Around the World in a Day [CD]

Prince's 'Around The World In A Day' is the quite baffling yet brilliant follow-up to his 1984 phenomenom 'Purple Rain'.
Psychadelic with a capital P and lacking the raunchy guitar riffs all too common on previous Prince tracks such as 'Computer Blue', the album wasn't as warmly embraced as its predecessor.
Critics and audiences were confused...they thought they were getting 'Purple Rain pt.2' and what they got instead was this album; a kaleidoscope of distinct melodies, colourful imagery, and more importantly pure-purple genius.
Prince himself said that it would be all too easy to open the album with the same kind of fiery guitar solo that concluded 'Let's Go Crazy'...but he doesn't like being predictable, and throughout the duration of this album, he is anything but.

The title cut kicks off the album perfectly, with an ear-piercing whine from Prince followed by an awash of soaring keyboards and foreign instrumentation...fans at the time didn't know what they were hearing, was this the same man who told us just months ago that he met a girl in a hotel lobby...well you know the rest.
'Paisley Park' was probably more like it for the fans...an incredibly catchy trippy-pop song containing, amongst other things, a very contagious chorus... the song still remains one of Prince's strongest pure pop tracks ever.
'Raspberry Beret' and 'Pop Life' are the two standout songs on the album and were, rightfully, big hits, but that 'Prince-masterpiece' you look for on every album comes in the form of track 3: 'Condition Of The Heart', a wonderful and touching ballad that, musically, is Prince's finest from the 80's.

Every track on the album impresses, from the patriotic-funk drive of 'America' to the quite excellent closing track 'Temptation' - a sexual scorcher of a song featuring the only dominant guitar bursts on the whole album.

'Around The World In A Day' seems to get better and better with age, and over the years it has, respectfully, became a fan favourite. In fact, the album is packed with such wonderful and memorable songs that looking back on it now 'ATWIAD' really IS 'Purple Rain 2'. An essential album.

If you like purple rain and are looking for more of the same, you won't find it; least of all with this album. If theres one thing you can always expect from Prince, its his unpredictability. Many so called fans shunned Prince after this records release, expecting a purple rain re-hash. This album is nothing like purple rain but why would you want it to be. Theres only one purple rain and thats what makes it so great. With this album I feel Prince wanted to experiment musically; and it certainly paid off. Its a classic. Fans of commercial Prince will love it for tracks like Raspberry Beret and Pop Life, while die hard fans will love it for beautifully written and experimental tracks like Condition Of The Heart and Tamborine. Personally I think theyre all brilliant and would definatley reccomend this record to anyone.

The 80s wouldn't have been the 80s without Prince. Around the World in a Day was his follow-up album to the immensely popular Purple Rain. While this album is certainly not as momentous as its predecessor, it most certainly does have its good points. First of all, and I think this was a wise decision on Prince's part, Around the World in a Day has a different feel and sound to it than Purple Rain, a new mood which the cover of the album ably reflects. There are psychedelic touches to this music, as well as a plethora of Indian and perhaps oriental sounds, that give the album a somewhat upbeat, rather mystical atmosphere. The opening track Around the World in a Day sets the record straight from the very beginning, giving ample warning that this album is not going to be a Purple Rain knockoff by an artist content to coast his way down from the top of the mountain of superstardom. Raspberry Beret was naturally a huge hit, and it has something of a light, energetic quality to it that makes it fun to listen to even now. Pop Life is another pop-oriented song that got ample play on the radio, and its airy yet serious style is quite in contrast to the song and released single America. America has a dose of serious guitar of a slightly heavy variety, making me think of (yet not actually reminding me of) Jimi Hendrix, except Jimi never screamed the way Prince does on this track. Paisley Park is a wonderful song, boasting some of Prince's best and most emotionally touching lyrics. It is followed by the equally impressive yet very different song Condition of the Heart; this love song starts with some impressive tickling of the ivories before eventually leading into Prince's high-key and perfectly mournful lyrics. The final two tracks offer another contrast in styles. After The Ladder, a serious, even philosophical track with something of a gospel sound to it, Prince immediately shifts gears to the wild, uninhibited, scream-heavy Temptation. I can't say what kind of reaction die-hard Prince fans had to this album when it was released, but I admit having initially found it a little disappointing compared to Purple Rain. Now, it is easy to look back and see how well most of this music holds up. Prince always did his own thing yet remained highly successful, and this album is a case in point. I could do with a few less of those vintage Prince screams, but overall I have a lot of respect for the new direction Prince followed on the heels of Purple Rain.