Imperial phase

The imperial phase is the point (or span of a few years) in which an artist is regarded to be at their commercial and creative peak simultaneously.^[1] Critic Tom Ewing described three criteria for defining an artist's imperial phase: "command, permission, and self-definition".^[1] He defined "command" as an artist's ability to push the boundaries of their medium in a way that produces lasting change. "Permission" is the public's goodwill toward and interest in the artist's work. Finally, "self-definition" is the concept that the imperial phase defines the rest of the artist's career; future works will be compared to those from the imperial phase.^[1]

The phrase was coined by Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys to describe the period between the release of their album Please in 1986 to the release of the single Domino Dancing in late 1988.^[2] After a sequence of number one singles it only peaked at number 7. Tennant later said: "...it entered the charts at number nine and I thought, 'that's that, then - it's all over'. I knew then that our imperial phase of number one hits was over."^[3]

Examples

• The Beatles, from A Hard Day's Night (1964) to All You Need Is Love (1967)^[4]
• Michael Jackson from Off the Wall (1979) to Bad (1987)^[4]
• Bob Dylan, ca 1963-66 ^[5][6]
• Pink Floyd, around Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and Wish You Were Here (1975) ^[7]
• Madonna circa Like a Prayer (1989) and "Vogue" (1990)^[4]
• Lady Gaga circa “Bad Romance” (2009)^[8]
• Taylor Swift circa 1989 (2014)^[9][10]
• Beyoncé circa Lemonade (2016)^[11]

See also

• Zeitgeist

References