hey Dreamy- love the reviews of the album. Makes me wanna go out and buy them even though I can't now. i love ure reviews. keep it up.

tznekbsbfrvr said:

Thanx, it's good to hear from the many friends I've made here... as well as some other people who haven't read my reviews yet.

It's cool discussing an album I really didn't know much about. All I knew before getting it was Raspberry Beret and how it's Prince saying w/e he wants about w/e...
I guess when getting it, I was going in blind. It wasn't high on my priority list cuz other albums just seemed more interesting or I wanted to get more cuz of what I already have (namely 1999 & Come). But I got it used cuz I couldn't resist the good price (7.99). I figured, what the heck... after I get more albums down the road, it might pale in comparsion... but the fact I liked it right away counts for a lot.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

Near the end of the Purple Rain tour, his manager announced Prince would be retiring, or "withdrawing" from live performance for an "indefinite period of time" in order to go look for the Ladder. Was scary as hell for me at the time to contemplate as I missed that tour and hadn't seen him live yet. Thankfully, as we all now know, he likes to say he's retiring every now and then. That particular "withdrawal" lasted exactly one year until the Parade shows started up.

Where the hell is Tamborine? Were you afraid to review that song?

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I coulda sworn I commented about it somewhere. :searching:

Here we go.


I also said that its a bit of an introduction to "ego-tripping Prince"
I ain't afraid to review it... people have mentioned it briefly, so I already had a clue idea what the symbolism was implying. It makes me laugh cuz he seems so high on his ego... and that's a side of him I don't see too often, given my collection.

I checked the album out last night and it seems like Temptation continues off of Tambourine cuz it has the same "ego-tripping" attitude behind it. I do like the song quite a bit, actually. I can just picture Prince writing it and its interesting that he kept it pretty brief... I guess cuz he wanted to length Temptation or just to give a little sample of his "ego-tripping" self.

Condition of the Heart seems like Prince is either crushin' or in love... can't be quite sure at this point. But the fact he doesn't seem to get the girl in the end could only be due to his cavalier attitude shown in Temptation.

The Ladder, I'm not quite too fond of right now. I mean it's okay... but it just seems repetitive. I don't seem any progression or change in it as it goes on... the one thing that does intrigue me about it is the lyric: "the setps u take are no easy road. But the reward is great 4 those who want 2 go"
It reminds me of the last verse of "Gold," and kinda makes a little more sense out of it. I'll give it a few more listens, of course, but I'm not all too impressed right now... it almost put me to sleep halfway thru last night.

I've got a feeling, though, that I'll be checking into Come tonite, cuz I've listened to ATWIAD 3 days in a row.
But here's how I rank the tracks:

1. Pop Life
2. Temptation
3. Condition of the Heart
4. Around the world in a day
5. Raspberry Beret
6. America
7. Tambourine
8. The Ladder
9. Paisley Park
[Edited 5/8/07 15:56pm]

1999 got my attention

Purple Rain made me a FAN.

Around the World in a Day made me say, "huh"? But ultimately made me realize Prince is a GENIUS with enormous balls. To this day it immediately brings me back to the spring of 1985 when the radio stations were playing tracks when it was released.


I didn't know Come had been released until at least 6 months after its release. It came out during my falling out of Prince's music (after Symbol and his name change to the same I gave up for awhile). But I have since appreciated it...good dark album. Papa, Space, and Phermone are brilliant.

Wonderwall said:

I'm impressed.


I don't think a lot of people got ATWIAD at first when it was released based on what Purple Rain left us with mentally. But I felt like I understood it right away and I love getting to know Prince thru it. Its a whole new side to him I didn't know too much about.

I think tonight's the night I'll check out Come for the 2nd time... I hope I'll "get" it a lot more than I did the first time... but I won't have distractions this time (thank God).

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

It's about Susannah. Apparently, she was involved with someone else when she and Prince first met. Of course, he did get her, in the end. To this day, most of my favorite "love" and/or relationship songs of his were the ones written with her in mind.

u misunderstood me - I loved ATWIAD from the first moment back in 85

paisley16 said:

Well, that's nice to know. I knew that it was about Susannah, I was told a few posts ago.
I guess Temptation is some other period of "growth" he was going thru. It's very intriguing.

All right, "Come" fans... I listened to it last night... and here are my thoughts.

Come came across a lot better and the progression in it is really good. I can better determine where one song ends and another begins. They don't blend together the way I thought they did the first time.

Come- as always, is full of examples of why he's a great decision maker. Making it as lnog as it is really works cuz I like it more as it goes on. The tone of voice is so gentle that I really trust him after listening to it.
Space- is a continuation of the subject, but it kinda falls flat after a while.
Pheromone- ends the sexual trilogy. After Space, the trust is kinda lost... so I'm not quite into this track as much as I was intitially (when I first heard it on 'The Beautiful Experience').
Loose!- has the same theme as the bridge of "Love" (I see you standing with your back on the wall...). It took me a while to get into, but the music along makes me enjoy it. It's a great, very innovative techno track with great guitar. Once I got it, it was like a punch in the stomach, but in a good way.
Papa- is a good break from Loose's excitement, a bluesy hit that's new and different and a bit sad. The possibility of it being based on true events is in the air.
Race- definitely a great jam. I kinda get what is about, but its still a mystery to me. I'm getting to like it again like I did after TBE. But "in space, I mark human"... WHAT DOES EVEN THAT MEAN?
Dark- sadness after a bad break-up, its like "Eye Hate U", but the polar opposite. His tone doesn't sound as angry as it did or like he should be.
Solo- is about something completely different, but its very haunting with the almost acapella style. Definitely need to check into the lyrics. I found myself on the edge of tears by its end cuz I could really feel his sadness.
Letitgo- kinda brings back the vibe of Come, but more subtle. Still like it a lot. Need to check lyrics more.

Oddly enough, I feel like Orgasm is growing on me. I can't explain how/why... maybe I like the way he says "I love you" to end the album. It just works.

Right now, I can only take it in pieces. Its so new that its kinda hard to see the whole picture yet. But then again, in my 1st time of confusion, advice came to mind from avoice that wasn't my own. He told me to take the pieces of the whole-- in this case, I'll have to, but that's okay. It feels like Come is more of an album to cozy with than TGE is. Very interesting... And I feel like I can trust him a lot more than I could while listening 2 Endorphinmachine/Shh...

Maybe it has the power to surpass TGE?

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

I'm really surprised this one isn't growing on you more yet. I think it's a great, subtle track, especially the lyrics.


Race- definitely a great jam. I kinda get what is about, but its still a mystery to me. I'm getting to like it again like I did after TBE. But "in space, I mark human"... WHAT DOES EVEN THAT MEAN?

"Race" - in the space (on the form), I mark "Human".... not black, white, etc... he puts "human" as in 'the human race'.



Yeah, I think it all works together because of the cohesive nature of the album. Things that might not sound appealing if you heard them out, alone, tend to click into place in the context of the album as a whole, imo.




TGE is the party music (big and loud and made to impress), Come is the late night pillow talk (intimate secrets and fantasies whispered in your ear, dropping your game face so the other person sees the real you and all your worries).

jtfolden said:

Maybe I just need to hear Space on its own before I can really sure about it. Then again a few people have claimed that the remixes are better. I think the problem is that Come is such a cool track that its hard to break away from it... or maybe Space isnt quite as impressive as Come, so that's why I'm not into it right now.

And you just might be right about that last thing... I can already see myself saying in a few weeks "I have a new favorite album". But we'll see.

It's definitely the most intriguing album I've checked into up to date. There's so much mystery to it. It already blew me away that it wasn't anything like I thought it'd be. Maybe if I got it earlier on, it might have been harder for me to get into. So I checked into it at the right time.

I like the way its "horn-based"... it has such an interesting feel & texture, unlike anything I've heard before. And it was really innovative. Loose! totally blew me away cuz its techno at its best and oh man... its indescribable. And I didn't even like it all that much first... I just... got it and was like "wow"

I don't think I could really leave any of the tracks out of it cuz it just works so well together. I'll definitely be looking into it more the next few days.

Listened to Come the 3rd time last night... I was laying down in bed, soaking it all in (much the way I did with TGE on my 2nd listen).

Definitely felt a lot more comfortable with Come than I did with TGE... Endorphinmachine almost gave me a heartattack when I really listened to it... I feel like it was too much in the excitement department for me.

Anyway, back to Come... it creates a pretty intimate setting that I really enjoy and find relaxing. Especially having Prince whisper in my ear, his speaking voice is so comforting.

I liked Space a bit more than before. It's starting to grow on me. I listened to the lyrics and there was something sweet about it and I feel like I understand it better. Not to sound clique, but there was something "other worldly" about it. I love the use of keyboards at the very end, makes me wish the song were a bit longer.
Pheromone, I feel like I'm liking less all the time... can't really say why. I guess cuz it's too much to keep track of. I just "got" Space, so it was kinda difficult to get into. But something about it reminded me of 319, just the vibe and his voice is the same tone. Looking over the lyrics might help make sense out of it.
Loose! is becoming one of my favorites, the music is awesome... It's just unbelievable. :bouncing off the walls:
Papa- I feel like I gotta check the lyrics for the last portion.
Race- I feel like I don't quite get it, so I gotta read the lyrics
Dark- I get more than I did. I love the death-row metaphor, its so perfect
Solo- is still a mystery to me. He speaks so softly that I can barely hear him and I don't want to crank it up too high.
Letitgo- I feel like is Prince digging deep inside to say what he really feels he needs to do.

I think he's driving me mental with Orgasm, though. After listening to it, I got up starting to laugh a little bit and I was dizzy on my feet. I could barely walk straight... like I'm addicted to it or something... probably half of u will think I'm nuts

I haven't been getting much sleep lately. And I get the feeling that somewhere between Race & Solo, I fell asleep for a minute... and I'm like "this is the 2nd time its put me to sleep"... on the 1st listen, I fell out of sorts around the same time...
I'm not thrilled about it, but it's starting to grow on me. I wanted to give myself 3 listens b4 looking thru the lyrics. I have them all printed out and ready to go, so that's what I'll do today. I don't know what I'll listen 2 next, though.