dodger said:

Mark me down as saying Blackstar is waaaaayyyy overrated

Genesia said:

njemelbourne said:

I could be alone in this thought but I consider Art Official Age to be his final masterpiece.

With absolute classics like the incredible Breakdown, Clouds, Way Back, Time and This Could B I think he really put the effort into this album and he was back in form which made his passing even more tragic. It sounded like he was getting his mojo back...

I don't count the Hit and Run's to be anything but compilations BTW...

You are not alone - I agree.

I agree as well. The HNR albums are great but they're just a remix album and a complilation of stuff that's been floating around loose for years. Love it or hate it, AOA is a strong final statement. It's a coherent meditation on life and death every bit as satisfying as Bowie's Blackstar. If Prince had died two days after AOA came out, the media would be talking about that record the way they discuss Blackstar.

Blackstar is fantastic, but it's developed this whole mythology after Bowie's death that has both elevated the album in popular public opinion and drags it down as it's now impossible to separate the music from the biography.

purplerabbithole said:

Blackstar was super acclaimed. But Hit and Run Phase II and Art Official Age did not get bad reviews either and charted half way decent for a man in his 50's. Bowie's later albums weren't always that successful either.

As for the acclaim for Blackstar, his death gave the album additional importance because a lot of the music seems linked to his knowledge of his upcoming death. Prince's hit and run phase II was not a disliked album but it was a relatively light-hearted and optimistic album.

Shawy89 said:

Not trying to criticize his later albums, I know a lot of Prince folks here dig the HITnRUN albums, Art Offical Age, Plectrum Electrum...

But look at David Bowie, for instance, in 2013 he released The Next Day which was a good album by normal standards, but then before his death he dropped Blackstar which is hands down one of the most brilliant pieces of music released this decade.

I just wish Prince was more careful about the nature of his body of work during the later stages of his career, there's a reason why those albums weren't critically acclaimed or successful in the charts, it's not because he (allegedly) wasn't relevant or old, maybe they weren't that attractive, that stimulating...

I'm sure his vault contains some pretty solid material that can be rightfully and properly compiled into a great album... ya never know...

To defend Blackstar, a lot of the glowing reviews came before he died.

njemelbourne said:

I could be alone in this thought but I consider Art Official Age to be his final masterpiece.

With absolute classics like the incredible Breakdown, Clouds, Way Back, Time and This Could B I think he really put the effort into this album and he was back in form which made his passing even more tragic. It sounded like he was getting his mojo back...

I don't count the Hit and Run's to be anything but compilations BTW...

I was saying that AOA was Prince's late period masterpiece for the last couple of years. AOA to Prince is what Midnight in Paris is to Woody Allen

bankdata said:

TrivialPursuit said:

It's taste, preference, not solid fact.

I'd say this is what I find somewhat sad. While there's no such thing as solid fact, "taste" and "preference" are irrelevant to some extent. What gets interesting is analysis and perspective. Confronting "tastes" and "preference" endlessly is sterile because save saying "I see where you're coming from" it simply annihilates the possibility of debate and ends-up in 10 pages-long threads where nothing, or least very little, has been said in the end. No one has learned anything, no one has changed their mind. Scarier is the confusion between "tastes" and "solid fact" people make when they say "Song X is good" or "Song X is mediocre", instead of saying "I like Song X" or "Song X does nothing for me". Even worse is when this comes from people who say "I've listened to Song X once 15 years ago and never again because it sucks" or new fans making judgement on an album they've heard for the first time today, after a listen or two. Obviously one needs to submerge themselves a little more than that in a record or song before being able to say something relevant, either positive or negative, about it. That's the reason why I've always tended to refrain from posting my opinion about new albums in the immediate days or even weeks after they were released, I wanted to wait until I actually had had time to "get to know them" before commenting them.

Possibly.

Just the other day YouTube recommended me ´June´, a track that I didnt listen to in a long time, and, after listening to it, I thought how cool it would have been if Prince closed his career with such an introspective song like that, being the last track of the last album.

Already had it called AOA. Hope we get to hear Black is the New Black too.

[Edited 2/18/17 7:07am]

Guitarhero said:

Already had it called AOA. Hope we get to hear Black is the New Black too.

[Edited 2/18/17 7:07am]

- If I could choose, I would rather have this one released before the old outtakes we already know.

lynx said:

Mark me down as saying Blackstar is waaaaayyyy overrated

Didnt listen to it yet (what a shame), but, at least, Bowie tried his best. Hired great musicians, wrote deep lyrics and the cover art is simple, but cool

Shawy89 said:

lynx said:

Mark me down as saying Blackstar is waaaaayyyy overrated

log off

donnyenglish said:

Piano & Mic tour was his final masterpiece. In terms of albums it was AOA. In terms of songs it was Black Muse.

Are they going to release any of the shows in auio as he stated before he passed?

mbdtyler said:

In all fairness, Bowie knew he was close to the end and that allowed him to put everything he had into making one last masterpiece. Even if Bowie wouldn't have passed away right after its release, Blackstar still would have been a fantastic set of music, but crafting it into his farewell to the world elevated it into a beautiful and bittersweet work of art.

I can only imagine what Prince would've created if he had been in Bowie's shoes

agreed

TKO said:

Art Official Age is a masterpiece.

And i love Hit N Run albums, maybe AOA would be a better close to his career.

agreed

njemelbourne said:

I could be alone in this thought but I consider Art Official Age to be his final masterpiece.

With absolute classics like the incredible Breakdown, Clouds, Way Back, Time and This Could B I think he really put the effort into this album and he was back in form which made his passing even more tragic. It sounded like he was getting his mojo back...

I don't count the Hit and Run's to be anything but compilations BTW...

I completely agree with your assessment of AOA. Even though HITANDRUN albums feel like compilations of songs PHASE 2 for me REALLY stands out as one of his best efforts because of songs like BLACK MUSE, BALTIMORE, GROOVY POTENTIAL, BIG CITY and REVELATION. Many of these songs (for me) stack up to many of his classics.

lemoncrush19 said:

I may be the only one but I consider every single album he did as a masterpiece. of course since he switched musical genres like no one else there might be the ones I love more and those I love less. and there are some that needed their time to grow on me and I to grow on them. but he gave everything he had to give at every moment throughout his whole career.

I just wished ppl could stop complaining and criticizing but focus on all the masterpieces he gave us instead.

AMEN !

Shawy89 said:

Not trying to criticize his later albums, I know a lot of Prince folks here dig the HITnRUN albums, Art Offical Age, Plectrum Electrum...

But look at David Bowie, for instance, in 2013 he released The Next Day which was a good album by normal standards, but then before his death he dropped Blackstar which is hands down one of the most brilliant pieces of music released this decade.

I just wish Prince was more careful about the nature of his body of work during the later stages of his career, there's a reason why those albums weren't critically acclaimed or successful in the charts, it's not because he (allegedly) wasn't relevant or old, maybe they weren't that attractive, that stimulating...

I'm sure his vault contains some pretty solid material that can be rightfully and properly compiled into a great album... ya never know...

Yes! I'd love to hear DAWN.

chrisslope9 said:

lemoncrush19 said:

I may be the only one but I consider every single album he did as a masterpiece. of course since he switched musical genres like no one else there might be the ones I love more and those I love less. and there are some that needed their time to grow on me and I to grow on them. but he gave everything he had to give at every moment throughout his whole career.

I just wished ppl could stop complaining and criticizing but focus on all the masterpieces he gave us instead.

AMEN !

I could not have said it better, lemoncrush19. For some, it was never enough from Prince, even now. It's sad.

after careful consideration....."Stare" was his final masterpiece

[Edited 2/20/17 19:43pm]

RJOrion said:

after careful consideration....."Stare" was his final masterpiece

[Edited 2/20/17 19:43pm]

And Revelation

Genesia said:

njemelbourne said:

I could be alone in this thought but I consider Art Official Age to be his final masterpiece.

With absolute classics like the incredible Breakdown, Clouds, Way Back, Time and This Could B I think he really put the effort into this album and he was back in form which made his passing even more tragic. It sounded like he was getting his mojo back...

I don't count the Hit and Run's to be anything but compilations BTW...

You are not alone - I agree.

Same here.

Masterpiece? Very cool to see the love for "Art Official Age" (above)


HnR Phase 1 and Art Official Age - both albums are excellent, yes no joke I love both, imho =

I have a big problem with HnR Phase 2 though, so many boring-bad songs on this release...

thedance said:

rogifan said:

thedance said:

I have a big problem with HnR Phase 2 though, so many boring-bad songs on this release...

thedance has said that about hnr phase 2 a Million Days eh i mean a million times

[Edited 2/21/17 12:16pm]

He did. The song "June".

thedance said:

I have a big problem with HnR Phase 2 though, so many boring-bad songs on this release...

.

- I love the ´soul´ part of it, but IMO, he could have left songs like ´Screwdriver´ and ´Rock and roll love affair´ out. It would be cool to have the full-length guitar solo version of ´Baltimore´ as a bonus track

[Edited 2/21/17 17:58pm]