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Okay... let's talk about Prince for a second. We're not talking about Jehovah's Witness Prince. We're not even talking about Purple Rain Prince. No, we're going back, WAY BACK, to his third album, where he wasn't rocking purple suits yet but crazy jackets and thongs. Way back when he was standing naked or nearly naked at concerts and his music was considered the nastiest thing to ever come out of someone's mouth. Well Prince, you can take solace in knowing that some of your work is still that nasty. Dirty Mind marked a turning point in the Minnesota sound. Gone was the commercial sound of the first albums and here was the now experimental and overly sexual sounds of Minnesota's finest. Most of the production was done by Prince himself and if this didn't paint Prince as a sex symbol (or at the very least a musical wet dream for women (and certain men I suppose) everywhere) then it marked him as just plain creepy at times. Let's get into this short album's short review and try to stay kind of innocent throughout.

Prince comes out of the gate with Dirty Mind, which is about exactly what it sounds like. Prince talks about some of his sexual thoughts, almost like a sampler for the rest of the album. From here he gets into When You Were Mine, a stalker/coward/pathetic kind of track devoted to how even after breaking up with a woman he's still really into her. It's the detail of what the other guy was doing throughout the entire process that creeps me out. Do It All Night is just another anthem to sex; essentially Prince is talking about how he wants to do it all night long. Yeah, there's nothing hidden in that track, no hidden message or anything. He wants to have sex all night long, period.

The raunchy talk takes a little break with Gotta Broken Heart Again. It's the "I miss my baby" track. I'm not mad at that, not at all. But the sex comes back with Uptown. I like this track because it's not just some sex track as much as a vision of a personal utopia, something of a hedonistic society much like I myself want to create one day. And after this... *sigh*... okay, before I mention the next track allow me to explain how Uptown is kind of like a part one of a three part track. The two songs following it seem to blend with the feel perfectly and act as examples of this utopia. With that being said... *sigh* let's get into... Head.

Head is about exactly what it sounds like. Prince is trying to get a woman about to marry someone to have sex with him, and she consents to head. Wow. I can't make that up, and in my first time hearing this album I thought this was the nastiest you could get. Nope. The next track, Sister, blows that track's brains out (insert joke here) as he talks about an incestuous relationship with his own sister. No. This takes the cake as the nastiest song I have ever heard. Sorry Scarface. Sorry Brotha Lynch Hung. You two niggas gotta take note: Prince in his early days was a total freak, and God bless him, he was a great singer-songwriter at the same time!

We end the album with the track Partyup, which is a good way to bring the album to a close but a bit of a let down considering the three previous tracks. The music Prince brings to sound as a whole is more than innovative. It's just unbelievable. I remember there was a debate long ago about who was better: Michael Jackson or Prince. With Michael's passing I don't think such a question can ever be properly be answered by a large crowd, but me, considering Michael's evolutionary take to pop as opposed to Prince's revolutionary approach to music, hold Prince in a slightly higher regard. He's calmed down the sex talk now thanks to religion but he's yet to really lose a step; even has a sexy young protege I wanna turn into my Darling Nikki. Yeah, Prince crafted a monster with Dirty Mind, and after listening to it I can say that I'm just a little dirtier myself.

The DiZ Score: 5 out of 5