PRINCE - CONTROVERSY (180g LP)

Prince Controversy on 180g LP from Rhino

Prince's Smash 1981 LP Back on Vinyl for First Time in Ages: Provacateur Turns More Sultry and Political, Increases Synthesizers and Sonic Range

Mastered from the Original Tapes: Lacquers Cut by Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering

Pressed at RTI and Features Complete Reproduction of Original Packaging: Comes With Collectable Poster

Prince's Dirty Mind, 1999, and Purple Rain Also Available on 180g LP

Continuing on with the pioneering directions he began pursuing on Dirty Mind, Prince again comes up roses on 1981's Controversy, an enterprising record on which he turns more political and furher assimilates keyboards and synthesizers into arrangements. Dirty Mind is also home to the piano ballad and chart smash "Do Me, Baby," a sensitive song that's considered by many as his finest vocal effort. Given that we're talking Prince, that's saying something.

As had already become customary, Prince again handles all production, arrangements and composition duties, using "Controversy," "Annie Christian," and the unsparingly direct "Ronnie, Talk to Russia" as potent sociopolitical statements during an era which responsibility had lapsed and conservatism set in. Willing to stir it up, Prince injects contagious grooves, melodies, and refrains into arrangements that mix new wave, rock, funk, and pop, all serving to heighten the immediacy of the lyrics. And he knows how to have fun. Saucy, stylized, and sexy, "Jack U Off" and "Let's Work" are tailor-made for getting the opposite sex between the sheets.

After more than two decades of being out of print, Controversy is finally back on vinyl--and how. Mastered from the original tapes, with lacquers cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering, and pressed at RTI on 180g vinyl, this is the very best version you'll ever hope to hear. No longer will you have to settle for the slightly compressed original or nearly unlistenable CD versions. Rhino's analog reissue also boasts replicate original packaging and comes with the poster that accompanied the first-generation pressings.

Let's go crazy!

Prince Controversy Track Listing:

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