I agree that “Controversy” and “Purple Rain” are pedigree; but not like Tobias’ breakdown. “Controversy” is the first of two setup records (”1999″ being the second) *for* “P.R.” — remember that he made “The Second Coming.” So he goes to work broadening his audience and racking up some sales. Then he pulls “1999″ out of his ass, winds up on MTV and the cover of rock magazines like “Creem,” “Musician” and “Rolling Stone” to show he can get some “crossover” press; then rolls up on his management (Fargnoli) on some “I wanna movie.”

He’s got masterpieces with “Controversy” and “Do Me Baby” but this joint is a 3-star album at best (which falls in line with what I took from your analysis). “Annie Christian” for me is like “Sign of the Times” in that he runs thru several current issues without making much of a definitive statement. Don’t flame me — I am in *no way* saying that these aren’t good songs! “SOTT” is CLASSIC material! But Prince would sometimes skim the surface on things — until he did “Avalanche.” So when I think about how he was 21 when he made this album, I don’t look too deep into what the lyrics of “Annie” mean; especially now that I’m in my 30s and remember what I was on at 21. Same can be said for “Ronnie;” which is pure throwaway. He never said what they should talk *about*, you know?

I only listed to the episode once, so I’m going to get into it a few more times. But I had to get a note over that the “Controversy” episode is golden — got into the stuff I was hoping you’d get at. Man, “1999″ is next?! Skype me in for that one! Prince gets *real* deep into his themes of female rejection and emotional abuse (”Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad,” “Gotta Broken Heart Again,” etc.) with “Something in the Water,” “Automatic,” and “Lady Cab Driver.”

P.S.: Tobias is drunk for his “Darling Nikki” opinion, but we can have at it a few more episodes down the road. Peace.

I’ll get with you on the skype thing, see what we can wok out.

For You
Prince

Dirty Mind
Controversy

Sign O’ The Times
–I’ll give this one to you b/c of the double album

Black Album
Lovesexy

Diamonds and Pearls
Symbol Album

Rave U2…
Musicology
3121
(a trifecta?)

Albums it doesn’t work so well on:

1999
Purple Rain
–I definitely see the lyrical/thematic tie-ins, but sonically the albums seem too different to me. Purple Rain is, among other things, much more of a “rock” album, and emphatically 1999 isn’t.

ATWIAD
Parade
–I come close to agreeing about this pairing–they’re both a bit idiosyncratic and psychedelic–but they still feel pretty independent to me. Each is a concept album in its own right.

Batman
Graffiti Bridge
–Other than the fact that they’re both film soundtracks, these two albums don’t quite “stick” to each other the way many of the others do…

Come
The Gold Experience
–Even though the tracks for these two albums are completely contemporaneous they are completely different listening experiences for me…

And where these fit who knows?
-Emancipation
-Chaos and Disorder
-The Rainbow Children

…Unless you want to stick Emancipation and Crystal Ball together as 3-CD compilations–all new material, and old unreleased material.

Thoughts?

I’m kinda on the run so I have to make this quick.

The Family Album
Parade
I wish he released The Family album as his own, then came with Parade.

Sign o The Times is really like 3 albums in one anyway.
Camile - Dream Factory - Crystal Ball

The Gold Experience
NPG Exodus

And where these fit who knows?
-Emancipation
-Chaos and Disorder
-The Rainbow Children

They dont really. I think at this point in tha game Prince was sporadic with things. Tho you could say Rainbow Children and the Xpection album go hand in hand.

later

Could the Chocolate Factory and Slaughterhouse fit into this?
I think the Chocolate Factory goes with Musicology and Slaughterhouse with 3121.

In fact a couple of the tunes on Slaughterhouse would get carried with me on that island disc thing.

peace

yeah those are the missing links. I need to really sit down and listen to those ‘albums’.

“Annie Christian” is also politically naive in some ways, in that it name-checks events of the day without really exploring them, except to put an “anti-Christ” figure behind them. (But the ABSCAM scandal doesn’t quite carry equal weight with the Atlanta child killings or the Lennon murder.) The concept, however, is really interesting and original, the music is experimental and bold, the vocal is edgy and different. As a result, it’s my favorite track on the album.

As for “Jack U Off,” I notice you were turned off by the lyrics/message, but also claimed to love “Private Joy” and “Gotta Stop (Messin’ About)” (and “Darling Nikki”) which certainly hit the same theme. For a rock star, he sure was writing a lot about taking care of business on his own. Guess that’s what happens when you perform in women’s panties.

Love the podcast.

I came across the podcast via google so don’t know a huge amount about your background. Maybe it’ll be a good idea to investigate where we all were around the time of each albums release. ie. Your background, age, what you were into at the time, Prince’s age at the time, what else was released around the same time (big artists, etc).

Good to hear the snippets of each track. I’m sure no one will mind too much.

As for your interpretation of each track, it might be a good idea to ask yourself who is the character the person singing each track. I think it might be a mistake assume it’s Prince every time. ‘Jack U Off’ for instance has a totally different meaning if you assume it’s someone else singing it to you. Perhaps it’s that girl you met?

BTW how many other Prince tracks are essentially a gospel song with some cool guitar. ‘Ronnie Talk To Russia’… don’t overlook it! Corny maybe but interesting.

I dunno if you have any female Prince admirers near you, but perhaps it would be good to get a female view on his tracks. I’m sure that would prompt some heated discussions.

Keep it up! Looking forward to the next.

bob (Was 10/11 years old in ‘81, London, listening to Specials, Madness, etc around the time. Hearing this album for the first time would be many years away. ‘88 perhaps.)

I find a similar relationship between “Dirty Mind” and “Come.” It’s a stretch, though, as “Come” lacks the raw sound of “Dirty Mind”. But “Lovesexy” and “Rainbow Children”? They lock like Legos.

Arthur (35 years old — 25 in the Prince game.)

by the way….mr. dean…when r u gonna reveal the project u’ve been workin on wit da intro music 2 the podcasts and wat not?

definitely check out the Slaughterhouse, In my opinion one of the better ones in the past 10 years (not a huge amount of competition but still). There are some very funky tunes on there. Don’t know how to get them now that the website is down, but if you want to email me - perhaps we could find a way.
There is one with eric Leeds doing a bit of a ‘Prince is a great musician’ review and a fine jazzy high speed funk tune called y should eye, where he has a dig at the critics who say he should play a certain type of RnB, and kicks it into touch with a kick ass horn line.

looking forward to the next one guys
Scott

BTW have ya’ll heard the “Hotel California” boot? Man there is some heat on there and some BullS..t. The live version of Black Sweat is sick! I was kinda shocked, cuz I really don’t care for the album version but live it’s smoking.
Also Tamars song ‘Milk and Honey’ is my jam!!! I need a studio version of that asap.

If only I could go back to 12 years old and start this all over again. Turn back the hands of time. LOL

thank you very much - and keep up the good work.

Peace, Lovesquad, copenhagen, Denmark.

- Pete
ickmusic.com