C/D: Prince's "Around the World in a Day"

I'll make an exception for "Sometimes It Snows in April."

Robert Palmer, New York Times, 4/22/1985:

Almost every sound on the record, vocal and instrumental, with the occasional exception of light percussion, saxophone, backing vocals and understated string arrangements, was made by Prince, who proves with this record that he has mastered the pop-rock idiom in the widest sense, from artsy rock to heavy metal, funk to sweet pop balladry. ''Around the World in a Day'' may or may not endure as a rock classic; that remains to be seen. But there can be no doubt that Prince has invested a great deal of creative and emotional energy in it.

Richard Harrington, Washington Post, 4/23/1985:

This is a mind album, like "Sgt. Pepper," and Prince tends to leave clues rather than evidence. For all its psychedelic trappings, and for all his reputation as a sexual obsessive, there is precious little advocacy of anything except self-awareness and self-definition. That may be a reflection on Prince and his own set of changes; it has certainly provoked one of the most intriguing albums in years.

sucks to have taller siblings, but this album's got things the others don't. it's weirder, spacier, further out, totally personal, couldn't care less about pleasing outside the core fan base, which was important coming off the last album: i.e. the year the assholes stopped calling me a fag for liking Prince.

sucks to have taller siblings, but this album's got things the others don't. it's weirder, spacier, further out, totally personal, couldn't care less about pleasing outside the core fan base, which was important coming off the last album: i.e. the year the asshole jocks stopped calling me a faggot for liking Prince (to put it bluntly)

(me in '85 = 15 yrs old, for context)

But what I really came back to the thread to say is: I think that, in to order to more accurately represent his actual bailiwick, fact checking cuz should expand his title to the Brighten-the-Corners deluxe version of "sanity and fact checking cuz."

and meanwhile, the 12" mixes & b-sides were killing... "Hello"

maybe it's different if you're going through his albums in hindsight, but this was a pivotal album where he showed everyone he was just going to keep going further, and it was cool, so I have nothing but love for this album

One day.

When is the Little One releasing his 12"'s ?

1. Prince's quest to create an oasis of freedom and peace (Paisley Park) in the mixed-up muddled-up world (title track).

2. His glorification of the beautiful loser, the nerd, the freak, ("Paisley Park" the song, "Condition of the Heart" which is so overheated that you KNOW it's him talking), the black kids who listen to Joni Mitchell and Love.

3. His having to deal with the insanity he's created through fame, through arrogance, through beginning to piss off the music business that has finally embraced him ("Pop Life")

4. His walking away from the sex-crazed persona that America embraced, his trying to understand his religious underpinnings instead of just being flippant about it like before ("Temptation")

5. His backing away from his earlier Reagan-is-great stylings ("America").

"Paisley Park" - I like the calliope. Sounds too much like "Magical Mystery Tour" and "Penny Lane." He did this strawberry-lemonade and tangerine trees shit better on the next album's "Christopher Tracy's Parade" and "Life Can Be So Nice."

Not that it's not a (really) good album.

Also, I don't think "America" is a turn away from "Reagan-is-great."

These lyrics, for instance:

Communism is just a word
But if the government turn over
It'll be the only word that's heard

That's basically "Keep Ronnie, he's better than those Russkies."

all of which is true, and none of which has anything to do with whether the album is any good or not

"Paisley Park" is a future-funk song and has nothing to do with drugged-out Brit-hippie music-hall wank

like FUCK it doesn't

fuck you! I had mad skillz!

The idea of "Take Me With U" as the theme song for "Sophie's Choice" is making me really nauseous

All the people that diss it but shot all the people that like it the most off-the-money

Q. How are the Beatles like Jesus?
A. They're just all right, to me.

MC: so is what you're saying that your not caring that much for the Beatles = that song doesn't ape them in any way? because that's an awful lot what it looks like

Last time I played the album I loved all of it, although "Temptation" sure does sound goofy.

Again, I was responding to Alfred Soto talking about the Beatles.

And, again, I was only making a little joke that occured to me. ("Little" = "Microscopic") I have never heard Lennon/McCartney much in Prince's psychedelia, more like Love and Sly and Beach Boys. But hey I could be wrong, what the fuck.

Anyway, "Paisley Park" and "Raspberry Beret" are fantastic songs because they sound like something The Beatles might have done in 1967.

And, no, "Purple Rain" is not complex. It has four chords. And that's it. And they are being repeated as an ostinato all the time with no build, not climax (other than some annoyingly improvised screaming, that is, but the climax shouldn't be in the performance, it should be in the melody).

Propably still in my Top 5 but it could do with a good remastering/ fix up. If only to correct that pain in the arse lag between the left and right channels on Pop Life when you listen on headphones. I love it mind, full of brilliant tricks that you forget about like that stop-start-stop-start intro to America. Condition Of The Heart contains my favourite Prince lyric moment ever when the girl leaves him for 'a REAL prince.. from Arabia'. Anyone who doesn't get the warmth and the humour of the man after listening to this album is *nuts*.

Plenty of his albums before and since exude his warmth and humor.

I should have said upthread: maybe I'm tainted because I heard Parade first. ATWIAD, by contrast, was one of the LAST Prince albums I bought (2001? 2002?). I've written thousands of words in my rockcrit career defending unloved mutts, especially those released in the eighties, but this one, unfortunately, still sounds half-assed and nattering.

This is my favorite Prince album.

Parade is ironically the one I never liked much...although there are some amazing songs on it.

really the only Prince album I've ever heard that I went "uh, why?" was the one a few years ago with the song "Guitar" on it....

I hear the title track and "Paisley Park" and think, well, okay, sitars and finger cymbals and Magical Mystery Tour -- so what?

The A side of this album is brilliant: the first tune is nice intro showcasing how he's changed his game, "Paisley Park" is one his most hearbreakingly beautiful pop songs, the ballad is good in the sort of pathetic-yet-credible way Prince can write ballad, "Raspberry Berret" is plenty fun, and "Tambourine" is a nice little funk workout. But the B side is kinda bad: "America" is musically nice but has dodgy lyrics, "Pop Life" isn't as great a pop song as the ones on side A, and the last two songs are just half-assed, formless attempts to make something "psychedelic". Prince should've just made the 20 minute version of "America" as the entire B side. Or at least replace the last two songs with "Girl" and "She's Always in My Hair". They're not the most perfect Prince songs, but they're certainly better than what's on the album.

Yeah: "Girl," "Hello," "She's Always in My Hair" pwn most of the album tracks.

Basically absolutely LOVE "Raspberry Beret" and "Paisley Park". Also quite fond of the title track and "Pop Life". Not quite as keen on the rest.

honestly i only came around to "parade" as an album this year (before i would always listen to kiss, mountains, and maybe another lover and that's it).

the title track is the only thing I don't like much on "Purple Rain"

O_O

Anyway, great album. I never latched onto Parade as strongly as this one, myself.

I understand now
love is more important than sex
I have to go now

I don't know when I'll return

goodbye

Prince's worst 80s record?

way better than Lovesexy imo. i might prefer it to Parade too but i know that's a minority opinion.

temptation is pretty embarrassing

Anyway, "Paisley Park" and "Raspberry Beret" are fantastic songs because they sound like something The Beatles might have done in 1967.

I just heard "Pop Life" somewhere the other week, it made me happy like it usually does. I think most of the detractory commentary above is fair, but for somebody's decade low-point to include "Pop Life," "Raspberry Beret," "Tamborine" and "Condition of the Heart" says more about the decade he had than the actual merits of the album. Even the title track is pretty cool.

'raspberry beret' makes my shortlist of the best pop records of all time, easy.

"Temptation" is amazing, imo, always gives me chills

i'm hard-pressed to think of any song called 'temptation' that isn't awesome!

I've voiced the identical sentiment about songs w/tambourines in the title!

Redirecting from this current sidebar: 'The Top' by the Cure: Classic or Dud?

imago— Definitely check out the b-sides from this album: 'She's Always In My Hair' (which is an absolutely classic song, full stop), 'Girl', and 'Hello.' There's also the twenty minute (no, really) version of 'America.'

Oh cool!

Yeah this was awesome. Didn't even falter in Side B, although I'm not sure the opener isn't my favourite track