ART OFFICIAL AGE
In 2014, Prince released two LPs simultaneously: the 3RDEYEGIRL collaboration *PLECTRUMELECTRUM* and this solo outing. Ostensibly a concept album about a man who wakes up 45 years in the future, *ART OFFICIAL AGE* is a sprawling, spacey R&B fantasia. While the techno beat and airhorns that adorn the playful “ART OFFICIAL CAGE” slyly wink at the era’s fascination with digital recording technology, the album is also a return to form: The slinky, funked-out stunner “CLOUDS” and the pop-ballad odyssey “BREAKDOWN” feel like classics from a bygone era.
Prince is back on Warner Brothers more than two decades after his bitter departure from the label, and he has two new albums in tow: one solo record, and one credited to his all-female backing band 3rdEyeGirl.
There are only two camps of people in this world: Prince apologists and Prince fault-finders. With the arrival of Prince’s new albums, Art Official Age and Plectrum Electrum, both sides are calling on their members to fall in line. As the reviews start pouring in, there will likely be loyalists who claim these albums…
When discussing the modern masters of studio wizardry, rock 'n' roll artists aren't usually a part of the conversation.…
A far better album than you’d dare hope from the latterday Prince, writes <strong>Kitty Empire</strong>
Art Official Age’s main takeaway is that His Royal Badness has started to make peace with being past his prime.
The Purple One’s discography rarely dipped below sublime sex-funk. We rank all 37 LPs from his polymathic 80s masterwork Sign O’ The Times to 2003’s saxophone-heavy N.E.W.S.