Just read an article that was written 2 days ago, another pointless list, but the list was the worst follow up albums of all time and ATIWAD was listed as #4.

Amongst the list was Bob Dylan as well..

4. Prince - Purple Rain and Around the World in a Day (1984/1985)

Prince's Purple Rain is simply the greatest pop album of the '80s (yes, better thanThriller), a masterful combination of rock, funk, dance, new wave, and psychedelia, in which every song could be a hit single. Prince would follow this up with the more blatantly psychedelic Around the World in a Day, and though it contains my personal favorite Prince song, ("Raspberry Beret"), the rest of the album is far more self-indulgent and not nearly as captivating, especially when compared to the airtight genius of Purple Rain.

That is someone who is a fairweather fan

I agree actually. The album only has 4 songs that I like and the other half is wack!! Very disappointing follow up for me as well. I remember being extremely disappointed when I bought it in 85. Still to this day I only like Paisley Park, Rasberry Beret, America and Pop Life. The rest can be thrown away!!

OldFriends4Sale said:

Not a crazy sentiment. In context of the greatness of PR and 1999, its pretty fairly right on. There are two classic songs, a couple of interesting "experiments" and the rest mostly filler. Ladder and Temptation are dreadful.

Not a bad album, average. Obvioulsy contains classics like Raspberry Beret, Pop Life, and one of his best B-Sides ever, She's Always In My Hair and Girl...

It just was a total 360 turn from the sound Prince was establishing himself globally for, 1999 and Purple Rain album.

I understand he wanted to direct this artistic and musical expression difrerently from Purple Rain but he lost a lot of fans, I mean alot... Probably the most radical musical shift in pop history especially with an album with the magnitude as Purple Rain...

I agree with what they're saying.I was somewhat disappointed with ATWIAD when I bought it,too.It lacks the power and the urgency of the previous two albums.I like "Paisley Park" and "Pop Life",but I wasn't crazy about most of the other tracks.

1. Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline and Self Portrait (1969/1970)

Bob Dylan had always incorporated elements of country blues into his music throughout the '60s, but with 1969's Nashville Skyline, Dylan went full-on country and western with surprisingly excellent results; it's one of his breeziest and most straightforward albums. However, with his very next album, Self Portrait, Dylan took his new country sound in the completely wrong direction, recording a double album made up mostly of overproduced cover songs. I don't know about you, but when I listen to Dylan, I want to hear him sing his own songs, not covers.

2. The Velvet Underground - Loaded and Squeeze (1970/1973)

When Lou Reed quit the Velvet Underground in 1970 following the band's fourth album, Loaded, he left behind one of rock's most groundbreaking, consistent, and impenetrable discographies, and by all accounts, the story of the Velvet Underground should have ended right there. However, manager Steve Sesnick kept the band going for a few more years with bassist Doug Yule, who wrote and recorded another Velvet Underground album, Squeeze, almost entirely by himself in 1973. The pop sensibilities and transgressive qualities of Lou Reed's songwriting are sorely missed on Squeeze, which many don't even consider to be a legitimate Velvet Underground album.

3. Yes - Close to the Edge and Tales from Topographic Oceans (1972/1973)

The difference between Yes's Close to the Edge and Tales from Topographic Oceans is pretty much the difference between great prog-rock and boring, cartoonishly bloated prog-rock. Though the songs on Close to the Edge are lengthy, the whole thing comes in at a compact 38 minutes, and is filled with gorgeous passages and brilliant hooks that progressive bands too often neglect. The 83-minute Tales from Topographic Oceans, on the other hand, pretty much dispenses with the hooks, and sounds like a band trying to stretch one good piece into four side-long suites.

4. Prince - Purple Rain and Around the World in a Day (1984/1985)

Prince's Purple Rain is simply the greatest pop album of the '80s (yes, better thanThriller), a masterful combination of rock, funk, dance, new wave, and psychedelia, in which every song could be a hit single. Prince would follow this up with the more blatantly psychedelic Around the World in a Day, and though it contains my personal favorite Prince song, ("Raspberry Beret"), the rest of the album is far more self-indulgent and not nearly as captivating, especially when compared to the airtight genius of Purple Rain.

5. R.E.M. - Automatic for the People and Monster (1992/1994)

In the early '90s, R.E.M. briefly took a step back from their traditional rock band set-up in pursuit of a folkier, more organic sound, resulting in their mega-selling Out of Time and their gothic Americana masterpiece, Automatic for the People, the latter of which is easily one of the best of the '90s. Following Automatic, R.E.M. decided to plug back in, though the resulting album, Monster, is by far one of the band's weakest efforts, a monotonous haze of distortion with perhaps the most egregious overuse of a tremolo pedal in rock history.

6. Weezer - Maladroit and Make Believe (2002/2005)

The most commonly accepted Weezer narrative is that they released two masterpieces during the '90s, and then followed them up with a series of increasingly sub-par albums, but that's not entirely true. Weezer's fourth album,Maladroit, is their third and final masterpiece, a criminally underrated collection of riffy guitar pop gems that is as exhilarating as "The Green Album" was sterile and calculated. Weezer's fifth album, Make Believe, on the other hand, is where their sharp decline truly began, and when they began catering to a more mainstream pop audience.

emesem said:

Not a crazy sentiment. In context of the greatness of PR and 1999, its pretty fairly right on. There are two classic songs, a couple of interesting "experiments" and the rest mostly filler. Ladder and Temptation are dreadful.

Im sorry, Ill be good, this time I promise
Love is more important than sex
Now I understand, I have to go now
I dont know when Ill return, goodbye

ATWIAD was a deliberate left turn. Prince didn't like some of the audience he was seeing in the PR tour, particularly 12 year olds with their parents. He could easily have waited two or three years, collect songs and continue being a superstar by releasing PR II, but as much as he liked being a multimillionaire, he wasn't going to be an MJ and spend years selecting and perfecting a few tracks from dozens of recordings just to keep that 12 year old.

He was going for a smaller, more sophisticated audience. Everything until The Ladder is actually superb, even the Ladder has its charms but the end of Temptation is probably Prince's first real blunder on a record. He had weaker songs in great albums before but this one was cringeworthy -- too bad it scared away people older than 12.

The guy has a point.

I love ATWIAD but in commerical terms it wasn't a successful follow up to Purple Rain.

tobydavies said:

Well it is true, but that's looking at it from just one perspective. Prince deliberately made a different record to Purple Rain, it was a calculated choice.

Aerogram said:

Everybody's pretty cool with tracks 1-7.

.

Listening to it right now, The Ladder especially towards the middle/end sounds more than a little like the song Purple Rain. Similar tempo, similar style with Prince vamping lyrics over a repeating "everybody's looking for the answer.." The vocal effects (reverb etc) are very Purple Rain.

.

Temptation is the kind of experimental track we're supposed to love. Lots of Leeds at the end. What's the problem?

.

Basically this same conversation happened when I was 12, in the 8th grade, right after I had bought this on cassette. Some classmates and I were talking about it, with some kids disappointed that it wasn't an exact PR part 2. A girl in my class then wisely said, "Prince just gotta be Prince". True story.

NouveauDance said:

Well it is true, but that's looking at it from just one perspective. Prince deliberately made a different record to Purple Rain, it was a calculated choice.

NouveauDance said:

Well it is true, but that's looking at it from just one perspective. Prince deliberately made a different record to Purple Rain, it was a calculated choice.

That's true, Prince could have easliy made Purple Rain 2 Album with such tracks as 17 days, Erotic City, G-Spot, Another Lonely Christmas, Electric intercourse and so on but wanted a different sound.

Funny how people mention "a Purple Rain part II" as if this would have been a bad thing. Sorry but we are all the poorer for Prince getting bored with his signature sound so soon. (same can be said for the SOTT era).

Prince's musical ADD is perhaps more of a curse than anything else.

[Edited 12/31/14 12:00pm]

They don't like it because Prince turned into a major asshole after PR and did some pretty nutty stunts like ducking We Are The World and his Body Guards beating up people. His weird appearance at award shows with a rose and a strange look on his face.

It wasn't PR 2 and they hated that. Critics also have a bias against psychodelic rock.

emesem said:

Funny how people mention "a Purple Rain part II" as if this would have been a bad thing. Sorry but we are all the poorer for Prince getting bored with his signature sound so soon. (same can be said for the SOTT era).

Prince's musical ADD is perhaps more of a curse than anything else.

[Edited 12/31/14 12:00pm]

I'm not saying that, I just think Prince wanted to go in another direction.

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

Aerogram said:

ATWIAD was a deliberate left turn. Prince didn't like some of the audience he was seeing in the PR tour, particularly 12 year olds with their parents. He could easily have waited two or three years, collect songs and continue being a superstar by releasing PR II, but as much as he liked being a multimillionaire, he wasn't going to be an MJ and spend years selecting and perfecting a few tracks from dozens of recordings just to keep that 12 year old.

He was going for a smaller, more sophisticated audience. Everything until The Ladder is actually superb, even theLadder has its charms but the end of Temptation is. probably Prince's first real blunder on a record. He had weaker songs in great albums before but this one was cringeworthy -- too bad it scared away people older than 12.

I'm sure glad he was not concerned about 12 year olds, when I was a 12 year old or we wouldn't even remember his name now because by that logic, there would have been no Controversy, 1999 or Purple Rain.

I liked the whole album back then...and I still do.

Wow. #4 worst ?

Bullshit. Around the World in a Day is brilliant. With the B-sides "She's Always in my Hair" and "Girl" it's amazing. "Temptation" is part of the reason I will always love Prince. It took balls to put out one of the funkiest/rock songs ever made with "God" speaking to him. Still blows my mind

For me the songcraft and arrangements are more interesting and sophisticated on ATWIAD. The title track and Condition of The Heart are masterpieces. Raspberry Beret though I feel is overrated. Apart from the lovely strings figure it's just a cheesy, if catchy, pop ditty (albeit it was a "fun" song to play in the regular cover band gigs I did when I was younger).

PlusSign said:

Raspberry Beret though I feel is overrated. Apart from the lovely strings figure it's just a cheesy, if catchy, pop ditty (albeit it was a "fun" song to play in the regular cover band gigs I did when I was younger).

Although I feel that this is one track that has been played live once too often, I would strangely love to see him get tongue and cheek with the track by beginning with the same cough attack that was incorporated into the video and 12' version.

To the writer's credit, all the best tracks were left off the album. Not including She's Always in My Hair was lunacy.

I felt the same way when 1st hearing ATWiAD and it was mainly the 12" b-sides that kept my interest but now I have a better understanding of Prince's musical output and wouldn't change a thing.