Let's talk about "Controversy" by Prince.

http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/6678/tiggernewwjv6.jpg

Yeah, I know that maybe you aren't even supposed to "get" all of these lyrics, but I thought it'd be interesting to discuss them anyway.

best thing on it is the piano and scream on 'do me baby'...

...easily one of his best songs

Do Me, Baby and Let's Work are my favorites off this one.

this was the first album where the 'prince sound' really came out.

he musta already fucked his sister by then you reckon ???

Wow, something without an entry in Wikipedia--the Accu-Jack was a device that you could plug into your car lighter that would, well, relieve male urges while you drove. Or so I'm told.

Hmm, maybe I should've googled it, it appears Accu-Jack is some sort of electric guitar accessory. Though your explanation is interesting too.

However, neither explanation makes the lyric any easier to understand.

Love the title track, wish I liked the whole album more, but I still think I enjoy it a little more than Dirty Mind, which it seems to always be in the shadow of, at least critically (but apparently sold more than, which is surprising).

I like the album a lot and wouldn't call it a failure, but when I see the titles I think, "Hm, `Sexuality,' `Let's Work'....how do they go again?"

that is the moment youre meant to put the album on.

"Sexuality" is easily forgettable (talk about being on auto-pilot), but that bass line in "Let's Work" is immortal...nobody has yet mentioned the real gem, "Private Joy"...didn't somebody cover that in '88 or so?

Yeah, "Private Joy" is very pretty, especially the keyboard hook.

"people call me rude/I wish we all were nude" = best Prince line ever.

Love this one front to back.

"Private Joy"s been dancing around my head all morning, thanks to this thread.

Has the keyboard hook from that tune been used elsewhere, or why does it sound so familiar? I take it it wasn't a single nor a big hit.

it was not a hit, but the cover version (by, er, LaToya Jackson) got minor airplay in the late-80's...

Is it true that none of the old Prince albums have been reissued or remastered ever since they first came out on CD? Because all you see in the stores are those old eighties CDs, and some of them sound kinda weakly mastered, especially with the bass parts - not Controversy though.

"Private Joy"...didn't somebody cover that in '88 or so?

Cheyne did in 1984. It's on the Weird Science sdtk and is bad.

sleeve OTM.

This is a 4/5 and not as good as the records just before and after, but daaaamn.

The Kid knew what he was up to.

Also, taxicabs = quick escape? Dunno how this fits with "Lady Cab Driver" on the next album, though. Would not make a Bible of Prince lyrics from this period.

they dont need remastering. they sound just fine as is on cd.

Really? Do bass parts on Around the World in a Day really sound as thin on vinyl as on CD? I've never heard the vinyl version, but I always thought the CD was just badly mastered.

I totally agree with Tuomas regarding the very bad mastering of all prince's back catalogue. It's particularly obvious when you listen to these albums on your ipod, next to other stuff (compared to MJ's thriller or off the wall, from his rival, for instance...). I love all his 80s output but damn, how it would be great with a better sound.
I dream of the day when it will all be remastered but I fear this day is nowhere near due to the problems between prince and his former label...

But if WB owns the masters, couldn't they just remaster and reissue the albums without Prince's consent?

Hum... good question but since I'm no american artistic property law expert, I cannot say... the fact it hasn't occurred makes me think it can't be done if both sides don't agree.
I remember reading some time ago that prince intended to rerecord his 80s albums to be able to release them as he liked at some point but I guess it was just a bluff in the legal fight !

no mention so far on the thread of this new commpilation that arrived in the post today : controversy : a tribute

seems awful : is it ?

cant face it to be honest, the tracklisting is cut on that page, theres even a Kode9 cover version.

track 13 : Kode9 and Space Ape - Sign of the Dub.

that's the bonus !

I think if artist has signed away the rights to the masters, then the label doesn't need his consent to rerelease them in any form they want. I thought it was exactly because WB owned the rights to his recordings that Prince was so pissed off with them in the 90s. Plus Warner released a Greatest Hits collection with remastered songs in 2006, so I guess they could remaster everything else too if they wanted. Why they haven't done that I don't know. Maybe because Prince hasn't been very cool and marketable for years? Hopefully his recent comeback will give them the incentive to go through his back catalog.

true about the the greatest hits. there's hope, then !
did the remastered versions improve on the original ones ?

There's obviously a clause that keeps this from happening: WB has remastered lots of '80s records from Van Halen to the Pretenders.

I haven't heard it yet. I spotted it cheapo in the used records bin at a local record store, I think I should buy it just because it has a bonus disc with 12" mixes of several of his singles, most of which I don't think have ever been available on CD. Will report back if I get it.

(x-post)

Why were they able to remaster the singles then?

hum. didn't know about he 12" mixes. might get it too...

they dont need remastering. they sound just fine as is on cd.

This is so incorrect. Prince has the worst-mastered cd catalogue ever (with the exception of... the Beatles, maybe?). Listening to his 80's stuff on vinyl reveals an absolute world of difference.

1. She's Always In My Hair - D'Angelo

^^want to hear this

It does its job. I like it.

Upgrade over the entertaining yet same-y s/t album (did anybody notice Prince sings that ENTIRE ALBUM in falsetto)?

But not as good as Dirty Mind...

Controversy was the last time he tried to sustain it for most of an album.

I agree I get tired of his falsetto on that as well, Bo. I don't mind if he does falsetto just not all the time!

Yeah I went pretty crazy over the Controversy album last weekend. Not sure what I think of it now. I discovered it wasn't great to play at the gym, but that doesn't necessarily mean it isn't good. "Annie Christian" is a delightful slice of post-punk, very atypical for him.

"I live my life in taxi cabs"? What the hell is he talking about?

Yeah, like I said in my first post, the whole lyrics to "Annie Christian" are kinda baffling.