ART OffICIAL AGE
| Prince
ART OffICIAL AGE
Art Official Age is the thirty-seventh studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on September 26, 2014 by NPG Records under a renewed license to Warner Bros. Records, marking the second collaboration of both parties since 1995's The Gold Experience. -wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
Musically, Art Official Age is all over the map—gloriously so, in fact—as though Prince is trying to cram a triple album into a single disc.
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Funkatopia
In all, ART OFFICIAL AGE delivers on all fronts. We just can’t give this album any less than 5 out of 5 afros and not because it’s a funk classic bringing to the altar a wealth of funk music offerings, but because anything less would be a travesty for this fantastic album.
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Rolling Stone
Prince’s genius remains intact, and as confusing as ever.
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The Telegraph
'delightfully nuts'
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Consequence of Sound
these songs all stand among the most exciting of the latter-day period he’s currently in
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The Guardian
the best bits are worth sitting through the less fantastic bits for
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Billboard
it's among his most imaginative albums since the '90s
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Paste
It’s a tribute to the escape of making art itself
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Slant Magazine
Art Official Age’s main takeaway is that His Royal Badness has started to make peace with being past his prime
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Medium
I see Art Official Age as unfurling in five thematic movements or groupings of tracks that as a whole could be called a sci-fi album, a post-disco electro-botic opera, a journey into the future with our guide who transforms from human into something else.
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Albumism
a uniquely new concept that feels classic and contemporary, all at the same time
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AV Music
Art Official Age, in particular, despite moments of turbulence, soars to great heights indeed
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Time
It’s as approachable as Prince has ever seemed.
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Rob's Wall of Music
The results prove that Prince should take chances like this more often.
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Complex
It’s rather driven by fluctuation of decades, moods, and maturity levels, not to mention genres.
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All Music
heavy on dance songs with rapped verses that don't feel informed by hip-hop and slow-burning soul that pulls the past into the present
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Music OMH
There are moments of genuine highs here that suggest a real return to form after 2010’s 20Ten album, where Prince’s ideas and creativity seem endless and his talent boundless. Yet, there are moments that seem wholly unnecessary, too.
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Rated R&B
ART is a welcome addition to his storied discography. While not quite up there with the best of his heyday releases – and honestly, whose albums are these days? – it is a triumph that reminds the world what drew legions of enthusiasts to the Purple One in the first place.
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Exclaim!
Prince's most complete, most consistent and most contemporary album in a minute
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Uncut
he’s still around; short of a tune, but the unique inhabitant of a purple planet all his own
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Glide Magazine
Art Official Age is flirting with being a late career complete renaissance for Prince and it just can’t quite get there
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The Fire Note
Prince has arisen from cold storage hibernation to rock a new generation.
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Pop Verse
The strong tracks are fantastic and the low-points are still solid, just not stand-out brilliant.
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The Way That He Sings
Art Official Age displays moments (mere flashes) of something great (‘Clouds’, ‘Art Official Cage’, ‘Time’) but nothing like the Prince that we hoped he would become during his deep middle-age years.
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Marcus A Maker
Space-themed funk concept album about the future, with trippy ballads at the end.
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Chimes
certainly has ambition, and it showcases Prince’s characteristic quirks, making it highly enjoyable
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NOTED
Art Official Age feels like he’s stripped off all the clothes he doesn’t need, soaked in a bath of organic essential oils, and remade himself in his own image: just more lithe, leaner and oozing sensuality
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Young Post
Prince gives us something fresh, fun, and relevant, proving that he's going to be around for a long, long time
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Reverb Online
defiantly for the true Prince fan as it is very challenging to listen to and is more of a concept at times than an actual album
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Louder Than War
Art Official Age is a collection of songs that will make you dance your rump off, scratch your head in confusion, feel unashamedly romantic and question your very own Godlike existence.
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411 Mania
a fantastically bonkers album
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Pop Matters
as Art Official Age plays out, it winds up being less of an introduction to a new generation as much as it is the treat for loyal fans
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Forge Press
Art Official Age includes a baffling array of dystopian lyrical quips
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Highway 81 Revisited
a tightly knit, charmingly zany and, most importantly, rhythmically captivating piece of work that just happens to fall into the latter portion of Prince’s lengthy career
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HITC
This is a far better album than you’d dare hope from the latterday Prince; Breakdown is a heavy, plangent ballad, while The Gold Standard just sounds like he’s partying like it’s 1999 all over again.
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Pop! Blerd
in a year with a lot of good albums but not very many great ones, it’s a highlight
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The Low Down Under
Sounds of 1980’s Shimmering Synth Pop In All Its Winning Glory Whilst Also Serving As Prince’s Most Radio Friendly Since Love Symbol!
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New Zealand Herald
Art Official Age is classic Prince, disjointed yet somehow silky smooth funk-pop, full of suggestive oohs and aahs to match the aching and longing evident in the lyrics and vocals, and painted early-80s all over.
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Pop Magazine
worth adding to the Prince collection
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Wilson & Alroy's Record Reviews
has its share of gems and duds
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The Top 100 Canadian Singles
The songs are space-age, cut-up and reassembled. It's actually quite a striking feat, and Prince shows how these techniques can make excellent music too.
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You Nerded
This is what it feels like when music is ahead of its time, this is what happens when music is so richly filled with gravity that it holds you in place.
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Renowned for Sound
Add to this another decade’s worth of recording technology through which to funnel a sharply honed sense of musicality that precious few other individuals will ever possess and you’ve got a pretty damn great record start to finish.
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Reviler
He’s as petulant and sarcastic as ever, and it’s fantastic.
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Entertainment Weekly
runs on unadulterated id, maniacally leaping between styles and genres
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Dead Shirt
Art Official Age is many things at once. A funk album bombarded by cosmic rays and mutated into something else. A semi-autobiographical sci-fi concept album about love and partying in the twenty-teens. A mess.
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Big Live Acts
Musically the album is fine although it does not break new ground, it follows rather than leads.
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The Gizzle Review
it’s an average funk-rock track
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On Record
Its great vocal sections, piano and guitar riffs and drum machines are offset by Arabian-style string sections, raps and voice modulation which the album could have done without
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Save Our Soul
The music of the “Art Official Age” album is pure “FunknRoll” don’t miss it.
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KRUA Radio
Art Official Age is definitely an experience
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Chitobakamo’s Weblog
Every track from this album offers different genre that is great for your hearing pleasure.
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Myriad Muzik
Art Official Age, is riddled with stylistic flourishes that would sit perfectly within any decade or genre of your choice
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Entertainment Voice
the hits make it all worth it
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Soul Head
For those that think his only connection to his salacious, eclectic, wildly creative days are his live shows, with “Art Official Age” he’s still got it.
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