This is copy/pasted directly from my blog. Whose entries I copied from my notebook that I'm now keeping for my interpretations and analysises and such.

Here's "Around the World in a Day" first.

Feel: Carefree vibe throughout, escape from reality, good breath of fresh air.

Title track: sets the stage, ordinary, but a very nice way to kick things off. Could unite the album in that we're all the same around the world.
Paisley Park: ordinary, but continued escape from reality theme, probably at the bottom of my rankings.
Condition of the Heart: definitely need to look into more. The start was a little too long and didn't know if there were any vocals. Sounds like Prince after a breakup, same emotion as TB1's, more personal. It intrigues me
Raspberry Beret: continues carefree theme, brings back positivity
Tambourine: similar vibe to "Darling Nikki", Prince high on his "ego". Like it quite a bit.
America: Prince speaking his mind, speaking against "the man", interesting take, quite a bit of sarcasm. Good beat to it.
Pop Life: definitely one of the best, if not the best, its about living life to the fullest
The Ladder: PR revisited? Interesting concept he has going there, I'm intrigued-- check into more
Temptation: Prince's "ego" revisited. An outlier (no carefree vibe), but still fits well cuz its funky enough. It's a guitar-heavy piece (there had to be one right?). He finds the error in his ways at the end. Spontaneoity ruled in the last few minutes. A lot of unexpected turns. It had me laughing towards the end. Could have been left over from PR's time.

Primary ranks by Track number: 7>6>9>8*>4>3*>5>1>2
*= look more into
Not a bad track in the bunch.
2 thumbs up!

Here's my review for Come.

At this point, I was in my parent's car with their radio blasting towards the end... I think I had too many distractions to get the true "feel" of the album. But here's the track-by-track analysis I got.

Very different than what I thought. Not dark or angry at all, but sad in some places.

Come: one of the best tracks. Use of horns was incredible, he definitely put a lot of work into it. Very spontaneous, great start and sets the tone.
Space: ordinary, nothing too impressive about it. Sarts great, but falls kinda flat
Pheromone:sounds like 's work. Good beat to it. One of the better tracks
Loose: pretty good, but not too impressed with it
Papa: one of the sadder tracks, well done!
Race: good use of honrs, needs a few more listens, though. The other tracks kinda set me up for boredom.
Dark: sad track, took me a while to figure out, good use of metaphors, though
Solo: acapella, mostly. Sounds like Dark's continution. Definitely need to crank it up cuz I could barely hear him.
Letitgo: really liked it! The music portion was great and it goes with the overall theme, to cut loose and not be afraid to let it all out. When I listened to it, I felt like our minds came together (and I always look for that when I listen to Prince).

You can't really call Orgasm a song, though. I see why he ended it here cuz it rounds off/ends the title track.
Letitgo was a better end.

Side-notes:
* It lacks the shine of TGE, but I might need it to make more sense of the album... I'll have to see.
* Some of the songs blended together, kinda boring
* I feel like it needs A LOT more time cuz its a lot to take in.
* Doesn't sound like a different person the same TGE did the first time I listened to it.

Come, Letitgo & Pheromone were the best tracks... but Dark and Solo are very intriguing as well. I think Come was just a little bit too long cuz I got lost in it and it took me a while to readjust when Space came on.

I give it a B-.

Man. To me, those two records are so yin and yang. I hope you ate a saltine in between hearing the CDs.

Good to read your reviews. Glad you dug them.

So, moving on to Sign O' The Times... how you gonna give it three thumbs up?

squirrelgrease said:

haha...

I listened to ATWIAD before bed last night and to Come this afternoon.

I'll let you know when I do get SOTT... I want to focus on getting to know these two new ones first.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

First listens can be so much fun. You'll always remember where you were and how you felt.

squirrelgrease said:

Yep.

ATWIAD was a very good first listen. I felt like I understood it right away and got into it... I knew it'd be diff. from PR... but the feel of it is a very good one. And I liked how it got better towards the end.

I can't wait for more people to comment... I bet they've been holding their breath in anticipation, especially my thoughts on Come. Although, based on what I said, I'll be getting "you should listen to it more" a lot... but I know that I have to.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

It's Saturday night. Most people have lives.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

You read my mind! But seriously, I had similar feelings about Come when I first got it. I liked it, but like you said, it kind of blends together and can get boring. When I first got it, I only liked Pheromone, Loose, and Dark. With more listens, I grew to love all the tracks, except the non-song, Orgasm. Keep enjoying your new cds!

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

I think that the remixes of Space are better than the original. You should check out the maxi single. I think you would like the Universal Love mix.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

LOL Yup... You should listen to it more. Like Jess, Come didn't really hit me over the head on first listen but it has a viral aspect to it. Some albums you stick them in and love them to death at first but find 2 months later that you barely pick it up. Come was the opposite, where my opinion of it grew and before long I seemed to always have it in the stereo. ...and like you, Come, Solo and Letitgo are the ones that initially stuck out - Though, I've always thought Space was an incredibly laid back and sensual track.

They key to Come is in it's subtleties and cohesion, though. Where Prince took a bulk of the really commercial, glittery and 'hit you over the head' type songs from the recording sessions and plopped them on TGE in an attempt to make an impressive and pleasing album, Come holds the more intimate and personal material, imo... sort of like him saying "This is just what's in my head right now, I don't care if it makes sense to you."

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

listen again- imo, it's anything BUT ordinary.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

Ordinary, Bottom?!? but jmho.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

that's because it was written about the same person. Listen again and get back to me.

WOW! The first 3 songs on "Around The World In A Day" are friggin' fantabulous!!! Maybe you need to let those "soak in" a little.

"Come" (the album) put me in orbit from the very first listen...especially "Space." I can't listen to the title track without it. They seem like one giant suite to me. The "Universal Love" remix of Space is just as brilliant. Keep listening!

.....

DreamyPopRoyalty said:


of course we have!
[Edited 5/6/07 6:59am]

jess555ja said:

Space is my favorite of all Prince maxi singles.

It's good to get some comments.

Someone commented that some albums you get into after a while and some you get into them at first, but you hardly play them.
The 2nd case= 3121 for me.

Come definitely gave me a more "personal" vibe to it. Especially Dark/Solo...

I think the title track might have thrown me off a bit. I got so absorbed into it that it took a while to find my way out. Then again, I think I spent too much time thinking "ok, which song is this?"... it's awful lot to take in. TGE was the same way with me. I listened to it while playing a video game (i.e. a distraction), so I kinda lost sight of a bunch of the tracks. Come felt the same way, but it's left my curious.
Dark/Solo are so different than anything else I've heard. Heh, for some reason while listening, "Condition of the Heart" came to mind cuz it had that same vibe of loneliness/sadness.


Here's something else kinda scary and wrong. I listened to TGE yesterday and it reminded me of ATWIAD cuz it had the same theme. Prince speaking his mind and not caring who knows it.

ATWIAD was what I expected it to be. Heh, by the time I got to Tambourine, I was thinking "this is probably an album that's ordinary, there's nothing that jumps out"... lo and behold, it kept getting better. Tambourine-America-Pop Life were cool, especially Pop Life, fell in love with it. Cuz I felt at the same time, he was speaking to me.

Come-the song-is Prince's spontaneoity at the best I've seen in a while. But I think to get the jist of the other songs, I'll have to forgo it for a little bit. Although that's the title track, I think Letitgo really speaks the whole message of the album.

ATWIAD was the first Prince CD I bought. It's my all time favorite Prince album.
I'm glad to see that you enjoyed it so much. I remember the first time I bought it (which was about 3 years ago,when I began to get into Prince). I love Pop Life and Tambourine, and the title track is one of my all time favorite Prince songs. The album just flows so well. So does Come. I think Come is one of his best albums of the 90's.

purpleworld said:

Yeah, I definitely want to listen to ATWIAD again really soon.
I feel like it was exactly what I needed at the time. And its good to have an album with Prince being carefree and spontaneous.
I felt a little bad cuz I didn't get into Come much yesterday. It was at the top of my priority list when I bought it. I guess I gotta give it time, but I really want to like it. I want to listen to it cuz of the guilt... but maybe in a few days, I'll come back to it (minus the distractions) and come to like more of the tracks. Come, Letigo and Solo are the only ones that stood out from the rest cuz they were kinda diff. and exceptional at the same time.
But patience is most likely the key. After all, I came back to TGE after a lot of time passed and the rest is history. Hopefully I'll get myself to pick it back up within the week (I let TGE gather dust for nearly a month b4 I got into it)

ATWIAD is a classic P album, it takes some listening to though. Condition of the Heart is an absolute classic. The intro is divine and is important as it was the first song I heard that made be beleive P was a genius. We all know how good his guitar work is, but his piano work on Condition is extraordinary.

vinx98 said:

absolutely. The lyrics I'll have to look at (I want to read along while listening, but can't bring myself to do that).
That song & The Ladder are ones I gotta look into more and figure out.

Here are my latest thoughts on ATWIAD.

Title Track: sounded so much sweeter this time around. It stuck in my head for a longer time. The first 2 tracks encompass what the album's about (at least what I thought it was about b4 getting it).
Lengthy intro of "Condition of the Heart" is a transition from the alternate reality of the 1st 2 tracks into a personal and real place for Prince. Its pretty sad for him.
Raspberry Beret ends the "carefree" half of the album and starts the subplot starring "ego-tripping Prince"
It starts with Tambourine. It and "America" are Prince saying what he wants about whatever. "America" was more memorable this time cuz it kept echoing my head. It reminds me of PR's material... and melody sounds like it was borrowed from "sex shooter". I have a little nit-pick, Prince, cuz you make the state of the nation sound depressing or not good...
Pop Life: (the progression of tracks 5-6-7 is incredible) I feel like it hits home for me, that's why I'm so crazy about it. I love the back vocals.
The Ladder: holds a lot of mystery, I'm not quite sure what its about yet. It end the album as well as Temptation could. But it seems to carry the same message as PR & Gold, but with diff. words.
Temptation: rebellious Prince @ best. I love the last 3 minutes. It continues from Tambourine's state of mind for me. Makes me laugh when he's screaming. An outlier, but it still fits cuz its Prince thinking he can get away with anything. But his conscience is trying to limit him here. Its quite the interesting phenomenon, definitely worth looking it.

Dark is one of his best songs, IMO - I agree with what ppl say about Come being a sleeper album (i.e. it doesn't jump out at first but grows on you over time) and you're right about it being too much to take in and the title track being never-ending (like this sentence) and leading to a loss of listener focus.

ATWIAD OTOH was amazing go-to-woe from the word go. However, that was listening to it back in '85. Fascinating to hear your thoughts now.

wasitgood4u said:

Yeah, I heard that ATWIAD wasn't received too well. I guess cuz people were expecting another package of 80's material heavy in guitar like Purple Rain. It doesn't immediately jump out as being similar to it, but later on, some of the same elements are there.
When I got to Raspberry Beret the first time around, I was thinking, "this is gonna be an album where the material is par and nothing extraordinary jumps out"... then came the progression of tracks 5-6-7... that blew me away.

At present, my 3 favorite tracks are Pop Life, ATWIAD and Temptation. They're the most unique and they jumped out. I'll have to read into Condition of the Heart and The Ladder more to get the gist of them.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

At it's heart ATWIAD has pop/rock roots just like PR.

A lot of the 'psychedelic' feel, I think, is partly due to Prince allowing measurable outside input on the album - for the first time publicly (or at least acknowledging it publicly). There's a whole lot of Melvoin and Coleman (Wendy and Lisa's family) influence on the album.

*The title track was originally written by David Coleman and really sets the tone for the whole album
*the strings on Pop Life were composed by Wendy & Lisa
*David Coleman, Jonathan Melvoin, Susannah Melvoin all feature on select tracks providing 'exotic' instruments and/or vocals.
*America is a complete band effort
*etc

It's, also, interesting to note that ATWIAD was for the most part recorded PRIOR to PR becoming a huge blockbuster so it wasn't actually the case of Prince just feeling free to go off on a tangent because of his success. It was a real artistic stretch that would completely payoff on Parade.

jtfolden said:

I had a feeling that'd be true. And in tracks like ATWIAD, Paisley Park, Raspberry Beret, and The Ladder, I did get that "'psychedelic' feel"

haha, in the case of your last comment, Parade definitely has to come next, doesn't it?

ATWIAD exposed a part of Prince I knew was there, but never got to see (or hear) first hand before. And I really like the person he is in this album (even if he is ego-tripping in Tambourine & Temptation, but all is forgiven.) It's part of his charm and its a remainder that he's not 2-dimensional... :gasp: his music might even be 4-dimensional, no wonder I like it so much.
He really pushed the envelope with a lot of things and also put a lot of work into some of the songs. Temptation is one of the most spontaneous/thought-provoking things I've seen him do and a lot of work went into "Condition of the Heart", its pretty obvious how much his heart was in it.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

Yes, the psychedelic aspects of ATWIAD were part of the common critical comments upon release as there was a general feeling that was the trend in pop music during the mid-80's (I don't think that ended up being entirely true but... another topic ). So you combine the music with the cover/artwork and the Raspberry Beret video and it comes across as a really colorful effort.

The transition between ATWIAD and Parade is a quite steep learning curve, as well. Where ATWIAD is a pop record with tentative experiments and psychedelic frosting after the fact, Parade is built from the ground up as an eclectic mix that truly crosses boundaries and in no way can be considered a simple 'pop' album with Psychedelic, classical, folk, 70's style funk/R&B, even waltz music sharing space on the disc alongside European/French-inspired period pieces. In fact, many of the most enjoyable aspects of Parade seem to be a happy accident due to the experimental nature of the project rather than an outright intention. It all ads up to a very cinematic sounding experience.



Well both those songs are about sex and sex and a big ego pretty much go hand in hand with Prince for most of his career.

jtfolden said:

Thanx for the little insight into Parade. That should be an interesting thing to go through when it get it.


ego-tripping Prince... yeah, that was a part of him that I quickly became aware towards the beginning of my journey... but based on my albums, I've kinda steered clear of him... both intentionally & unintentionally... I guess cuz I didn't think I was ready for him just yet. Now that I'm a bit more familiar with him, I rolled with those two little punches.
It's funny... cuz he (the ego-tripper) returns in the track "Come"... but a bit "wiser" than he was before.
It's strange how its diff. the two worlds, ego-tripping Prince and the person we see today, are... he's changed so much. His material is still sexy, but he's a bit more calm & level-headed about it. But there's a certain appeal to each of the two worlds...

heh, based on hear-say, I didn't think I'd like ATWIAD as much as I do. It's great to have something new and different, new discoveries to make and such.

I'll keep u guys posted on it.

squirrelgrease said:

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

Well, I honestly don't think he's changed *that* much internally but his current beliefs have put a restriction on him (or at least his public side). Someone from inside his camp has said if you get him a little drunk, the old Prince comes out.

I just read thru the lyrics of "Condition of the Heart"...

it really sounds like Prince is in love at this point... but then again, he also said that Mayte was his soulmate and look how that turned out...

I wanted to cry after reading it cuz of the choice of words he used... they carry so much feeling with them and I feel like I could feel the way he felt.

I can't wait to listen to it again and start learning the words and such... I'll get so much more into it.

Still, it's kind of a sad reminder that Prince never found the one. But at the same time, that's probably just his fate. Music is his first love and it's hard to find that same relationship with another person.