Prince "Controversy"

RIP, Purple One.


This album is right at home in any white new wave fan's record collection, with its topical rock action, and to be honest, like the best punk, is very confrontational and provocative. That quality makes it as important as a Mappelthorpe work (whether you're gay or not), a Dali acid-melted clock, or Joe Byrd and the Field Hippies ' The American Metaphysical Circus (review forthcoming).


Prince slept on the floor of a studio as a young artist so that he could learn to record his music without editorial input from some non-musical engineer. He caught on quickly, and developed a sound that rapidly became the soundtrack of everyone's 80's. Pretty amazing how the genre-bending music made such an impact with its blatant sexuality ("Jack U Off"), political content ("Ronnie Talk To Russia") and everything in between.


Prince had 5 Number 1's, 14 Top 10's, and will forever be remembered as The Artist Formerly Known As...


Prince.

Original Soundtrack "Everybody Wants Some"

Brian Eno and Sugar Hill Gang on the same record?


I can't buy it, even if it comes from the same era!


I promised myself, when beginning this blog, that I wouldn't trash a record, in the interest of fostering peace in a confused world, but this POS album takes the cake. Hot Chocolate and Van Halen on a collection of songs from a period piece (the cousin to Dazed And Confused) leaves me smarting with pains of political correctness. I remember the era (I was in the first punk rock band from the town that spawned Jimmy Connors, Stag Beer and Uncle Tupelo, fer crissakes), and to believe in punk meant that there was NO room for soul, R&B, heavy rock or disco in your LIFE, much less generic shitty classic rock (which this poorly-assembled montage resembles, to a degree) in your record collection.


It makes me realize how far down, culturally, we've devolved. This is nostalgia?


The prophecy Of Devo has been realized, Boogie Boy. Run to the toilet and comb your hair, in the immortal words of Frank Zappa's Disco Boy.


Boy, does this record suck. The songs are OK, the collection and juxtaposition of so many styles just hurts my sensibilities. That is what this particular era was built on, musical sensibilities, whether they be any of the stylistic elements chosen for this excuse to rummage through your past. It would be akin to shopping at a thrift store that has no turnover of merchandise, yet you find it necessary to hunt for bargains knowing you'll find none. I should find beauty in the idea of this collection, but the sheer number of songs and the lowest-common-denominator element ruins it.


The oil and the vinegar have separated in this mix, and it tastes like crap. Sounds even worse.