Prince (May 14, 1978) Nevada State Journal Reviews Prince’s Debut Album “For You”
- GlamSlamEscape
- May 14, 1978
- 2 min read
A brief, highly dismissive review of Prince’s debut album For You (Warner Bros. BSK 3150), calling it “not-so-royal music” and concluding it is “not worth looking into.”
Publication: Nevada State Journal Date: Sunday, May 14, 1978 Country: United States Location: Reno, Nevada Section: Entertainment / Album Review Page: 75
THE STORY
“This guy named PRINCE presents some not-so-royal music on ‘For You’ (Warner Bros. BSK3150). Prince has a so-so high voice and handles all the vocals and a lot of instruments. It’s sort of a R&B disco sound, and not worth looking into. . . .(Page 88)
CONTEXT AND NOTES
This is one of the earliest known published reviews of Prince’s debut album For You, released in April 1978. At age 19, Prince was still largely unknown nationally, and this Nevada critic was clearly unimpressed by his self-produced, multi-instrumental effort. Such mixed-to-negative early reviews were common before his breakthrough with the 1979 self-titled album and “I Wanna Be Your Lover.”
FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS
Event: Album review of For You Era: Pre-debut / very early Prince career (1978) Tone: Sarcastic and dismissive Photography: None in this clipping Visual Motifs: Short, blunt capsule review format typical of 1970s newspapers
WHAT THE CLIPPING SHOWS
Extremely early (and skeptical) critical reaction to Prince’s debut
Recognition of his high voice and one-man-band approach
The challenge Prince faced winning over critics in his first year on Warner Bros.
RELATED MATERIAL
This review predates all the 1980 tour coverage and the later Purple Rain era by several years — showing the very beginning of Prince’s recorded career.
For other relevant posts, see the tags at the foot of the page.
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