Underaprreciated, i think.

First, by the new fans he gained with 1999 and Purple Rain, and his fans who especially digged his 'funky' side (The Minneapolis side).

Second, by a good number of the 'serious music journalists' taking the lyrics and the psychedelic feel 'too seriously'.

When it comes to the first group, they are wrong. Both in the use of beats as the 'economily efficient' arrangements ATWIAD was a continuation of the things he tried out on 1999 and especially Purple Rain, putting more emphasis on the pop-elements of that album (Take me with you, Purple Rain) and the use of feedbackguitar and semi-classical elements (Computer Blue, When Doves cry).
ATWIAD Really isn't as sharp a division from the Minneapolis sound as lots of people made it out to be.

When it comes to the second group, i think did they mislead themself by the "superficial sheen" of the lyrics, i bet they made something out of it like: New musical superstar has seen 'fame isn't everything' and now he is going to look for true love and God.
Well, i think that Prince indeed used that "rock-cliché" as the main theme of the album, because he recognized elements of it in his own life, but he definitely didnt take it as seriously as the reviewers were making it out to be.
One of the most overlooked aspects of Princes music IMO is the use of humor: he often uses it to relativate "important messages" and to show he is not exactly sure about everything he sings about in his songs too.
I mean: listen to the looking for an "ideal" love in Condition of the Heart, and the painfull longing it brings, while "Tambourine" shows that even superstars have to masturbate sometimes, for some stress relief. And do you really think that Prince took himself all seriously in his utopian visions on "Paisley Park" and his conversation with God on "Temptation"???
Its exactly that selfrelativating humor and that postmodern approach of lyrical "hippie-clichés" that make this album more then a simple copy of late sixties psychedelic music.

As i see it ATWIAD offered him a way to, on a musical level, play around with his (psychedelic) pop-sensibilities.
On a lyrical level, it offered him possibilities to deal with the subject: "what next when you have scored big time?".

In that sense, ATWIAD is underappreciated. But in retrospect i agree with some music journalists who labelled it as 'a punk album', a personal, postmodern, not perfect, but bold statement just as 'Dirty Mind' had been before.

It's a brilliant album, the first time I played it I instantly felt connected to it.

i was about 16 back in then. i didnt like Temptation, coz i hated the way he said 'sexxxualll'. he made it sound so filthy. positively disgusting - of course i love it now along with all his screaming & heavy breathing & the way he says lust

FuNkeNsteiN said:

No Kiddin! Paragraphs are pretty damned friendly too! I really wanted to read that post, even tried, but just couldn't get through it.

The space bar is your friend, use it.

vinx98 said:

I can't believe that he would place a filler song like "Tambourine" on the album and use the superior "She's Always In My Hair" as a B-side Makes no sense.

Boy [= Girl backwards]

HamsterHuey said:

What the funk is that?

At the end of the song you might hear murmurs in the background, obviously female voices, but you can never make out what they say, right?

But if you play it backwards you hear a woman/women recite (not really sing) certain lines from the song from the female perspective; "Boy, I want you so"

HamsterHuey said:

Oh, okay. Now give me a cigarette!

It's a classic to me.

The first album I bought was Controversy, then of course Purple Rain conquered the world then... this odd, almost "artsy" album which seemed to separate the "men from the boys" as to whether you were really a Prince fan or not.

So many kids didn't "get" the album back then. It must sound different today to those hearing it for the first time.

PeaceandLoveCowgirl said:

It's funny you should put it like that, haha.
Don't think its necessarily fair to say that I passed the test becuz I liked it right away (loved it, in fact)... i mean I was kinda prepared for it and I heard it early on b4 I had a solid idea of who Prince was (opposed 2 now, cuz back then, I was still getting to know him). This is just like a whole other side to him.
They say that Purple Rain was the pinnacle of his reporteire... here, it's almost like he's starting over and trying to come up with a new sound. He's capable of so much, its almost as if he's challenging himself to be more than an artist who writes awesome pop or rock music. He wants to do EVERYTHING, and here is when he starts to push himself to the limit and start to see what he's really capable of as an artist. Of course, this all leads up to SOTT, which is where he supposedly defines himself and discovers who he is as an artist.

At least that's what I heard. I haven't heard SOTT yet, but in a matter of weeks, I will be able to make a more educated statement.

SoulAlive said:

it does make sense if you consider that he may write the song at a time when the album is already out. those were the days, i always say, back then the b sides were better than most of his albums.

I do love the whole album from the very first listening and I was just 13 years old then.
So, I never understood all the hate against it - tho I have a very freaky musical taste...

Show your love or shut up!