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: #88485 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

Don't be fooled by the hype
Just because Prince announces in the liner notes that this album is a collection of songs he merely gave WB to fulfill a contract doesn't mean they're not good. They may be outtakes, but Prince is/has always been a fantastic musician, so these aren't just some songs lying around after his latest albums.

Very much in the style of Emancipation and Gold Experience, this album is rich with various influences and styles. Not much too experimental, but you can tell when you listen to this album that Prince is making these songs without trying to please an audience.

When I learned of this album, I definitely wanted to check it out, as I'm a huge fan of Prince's 90's catalogue (and I'm probably one of few who prefer this period over Purple Rain; this period, to me, is when Prince starts doing just what he wants).

Songs like the title track and 'I like it there' surround and play off of heavy guitar work. We don't get to see this side of Prince often, so I think these few tracks are pinnacle pieces for any Prince fan.

Fused with hip hop beats and sparse guitar influence are tracks like 'I Rock...' and 'Dig U Better Dead', the latter one of my favorite Prince tracks. These songs are extremely catchy and may go further into a more trip hop-esque realm.

'Right The Wrong' and 'The Same December' are among the slower guitar-oriented folk tracks. It's obvious Prince had something to say with these tunes. I personally don't care for them, as they have somewhat of an annoying country western twang to them. I would have taken off one star for these few tracks, but their lyrics hold up for themselves.

Altogether, if you like 'Crystal Ball', or GE, you'll enjoy this album. It may not be very cohesive track by track, giving it a more compilation-like feel, but I still feel very strongly toward the whole piece. Just ignore what negative and positive things people have to say about this CD, and just get, because the only way you'll know if you like/understand it is to hear it all the way through.

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.