"Three years ago, with his album Purple Rain perched atop the charts and his movie of the same name racking up boffo box office, Prince appeared to be poised on the verge of some Great Statement -- some grand new synthesis of black and white musical forms, of sexual redefinition and spiritual devotion. He seemed, in short, to be about to put it all together. But in the wake of Purple Rain, he has drifted. . . . Whatever the case, with the subsequent Around the World in a Day and Parade, he has been backing away from that peak ever since. Now comes Sign o' the Times, and the Great Statement remains unmade."
Kurt Loder, Rolling Stone

Kurt Loder

One of the great tools in the history of modern music journmalism.

kurt is wack

I'm amazed Kurt THE LOAD Loder took precious time out from licking Madonna's ass to say or write anything about Prince.

Oh please..this was his opening to his classic Sign O The Times Rolling Stone review which he HAILED . He just said it missed making the grand statement that Prince seemed on the verge of making. Kurt Loder is fucking cool and always has been.

You guys should read the chapter on Prince in Kurt's book, "Bat Chain Puller". It's pretty old, but Loder gives the Purple One props. He's a pretty rational critic, for the most part,though I still wanna put my foot in his ass for trying to embarrass Jewel when she came out with her book of poetry.

Jewel's breasts are poetry

I was always kinda puzzled by that comment because,in that review,Kurt goes on to praise 'SOTT',giving it a rave review.So what exactly is the "great big statement" that he was expecting Prince to make?

DavidEye said:

Precisely - what statement is needed from a musician? IT is the classic syndrome of a journalist who expects something from an artist that simply doesnt exist. Its not that complicated. It just reads well if you are the writer.

I like Kurt. I just thought it was interesting that he was off base on SOTT - easily the one album that laid down the ground work for his undeniable genius