Steve Parke posted a mock up he did, that had been approved.

"So once upon a time there was going to be an album called Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic in 1989 and this was an approved concept for the gatefold vinyl.
I'd have painted it.
Then Batman happened."

I've always wondered what the original cover would look like. I thought such a specific question would never be answered. This artwork would have been satisfying. It reflects the eclectic nature of the record.

My dream Rave '89 (roughly):

Disc 1

1. The Voice Inside
2. Melody Cool
3. Pink Cashmere
4. Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic
5. Xtraloveable
6. Electric Chair
7. If Eye Had a Harem
8. Stimulation
9. God is Alive
10. Still Would Stand All Time
11. We Got The Power

Disc 2

1. Can't Stop This Feeling I Got
2. We Can Funk
3. Joy in Repitition
4. The ? of U
5. Elephants & Flowers
6. Good Judy Girlfriend
7. Am Eye Without U?
8. Big House
9. God is Alive (Reprise)
10. The Grand Progression
11. Moonbeam Levels

[Edited 6/15/16 16:52pm]

Looks great would of been one of my fav album covers like ATWIAD.

That was another 'missed' period... 3 things happening:Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic, Batman and Graffiti Bridge all at the same time. Rave & Batman should have happened.

I love seeing the concept arts of possible albums. There is the one from 1985 and Susannah has Dream Factory art

I love this peak into what could have been.

Guitarhero said:

Looks great would of been one of my fav album covers like ATWIAD.

ATWIAD was never my favourite album cover but it's really grown on me as of late. I was looking it over today.

Honestly dont really like it...the Prince image on the left is cool

OldFriends4Sale said:

He should do a copy, keep the original and finish the copy. There is a big difference between the pencils and (what would be) the finished work.

2020 said:

Honestly dont really like it...the Prince image on the left is cool

Makes me wonder if 'My Tree' might have been on it.

OldFriends4Sale said:

That was another 'missed' period... 3 things happening:Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic, Batman and Graffiti Bridge all at the same time. Rave & Batman should have happened.

I love seeing the concept arts of possible albums. There is the one from 1985 and Susannah has Dream Factory art

I love this peak into what could have been.

Rave's demise was huge mistake, as it might have meant Graffiti Bridge would have never happened.

Plus, the two 1989 albums would have complimented each other nicely. Rave would have been a sprightly, pastel-colored house-gospel clusterfuck and Batman being the sparse, moody and aggressive funk machine we know today.

Plus I feel like the Rave material would have had Prince wearing that silly frilly blue outfit with that giant black hat and that'd just be hilarious.

[Edited 6/15/16 16:42pm]

i just need to hear "the voice inside" in HQ. it's such a cool song but the versions out there

just aren't good enough

you just know someone out there has an early config of this thing with The Voice Inside on
it.

Awesome! I really want this album to come out.

Marrk said:

He should do a copy, keep the original and finish the copy. There is a big difference between the pencils and (what would be) the finished work.

I actually think the pencils with only Prince's tree-face being pencilled/watercolored in. It's fitting for an album defined by its incoherence and irreverance.

Shockedelicus said:

Marrk said:

He should do a copy, keep the original and finish the copy. There is a big difference between the pencils and (what would be) the finished work.

I actually think the pencils with only Prince's tree-face being pencilled/watercolored in. It's fitting for an album defined by its incoherence and irreverance.

say what now?

I'm not gonna pull any punches here: that cover is crap. The perspective is off, and the overall concept is very amateurish.

I've seen more interesting sketches from first-year architecture students. Certainly not befitting what would have been one of his darker and more eclectic albums.

IstenSzek said:

Shockedelicus said:

I actually think the pencils with only Prince's tree-face being pencilled/watercolored in. It's fitting for an album defined by its incoherence and irreverance.

say what now?

The 1980's Rave was an album where no two songs sounded remotely similar, though they share some broad lyrical themes. It would have been like one last blast of musical confetti before closing out the 80's.

EnDoRpHn said:

I'm not gonna pull any punches here: that cover is crap. The perspective is off, and the overall concept is very amateurish.

I've seen more interesting sketches from first-year architecture students. Certainly not befitting what would have been one of his darker and more eclectic albums.

Whoever said Elephants were stronger than mules? Etc.

Shockedelicus said:

IstenSzek said:

say what now?

The 1980's Rave was an album where no two songs sounded remotely similar, though they share some broad lyrical themes. It would have been like one last blast of musical confetti before closing out the 80's.

Conjecture.

I wonder what the changes to the updated version of "Moonbeam Levels" sound like. Hopefully both versions get released somehow.

I really love this artwork...If we ever get a release of the Original Rave album, he should make a final version for the album artwork.

EnDoRpHn said:

I'm not gonna pull any punches here: that cover is crap. The perspective is off, and the overall concept is very amateurish.

I've seen more interesting sketches from first-year architecture students. Certainly not befitting what would have been one of his darker and more eclectic albums.

But he is obviously going off of what Prince asked for

I never thought of Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic as being a 'darker' album. Where did you get that from?
It seems to be coming off of Lovesexy which was more uplifting, all about the Power and stuff

1. The Voice Inside
2. Melody Cool
3. Pink Cashmere
4. Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic
5. Xtraloveable
6. Electric Chair
7. If Eye Had a Harem
8. Stimulation
9. God is Alive
10. Still Would Stand All Time
11. We Got The Power
12. Disc 2
13. Can't Stop This Feeling I Got
14. We Can Funk
15. Joy in Repitition
16. The ? of U
17. Elephants & Flowers
18. Good Judy Girlfriend
19. Am Eye Without U?
20. Big House
21. God is Alive (Reprise)
22. The Grand Progression
23. Moonbeam Levels

Personally I like it. Prince's first two album covers were pretty conventional, but after that he really mixed it up. Too bad the cover was never finished. It probably wouldn't have been considered 'iconic' per se, but I do think this would have fit in with Prince's catalog nicely.

Similarly, I never thought the cover for SOTT matched the greatness of that album, but it's still a good cover I feel.

OldFriends4Sale said:

I never thought of Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic as being a 'darker' album. Where did you get that from?

It seems to be coming off of Lovesexy which was more uplifting, all about the Power and stuff

1. The Voice Inside
2. Melody Cool
3. Pink Cashmere
4. Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic
5. Xtraloveable
6. Electric Chair
7. If Eye Had a Harem
8. Stimulation
9. God is Alive
10. Still Would Stand All Time
11. We Got The Power
12. Disc 2
13. Can't Stop This Feeling I Got
14. We Can Funk
15. Joy in Repitition
16. The ? of U
17. Elephants & Flowers
18. Good Judy Girlfriend
19. Am Eye Without U?
20. Big House
21. God is Alive (Reprise)
22. The Grand Progression
23. Moonbeam Levels

Most of these songs are brooding, introspective, troubled. Electric Chair is uplifting?

injuredpinky said:

Personally I like it. Prince's first two album covers were pretty conventional, but after that he really mixed it up. Too bad the cover was never finished. It probably wouldn't have been considered 'iconic' per se, but I do think this would have fit in with Prince's catalog nicely.

Similarly, I never thought the cover for SOTT matched the greatness of that album, but it's still a good cover I feel.

I think Prince always picked a cover to match the tone and themes of the album. Sign had a gritty, urban cover, 1999's was eccentric and minimal, Parade's was slick and elegant, etc.

EnDoRpHn said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I never thought of Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic as being a 'darker' album. Where did you get that from?

It seems to be coming off of Lovesexy which was more uplifting, all about the Power and stuff

1. The Voice Inside
2. Melody Cool
3. Pink Cashmere
4. Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic
5. Xtraloveable
6. Electric Chair
7. If Eye Had a Harem
8. Stimulation
9. God is Alive
10. Still Would Stand All Time
11. We Got The Power
12. Disc 2
13. Can't Stop This Feeling I Got
14. We Can Funk
15. Joy in Repitition
16. The ? of U
17. Elephants & Flowers
18. Good Judy Girlfriend
19. Am Eye Without U?
20. Big House
21. God is Alive (Reprise)
22. The Grand Progression
23. Moonbeam Levels

Most of these songs are brooding, introspective, troubled. Electric Chair is uplifting?

Only 15 of these songs have been confirmed to be included on any of the 3 configurations of the album:

The Voice Inside (Oct 88, Nov 88)
Melody Cool (Oct 88, Nov 88)
Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic (Oct 88, Nov 88, Jan 89)
God Is Alive (Oct 88, Nov 88, Jan 89)
If I Had A Harem (Oct 88, Nov 88, Jan 89)
Stimulation (Oct 88, Nov 88)
Still Would Stand All Time (Oct 88, Nov 88, Jan 89)
Elephants & Flowers (Oct 88, Nov 88)
Big House (Oct 88)
We Got The Power (Oct 88)
Good Judy Girlfriend (Jan 89)
Pink Cashmere (Jan 89)
Electric Chair (Jan 89)
Am I Without U? (Jan 89)
Moonbeam Levels (Jan 89)

There is an element of darkness in some of the songs, even the more spiritual ones like "God Is Alive", but there is certainly an uplifting element in tracks like "Rave", "Still Would Stand All Time" and Ëlephants and Flowers".

Moonbeam said:

EnDoRpHn said:

Most of these songs are brooding, introspective, troubled. Electric Chair is uplifting?

Only 15 of these songs have been confirmed to be included on any of the 3 configurations of the album:

The Voice Inside (Oct 88, Nov 88)
Melody Cool (Oct 88, Nov 88)
Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic (Oct 88, Nov 88, Jan 89)
God Is Alive (Oct 88, Nov 88, Jan 89)
If I Had A Harem (Oct 88, Nov 88, Jan 89)
Stimulation (Oct 88, Nov 88)
Still Would Stand All Time (Oct 88, Nov 88, Jan 89)
Elephants & Flowers (Oct 88, Nov 88)
Big House (Oct 88)
We Got The Power (Oct 88)
Good Judy Girlfriend (Jan 89)
Pink Cashmere (Jan 89)
Electric Chair (Jan 89)
Am I Without U? (Jan 89)
Moonbeam Levels (Jan 89)

There is an element of darkness in some of the songs, even the more spiritual ones like "God Is Alive", but there is certainly an uplifting element in tracks like "Rave", "Still Would Stand All Time" and Ëlephants and Flowers".

exactly. another case of someone posting a fantasy tracklist (and even saying so in their post)
and others running away with it, without reading, thinking it's the actual tracklisting. and then
in future that becomes fact somehow.

Moonbeam said:

EnDoRpHn said:

Most of these songs are brooding, introspective, troubled. Electric Chair is uplifting?

Only 15 of these songs have been confirmed to be included on any of the 3 configurations of the album:

The Voice Inside (Oct 88, Nov 88)
Melody Cool (Oct 88, Nov 88)
Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic (Oct 88, Nov 88, Jan 89)
God Is Alive (Oct 88, Nov 88, Jan 89)
If I Had A Harem (Oct 88, Nov 88, Jan 89)
Stimulation (Oct 88, Nov 88)
Still Would Stand All Time (Oct 88, Nov 88, Jan 89)
Elephants & Flowers (Oct 88, Nov 88)
Big House (Oct 88)
We Got The Power (Oct 88)
Good Judy Girlfriend (Jan 89)
Pink Cashmere (Jan 89)
Electric Chair (Jan 89)
Am I Without U? (Jan 89)
Moonbeam Levels (Jan 89)

There is an element of darkness in some of the songs, even the more spiritual ones like "God Is Alive", but there is certainly an uplifting element in tracks like "Rave", "Still Would Stand All Time" and Ëlephants and Flowers".

I wonder if someone has tapes of those configs or if we only know about them from notes taken by engineers.

Even though we have versions of almost all tracks, I've never been able to really figure out how Rave would have sounded as a whole, nor what it was intended to be, what its vibe, atmosphere would have been.

The cover art is very reminiscent of ATWIAD IMHO, it's an intriguing indication of the vibe Prince wanted.

I hope tapes of those Rave configs will surface at some point.

Moonbeam said:

I wonder what the changes to the updated version of "Moonbeam Levels" sound like. Hopefully both versions get released somehow.

Who said there were two versions? No info I've ever seen states that it was redone. Even the title track only had a slight reworking by the time it came out in 1999. The original is the perfect version, and the only one worth hearing IMO. It's still one of my favorite outtakes from Prince of all time. I'll never get why he never put that out as a b-side, especially since it was originally intended for the album. It would have faired quite well as the b-side to "Little Red Corvette", and could have stood a chance at radio play the way "Erotic City" did.

EnDoRpHn said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I never thought of Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic as being a 'darker' album. Where did you get that from?

It seems to be coming off of Lovesexy which was more uplifting, all about the Power and stuff

1. The Voice Inside
2. Melody Cool
3. Pink Cashmere
4. Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic
5. Xtraloveable
6. Electric Chair
7. If Eye Had a Harem
8. Stimulation
9. God is Alive
10. Still Would Stand All Time
11. We Got The Power
12. Disc 2
13. Can't Stop This Feeling I Got
14. We Can Funk
15. Joy in Repitition
16. The ? of U
17. Elephants & Flowers
18. Good Judy Girlfriend
19. Am Eye Without U?
20. Big House
21. God is Alive (Reprise)
22. The Grand Progression
23. Moonbeam Levels

Most of these songs are brooding, introspective, troubled. Electric Chair is uplifting?

God Is ALive, Good Girl Judy, Joy in Repetition, Can't Stop This Feeling I Got, We Got the Power, God is Alive, Stimulation, If Eye Had a Harem, Xtraloveable, Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic, Pink Cashmere, Melody Cool, the Voice Inside... You see as brooding, introspective, troubled?

An earlier configuration of the Rave album dated Oct 27th '88 is thought to have been (this has never been confirmed)...

1. The Voice Inside.

2. Melody Cool.

3. Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic.

4. God Is Alive.

5. If I Had A Harem.

6. Stimulation.

7. Still Would Stand All Time.

8. Elephants And Flowers.

9. Big House.

10. We Got The Power.