i often see comments on forums about 'prince wasnt recognised by the critical establishment' (loose variations include how was he not recognised for being a great guitarist/performer/whatever')

maybe.

depends on the year and the album.

but critics sometimes get stuff wrong.

led zeppelin were shit on by lots of rock critics.

i think black sabbath were too.

they are still massively popular.

princes critical standing def fluctuated over the years, like happens with most artists.

but in the last decade or so, i think even he said he wished critics were less worshipful, as he never seemed to get a bad review, he entered the revered heritage act phase of his career.

but the guy sold millions of records

millions!

he sold millions of tickets!

millions!

why do people care what the 'establishment' thinks of prince?

[Edited 5/10/21 3:56am]

Well, let's see, he came from nothing. If that ain't 'underdog' then I don't know what is.....

[Edited 5/10/21 13:21pm]

[Edited 5/10/21 13:21pm]

He was a man of color in the world of popular music striving to build his own diverse musical contnet in that realm at a time when the advocacy for such things was and remains scarce.

>

His messages were not always supportive of the traditional narrative of things: sexual--as he could be sensationalistic in that regard; religious--with his melding of the sacred and the profane and the contradictory conservatism that he later embraced; and social--always looking to break down established silos of perception and of status-quo.

>

He assumed a very unpopular stance toward the established musical entertainment industry complex.

>

He willingly took on ridicule for changing his name to a symbol for presumably self-indulgent reasons.

>

He was an odd duck who was easily marginalized and sensationalized by the mass media.

>

What did I miss?

Prince generally got mixed to bad reviews for his WB (original stint) years. Perhaps Dirty Mind, Purple Rain, SOTT were the only ones that got some good reviews-yet still mixed reviews.

Prince was a common punchline between about 1996 and 2004.

jaawwnn said:

Prince was a common punchline between about 1996 and 2004.

yeah, for sure, in that period, he was routinely mocked and shit on.

but before that?

idk.

seemed like he was often misunderstood, but still got his due, overall.

kewlschool said:

Prince generally got mixed to bad reviews for his WB (original stint) years. Perhaps Dirty Mind, Purple Rain, SOTT were the only ones that got some good reviews-yet still mixed reviews.

mixed to bad? you sure?

most albums get 'mixed' reviews, to some degree.

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

jaawwnn said:

Prince was a common punchline between about 1996 and 2004.

yeah, for sure, in that period, he was routinely mocked and shit on.

but before that?

idk.

seemed like he was often misunderstood, but still got his due, overall.

Yes that sounds about right. He was underrated as a guitarist on lists for a long time, until he wasn't. Some fans are just never happy I guess.

At the end of the day, should you care about what critics or the general public think about an artist, album, movie, etc. you like?

.

The older I get, the more I think that, no, you shouldn't care. If you care, it probably tells more about your own insecurities than anything else.

.

I'm still interested in knowing what critics/people think when I want to discover new stuff, because time is limited and I don't have the time to listen to all artists out there (or watch all movies), but then I will try to find "aggregate data" (Metacritic scores or others). I don't really care about what a single person thinks, unless I know and respect her/his opinion.

[Edited 5/11/21 5:59am]

i check out critics reviews for recommendations, esp for old music. how else to know what to get?

prince did so many things, its prob impossible that he would get his dues for everything.

but if you check out reviews from the periods, they are never completely terrible.

i think ATWIAD is the only one that got dubious reviews from critics, mostly in america though. everywhere else, people got it.

[Edited 5/11/21 8:15am]

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

kewlschool said:

Prince generally got mixed to bad reviews for his WB (original stint) years. Perhaps Dirty Mind, Purple Rain, SOTT were the only ones that got some good reviews-yet still mixed reviews.

mixed to bad? you sure?

most albums get 'mixed' reviews, to some degree.

Yes, because I was a huge fan and would read them and think -did they listen to the album? I was always shocked how bad the reviews where. Most of them where bad because it was to sexual or not purple rain in sound etc. The reviewers just didn't seem to understand Prince's music.

ufoclub said:

Darn, you beat me to it.