Critical Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | link |
| Robert Christgau | C+ |
| Rolling Stone | |
Pirates was well received by most critics achieving a five-star rating in Rolling Stone, which featured Jones for a second time on the cover of the August 6, 1981 issue. The album also became a Top 5 US chart success, and remained on the UK album charts for three months without the aid of a major hit single.
The Age (Australia), Aug.6, 1981 - "On Pirates, Rickie Lee Jones executes a brilliant artistic leap which not only outshines her Grammy-winning debut album but establishes her as one of the most important singer/songwriters of the decade."
Stephen Holden writing in Rolling Stone concluded his review by saying "t's Rickie Lee Jones' voice that carries Pirates to the stars and makes her whole crazy vision not only comprehensible but compulsive, compelling and as welcome as Christmas in July."
Time (US), Jan.4, 1982 - Best of 1981 - "Tales of lovers, losers and wanderers, delivered with a bopster's inflection and the sidling sensuality of a carhop."
In recent years, Pirates' reputation has grown considerably, with British-based music magazine Word magazine proclaiming it as one of pop music's 25 Most Underrated Albums of All Time in 2005.
Read more about this topic: Pirates (album)
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