I've been going through my CDs and just decided, why not pop in "Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic". I remember at the time it was one of the few Prince CDs I owned and I loved it but then overtime grew to dislike it as I bought such great album as SOTT, "Prince" (well, I liked Prince) and TGA. But I just put it in again and while it isn't his best work, its damn good. Songs like "Undisputed" rock hard and "Strange But True" is funky as hell. It had a lot going for it. Even that iffy disco cover of "Everyday is Winding Road" has its moments. While I realize this was menat to be his return to the mainstream, I think he did it in a cleaver way by making it very sexy but mixing poltics in there. And it's such a great love letter to Mayte but I guess it didn't work, huh? Anyway, I was wondering if people felt like me who loved it at first, then hated it and now love it again!

Always loved it. Some cheesy numbers, but all in all, a great pop album!

Could have been big if they'd picked the right single and promotion!

VinnyM27 said:

no, i played it once, and haven't played it since.

I loved it when it first came out cause it was the first "new" Prince album since I'd become a fan, but now after listening to all his other albums, I can see why others don't like it. Still, it will always have a special place in my heart (awww!). It certainly isn't as bad as many here would lead you to believe, it's just inconnsistant.

Strange But True is one of my all time favs

Man O' War is one of my favourites - gives me chills. Absolute class.

I love this album. But "Everyday is a Winding Road" has got to go! I dispise Sheryl Crow. Hate her music.

And agreed... Man O' War is a Prince Classic.

Well it's great 4 me. I agree that it is unbalanced in ways, but has some good trax that i can still listen 2. I like The Sun, the Moon and Stars, Man'O'War and Undisputed as well as So far So Pleased. I realise others probably do not. Fair 'nuff.

GreatestRomance
Baby Knows
I Love U But Don't Trust U Anymore
Prettyman
Man O' War

THESE r the best trax & the only classics i can really find.

SO Far... get hon. mention aswell as Strange But True.

it was my 2nd Prince album after Hits/B*Sides,so i have a soft spot 4 it.

"a great love letter to Mayte"??


Actually,most of the songs seem bitter towards her ("Man O War","Silly Game","I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore").

chemmie said:

dman what did sheryl do 2 u?

hehe...

just dont like her music. dont know why. just dont like it. sends chills up my spine. bad chills.

Pretty Man rocks...the lyrics make me laugh each time I hear them especially the bit where he says 'if my hair don't grow...i'll just buy some mo'

Anyone heard the remix Rave UNTO the joy fantastic? The remix of Man o war is pretty cool.

Actually i've thought about it somewhat i luv this whole album. And i could actually purchase it in the shop. Nice change.

I had it in my carstereo last weekend. Normally I take care
to select a cd I like a lot cuz it's always a long drive
when I go out and I need some good music on the highway. So
I thought "why not give rave another chance" and ended up
listening to the radio 3 FM instead. Every time I listen to
it, there seem to be less and less cool songs on it.

If Everyday Is A Winding Road had been replaced with Beautiful Strange I would play this album a ton more.

Only really a couple of great tracks - 'pretty-man', 'I love u but don't trust you anymore', maybe 'strange but true' and 'tangerine' as well.

A few of the songs were potentially good but were let down by the Kirky J style production.

Imagine what the likes of 'the greatest romance', 'so far so pleased' and 'man-o-war' would be like performed by the current band or with the TRC sound.

But some of them could not be saved - 'everyday's a winding road' is pathetic (especially Larrys 'everyday' chant!) and Prince's Jamaican style rap in 'sun, moon and stars' is fucking hysterical.

Also the cover puts you off a bit - he looked a right prick in that Britney Spears suit.
[This message was edited Tue Jun 3 7:28:57 PDT 2003 by dodger]

Pretty Man is a classic Prince song. There are a few good songs on this cd, but on average I would give it a 6 out of 10.

DavidEye said:

Eveytime I listen to this I think that, love Strange but True and I love you, but I dont trust you

I liked him in the blue suit. I thought he looked like a cool little dude. Hey mayb u like him without a shirt. Cool 4 u.

agentmonday said:

maybe cuz its one of the few Prince albums u can findin shops here.

VinnyM27 said:

YES IT WAS.
[This message was edited Tue Jun 3 9:59:03 PDT 2003 by BlaqueKnight]

Great songs on Rave:
1. Strange But True (nice funky cut)
2. Man'O'War (if only it was performed in organic
TRC style, mmm...)
3. I Love U But I Don't Trust U Anymore (perfect vocal delivery)
4. TGRES (beautiful funky popsong)
5. Pretty Man (way fonkay)

The rest sucks IMO...

Rave IN2 the joy fantastic was a great album.

I love the versions of...

Undisputed (Really funky)
Greatest romance (Really Looong.)
Hot wit U (NASTY GIRL REMIX)
Man O' war (A million times better then the original)

The title cut was so much better on the "Forever In My Life
boot,also "Silly Game" and "Undisputed" are crap,the rest is
cool tho!

DavidEye said:

But then "Wherever You Go, Whatever You Do" ends the album (sort of). And the fact that he wrote those bitter songs to her says something. He still cared.

Rave is not a bad album. It would have done better if the radio stations acknowledge the music more. The problem was not enough push for airplay.

It is now my favourite album!

CAMILLE4U said:

In retrospect,'Rave In2' was probably a better proposition. All it was missing was 'Strange But True' for it to be top notch.

.

But the Rave IN2 remix is the biggest crap. Worse than Everyday. Fortunately he seems 3 lightyears ahead of himself during that period.

I liked Rave the first time around and the remix album even more. However, I don't listen to it much because I can't play it all the way through the way I can most of his albums. Note: I don't mind intentionally silly, fun-spirited songs like Wedding Feast, Horny Toad, etc. It's usually embarassing cringe-worthy stuff like La,La...means I love You that I can't stomach.
I don't like either version of the title cut, Undisputed (he tries too hard to be "cool" in this song), nor TGRES. HotWitU is okay. Both albums are good from Tangerine on with the exception of the reggae-style rhyming on The Sun,Moon, and Stars and Silly Game (the lowest point of the album).
Standout tracks for me are So Far So Pleased, I Love U..., Strange But True/Beautiful Strange, and Pretty Man. I even like Everyday Is a Winding Road.