Prince Controversy

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 further assimilates keyboards and synthesizers into the arrangements. It's also home to the piano ballad and chart smash "Do Me, Baby," a sensitive number considered one of The Purple One's finest vocal efforts. As had already become customary, Prince again handles all production, arrangements and composition duties, using the title cut, "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, of course, he also knows how to have fun with the stylized and sexy, "Jack U Off" and "Let's Work."