Purple Rain made Prince sound like he could do anything, but it still didn't prepare even his most fervent fans for the insular psychedelia of Around the World in a Day. Prince had made his interior world sound fascinating and utopian onPurple Rain, but Around the World in a Day is filled with cryptic religious imagery, bizarre mysticism, and confounding metaphors, which were drenched in heavily processed guitars, shimmering keyboards, grandiose strings, and layers of vocals. As an album, the record is a bit impenetrable, requiring great demands of the listener, but individual songs do shine through: "Raspberry Beret" is a brilliant piece of neo-psychedelia with an indelible chorus, "Pop Life" is a snide swipe at stardom that emphasizes Prince's outsider status, "Condition of the Heart" is a fine ballad, "America" is a good funk jam, "Paisley Park" is heavy and slightly frightening guitar psychedelia, while the title track is a sunny, kaleidoscopic pastiche of Magical Mystery Tour. The problem is, only a handful of the songs have much substance outside of their detailed production and intoxicating performances, and the album has a creepy sense of paranoia that is eventually its undoing.

Discuss.

I agree. While I love ATWIAD to pieces, it doesn't quite 'flow' together very well and many of the songs do have an overproduced feel to them.
It seems like he was struggling not become "Mr. Purple Rain" and in doing so over did it.

Though this was the album that made me truly respect him as an artist.

i also agree with you , Lovebizarre but the album covers a lot of ground and it shows.
it reads like a collection of stories. the fact that there are quite a few different styles and grooves on it lends to that in my opinion.

It's the one album from the 80's period that I rarely listen to all the way through. I do think that 'Condition Of The Heart' is one of his most underrated tunes. And 'Raspberry Beret' one of the most overrated.

This is one of my favorite Prince records. I like the fact that it really sounds nothing like Purple Rain but the quality is still there. I haven't found much of the album to be impenetrable at all: I think lyrically Prince was going for that psychedelic vibe which means that there are probably some lines that don't mean a damn thing. And musically it's awesome how he's combined tinges of world music, jazz, funk, pop, gospel, blues, and rock in a coherent way. There's that common thread that ties them all together in the end.

Although honestly I think i could have done without "Temptation." I like the tune but I hate the words. It shoulda been an instrumental. But having said all that

This is one of those Prince albums that I have mixed feelings about.For the most part,I like the album and I truly understand what he was trying to do."Paisley Park" is just superb,"Raspberry Beret" is a charming pop song,as is "Pop Life".But the other songs don't do much for me.

Love this album! As someone mentioned, it's a collection of stories. The songwriting is out of this world.It paints a vivid picture in my mind. When i listen to it i picture Prince and the Revolution performing all the songs as they appeared in the Raspberry Beret video.I guess that sounds a bit bizarre!

Of course by todays standards it's a short album, so i burned my own with some extended versions thrown in for good measure.

ATWIAD is quickly becoming one of my fave Prince albums...it's such a big leap on from Purple Rain...i'm glad P went for the unexpected with the album.
The pop songs on ATWIAD, I think, are amongst the best he's ever recorded, and even tracks I didn't care 4 much at first (such as the title track), are beginning to grow on me now.
In fact the album, as a whole, took me a while to fully appreciate. There's a lot going on in the songs (similiar to Lovesexy), and even after multiple listens, I'm still picking stuff up that I missed 1st time round.

But still saying that, I do agree that perhaps Prince was trying too hard not to follow the same path he did with PR and as a result the album can be quite messy/baffling at times. Even so, I still believe it to be, easily, one of Prince's most interesting and fascinating albums...and it contains enough quality songs to also be labelled one of his strongest too. IMO.

lovebizzare said:

That's probably all he wanted

This is a review from someone who wanted a Purple Rain 2 kinda release...

ATWIAD is one of my favs... I listened 2 it far more than Purple Rain...

I'm glad Prince did what he wanted 2...

I learned from that.

G.

guitarslinger44 said:

i think it's one of his best songs. It's the way he sings it that makes is for me. Listen to it while reading the words.

This album took awhile to grow on me but I like it.
Parade was the same way. Kind of a bare bones record with a couple of nice songs on.

NOW THE HIT N RUN TOUR with the mix of both these albums live was the bomb. Still one of my all time favorite tours Prince has ever done. Crazy-Sexy-Cool all in one tour. When Prince did the states it was cool, but over in Europe-they went crazy in the press.

BEST EVER TOUR!!!

violator said:

same here. that's due to its far too long and far too annoying intro.
i don't mind weird intro's, but this beats everything..

4 me until now this is my FAVORITE Album from PRINCE so far & will be surely!!

violator said:

that makes a lot of sense

This is most definitely one of my favorite albums.

familygroove said:

no seriously. i agree on this. 'raspberry beret' is a NICE song. just a little too pop, too corny. 'condition of the heart' is a BEAUTIFUL song. i just love the chorus to this song. prince's multi-layered vocals are simply amazing..

dawn74 said:

The way he sings it is pretty much why I dont' like it. It's more campy than dirty and I think with a tune like that, you REALLY have to sell it and lay on the grit if you're gonna pull it off. Listening back on it, I DO like the lyrics and I like the tune itself, just not really the presentation of it.

Around The World In A Day
Paisley Park
Condition Of the Heart
Raspberry Beret
Pop Life



Tambourine
America
The Ladder
Temptation

You don't like The Ladder and Temptation?! What?!

Overall I'd say the album's great, just not as impactful on the listener as Purple Rain.

PurpleKnight said:

Nope. I'm not fussed about them. I've tried hard, tho'.

I kinda like Temptation until he ruins it with that dodgy ending. The song itself is okay. Maybe I should make an edit of it. The Ladder is just dreary and tuneless to me.

Cloudbuster said:

Hearing him sing the Ladder on the ONA tour gave me a fresh perspective on that song. (Might even be my favourite on ATWIAD)

Marrk said:

Maybe a remastered version would do it some justice. The mix is a little murky.

Milty said:

write a review of an album almost twenty years after it was released as if no one has ever heard it before. I think this review is more about displaying your "knoweldge" of music more than the music itself.

next time, use semicolons where they are needed, not commas.

dumbass said:

Dumbass!

Cloudbuster said:

clearly.