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Prince - Art Official Age
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AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Prince returned to Warner Bros. Records in a big way in 2014, settling a 15-
year feud on terms that were decidedly in his favor. He acquired the rights to
his masters, agreed to a series of deluxe reissues, and released two brand-
new albums, one recorded on his own and one recorded with his backing
power trio 3rdEyeGirl. Art Official Age, the album credited to his lonesome,
finds Prince reveling in many of the sounds of the '80s, reviving his Bob
George and Camille voices, dabbling in deep electro-funk on "What It Feels
Like," indulging in a full-fledged freakout on "Funknroll." Despite all these
winking allusions to his past, Art Official Age feels of piece not with the
Revolution but rather the New Power Generation: underneath the squalls of
guitar, psychedelic soul harmonies, and impish humor, this is a full-fledged
R&B album, one that often echoes Diamonds and Pearls. Like that 1991
record, Art Official Age is 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. Some of Prince's modernization feels a bit ham-fisted -- he turns
the Internet meme "This could be us but you playing" into a slow jam -- but he
leaves all his millennial flirtations at the margins of the record, grounding it in
old-fashioned notions of seduction and soul. If the album doesn't offer any
startling surprises along the lines of the furious "Black Sweat" -- there's not
much abandon here -- there's joy in hearing Prince embrace his lyrical
eccentricities as he accessorizes his smooth jams and coiled, clean funk with
such oddities as laser blasts and spoken introductions from what appear to be
British nurses. Such quirks may be fleeting but their presence is enough, along
with such fine songs as "Breakfast Can Wait," to elevate Art Official Age
above 20Ten and other pro forma latter-day Prince records.
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Artist...............: Prince
Album................: Art Official Age
Genre................: Funk / Soul, Pop
Source...............: CD
Year.................: 2014
Ripper...............: EAC (Secure mode) / LAME 3.92 & Asus CD-S520
Codec................: LAME 3.82
Version..............: MPEG 1 Layer III
Quality..............: Insane, (avg. bitrate: 320kbps)
Channels.............: Stereo / 44100 hz
Tags.................: ID3 v1.1, ID3 v2.3
Information..........: http://www.allmusic.com/album/art-official-age-mw0002731049
Ripped by............: Grad58 on 9/29/2016
Posted by............: Grad58 on 9/29/2016
Included.............: NFO
Covers...............: Front Back
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Tracklisting
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1. Prince - Affirmation I & II [00:37]
2. Prince - Affirmation III [03:24]
3. Prince - Art Official Cage [03:38]
4. Prince - Breakdown [04:01]
5. Prince - Breakfast Can Wait [03:52]
6. Prince - Clouds [04:31]
7. Prince - Funknroll [04:05]
8. Prince - The Gold Standard [05:50]
9. Prince - This Could Be Us [05:09]
10. Prince - Time [06:46]
11. Prince - U Know [03:53]
12. Prince - Way Back Home [03:02]
13. Prince - What It Feels Like [03:50]
Playing Time.........: 52:43
Total Size...........: 123.71 MB
NFO generated on.....: 9/29/2016 5:56:55 AM
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