Track Listing

1. Dirty Mind
2. When You Were Mine
3. Do It All Night
4. Gotta Broken Heart Again
5. Uptown
6. Head
7. Sister
8. Party Up

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38982 in Music
• Released on: 1999-10-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
On this 1980 tour de force, Prince produced the template for most of his '80s albums: a mixture of lust and longing, synth pop combined with gut bucket rock and roll. Although this was his third CD, Dirty Mind was the one that truly established "When You Were Mine", which still ranks as one of his best songs, ever. The gender- and race-bending Dirty Mind was nasty and freaky--and you could dance to it. Still can. --Amy Linden

CD Description
DIRTY MIND is the most focused and uncompromising of Prince's early albums. In 1980, the Purple one wasn't a superstar,he was an undeniably gifted weirdo, sort of a funk/R&B ToddRundgren, composing, performing and producing everything himself. His singular vision combined a driving, spare R&B style driven by danceable drum machines, funk guitar and colourful synths, (a palpable new wave influence is also at work here) with a near-scandalous attitude towards sex. The unprecedently graphic lyrics of tunes like "Head" and "Sister" make rock & roll rebels of the past decades look like uptight puritans. Prince hadn't yet developed the panoramic production style that would define his greatest '80s album, but this leaner, more direct sound suits the visceral material well.

Customer Reviews

Scandalous in 1980...
Seemingly tired of the implied naughty sexuality of the first two albums Prince went all out to shock on his third, giving listeners an insight into his "Dirty Mind". Prince was clearly not going to be a MOR average artist.

From the suggestive album cover (Prince in bikini briefs against bed springs) he left the listener in no doubt to what the album theme would be...

And this proved the case. Aside from the political statement "Party Up" (Allegedly written by The Time frontman Morris Day), the anti-establishment "Uptown" and the tender ballad "Gotta Broken Heart Again", it was all sex fuelled relations from there on in. The synth-pop title track opens the album with a clear indication of his future manifesto. Sex would play big a big part of Prince's music for years to come yet.

Songs like "Head" (A story of ....) and "Sister" (...) set out to shock from the start. But when the music's this fresh and challenging who was arguing! Well the "Moral Majority" were for one. ;)

It was the Beatle-esque pop perfection of "When You Were Mine" that is my undoubted highlight and arguably his best song to date. It was later covered by Cyndi Lauper.

By very nature of the topics covered Prince limited his potential fanbase here. So although not as big a seller as the former more commercial based album, Prince declared his will to experiment and push boundaries dramatically.

Rough and raw sounding as it is, this remains one of mine and many other Prince fans favourite albums.

catch me on the right day...
...and I will herald this as one of my favourite albums ever. Certainly it's in my top 2 fave Prince albums.
Let's deal with the cover first shall we? What can I say, it's cheesy and somewhat dated, and the underwear is horrible, but yet despite these factors, it makes me frisky!
Then we get to the first track Dirty Mind, who can resist this naughty gem of perfection. This is the sort of track that I think should be played at weddings instead of that Celine and Mariah type rubbish.
When You Were Mine is a gorgeous little heartbreaker. Do It All Night brings us back to his favourite subject, whilst Gotta Broken Heart Again is another lovely, sad ballad, one of my favourite Prince ballads in fact.
Then we get to the last four tracks, which are all perfect!
Uptown, wow, this never fails to get me dancing, and the lyrics are fantastic.
Head, the best track on the album and a real contender for a top ten slot of all his songs. So sexy lyrically, but the music is equally good. Very funky. A real masterpiece.
Sister is pure filth, a little bit odd, the lyrics being very shocking in parts.
Then, finally, Partyup, another cracking dancey number. Again never fails to get my feet tapping and hips gyrating.
Take his advice people, give some money and buy yourself a Dirty Mind. I'm going back to gazing at the inside cover picture....

Greatest Hits
This really is a 30 minute tour-de-force. It has the lot - ballads, rock, funk work-outs etc. and should sound dated, given the instrumentation, but these songs are so,so good. By far Prince's most satisfying album; for any other artist this would be a Greatest Hits compilation.