Controversy
continues in the same vein of
new wave
-tinged
funk
on
Dirty Mind
, emphasizing
Prince
's fascination with synthesizers and synthesizing disparate
pop
music genres. It is also more ambitious than its predecessor, attempting to tackle social protest (
"Controversy,"
"Ronnie, Talk to Russia,"
"Annie Christian"
) along with sex songs (
"Jack U Off,"
"Sexuality"
), and it tries hard to bring
to a
rock
audience and vice versa. Even with all of
's ambitions, the music on
doesn't represent a significant breakthrough from
, and it is often considerably less catchy and memorable. Nevertheless,
's talents as musician make the record enjoyable, even if it isn't as compelling as most of his catalog. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine