Prince

July 25 - August 1, 1 9 9 6 [Off the Record]

**1/2 Prince

CHAOS AND DISORDER

(Warner Bros.)

In this latest turn, Prince is a rocker, toning down the Dionysian impulse, replacing synth with electric guitar, and burning away the sentimentality that marked "Purple Rain" and "When Doves Cry." It's also a sharp 180 from the New Power Generation's dance-friendly fluff, but he hasn't gone as far back as the nihilistic, bare-faced honesty of Sign `O' the Times. Instead, he sounds funkier and harder, injecting his rant against the world with wonky feedback and guarded screams of discontent.

The hardcore edge is partly tongue-in-cheek. With "I Rock, Therefore I Am," he undercuts growling vocals with rasta rap and plenty of scratching. But his new anger and general annoyance leave little room for the usual erotic undercurrents; "I Like It There," though sexual in content, lacks the raunchy voice and gaspy guitar that fueled his best work. There's a disclaimer on the CD booklet; Chaos and Disorder was spit out quickly to finish a dying Warner Bros. contract, and the haste shows in the album's inconsistency. The power ballad "I Will" falls flat. And the attempted philosophizing of "Dig U Better Dead" is hackneyed, canned rebellion.

-- Rachel Stokoe