to be totally honest i do not like or appreciate it as an album, i think it's kind of bloated and the segues really fuck things. i think the production is also incredibly, incredibly dated in a way no other era of his really is, but i'n willing to look past that

that being said - some of the songs individually are great... clouds, breakdown, u know, gold standard comes to mind

'Breakdown' is the last great song that he wrote, and a way better song than anything he'd written for a long time. Wish he had produced it a little differently, but the song is so strong it still cuts through. Gets me every time I hear it, you can feel the pain in the vocal.

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'Art Official Age' is one of the worst and laziest songs he ever wrote. God what a turn-off to open an album with.

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I love Lianne Le Havas but not sure she fits here, she sounds a little embarassed, feels like she's just kind of being brave and going with Prince's suggestions.

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Other than that, I think it's the best of his later-period albums, one that I often come back to.

AOA while not a smashing success was the start of something new. It wasn't as predictable as the previous 10 years. He was making an effort to be a contemporary artist again.

The title track was interesting... Some "Get Loose!" vibes. I'd be curious to hear alternate versions. I haven't listened to it in years and don't really have any desire to. It sounds like a dance song, but it isn't really which is a shame. It ultimately falls flat.

Not particularly keen on "The Gold Standard" either. It's more cheesy than funky. "CrazyAmazing" is drunk uncle territory.

Quite like the rest of the album. Though admitedly, I feel the tracklist is more of a suggestion than something to be listened to front to back. I'll take songs and add them to playlists. I'm not listening to the whole thing. "Time" is a stone cold classic.

HitNRun 1&2 are much better IMO. Especially 2.

[Edited 6/6/26 13:02pm]

ShellyMcG said:

fishwillbite said:

NICKthebrick said:

Good album. I'd rank the songs as follows Time Clouds The Breakdown Way Back Home This Could Be Us U Know Art Offical Cage What It Feels Like Funk n Roll Breakfast Can Wait The Gold Standard

The first four songs you have listed here: Time, Clouds, Breakdown and Way Back Home are good songs. The others not so much in my book. The problem I have with this album, as opposed to others in the past, is that some of the songs I just can't listen to at all and I'm the type that likes to listen to an album all the way through. In this day and age of streaming I guess it doesn't matter so much. You can just download the ones you like. However, I wanted to give the album as a whole a chance because sometimes the sum is better than its parts.

FunkyStrange said:

FunkyStrange said:

I think I've listened to it once since the year it came out.. Might give it a spin now it's over a decade old 😂

So, "it's just an album", that's what you're saying?

There's a fanmade Art Unofficial Age version, which isn't all that bad.

with Alpha1999 mixes and mashups.

antonb said:

I really like it , still play it every once and awhile ! Damn site better than Plectrum Electrum. He’s choice to put a couple of the tracks on there like boy trouble , holy cow! What was he thinking !

Maybe influenced by the girls of 3rdEyeGirl.

(They don't mean all that much post-Prince. Ida Neilsen has solo work, which is OK, but that's about it.)

AvocadosMax said:

I’m gonna listen to ART OFFICIAL AGE from start to finish for the first time in a long time soon. With all the AI crap out there today, what are your thoughts on what Prince was talking about in this album? How do you rank the album today after all this time? I’d probably go: 1. Way Back Home 2. The Gold Standard 3. Breakdown 4. U Know 5. Art Official Cage 6. Clouds 7. Time 8. Breakfast Can Wait 9. This Could Be Us 10. What It Feels Like 11. Funknroll (other version is better) However it might change after revisiting

Chalk me up as "love it"

AOA took a long time to grow on me. I dig it now. I've always thought that with a few tweaks here and there that it could have been a greater album. In the long run I'm glad that he released it. I wish that there was more info on its creation.

While it has strong tracks individually, I always thought that, structurally, it never really worked as an ensemble, which isn't something I'd say about many Prince albums (the "concept" narrative also felt half-assed to me). I also wasn't convinced by the "hybrid" production values: following that same trend, HitnRun Phase One went all the way with the Josh Welton "I want to sound like what kids listen today" production and I thought it worked much better, while AOA doesn't quite yet know whether it wants to be "traditional" Prince or 2014 music. That said, I haven't listened to it in ages, perhaps my assessment would be different now. I really dig the cover art, but the De La Soul title rip-off was surprisingly unimaginative.

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What really surprised me back then, given the R&B sound and the attempt at sounding 2014-contemporary, is how well it was received by the (usually rather conservative, rather rock-friendly) fanbase. Prince took a lot of heat for his music at the time, so it was nice to see the community react in such a positive way for once