Chaos_and_Disorder

<i>Chaos and Disorder</i>

Chaos and Disorder

1996 studio album by Prince


Chaos and Disorder is the eighteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on July 9, 1996, by Warner Bros. Records. The album reached number 26 in the United States—his poorest performance with an album of new material since his debut album For You—and number 14 in the United Kingdom.[11] Prince refused to promote the album, still engaged in his fight against his Warner Bros. contract, and it was released simply to fulfill his contractual obligations.[12] The inlay sleeve carries the message: "Originally intended 4 private use only, this compilation serves as the last original material recorded by (love symbol) 4 warner brothers records - may you live 2 see the dawn".[13]

Quick Facts Chaos and Disorder, Studio album by Prince ...
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The single "Dinner with Delores" was released in the United Kingdom only, and despite the low-key promotion, became a Top 40 hit, albeit a minor one by his previous standards. Despite having been out of print for years, the album was released digitally on Tidal in 2016, and on iTunes in 2018.[14] It was reissued on CD and vinyl in September 2019. The inlay sleeve shows a bloody hypodermic needle with a dollar bill inside it, and a human heart sitting in a toilet bowl.[13]

Production, release and re-appraisal

While Prince insisted that the album "was done very quickly", and that they were "seeing how fast and hard we could thrash it out", more than a third of it dates back to sessions for The Gold Experience and Come.[15][16] It also marked the return of Rosie Gaines, who sang on five songs, and Michael B. and Sonny T., in what were to be their last sessions as regular New Power Generation members. A re-appraisal of the album after Prince's death lauded it as "a rocker with moments of some of Prince's finest guitar playing."[17] Another described it as a "tightly-focused, grunge-oriented rock-funk collection" where "the grit and punch of the musicianship is what gives the album its overall raw edge".[18] The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau wrote in his review that, "anybody expecting a kissoff or a throwaway radically underestimates his irrepressible musicality. Apropos of nothing, here's a guitar album for your earhole, enhanced by a fresh if not shocking array of voices and trick sounds and cluttered now and then by horns."[2] At the time of its release, Prince told the Los Angeles Times: "I was bitter before, but now I've washed my face. I can just move on. I'm free."[15]

Warner Bros. contract

"We've come to a point where we feel that if he's happier somewhere else, we don't have any beef with him."

Bob Merlis, senior vice president of publicity at Warner Bros.[15]

After Chaos and Disorder it was 18 years before Prince released another album on Warner Bros., 2014's Plectrumelectrum, under a deal which gave back Prince control of his masters, the absence of which on his original contract had been a source of considerable acrimony.[19]

Track listing

All songs written by Prince.

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Singles

Charts

More information Chart (1996), Peak position ...

References

  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Prince: Chaos and Disorder Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  2. Christgau, Robert. "Prince". robertchristgau.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2014. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  3. Browne, David (July 26, 1996). "Chaos and Disorder (1996): Prince". Entertainment Weekly. No. #337. Time. ISSN 1049-0434. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  4. "Prince: every album rated – and ranked". The Guardian. April 22, 2016. Archived from the original on December 2, 2022.
  5. Perry, John (July 6, 1996). "TAFKAP - Chaos and Disorder". NME. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  6. "Prince - Chaos and Disorder CD Album". CDUniverse.com. Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  7. Hardy, Ernes (August 22, 1996). "Prince: Chaos And Disorder". Rolling Stone. No. RS 741. Wenner Media. ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on October 2, 2007.
  8. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (Revised 4th ed.). Firefly. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8.
  9. Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Rock (1970s)". tomhull.com. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  10. "Chaos and Disorder". www.goldiesparade.co.uk. Goldies Parade. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  11. Prince, "Chaos and Disorder" (1996)(2019 reissue), CD inlay sleeve
  12. "T.A.F.K.A.P Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  13. "On Second Thought… Prince, "Chaos and Disorder"". May 2, 2016. Archived from the original on June 14, 2018.
  14. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 225.
  15. "Austriancharts.at – The Symbol – Chaos and Disorder" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  16. "Ultratop.be – The Symbol – Chaos and Disorder" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  17. "Ultratop.be – The Symbol – Chaos and Disorder" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  18. "Listen – Danmarks Officielle Hitliste – Udarbejdet af AIM Nielsen for IFPI Danmark – Uge 29". Ekstra Bladet (in Danish). Copenhagen. July 21, 1996.
  19. "Dutchcharts.nl – The Symbol – Chaos and Disorder" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 1, 2016.

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