It is interesting to consider ATWIAD in its place and time.

It came out the month after the Syracuse concert and 4 months before the Family.

The Syracuse concert is effectively the finale of the 1999/PR era, after which Prince chose to step back.

The Family was a one-off experiment that followed on after The Time triptych. The Time allowed Prince to work with his funkier leanings whilst he released more commercial leanings. The Family was the opposite: It was hoped to allow for more commercial output whilst he pursued his more artistic leanings.

Weird how I just finished listening to it yesterday. I'll break it out every once in a while. I like it overall, not my favoite but far from my least favorite.

Oh, just wanted to add: ATWIAD may not be my favorite of Prince's albums, but it is definitely my most-wanted next super deluxe edition.

.

Then "Lovesexy". Then "Batman". Then "Dirty Mind". And then whatever's left.

I think it is a great album, but when I heard it first as a 14 year-old I was confused. As probably many, I discovered Prince through Purple Rain, and by the time ATWIAD came out I had also bought the 1999 double album. ATWIAD was so different then, less straight pop/rock/funk - although I loved Rasperry Barret. And Paisley Park and America. Condition of the Heart was good, but not mindblowing. I remember I dug Purple Rain more... And Parade also. And then I was blown away by SOTT... Out of these 4, ATWIAD still is my least favorite one, but still a great record

Germanegro said:

I fire up this album on the stereo speakers at least once every spring--a must-do for me! Every song here is like a little gem to me. Maybe, as such, to air them too often might spoil their rarity?

Around The World In A Day is a great song to greet spring with.

lurker316 said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Someone on here made an expanded playlist and put in the b-sides and 12" versions. It's a really nice playlist. Maybe try that and re-hear it again?

1. Around The World In A Day (#1)
2. Paisley Park (Remix)
3. Condition of the Heart
4. She's Always In My Hair (New Mix)
5. Hello (Fresh Dance Mix)
6. 4 The Tears In Your Eyes
7. Raspberry Beret (New Mix)
8. Girl
9. Tamborine
10. America (Long Version)
11. Pop Life (Fresh Dance Mix or the other one, your choice)
12. The Ladder
13. Temptation (my edit, which cuts out the talking-to-God ending, and is sped up)

Obviously you'd just use the regular "Temptation," but it's a good list. Feels even more cohesive, radio friendly, pop-py, etc.

[Edited 3/13/23 19:07pm]

The Long Version of America is 20 minutes, for Christ's sake. It's a decent song, but I don't need 20 minutes of it in the middle of a playlist.

I don't need 20 minutes of it anywhere. It adds absolutely nothing to the original album version other than boredom.
A jam that would have been cool on a bootleg, not as an official release.

[Edited 3/16/23 15:06pm]

paisleyparkgirl said:

RedDress said:

I listen to it all the time. I think “condition of the heart”, “temptation”, “Paisley Park” and “ATWIAD” are some of his very best songs ever.

Same....specificaly COTH & TEMPTATION IMO ...iconoclastic masterpieces of Music !

[Edited 3/18/23 14:27pm]

muleFunk said:

I also love the demo version or the 12 inch version of ATWIAD.

What do you mean by 12 inch version of ATWIAD?

muleFunk said:

I also love the demo version or the 12 inch version of ATWIAD.

There is no 12" demo of the title track. There's David Coleman's version.

Then there's Prince's first version he recorded from scratch based on David's song. It had more bass and guitar in it, more in your face. It was longer by default. You have to remember most of those 12" versions we got were the original versions to begin with, and were edited down for album inclusion.

Prince's first version was edited down for the album, and remixed without the bass, etc.

Random facts about Around the World in a Day that only fans will care about:

.

-add the times for side A and side B up and they are the same (on the album)

-Paisley Park is not only the mythical place he wanted to create (from the same idea that created roadhouse garden), it is also is a place of love. For extra clarity, play the "Paisley Park" from the 12" version backwards. Very clearly: "Love is here"

-sub fact: if you look at Paisley Park in music notation, there's a striking symmetry to the melody, as if he meant for it to be played forwards and backwards. Unfortunately, it doesn't work as well backwards, imo.

-America is exactly the speed it needs to have 4 beats (an entire measure) in one rotation of the LP. Since there are no chord changes, you can skip a groove and it keeps going without a "jump". I found this out when my needle wasn't right and it kind skated a bit, and I would lose entire lines but the song kept making sense, completely weirding me out.

-sub fact, this might be why the 12" version of America is so long, it forced the record to be 33RPM instead of 45RPM, which 12" records generally were, keeping the same effect. (or it might be one of the reasons)

-The raspberry beret video is Prince in a wig, as he was kinda blond at the time, although his handywork on his hair didn't really work out, so it had to be hidden until it could be fixed (long before the shoot for America, when he was making UTCM movie)

-although it was his first "Paisley Park label" album, it was actually warner brothers still. I think that changed by the time Sign Of The Times came out, or even Lovesexy. BvH, are you out there?

.

I'm sure there's more stuff... this just came to mind. It is my favourite Prince album and I very often put on the long version of America when I go to bed. It relaxes me and I concentrate on different parts every time. It helps me fall asleep and has the side effect that it's probably the song of his I've listened to most...

.

On a personal note, pirate radio station Decibel (in the Netherlands) broadcasted the entire album the night before it was released. However, they started with side 2. For a few days I thought he started the album with that scratch intro. Would have been cool, almost cooler than with the frightened animal scream that actually opens it.

[Edited 3/20/23 9:49am]

It is a great Spring album which I still listen to every year around this time.

I also modified my playlist to include the bsides and the video version of America (which is totally slammin) exclude Temptation. Never a fan of that one.

mediumdry said:

Random facts about Around the World in a Day that only fans will care about:

.

-add the times for side A and side B up and they are the same (on the album)

-Paisley Park is not only the mythical place he wanted to create (from the same idea that created roadhouse garden), it is also is a place of love. For extra clarity, play the "Paisley Park" from the 12" version backwards. Very clearly: "Love is here"

-sub fact: if you look at Paisley Park in music notation, there's a striking symmetry to the melody, as if he meant for it to be played forwards and backwards. Unfortunately, it doesn't work as well backwards, imo.

-America is exactly the speed it needs to have 4 beats (an entire measure) in one rotation of the LP. Since there are no chord changes, you can skip a groove and it keeps going without a "jump". I found this out when my needle wasn't right and it kind skated a bit, and I would lose entire lines but the song kept making sense, completely weirding me out.

-sub fact, this might be why the 12" version of America is so long, it forced the record to be 33RPM instead of 45RPM, which 12" records generally were, keeping the same effect. (or it might be one of the reasons)

-The raspberry beret video is Prince in a wig, as he was kinda blond at the time, although his handywork on his hair didn't really work out, so it had to be hidden until it could be fixed (long before the shoot for America, when he was making UTCM movie)

-although it was his first "Paisley Park label" album, it was actually warner brothers still. I think that changed by the time Sign Of The Times came out, or even Lovesexy. BvH, are you out there?

.

I'm sure there's more stuff... this just came to mind. It is my favourite Prince album and I very often put on the long version of America when I go to bed. It relaxes me and I concentrate on different parts every time. It helps me fall asleep and has the side effect that it's probably the song of his I've listened to most...

.

On a personal note, pirate radio station Decibel (in the Netherlands) broadcasted the entire album the night before it was released. However, they started with side 2. For a few days I thought he started the album with that scratch intro. Would have been cool, almost cooler than with the frightened animal scream that actually opens it.

[Edited 3/20/23 9:49am]

This is really interesting - guess that makes me a fan

Makes you wonder if some of it was intentional or just co-incidence (e.g. about the America beats)

purplethunder3121 said:

Germanegro said:

I fire up this album on the stereo speakers at least once every spring--a must-do for me! Every song here is like a little gem to me. Maybe, as such, to air them too often might spoil their rarity?

Around The World In A Day is a great song to greet spring with.

It is my all-time favorite album for just taking a walk around my neighborhood.

Recently purchased the album on vinyl and gave it a relisten. Usually when I revisit his albums I find myself liking a song I didn't before or discovering new things with the songs, but my thoughts remained the same here.

Has some classic stuff, but never been one of my favorite albums of his.