Rave seems to get alot of stick from alot of people.

I don't think it's a classic and there are things about Idon't like.

I love the title track, pure Prince, grweat vocal and a love the guitar in it.

Undisputed is good but I feel could have been great without all the shouting.

TGRES is another very good song but why put those record scratch effects on it.

Hot wit U is a weak funkless effort should have been leftoff the album

Tangerine is OK, the long version is even nicer.

SO Far So Pleased, I love this 80's Throwback track.

The sun The moon and Stars is great until the stupid Jamamican rap kicks in

Everyday is a winding road. I think its OK but should have a b side

Man O War Is a great track Love the mutilayerd vocals and the guitar

Baby knows is a cool little track it was good to hear camille again.

I Love U But I don't trust u anymore is a classic.

Silly Game i think is nice little track that I always forget about.

Strange but True is my favorite on the ablum Fantastic

Whever U go need a guitar solo it's just too short.

Pretty man is funky as hell and I love.

I would say Rave is far from his best and his worst album. I would give it a 7/10.

thedoveoflove said:

When I buy a new Prince album, the first thing I'll do is sit down and listen to the whole thing from start to finish. I think 3121's appalling, but I still managed it. Rave is the ONLY album I haven't managed to listen to all the way through without skipping.

Tell you what, just to be fair, I'll listen to it now over breakfast and come back and tell you why I don't like it.
[Edited 2/25/07 3:36am]

It has a handful of goods songs on it. I think the tilte track is awesome. I love the way the guitar is mixed on it. But then thats a track from 1988 and for me it's the standout song. I also think he should have included Beautiful Strange too.

The ingredients are there, but the recipe somehow just doesn't work.

The whole thing flows badly, particularly towards the end with that horrible 'advert' and then hiding one of the best tracks on the album. There's far too many slow/mid tempo choons and most songs sound like B-Sides.

I agree that the title track is the best song on there, but that's not so good considering that it was also an old song from 'back in the day'.

I've said it before, but I'm so glad Prince has, in my opinion, only had one nadir and this was it.

I just listened to it yesterday, and it's just fine with me!

I think there are worse albums for me it's better than Chaos, Emancipation, The Truth, The Vault.

I'd say its as good as Diamonds and Pearls and Symbol.

If I remember rightly it got some pretty decent reviews.

Stylistically it's a bit of a hodge-podge, but it's only really noticeable flaw is the stale drum programming (by Kirk Johnson) on many of the tracks. Otherwise it's a decent pop album with some good songs.

Oh, and TGRES isn't one of them. Songwriting-wise that's one of his most unfocused efforts ever.

I love the album.

"Strange But True" is up there as one of his greatest ever tracks IMO. "Silly Game" is one of my favorite ballads too. I think it flows well up to "Everday Is A Winding Road", then it sort of goes all over the place from there on. I usually skip "EDIAWR", "Man O War" and "Baby Knows".

novabrkr said:

Totally disagree with you there. Take away the words and the KJ production, I think the melody is quite striking and original.

toejam said:

Fair enough.

i think this is the worst album of his whole career. it sounds way too much like he was writing and producing music for the charts, and to me the whole thing sounds terribly second-guessed and self-conscious. the remix album has a few improvements and i can at least sit through that version, but i think the original is a big mess. i can't goof on 'newpower soul' as long as this album exists, because at least on NPS it sounds like he's doing what he wants instead of what he feels he's expected to do.

I agree with the bad reviews; it's a mess of a record, Prince lost his direction here, joining Clive Davies was a mistake, Prince wasn't ready (and he never will) to embrace the mainstream. When I listen this album I feel very uncomfortable. And the "duets" (or cameos) are forced and forgettable.
Nevertheless, there are some fine tracks here, the title track, Undisputed, So far so pleased, Baby knows, The greatest romance or Prettyman.
I don't know if this is the nadir of Prince (New Power Soul, the worst moments of Chaos and disorder or even For you come pretty close) but this is one of his worst and unessential.
[Edited 2/25/07 6:51am]

Anx said:

I disliked the remix "In2" album.

It was like taking an already so-so album, and adding a dose of depseration, not to mention unnecessary length to the songs.


To me the similarities between Rave and D&P abound. Both albums have relatively safe songs, both albums court the masses, and both albums are worked around a central core of "pop". But on D&P, he sounds confident. On Rave, he sounds a wee bit tired.

And why in the hell have Kate Bush, Cheryle Crow, and Gwen whatever, on your album if you're going to bury them so far down in the mix? They don't have the best voices in the world, but at that time in music history their fans had a great deal of purchasing power compared to his.

Imago said:

kate bush wasn't on RAVE. ani difranco was. kate was on emancipation. but he buried her WAY down on there too. i think the only guest vocal i can recognize on RAVE is eve, on the remix album.

Anx said:

Oh yeah. I get white women mixed up alot.

Love the entire album.

I love Rave

I think the main problem with 'Rave' was sequencing. It seemed a very back to
front kinda album, and lacked a natural 'flow'. I also wasn't particularly fond
of the title track. The minimalist 'Un2' version just seems at odds with the
content of the track. The 'In2' 'dance' version was more in keeping with the
message, but still didn't really nail it. It really needed to be a fast paced
dance track, but with more guitar (like the 'Small club' version, or America,
or Loose or something...)

peterfalconer said:

I completely agree with this comment. There are plenty of tracks to skip over but Prince fans will always find some positive out of any of his albums. Some positives on Rave are Man O War, Love U But Don't Trust You Anymore, and Mr. Pretty Man. Greatest Romance barely makes the cut. I just feel like he was trying to make this album way too pop friendly and trendy instead of sticking to his guns and creating the music that defines him, FUNK! Its just very inconsistent and very disappointing after the hype and wait we all went through before its release. I think the hype hurt the album more than the actual music. It was like "What this is what all the fuss was about?!"

Romeoblu said:

Whoa maybe closer to but nowhere near Diamonds and Pearls.

The album could stand to lose a few pounds.

And a little lipstick wouldn't hurt it either.



Or I may be getting it mixed up with ATWIAD. I dunno....

I love Rave. It a great cd.

thedoveoflove said:

The track is embarrassing. It hasn't aged well.


Another embarrassing song. Out of the good songs on this album, THIS was the lead single???? NOT!



Hot Wit U is nothing remarkable
Tangerine should've been a tad longer
So Far So Pleased - This should've been the lead single!
The Sun The Moon The whatthehell????
Everyday - Great except the Larry Graham embarrassing chant in the middle.



Man O War, substandard ballad from someone who has written some of the best
I Love U ....introspective, and tender. That's about it.
Silly Game - Forgettable
Strange But True - Annoying
Wherever U Go - Very "I Wish U Heaven" in nature (ie Heard it before)
Prettyman - Good single.....oh right, it wasn't a single.

At best this album is a 5 out of 10.

Hmmm. I guess being a genius is a blessing and a curse because he is forever confined to people's expectations. However, the thing is that he can't be all things to all people.

Rave has some nice songs on it to me. It's not one of my favorite albums, but as the years go by, I like it more and more. I definitely don't think it is as bad as some people say. My favs are:

The Greatest Romance - I think this is an amazing song!
Silly Game
So Far So Pleased
ManOWar
I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore
The Sun, The Moon And Stars

there are a couple good songs on it, but overall, it just has a bad vibe and was a big disappointment.

thedoveoflove said:

Everyday Is A Winding Road.

Imago said:

cuz there can be only one diva

Christopher said:

Cheek said:

lol

but seriously i do like rave but dont care for everyday is a winding road either. strange but true is a pretty cool track!

Christopher said:

I feel you!

Cheek said:

i broke the rave case and the booklet is all old and warped its in great shape