Track Listing

1. Chaos And Disorder
2. I Like It There
3. Dinner With Delores
4. The Same December
5. Right And Wrong
6. Zannalee
7. I Rock Therefore I Am
8. Into The Light
9. I Will
10. Dig U Better Dead
11. Had U

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39948 in Music
• Released on: 1996-07-09
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics

Amazon.com
Leave it to the artist formerly known as Prince to end his 18-year relationship with Warner Bros. Records by handing over a somewhat ragtag collection of tracks initially "intended 4 private use only." Who else would cast aside the elaborate wrappings of his previous release, The Gold Experience, in favor of a crude photo collage apparently cobbled together in one afternoon with the aid of a home computer and a color Xerox machine? And who else would assure that said album was actually a pretty good checklist of many of the things this frequent genius does best? Even when lyrics appear deliberately puerile ("Dinner With Delores"), Prince is often able to salvage the song with a cranked-up guitar (he plays a lot on these 11 cuts) or a catchy chorus. "I Like It There" is a metal-pop lust-anthem that's both slight and undeniable, the way "Raspberry Beret" was. ("More than I love my hair!" he exclaims in thrall to, presumably, wife Mayte.) "The Same December" takes a similar musical tack to extol the Book of Revelation theology that fueled past classics like "The Cross"; in a nod toward a more earthly deity, the vocal phrasing at song's end ("Uh, you only know what you know") is one of Prince's subtlest Hendrix tributes. Chaos ends with a big, lovely tease. Nearly orchestral guitars fanfare "Had U," which turns out to be less than a minute and a half long. Prince delivers a kiss-off note that, over this truly promising gorgeousness, turns out to be the most articulate and moving thing on the record. It's a frustrating ending, but one that trips you up. How mad, after all, can you get at someone who can summon those sounds, if only to drop them off in a cul de sac? This kind of nonclosure signals that Prince knows just how tossed-away, but listenable, Chaos and Disorder is. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

DIRTY MIND (Part Two)
"Dig U Better Dead" & "I Rock Therefore I Am" are the only funky tunes here. Mostly rock driven, sort of demented lyrics but I guess if you wanna piss a company off you've been with (for most of your career, not giving you creative control, defuncting Paisley Park Records, etc.) for the last time, go out with a bang. BANG!

DIRTY MIND PART TWO? "I Like It There", "Had U", "Zannalee", well? Remember "Head", "Do It All Night" and "Dirty Mind" the song? 1980 redone in 1996. DIRTY MIND was a better album but CHAOS AND DISORDER is no CHAOS AND DISORDER.

Prince And The NPG Fight The Power
It wasn't long after Prince exited Warner Bros,changed his name to
O(-> and released The Gold Experience did he begin to collect some of his "private music vault" for this album in 1996.Considering how well the same idea worked 15 years earlier with Dirty Mind he didn't see how it wouldn't work on 'Chaos And Disorder' and musically it did. Both albums have the one similarity of being Prince's more rock oriented music. Prince's style on the rock guitar is showcased throughout the uptempo songs on this album.The title track,"I Like It There","Into The Light" and "I Will" are extrodinary rockers.For those who enjoy more pop/rock the easy going "Dinner With Delores",with it's 70's soft rock feel will fit the bill nicely and it is actually one of his best songs of the period. The loud blues rock of "Zannalee" is not exactly typical of Prince but it challanges him as a musician.Don't think that just because this is often hyped as Prince "rock" album (which in many ways it is) Prince is his always eclectic self on the zesty funk-rock hybrids of "Right The Wrong","I Rock Therefore I Am" and "Dig You Better Dead"-all three of which are also some of his strongest songs.'Chaos And Disorder' is Prince's final "official" Warner Bros. album and presents some his most direct songs;most of these tunes are less then 3 and 4 minutes and have a very refreshing directness.One thing that anyone considering purchasing this should know is this was released during a very trying time for Prince-he was fighting with Warners,had the "SLAVE" tattoo on his face and the lyrics here are filled with a lot of bitterness and edginess.As with many of Prince's mid 1990's music it will certainly get your attention.But even I found myself revisiting it after all these years of thinking of this as one of Prince's weakest albums and maybe more people should do that.

A lot better than most contractual obligations.
At the time, Prince was embroiled in a very nasty battle with Warner Brothers Records. So, he handed over this album of music originally intended "for private use only" (whatever that means) in order to finally meet the contract (although WB would eventually issue another collection of unrelaesed material). What is surprising is that the album is far better than you would expect, or that Amazon's review indicates.

Prince here delivers music that is suprisingly accessible, straightforward and diverse. He's not nearly as eccentric or quirky as usual, but that's fine. As most everyone has pointed ot, the best thing about the album is that Prince's sometimes underrated rock guitar skills really come to the fore here. The powerhouse title track gets things going with a bang, Prince searing guitar perfectly complementing the angry lyric. Prince sexual preoccuaptions (although less blatant than usual)also get the hard rocking treatment in the next track, "I Like It There." "The Same December" also kicks butt.

However, the album is more tham just rock. "Dinner with Delores" is a charming, whimsical pop tune with an acoustic base. Southern soul shows up, suprisingly, in another stab at social commentary, "Right the Wrong". Blues-rock is featured in the sexy "Zannalee". The Artist's sprituality gets a beautiful showcase with the uplifting "Into The Light", starting with a gentle piano part before rocking it out again. Prince pretty much forgoes the hip-hop of his most recent albums, with the one exception of "I Rock, Therefore I Am", which might sound like an egotist manifesto,
but actually sounds like Prince is delivering it entirely tongue-in-cheek. It goes on a bit too long, but it has Prince's usually solid musical base, an amusing rap by the NPG's Tony D. and great vocals from Rosie Gaines.

The album takes a positively vicious turn at the end with the jittery funk of "Dig You Better Dead" and the dark, classical sounding "Had You." They sound like kiss-offs to an old girlfriend, but could also be interpreted as giving the big middle finger to WB...

Anyway, while this album, certainly doesn't have the scope of the those from his classic period (from "1999" to "Sign of the Times"), it has a lot of what made those albums great, with none of the annoying filler that occasionally would drag them down. Unfortuantely, being the last album of his contract, WB wasn't motivated to promote it, and Prince himself had moved on by the time it came out, so it was a commercial failure. So, it's out of print, which is a shame. Anyone who enjoyed the best of Prince's 1980's work will like this strong collection.