3 out of 5.

Very ambitious and very overrated.

.

LOVE IT

I remember being a teenager, going into the store on release day picking up my LP and getting annoyed at the bus taking so long to take me home.

DigitalGardin said:

u must b american !!! 2 of p's greatest lovesexy and atwiad !!

I give it Two Snaps up and an Around the World

don't like it, neva listen 2 it and i only like 3 songs off it : raspberry beret, ladder and pop life

IrristibleTriccc4U2NV said:

A fantastic album indeed, Temptation has to be one of the best prince songs ever along with DMSR, International Lover, Sometimes it snows in April. Around the World in A Day should be shown the respect it deserves

IrristibleTriccc4U2NV said:

A classic, one of his best, I'll alyway be thankful that this music came out right after the success of PR. It's risky, it's ambitious, evertyhing on there fits very well, most of all the sequence of the songs, which is perfect just as ist is. Even the weaker songs (like "Tambourine") are "must beens", because we would have missed something, if P had decided against it. And "ATWIAD" is the best opener of a Prince-Album EVER (probs to the memory of David Coleman). And last but not least: It's, in my opinion, his most "european" album, even more than SOTT.

This is his best album after SOTT, 9,5 out of 10, next is dirty mind.

After Purple Rain it was a good rdirection to go and he hasn't stopped suprising us with great musical experiments. Rasberry Beret is his best song, to hear it live is amazing!

THIS CD IS IN MY TOP TEN FOR PRINCE. THIS IS ONE OF THOSE CD I CAN LISTEN TO
FROM START TO FINISH, ESP TEMPTATION! I CAN DO MY SEXY DANCE TO THIS SONG!

I have been waiting for this question to arise. It's time to testify.

Unlike the majority of white people, I did not jump on the Prince bandwagon with the crossover hit "Little Red Corvette". I have been a Prince fan since day one when he was played exclusively on black radio.

I was a huge disco fan and discovered Prince on American Bandstand in January 1980 with "I Wanna Be Your Lover". Disco brought eveyone together musically and after disco died, music was segregated again. Rock was played on white stations and funk was played on black stations. When disco was becoming scarcer and scarcer on white radio, I began branching out into black radio. Everyone else adjusted to the transition back to rock but I refused to accept the death of disco because I loved it so much. Funk at that time was very similar to disco. I began listening to black radio exclusivey and, being from the South, the other white people hated me for it. They also questioned my sexuality. Now rednecks don't just make observations from a distance, they believe in harrassment. Blacks never treated me that way so I said the hell with the rednecks. Not only did I listen to black music, the only people I would associate with at the time were black people.

I listened to Rick James, Roger and Zapp, the Barkays, Lakeside, etc. at the time. I listened to only hardcore funk, nothing weak and watered down. Prince's next album "Dirty Mind" came out. I remembered Prince from the disco era on American Bandstand when he stuck in my head because of his appearance. He stuck in my head because I was in the 7th grade and was being called all these sexually confusing names and people were calling him the same names. With "Dirty Mind" he was stronger and more aggressive. He could give the more masculine male artists a run for their money. He didn't just have an androgynous look, he flaunted it, threw it in your face, and shoved it down your throat. He also had an interracial look. I would look at him one time and say "He's black", then I would look again and say "No, he's white", then look again and say "I wonder if he's Puerto Rican".

"Dirty Mind" is the album that really hooked me to Prince. He had a sound of his own with the synthesizers and keyboards. "Head" is my alltime favorite. Then I heard "Get It Up" on the radio and thought it was Prince. It was The Time which I found out was a Prince creation. Then "Controversy" came out. The music was even stronger and more powerful. The synthesizers continued on this album but seemed more advanced. Then The Time's second album came out, once again funky as hell with more of the synthesized sound. The same followed with Vanity 6. Then Prince's next album "1999" came out. This album was REALLY something. The synthesizers were at their most powerful. The entire album made me feel like I was in a futuristic world. I envisioned us living in a Jetsons era in the year 1999, boy was the real year 1999 a disappointment...a hip hop dominated year. My siblings listened to white radio and I began hearing "Little Red Corvette" on the white stations. I said "Oh, I hope he doesn't become weak like Lionel Richie."

Prince disappeared for a year in 1983. I thought he was gone. At that time, artists made an album every year and where was Prince? He returned in 1984 and blew the world apart with "Purple Rain". This album continued the synthesized sound he created and continued with his fellow protegees, The Time, Apollonia 6, and Sheila E. He even produced Sheena Easton that year with the same sound. The sound was hot. Alexander O'Neil popped up with "Innocent". Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were producing the SOS Band, Cherelle, and Chic...all with that sound. This was the Minneapolis Sound...a strong syntheser driven sound that all originated from Prince.

All lights were green, everything was racing forward at 100 MPH then BAM!....."Around The World In A Day". Prince slammed on the brakes and nearly threw me out of the windshield! He threw out a major STOP sign. Gone was the funk. Gone was the futuristic synthesized sound. He was racing us straight ahead to the future and turned around and went back to the 60s. I said "What the FUCK is this?!" No one I knew liked it, especially the black people. Everybody said he must be on some serious drugs. Why the hell would you turn your back on the sound you created at the height of your career? The album didn't lose my black friends immediately though. Everyone said maybe he's just trying something different and when it doesn't sell he will come back. We thought we had our wish with "Kiss" but when the rest of the album was released...same old weird shit as "Around The World In A Day". By the time "Sign 'O' The Times" was released, all my black friends said " I will wait to hear some more tracks on the radio before I buy it and if the "old Prince" is not back, then I will not. I'm not going to waste my money on another bullshit album!" Through the years, all of them gave up and said hell he's never coming back!

I couldn't just turn my back on Prince though. He meant more to me than just the music because of some of the personal stuff I had been through which drew me to him in the first place. I learned to like "Around The World In A Day" as well as the albums that followed it. Each album is totally different than the previous one with various music styles which I have come to love and I thank Prince for exposing me to them.

By the early 90s when I had matured and been the work world for a few years, I began to realize not every single black person is perfect either. I began to run across some low down black people who are just as prejudiced as white people. I began to open up to more white people and now I am middle of the road...the way I think we all should be. When hip hop took over, I stopped listening to the black stations and listened to rock. Then hip hop started taking over the rock too. It's ridiculous! Now I listen to strictly old school funk, rock, disco, and house music.

As far as "Around The World In A Day" goes, it is a wonderful album. Creative to the point of genius...BUT....I will say this till the cows come home....It should not have been released at the time period it was released. Prince should have continued, advanced, and perfected HIS sound as much as he could while he was at the height of his popularity. His protegees, Morris and Jesse, continued that sound in their solo albums. They were successes on black radio, of course they did not enjoy the crossover success as Prince. Other groups such as Ready For The World copied his sound. Janet Jackson became a HUGE star with HIS sound, by the way, "Control" was not her first album, it was her third. If Prince had continued HIS sound, I think he would have eventually become a bigger star than he was in the "Purple Rain" era and could even have put Michael Jackson in his shadow.

4 out of 5 stars (awesome album)

vainandy said:

I see what you are saying but I disagree. I think that AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY was good in theory, but suffered from poor execution. I think Prince was right in releasing an album that sounded like ATWIAD right after PR..I just think that the songs themself on that album are poor. But, I love the sound of that album..that mid-Eastern/ retro-60's sound..I like that...furthermore..Prince is way to unpredictable to stick with the "polished synthesized" funk sound that dominated his 1980-84 albums.....Prince is known for switching gears at the drop of a hat and thats exactly what he did with ATWIAD.....
do I love that album..NO but I wouldnt have expected Prince to put out a Purple Rain pt. 2..
if he had, he woulda been playing by the rules and we know that Prince dont do that

I love the album. Temptation was the only song on it that had to grow on me, and I'm glad it did. I remember when I first got the cassette, got home and put it in my stereo... and that first scream. OMG! My 1st reaction was WTF was that? One of my parents opened my door to ask if everything was ok after hearing the scream. And then after hearing the 1st side, flipping over the tape, and America starting like that damn tape was getting eaten up by my player. But I still have my original copy of the CD that came in the same packaging that the concert giveawy of Musicology comes in, and the long box sleeve that came with it.
[This message was edited Fri Jun 25 13:07:21 2004 by wdrew]

4 out of 5 stars:

This album was a fuck you to the fans who wanted Prince to continue with the same sound of Purple Rain, or at least the synth driven funk sound. He did it to stay a step ahead of everybody. He had to to remain relavant. Sure, he lost fans, but those were weak fans at best.

Wendy and Lisa also introduced him to the Beatles, which Prince says he never listened to before. It gave him ideas, and that made him expand his sound. If the new sound pissed off old fans, that was fine; a real artist should first please themselves.

This shit about black and white is dumb. Music is music. We need to get out of our segregated musical places. Music is the universal language. And everyone is welcome to speak it, enjoy.

The album itself has many ups and downs, but many more ups. Genius abounds on the disk; and his quirky weirdness works, for the most part. Sure, the lyrics are vague, but who really cares about the meaning of the lyrics? Better that he be free to express anything.

He falls into show offyness at times, but the album is real excellent. Not the genius of Purple Rain, but a real satisfying trip. Hell, two of his best song ever--Raspberry Beret, and Condition Of The Heart--are on the album.

Condition is such genius, and so undeniable, it is almost worth the price alone. The first ever psychodelic gospel song. Gets my mouth dropping every time.

All in all, a great disk.

it's a great album if it hadn't been the follow up to Purple Rain, it would have gotten much more respect.

2freaky4church1 said:[quote]4 out of 5 stars:




VERY well said! I couldn't agree more. Over the years as I have matured, I have branched out into many different areas of music that I never would have listened to before. I have Prince to thank for that with "Around The World In A Day". I absolutely love the album all the way through, I just wish it had not been released in 1985. 1995 would have been much more appropriate after the synth sound was long gone. By 1995, hip hop had just about stomped out any form of real music from being played on the radio and "Around The World In A Day" would have been a wonderful change.

Another person mentioned if Prince had continued with the synth sound at that time he would have been playing by the rules and that is one of the things we love about him is he breaks the rules. That's absolutely true too! I can be very selfish and when I eat, I overeat. That's why I wish he continued with the synth sound, I can't get enough of it. There are only so many times I can listen to the earlier albums and I crave for something new with the synth sound. That was the sound I loved and still CRAVE. What bothers me now is if he were to release a new synth album, it would flop because it wouldn't get any airplay because of hip hop.

vainandy said:

Chic was never produced by Jam and Lewis.

Painfully underrated. Again, people expected to hear another Purple Rain. It's really sad because ATW was a terrific album. "Condition of the Heart" is one of my all-time favorite songs...

That was the only Prince song, besides "Baby" and "Another Lonely Christmas" that honestly made me cry!!!

[/quote]

Yes there were. The song was "Give Me The Lovin" from 1983. I have the 45 and it says produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

I know my my music baby.

I have a bookcase filled with albums, 12 inches, 45s, CDs, and cassettes, from floor to ceiling. All of it is old school. I used to have 8 tracks until they stopped making the player.

If you wanna know something, ask me baby! School's in!

Love it.
Definitely one of Prince's most underrated albums. Great from start to finish.
I give it a 5 stars rating and put it in my Prince top 5.

DigitalGardin said:

Hmm, that's cool but I disagree with you. I love ATWIAD. Overall it is tough to rate it but I'll give it a go.

1-Sign 'O' The Times
2-Purple Rain
3-1999
4-Dirty Mind
5-The Gold Experience
6-Around The World In A Day?

I guess I rate it number 6 but if I thought about it longer it would probably slide down a bit. Definitely top ten.

1) Around The World In A Day (This song I'm not crazy about. It's a little odd for an album opener but I'm sure that was the point)
2) Paisley Park (Love this song. Makes me feel safe and warm!)
3) Condition Of The Heart (Great ballad! Any time Prince says the word prince in a song I love it!)
4) Raspberry Beret (Maybe my favourite single. Flawless pop song.)
5) Tamborine (On the suface maybe a throw away but it's very funky and keeps the flow going nicely)
6) America (Should have been a bigger hit. Great rock song.)
7) Pop Life (Maybe my second favourite single. Unbelievably funky. 12" version is a must!)
8) The Ladder (I love this song! The lyrics are great and very true.)
9) Temptation (Prince, meet horns. Great closer. Kind of scared me the first time I heard it. But I'm better now.)

What's not to like?

I have to say that I love the version of the Ladder that plays at the end of a 1991 Prince documentary done by the BBC. Just Prince and a piano. Very beautiful.

vainandy said:

Then you have a collector's item, because that's the wrong info.

`
[This message was edited Sun Jun 27 13:19:42 2004 by Supernova]

rialb said:

Whats not to like?? hmmm..to me "The Ladder" reminds me of something that shoulda been played during the ending credits of "Purple Rain." Thats what I always think of when I hear "The Ladder." As for "America" and "Paisley Park"..I think they woulda been better b-sides..and "tambourine" shoulda stayed in the vaults IMO

This shoulda been the tracklisting for AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY

Side A
1. Around the world in a day
2. Pop Life
3. Condition Of The Heart
4. Raspberry Beret(extended version)
5. Girl
Side B
1. Mutiny
2. Sexual Suicide
3. Nothing Compares 2 U
4. She's Always In My Hair
5. Temptation(minus the convo with God and with live drums)

Welcome2daRevolution said:

The same will b said of his 90's work in about 10 years, but ATWIAD was a good album and TAMBORINE&AMERICA are funky as heck!

I must apologize. When I saw your comment, I said let me pull my 45 and prove you wrong. When I found it I said "I be damned! I must be slipping!" Right about now I am eating crow. Anyway, you are absolutely right and please accept my apology.

I got it mixed up with Change's "Change of Heart". Both 45s for Chic and Change were released the same year and they are both on the Atlantic label. I knew one of them was produced by Jam and Lewis and it was Change.

I have two turntables and I like to mix the two songs because they sound so similar and follow it with Cheryll Lynn's "Encore", another Jam and Lewis production that same year (I read the label before I made this post....LOL).

vainandy said:

No problem. Actually, I was wondering if you were thinking of Change, because some of their songs have a very Chic-influenced sound. But aside from their debut album (in 1980) I'm not familiar with any of their later music and I know Jam and Lewis worked with them at some point too.