I've made my opinions about Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic public here before, but it appears I am in the vast minority in proclaiming that I adore this record. Perhaps it is was the timing of its release, but it really resonated with me at the time. Yes, it is a grab bag of styles, but I think there are a great many top notch songs on this album.

The title track remains one of my favorite songs of all time. The synth-guitar crunch just gets me going!

"The Greatest Romance Ever Sold" took awhile to grow on me, but once it did, I got lost in its lush beauty.

I find "Hot Wit U" to be quite fun for dancing. Nothing exceptional, but a catchy pop track.

"Tangerine" is such a colorful gem. It is sad that it is so short, but its melancholic feel and sonic glow are a real highlight.

"So Far, So Pleased" is a perfect example of pop/rock to me. The melodies are instantly catchy, the guitars are on fire and the palpable energy between Gwen and Prince take it over the top.

"The Sun, the Moon and Stars" is a beautiful showcase of Prince's sweet side. One of my very faves.

"I Love U, But I Don't Trust U Anymore" is one of his very best heartbroken ballads. His vocals are so vulnerable and his pain is so tangible. Love it.

"Strange But True" has that quirky synth touch that recalls the vibe of early 80s Prince quite well.

"Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do" contains some of his simplest, yet sweetest lyrics to date. It may be cheesy, but a little cheese now and then never hurt anyone.

Please tell me I'm not COMPLETELY alone in appreciating this album. It has quite a few detractors here, but I'll stand up proudly in support of this underdog.

promisekept said:

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who enjoys it! Thanks!

Rave isn't a bad album but it just sounds a little dated or whatever after awhile. I can still listen and enjoy it but over time it doesn't sound as fresh.

Love2tha9s said:

The production is indeed very pop, but I like a good pop record from Prince every few years.

Here's my review:

Hindsight too often plays a role in an album’s reception. Throughout the 90s, Prince (or The Artist Formerly Known As Prince), battled to stay relevant to a music market increasingly intent on packaging and re-packaging trends at the expense of musicianship and artistry. Prolific as ever, Prince pumped out album upon album of overlooked gems and missed opportunities. For some reason, quantity was now a barometer for quality and unmet commercial expectations precluded critical acclaim. The album that represents this the most is 1999’s Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic.

Issued with the support of a major label and Clive Davis, who masterminded Santana’s reemergence in 1999, Rave came with a lot of expectation. Rumors of collaborations with several major artists were confirmed with appearances by Eve, Chuck D., Gwen Stefani, Sheryl Crow, Ani DiFranco and Maceo Parker. Weekly spur-of-the-moment performances at Paisley Park created a buzz around Prince again. Interviews and spotlights in magazines and TV shows rare for an artist of Prince’s mystique were commonplace. A live broadcast of a concert entitled “Rave Un2 the Year 2000,” where Prince was to perform his anthem “1999” for the last time was planned and executed. Could this be the album to resurrect a commercially gasping career?

No. Missteps in promotion that plagued earlier albums of the decade likewise plagued Rave. A lush, extravagant video for the lead-off single, “The Greatest Romance Ever Sold” was shelved until months after the single release. Rumors of a second single never came to fruition. A market filled to the brim with adolescent juggernauts of style over substance apparently had no room left for an artist in his 40s. Initially positive reviews of the album (often called his best in many years) turned sour as Rave was dubbed a flop.

All of these failed expectations distract from the fact that this is a fun, quirky and diverse album. The first song, “Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic” is a leftover from 1988 and was planned as the title track of an album to follow Lovesexy. A synthetic funk workout, complete with mechanical beats, a hypnotic Eastern-tinged guitar riff and some screeching, passionate vocals set the stage. Other robotic offerings such as the irresistibly weird “Strange But True,” the playfully lustful “Hot Wit U” and the creeping, ominous “Undisputed” conjure the glory days of Minneapolis funk. “Prettyman” sees Prince lay down the brass funk in self-mock mode (quite unusual for him) in the vein of “Movie Star.” Most playful of all, however, is the searing rock of “So Far, So Pleased.” Prince and Gwen Stefani share flirtation and innuendo over a punchy backdrop. This is what pop-rock should be. Soaring melodies drift above some THICK guitars. Had this been released as a single, the fortunes of this album would have likely been much different. Other pop gems include the stealthily seductive “The Greatest Romance Ever Sold” and the shimmering “The Sun, the Moon and Stars.”

Rave isn’t all fun and games. Much of the record offers answers to his bitter divorce with Mayte. The over-produced “Man o’ War” is classic Prince “You done me wrong” balladry, but it can’t touch the similarly themed “I Love U, But I Don’t Trust U Anymore.” A stark, haunting piece featuring piano and Ani DiFranco’s acoustic guitar, the song slowly builds with increasingly vulnerable vocals that depict the despondent tale of unrequited love and false accusations. Elsewhere, the painfully short “Tangerine” is a colorful, melancholy highlight, the likes of which had not been seen since “Starfish and Coffee.” Later, the anthemic “Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do” offers reassurance and an effortless melody ripped off and watered down for Lenny Kravitz’s megahit “Again.”

Free from the harsh lens of a society with its ridiculous demands and expectations, 1999’s Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic offers something that Prince had kept hidden for a long, long time- an album that is at times fun, confessional, funky and relaxed. It succeeds in being quirky but accessible, sprawling but not over-reaching. There is no grand message here, nor is there interminable excess- Prince plays all of his cards on one disc here. And above all, the album is undeniably Prince. Had this album been released in 2004 like the similar but lesser Musicology, it would have benefited from a much more favorable musical climate.

Great album. I'm with u on that.

Pretty man is the greatest. Should have been the first single not a hidden track.

i like Rave.

Man O War is a classic

I like anything Clare Fischer lends his hand to.

I love it, especially

Beautiful Strange
Man o War
Pretty Man
Undisputed

Count me in



So the 8 orgers who like Rave have already showed up

I like this album. So mutch better than Come, C & D , NPS. One of his best albums in the 90's.

I enjoyed Rave...especially the song, Prettyman. But at times, it sounds like he's pandering to consumers. Oh and personally, I would be happy if Prince never featured rap on a song again.

See, you're obviously not the only one!

That said, I really don't like it. There's just something really desperate sounding about it to me, like he wanted a hit sooooo badly, he completely overproduced everything and wrote these very "classic Prince" lyrics that so tried to fit a mold, that they didn't leave any room for actual personality. It's the same way I feel about 3121, honestly, and it's why I prefer Musicology to either album.

I mainly see it as a wasted chance. Some of the songs on this record are absolute classics imo! "Eye love you" (outstanding!!!), "The sun, moon, stars" (great pop), "Tangerine" (touchingly melancholic!), "Baby knows" (what a great rock song), "Wherever you go" (great guitar pop-rock). The rest is still very good to good to solid, but the album as a whole is spoiled by some decisions that just ruin its overall flow imo:

1. The studio version of "Rave" just doesn't do it as an opener for me - too lame! It also feels displaced on the record as it sounds too much like "old outtake". He should have re-recorded it in a style similar to the Small Club version from 1988 (fantastic), maybe as a live band recording, with some heavy guitar on it. There you have an album opener!

2. "Undisputed" suffers from uninspired production and arrangement. Not exactly a strong song itself, it could have gained something by using distorted vocals and some strange guitar noise, for example. The "opera interlude" is just plain stupid!

3. TGRES is not bad, it just absolutely doesn't work as a single imo.

4. The tracklisting is bad. It takes ages for the album to take off (first four tracks too lame).

5. Why, oh why, didn't he include "Beautiful strange" on the In2 version?

6. Why is "Prettyman" a hidden track? It's funky as hell!

Some changes to this record, and it could have been a classic!

It's ok, but not that special.

The titeltrack rocks though!

The album simply has too many flaws. While it does contain some interesting material, too many of the songs have very conventional production and arrangements.
Let's review :

1. Rave on 2 the Joy Fantastic : annoying arrangement that ruins a once semi-legendary Prince song with a minimalist overinsistent arrangement that sucks the life out of the idea and irritate the hell out of you.

2. Greatest Romance : overeager attempt at a hit record. The Adam and Eve thing is too abstract -- the way Prince sings in this song is so earnest and yet what he's singing about is... just not very inspiring. Nor inspired.

3. Undisputed : Again, it's hard to relate. Prince doesn't need to brag, and this overbusy arrangement and gimmicky production is certainly not the track to do it.

4. Hot Wit U : another paint-by number Prince song. There is nothing here that is compelling or seductive. It's like it was made with a Sexy Prince Funk template.

The next few songs -- save for Every day is a winding road -- are good songs. They are the real meat of this album -- Tangerine, So Far, So Pleased, Man O War, Eye Love U but... Only this last song is a truly great Prince song comparable to his best work in the idiom, but the rest are just good, solid Prince. Nothing to sneeze at, just not among his best.

Baby Knows could have been great but the melody and the production keeps it in the B range pop rock songs, subpar Cream department. Prince tried too hard to be accessible.


The rest of the album (until Pretty Man) is dogged by conventional poppy production, particularly Silly Games. Whereever U go almost gets there -- this is precisly the kind of Prince song someone like Wendy and Lisa could have made fascinating with a far more inspired arrangement, in the tradition of Strange Relationship for instance. Instead we get this sterile airtight poppy thing.

Then comes Pretty Man, the obligatory JB homage. One day Prince will be able to issue those in a Prince does JB package and critics at large will realize that, far from being mere JB pastiches, they are an essential component of what makes Prince "Prince". Prince needs to step into the spirit of James Brown, and thank goodness he does so with great panache, as he does in this excellent closer to a very uneven and often irritating reocrd.
[Edited 3/18/06 13:37pm]

I have loved Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic ever since it came out back in 1999. I quickly jumped on this album after watching the sexy, The Greatest Romance video. I used to play it everytime in the summer, but the disc wore out, and I'm glad that I found a new copy last year because this gem is out of print now. The album does have a couple of weak tracks like Baby Knows, Prettyman, Strange, But True and Hot Wit U, but those kinds of tracks don't stop the momentum of the album. Prince shows all his cards on this album: from pop, R&B, and funk to classical, jazz, and techno. The title track is a underrated funk cut, and it reminds me of the material he did for Sign O The Times. Undisputed might be a little too egotistical or even weird, but it's a killer hip-hop/soul joint. But my favorite track on here would have to be the emotional, Tangerine (too bad it's short)! Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic was an incredible and underappreciated "comeback" for Prince, even though I didn't think it was a great idea for him to do what Santana did, which was switch to Arista Records. The record, itself, is one of the best he did in the 90's alone and it's one of my personal favorites.

I like almost every Prince album. I thought Rave was fine and can't understand when people complain about minor things. The album had some filler on it but it also had some great songs which I've always maintained, showed the vulnerability of Prince, the sincerity of Prince, which you cannot really say for most of his music. He was hurt in some of these songs and he also dropped the Prince act at certain points and that's nice. Problem with Prince is, he releases too much music, even if it is all great people are going to get tired of it. Commercially, there is no way he can be what he once was and so people point to sales and say "see it wasn't any good" which is not any real criterion to go on.

I like a lot of it.
[Edited 3/18/06 14:55pm]

I love Rave.

Strange But True on blast is hot. I Love You But Dont Trust You is a precursoer to On Da Couch and a great minimal ballad..it aches and you can hear and feel the hurt. Baby Knows is a Stones influnece jam that would fit in any dive-bar pool hall with a jukebox (that's a compliment). SFSP is a perfect pop rock tune. So much going on in Rave to like. Manowar, strings...The whole "production" is plesant. Only the title sounds ickkk.

On a side note, the often dissed "Everyday is a winding road" cover isn't that bad imo, it's just that the dance/funk/soul that Prince obviously wanted to add to the song doesn't completely work out imo. Just putting "Prettyman" in its position and using that cover version as the hidden track instead would have been better.

Aerogram said:

We couldn't disagree more about the title track.

Personally, I find "Man o' War" to be one of the worst songs on the album. There are simply way too many vocal tracks on there.

promisekept said:

what the...??!!

Ya... sure, whatever's rockin ur boat my man!!!!


Thank you just sharing "purplehouse" ... go on, share it!

Moonbeam said:

I was going easy on Prince. I'm not a big fan of abundant layered vocals. Man O' War is a little too busy in that respect but it's easy to overlook on such an overproduced album.

Aerogram said:

So, I may assume that you don't like "Adore" either?

And, while I can follow a lot of your points, I just can't see what about "Rave" might be overproduced? I think some of the tracks are underproduced (= lacking some creative ideas for their arrangements), but what track falls into the category of "less could have been more" in your opinion?

EmancipationLover said:

I love Adore. That's just about his best use of layered vocals. Man O' War isn't nor is it his worse.

For me, overproduction is more than using too many instruments or vocals, it's trying to sound too slick and making it very airtight and robotic. So perhaps I meant "too slick". Rave, Hot Wit U, Silly Games, Wherever U go... those are just overthought and I know at least one of them sounded 10 times better initially.

I like it too even if, imo, the duet with Chuck D sucks, the Everyday cover could have been a cool bside and the production of HWU is too weak.