I wrote this for another thread and posted it there, but I think it deserves to be discussed as a separate topic so here we are.

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Before Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic can accurately be used to draw conclusions about Prince's commercial potential, there are some key details that must be factored into the conversation. Let's review:

Clive Davis was the mastermind behind Rave, not Prince. Because of the publicity surrounding the song, Prince rightly felt that 1999 could be a big year for him. He decided to make a "commercial" record and approached all the major labels about one-off deals. Clive, the head of Arista at the time, was eager to work with Prince. He had just resurrected Carlos Santana from the grave - molding Supernatural into a 12-million selling blockbuster - and he all but promised Prince he could do the same with him. Clive's price for his assistance was creative control. If you recall, Prince was talking about plans to release his version of Rave weeks before the Arista configuration even hit stores.

Clive Davis picked the (wrong?) lead single. In a pre-release interview with USA Today, Clive said he knew "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold" was a worldwide hit the first time he heard it. His enthusiasm for the song led him to make it the first single.

Director Malik Sayeed completed post-production on the "Greatest Romance" video weeks past deadline. The single was struggling to gain a foothold at radio, but the video wasn't ready so there wasn't any synchronicity with MTV, VH1 or BET to help. When the video was finally delivered, Prince took it to TRL himself and debuted it on the show. Too late, all momentum was gone and the song was a wash. It's sadly ironic that Sayeed created such a beautiful video for a song he inadvertantly helped to kill.

The promotional staff at Arista was never behind the album. It has been reported that the promo staff thought Clive completely miscalculated the commercial appeal of Rave and flushed $11 million down the toilet by getting the company involved. Without the full support of the Arista promotional department, the project never had a chance.

Prince tried to release the most accessible track on the album and turn it around, but Interscope wouldn't cooperate. In a final attempt to get Rave on its feet, Prince tried to get fan favorite "So Far, So Pleased" released as a single. Unfortunately, Interscope Records refused because they wanted signee Gwen Stefani to focus solely on No Doubt's faltering album, The Return of Saturn. Despite Gwen's own attempts, the label would not relent. Adding insult to injury, Stefani would soon after score a top 10 hit with Moby - his one and only. This would have almost assuredly been the result for "So Far, So Pleased" had it been issued.

Prince was completely disillusioned by the entire experience. In a love4oneanother news post, Prince wrote that his deal with Arista served no purpose, noting that Rave hadn't sold any more copies (certified gold) than his last independent release. Over the following weeks, he also posted occasional comments about Clive Davis that clearly communicated a rift between the two. This culminated in the creation of "Golden Parachute," a song titled after the dismissal payout that executives often receive and which Davis had already been given (to the tune of a reported $50 million) when he was forced out of Arista soon after the failure of Rave. While it was never discussed publicly, speculation held that the deal with Prince at least contributed to Clive's ouster.

As you can see, lots of things went wrong with this project from the beginning. It seems to have been doomed to failure before it even got a chance to succeed. For this reason, I feel it is difficult to glean an accurate projection of Prince's commercial potential from the whole Rave debacle. And for what it's worth, I think Prince can make a Tina Turner/Carlos Santana comeback, but it has to be done authentically with music that burns from his deepest soul. In my opinion, enlisting the aid of a hitmaking mogul is the very antithesis of what can return Prince to commercial relevancy.

Peace, David

All very true.

It's also worth noting that the original version of
'Rave' that Prince first approached Clive Davis with
was a shorter and more pop/rock orientated collection.
A lot of the more R&B tracks were added later when
record execs and others thought that the album wasn't
'black' enough.

Prince has made various comments in his music (like in Don't Play Me, Undisputed, Chaos and Disorder, etc...) about how being #1 and commercial don't matter to him, etc..

And yet... there are projects like Rave, Emancipation and D&P where commercial success is CLEARLY the goal.

You're right Boris. And I would love to hear that initial configuration of the album because I don't believe that we ever received Prince's Rave album - even with the release of Rave In2. I think he just finally compiled a few remixes and a new track and moved on. He had likely lost all interest by the time the second version was being assembled and didn't want to "waste" material on a project that had already turned so sour.

Peace, David

livewire said:

Great points. I think the thing that was really odd about "Rave" was that he made a "commercial" record that really didn't have many standout songs. For my money, all of his nineties records (or should I saw more specifically) had much more potential for hit songs. It was good overall and quite frankly the best songs were solo Prince! He collaborated with people that made me scratch my head. He should have worked with more rockers (anyone from Clapton to Neil Young) and great R&B singers like Chaka. It just didn't make any sense. I really liked “Rave” when I first got it then bought most of his back CDs and realized how below him it was.

Also funny on the Gwen Stefani solo front, she had another hit duet single, with Eve, who was involved with The "Rave" project. It went to number 2 on the Top 100 and number 1 on several Top 40 charts! A far cry from 63 (and "Greatest" had the benefit of a commercial single but radio really sealed its fate).

JonSnow said:

Prince was forthcoming about his desire to reap commercial success with Rave. Because of the built-in zeitgeist surrounding the year (1999), he saw a good opportunity for success and seized it. Nothing more to it, really.

To me, this doesn't discredit his stance or make him a hypocrite at all. It only means what it means: 1999 was a "the-planets-have-aligned" type year for Prince and he hoped to mine what he could from it. It isn't selling out, it's cashing in.

Peace, David

Whatever configuration of Rave you may find, I'm still glad the project did not work. I just don't think there's much that's impressive by Prince's standards.

I much prefer the The Rainbow Children sound than the majority of Newpower Soul, Rave Un2/In2 and High. If Rave had worked, Prince would not have been forced to search his soul again and the late 90's sound would probably still be with us.

Anji said:

I'm in total agreement. Musically, TRC was so far beyond Rave that it isn't even worth comparing them, IMO. Having said that, 1) I would still love to hear the album that Prince originally envisioned this to be; and 2) I stand by my initial premise that Rave is tainted evidence when used to argue that Prince has lost the ability to create a commercially successful album.

Peace, David

livewire said:

Agreed; tainted evidence but the original songs are probably still on the album.