The following review of the single Man O' War (from Rave) was in the March
25, 2000 issue of Billboard:



The Artist Formerly Known As Prince

Man O War (3:56)

Producer: Prince

Writer:

Publisher: Emancipated Music, ASCAP

Arista 3830 (CD Promo)



Despite an avalanche of label support for The Artist's debut album on
Arista, "Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic", radio turned its nose up at the first
single "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold" - for the sole reason that the
material was not particularly compelling. It's the same story with the
follow-up single "Man O War", which retreats back to The Artist's recently
favored Stylistics vibe, mixed with a sound and instrumentation similar at
times to his hit 1989 duet with Sheena Easton, "The Arms of
Orion". Unfortunately, because of the long and winding verse lines, it
takes some time to get to the chorus, and even then, there's no valid hook
to hang on or to sing along with. The melody's slow and sulky, despite
some nice touches with guitar, bass and trumpet. All in all, "Man O War"
is an album track at best; if Arista considers this the second-best song on
the album, it's fearful to think what may come next. Disappointing.
Despite an avalanche of label support for The Artist's debut album on
Arista, "Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic", radio turned its nose up at the first
single "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold" - for the sole reason that the
material was not particularly compelling. It's the same story with the
follow-up single "Man O War", which retreats back to The Artist's recently
favored Stylistics vibe, mixed with a sound and instrumentation similar at
times to his hit 1989 duet with Sheena Easton, "The Arms of
Orion". Unfortunately, because of the long and winding verse lines, it
takes some time to get to the chorus, and even then, there's no valid hook