Imperial phase
Period of musician at their peak
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Origins
The phrase was coined by Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys to describe their feelings on their career circa "Domino Dancing" (1988).[3] It has since been applied by pop music critics and fans.[4] For example, the Uncut journalist Michael Bonner identified 1973–1979 as Pink Floyd's imperial phase.[5] While its original usage implied that an imperial phase was a one-time occurrence for a single artist, artists have been referred to as having multiple imperial phases.[1][6] The term may also be applied to non-musical entities, such as film studios.[7]
Criteria
The Pitchfork critic Tom Ewing described three criteria for defining an artist's imperial phase: "command, permission, and self-definition". He defined "command" as the 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; "self-definition" is the concept that the imperial phase defines the rest of the artist's career, and that future works will be compared to those from the imperial phase.[1]
