 Controversy
(1981)		 1999
(1982)
Singles from Controversy
  1. "Controversy"
    Released: September 2, 1981
  2. "Sexuality"
    Released: October 1981 (non-US single)
  3. "Let's Work"
    Released: January 6, 1982
  4. "Do Me, Baby"
    Released: July 16, 1982

Controversy reached number three on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was voted the eighth best album of the year in the 1981 Pazz & Jop, an annual critics poll run by The Village Voice.[5]

This was the first of his albums to associate Prince with the color purple as well as the first to use sensational spelling in his song titles.


Music and lyrics


Controversy opens with the title track, which raises questions that were being asked about Prince 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 "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.[6]


Critical reception


Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Blender[7]
Chicago Sun-Times[8]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[9]
The Guardian[10]
Pitchfork9.0/10[11]
Rolling Stone[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[12]
Spin Alternative Record Guide8/10[13]
The Village VoiceA−[14]

In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone magazine, 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."[6]

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.'"[14]

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."[7] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic remarked that 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".[3]

Controversy was voted the eighth best album of the year in the 1981 Pazz & Jop, an annual critics' poll run by The Village Voice.[5]


Track listing


All songs written by Prince, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Controversy"7:15
2."Sexuality"4:21
3."Do Me, Baby" (André Cymone, Prince)7:43
Side two
No.TitleLength
4."Private Joy"4:29
5."Ronnie, Talk to Russia"1:58
6."Let's Work"3:54
7."Annie Christian"4:22
8."Jack U Off"3:09

Personnel


Adapted from the AllMusic credits and Prince Vault.[15][16]

Technical

Charts



Weekly charts


Chart (1981) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[17] 55
Dutch Albums Chart[18] 50
US Billboard 200[19] 21
US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[19] 3
Chart (2016) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard 200 55

Year-end charts


Chart (1982) Position
US Billboard Pop Albums 59
US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 15

Charting Singles


Single Chart Position
Controversy U.S. Billboard Hot 100 70
R&B HipHop 3
US Dance 1
Australian 15
Netherlands
 28
Let's Work U.S. Billboard Hot 100 104
R&B HipHop 9
US Dance 1
Sexuality Australian 88

Certifications


Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[20] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[21] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.


See also



Notes


  1. "Prince - Discography for USA". www.discog.info. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
  2. "Album: Controversy - Prince Vault". www.princevault.com. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Controversy – Prince". AllMusic. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
  4. Eddy, Chuck (September 2010). "Essentials". Spin. 26 (8): 84.
  5. "The 1981 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. New York. February 1, 1982. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  6. Holden, Stephen (January 21, 1982). "Controversy". Rolling Stone. No. 361. New York. ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  7. Harris, Keith (June–July 2001). "Prince: Controversy". Blender. No. 1. New York. Archived from the original on August 20, 2004. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  8. Keller, Martin (April 4, 1993). "A Prince Discography". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on April 8, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  9. Browne, David; Sandow, Greg (September 21, 1990). "A decade of Prince albums". Entertainment Weekly. No. 32. New York. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  10. Price, Simon (April 22, 2016). "Prince: every album rated – and ranked". The Guardian. London. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  11. Brooks, Daphne (April 29, 2016). "Prince: Controversy". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  12. Matos, Michaelangelo (2004). "Prince". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 654–57. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  13. Weisbard, Eric (1995). "Prince". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. New York: Vintage Books. pp. 311–13. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  14. Christgau, Robert (November 30, 1981). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  15. "Controversy - Prince | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  16. "Album: Controversy - Prince Vault". www.princevault.com. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  17. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  18. "Prince - Controversy".
  19. "Allmusic: Controversy : Charts & Awards: Billboard Albums". allmusic.com. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  20. "British album certifications – Prince – Controversy". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  21. "American album certifications – Prince – Controversy". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved May 2, 2013.

References





На других языках

[de] Controversy (Album)

Controversy (englisch für Kontroverse) ist das vierte Studioalbum des US-amerikanischen Musikers Prince. Es erschien am 14. Oktober 1981 bei dem Label Warner Bros. Records. Die Musik zählt zu den Genres Contemporary R&B, Elektronische Tanzmusik, Funk, New Wave, Pop und Rockabilly. Im Gegensatz zu seinen vorherigen Alben handeln die Liedtexte nicht ausschließlich von Liebe und Sex, sondern Prince greift vereinzelt auch sozialkritische Themen auf. Als Gastmusikerin wirkt Lisa Coleman mit.
- [en] Controversy (Prince album)

[es] Controversy (álbum)

Controversy es el cuarto álbum de estudio del músico estadounidense Prince, publicado el 14 de octubre de 1981 a través de Warner Records.[1] En gran parte, el álbum continúa con la línea de su predecesor Dirty Mind. El tema que da título al disco es un funk, donde Prince se muestra agobiado por la atención que le dan los medios. Do Me, Baby es una balada con el característico falsete del artista.[2]

[ru] Controversy

Controversy — четвёртый студийный альбом американского певца и композитора Принса, выпущенный 14 октября 1981 года на лейбле Warner Bros. Диск получил положительные отзывы музыкальной критики и интернет-изданий.


Текст в блоке "Читать" взят с сайта "Википедия" и доступен по лицензии Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike; в отдельных случаях могут действовать дополнительные условия.

Другой контент может иметь иную лицензию. Перед использованием материалов сайта WikiSort.org внимательно изучите правила лицензирования конкретных элементов наполнения сайта.

2019-2025
WikiSort.org - проект по пересортировке и дополнению контента Википедии