Publication: Q-Notes [UK]
Date: July 27, 1996
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Title: "Disorderly Conduct"
Reviewed By: David Stout

"Chaos and Disorder" (Warner Brothers), the new album by The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, packs all the power of an alien death-ray from _Independence Day._ Rocking like never before, he closes out his stormy 18-year relationship with his label on a high that would constitute a career peak for many artists.

The former Prince has turned career rebellion into a cottage industry of late, wearing the word "slave" on his cheek during public appearances, railing (to anyone who will listen) against the corporate confines of the recording industry and, most noticeably, changing his name to an unpronouceable symbol. While all this posturing has occasionally overshadowed the music, it has also stoked a fire under the artist's feet which, ultimately, has redeemed him from several years of creative floundering.

Turning his frustrations into aggressive, lively rhythms, the former Prince delivers an eclectic set that veers between hard rock, blues, power pop and urban.

The overwrought, slick productions of much of his 90's output has been replaced with a gritty tension that grabs you from the opening cut, "Carjack used to fix flat tires / Cadillac used to be a Benz / Big joint never gotcha higher / Freebase cost U in the end / I'm just a no-name reporter and I wish I had nothing to say / Looking thru my new camcorder / Trying 2 find a crime that pays / I get hit by mortars everwhere I go I'm loitering / Chaos and disorder ruling my world 2 day."

Including the volatile title track, this album contains, on the whole, the artist's strongest material this decade. "The Same December," a song about spiritual growth and vision, has a hook that would make Mike Tyson envious. When he rocks out on the chorus, U only know what U know / U only see what your heart will show / U only love when your soul remembers / We all come from the same December / And in the end that's where we'll go / So let's go," you'll be clamoring to board his celestial bus. Other high points include "I Like It There," "Zannalee" and "Dig U Better Dead."

Like any great work, "Chaos and Disorder" also takes risks. "Right the Wrong," which is being harshly dismissed as "Prince's country song," charts bold new territory for an artist who has been almost everywhere on the musical map. The song does contain elements of country and western, but it takes the listener to a place that is as close to New York as it is to Branson, MO.

Chaos and Disorder" closes with a farewell kiss-off to Warner Brothers called "Had U." The last two lines of this 90- second, poison-tongued commentary linger long after the eerie mellotron-induced drone has quieted. "F*ck U / Had U" the artist intones. Any questions?

This album merely reaffirms my long-held contention that the former Prince is head and shoulders above his contemporaries. In the future, when musical historians put the artist's work in context, the material from "The Warner Years," will stand any musical catalog created during the 20th century.