Art Official Age

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Art Official Age
Art Official Age.jpg
Studio album by Prince
Released September 30, 2014
Recorded 2013-Spring 2014
Genre R&B, electro-funk
Length 53:16
Label NPG, Warner Bros.
Producer Prince, Joshua Welton
Prince chronology
Plectrumelectrum
(2014)Plectrumelectrum2014		 Art Official Age
(2014)		 HITnRUN Phase One
(2015)HITnRUN Phase One2015

Art Official Age is the thirty-seventh studio album by American recording artist Prince.[1][2] It was released on September 30, 2014 by NPG Records under a renewed license to Warner Bros. Records, marking the second collaboration of both parties since 1995's The Gold Experience.

Prince also released the long-awaited album Plectrumelectrum, with his all-female touring band 3rdeyegirl, simultaneously.[3][4]

Commercial performance

Art Official Age debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 and sold 51,000 copies in its first week.[5] In its second week of sales, the album dropped to number 22 on the chart, selling 15,000 copies, bringing the total to 66,000 copies.[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 3/5 stars[7]
The A.V. Club A–[8]
Chicago Tribune 3.5/4 stars[9]
The Daily Telegraph 4/5 stars[10]
Los Angeles Times 4/4 stars[11]
The Observer 4/5 stars[12]
Pitchfork Media 6.5/10[13]
Q 2/5 stars[14]
Rolling Stone 3.5/5 stars[15]
Slant Magazine 3/5 stars[16]

Art Official Age received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 70, based on 24 reviews.[17] In his review for the Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot said that it is "a more substantial and stranger album" than Plectrumelectrum.[9] Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times called it "an exquisite Prince R&B album",[11] while The Daily Telegraph's Neil McCormick said it is "a slick, seductive electro funk sci-fi concept album".[10] Kitty Empire was favorable toward Prince's use of digital production in her review for The Observer and called it "a far better album than you'd dare hope from the latterday Prince".[12] Billboard magazine's Kenneth Partridge said Prince is "funnier, sexier, and more self-aware than he's been in ages" and that the album is his most creative since the 1990s.[18]

In a less enthusiastic review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that Art Official Age is a "full-fledged R&B album" in the vein of Prince's work with the New Power Generation, but some of his "modernization feels a bit ham-fisted".[7] Q magazine was more critical and dismissed it as "an overlong, pan-generic concept album",[14] while Jon Pareles of The New York Times said its songs lack memorable melodies despite the "musicianly ingenuity" of their production. Pareles added that it abandons the concept established by the album's first few songs and interludes, which have Prince "waking up from suspended animation 45 years from now".[19] Robert Christgau cited "Breakfast Can Wait" and "FunknRoll" as highlights in his review for Cuepoint, facetiously remarking, "our greatest composer-performer of romantic nu-funk erotica wakes up 40 years later wishing he was Janelle Monae".[20]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Prince. 

No. Title Length
1. "Art Official Cage"   3:41
2. "Clouds" (featuring Lianne La Havas) 4:34
3. "Breakdown" (featuring Andy Allo[21]) 4:04
4. "The Gold Standard"   5:53
5. "U Know"   3:56
6. "Breakfast Can Wait"   3:54
7. "This Could Be Us"   5:12
8. "What It Feels Like" (featuring Andy Allo) 3:53
9. "affirmation I & II" (featuring Lianne La Havas) 0:40
10. "Way Back Home" (featuring Delilah) 3:05
11. "FunknRoll (Remix)"   4:08
12. "Time" (featuring Andy Allo) 6:49
13. "affirmation III" (featuring Lianne La Havas and Delilah) 3:27

Charts

Chart (2014) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[22] 15
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[23] 8
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[24] 18
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[25] 21
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[26] 3
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[27] 4
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[28] 20
French Albums (SNEP)[29] 6
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[30] 3
Italian Albums (FIMI)[31] 9
Japan (BillboardJapan200)[32] 16
Japan (Oricon Album Chart)[33] 6
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[34] 17
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[35] 2
Scottish Albums (OCC)[36] 9
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[37] 9
UK Albums (OCC)[38] 8
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[39] 1
US Billboard 200[40] 5
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[41] 1

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Prince – Art Official Age". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Prince – Art Official Age" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  24. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Prince – Art Official Age" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Prince – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Prince. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  26. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Prince – Art Official Age". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  27. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Prince – Art Official Age" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  28. ↑ "Prince: Art Official Age" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
  29. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Prince – Art Official Age". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  30. ↑ "Top 40 album DVD és válogatáslemez-lista – 2014. 40. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Prince – Art Official Age". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
  35. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Prince – Art Official Age". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  36. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  37. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Prince – Art Official Age". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  38. ↑ "Prince | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  39. ↑ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  40. ↑ "Prince – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Prince. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  41. ↑ "Prince – Chart history" Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for Prince. Retrieved October 9, 2014.

External links

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