Controversy (Explicit)

Though Prince invented the alluringly androgynous, tough, but sophisticated persona that would bring him to fame on 1980’s seminal Dirty Mind, Controversy was the album that saw Prince harnessing his classic song-writing skills and aggressively unorthodox production styles to the pointed lyrical acumen, at once bracingly political and sexually provocative, that would bring him adulation and derision in equal measures. The epic title track sets the mood with a refrain, “am I black or white, am I straight or gay,” that might serve as a neat summation of Prince’s provocative popular appeal. Though few of Controversy’s other cuts approach the jaw dropping grandiosity of the title track, the album as a whole is a tightly constructed package of slick dance floor oriented electro-funk. On the explosive "Let’s Work" Prince manages to squeeze all the innovations of post-funk outfits like Cameo and Zapp into a neat three minute package, while even the slight throwaway, “Ronnie Talk To Russia” sees Prince ambitiously experimenting with hellacious punk noise over a bubblegum pop melody. A dizzyingly eclectic masterpiece, Controversy marks a true turning point in Prince’s career.