Prince & The Revolution

Product Details

* Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
* Original Release Date: 2000
* Number of Discs: 10
* Label: Warner Bros / Wea
* Catalog Number: 25286
* ASIN: B000002L7R
* Other Editions: Audio Cassette
* Average Customer Review: based on 74 reviews. (Write a review.)
* Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,272 in Music (See Top Sellers in Music)
Yesterday: #36,597 in Music

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1. Around The World In A Day Listen Listen
2. Paisley Park Listen Listen
3. Condition Of The Heart Listen Listen
4. Raspberry Beret Listen Listen
5. Tamborine Listen Listen
6. America Listen
7. Pop Life Listen
8. The Ladder Listen
9. Temptation Listen
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15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
Paisley Park should be in everyone's hearts, August 14, 2001
Reviewer: Daniel J. Hamlow (Farmington, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
Which came first, the label or the song? Well, whatever the case, once upon a time, a song called "Paisley Park" was written. It was a wonderful paradise where the sky was richly blue and the clouds hung like the fleece on the fattest sheep, with white doves flying overhead. Foremost about this place was the mountains, which were a quilt of colors, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, pink, purple, and black. And standing around a swimming pool bordered by marigolds, were a cast of characters, which either represented the nine songs or were musicians on the album.

I'm describing the album cover of Around The World In A Day, the psychedelic pop followup to Prince's masterpiece, Purple Rain.

"Raspberry Beret" is an all-time classic that needs no introduction. The video for it is my favorite video period, and it contained elements of the album cover. The girl with the beret is wearing a long black robe and holding a raspberry (or is it an apple?) on the album cover.

"Paisley Park" describes a pleasant utopia as an alternative to all the troubles in the world. It's a place where people are happy, forgive those who have wronged them, There's even a poke at Republicans--"Whoever said that elephants were stronger than mules?" Both girl in the seesaw and the black man who's block is condemned figure on the album cover. Yes, she does look happy, doesn't she? I mean, life SHOULD be this happy, at a place where you want to stay for the rest of your life, where the people are filled with "profound inner peace."

Whenever I hear "Condition Of The Heart" I am filled with a pleasant inner melancholy that sets my mind adrift. It's songs like this that, to reverse the lyric from Nirvana's "Lithium," that provide "the comfort in being sad."

Ditto with "The Ladder" which is about the search for one's soul and personal salvation. I sometimes feel that I am that king who didn't know where he's going, except for me, it's not the land of Sinaplenty--it's Nosoul. The lush string arrangements, backing vocals by Wendy and Susannah Melvoin and Lisa Coleman, and gospel choir of "The Ladder," a song about the search for personal salvation, make it one of my favorite Prince songs.

"America" opens with a blasting chords before launching into a rocking beat from a strong fuzzy guitar. It is the only sociopolitical song here, with verses describing the upper classes and their preoccupation in making money and equating a Democratic or left-of-center change in the government with communism, a woman who barely makes ends meet in the "one room monkey cage" where she lives, and a boy disillusioned with this country to the extent that he sees nothing but an impending apocalypse. The song still seems topical today, as there seems to be little left to be proud of in this country.

"Pop Life" is a song on the way people cope with their miserable life, whether it is someone who didn't get an envelope from Ed McMahon, children staying out of school, or people taking drugs to evade life's harsh realities. I like in particular the lyric "The river of addiction flows... but there won't be no water when the fire blows."

Sometimes, I feel that the only places I want to go exist in fantasy or songs. There's Pepperland, Strawberry Fields, and then there's Paisley Park. I'll say this--if I ever gain entrance to the Park, I ain't never coming back!

"Temptation", with its distorted psychedelic guitar is the closest as Prince will ever get to heavy metal. I assume that the person embodying that song is the red be-wigged man in the black bodysuit eating the ice cream cone.

Anyone else who made an album like Around The World In A Day after a megasmash like Purple Rain would probably see their career come tumbling down due to an alienated audience. Only a genius like Prince can carry such a radical change in musical style to sound perfection.

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Psychewhat?, June 22, 2004
Reviewer: Gianmarco Manzione (Jensen Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
Someone at Rolling Stone must have branded this album "psychedelic" upon its release, and everyone else in music journalism willingly brayed along. But if by "psychedelic" we mean stuff like Tommy James & The Shondells' "Crimson & Clover," The Beach Boys'"Wouldn't it Be Nice" or The Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends," "Around The World in A Day" hardly qualifies. It takes more than the scattered appearances of tambourines and strings to justify cagetorization as a full-fledged "psychedelic" album, I think. Prince's "Around The World In A Day" is less a nod to psychedelia than it is another of his great 80s pop records, teeming with those explosive drum beats, synths and subtle funk grooves. While the masterful "Raspberry Beret's" string arrangements evoke vague recollections of "I Am The Walrus" or "Eleanor Rigby," still the song's thump and groove are entirely Prince's own glorious concoction. Yet while he extends the delights of "Purple Rain" here, there is also an element of maturity and a deepinging of his skills as a songwriter on beautiful ballads like the understated "Condition of the Heart" with its lilting vocals, the tender "Paisely Park" or the luscious and immediately catchy "Pop Life." As always, Prince had already grown by leaps and bounds in just the single year between Purple Rain and this album. While that rapid growth has tended to both infuriate and bewilder fans over the years, Prince was too close to his glory at the time of this release to serve up anything less than a masterpiece, no matter what the experiment.

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This album is so beautiful., January 18, 2006
Reviewer: california dreamin (northern ca, CA USA) - See all my reviews
I love Prince music. Some looked at this album as a step down from Purple Rain but that is complete b.s. It is more of a creative artistic move from Prince and The Revolution. My personal favorite track is The Ladder. The back up vocals are superb from Wendy, Lisa, Susannah, and Taja Sevelle. I love it.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Welcome to Paisley Parc, The World of Prince!, November 29, 2005
Reviewer: Josephll "Josephll" (CET) - See all my reviews
After the albums 1999 and Purple Rain, Prince was already multi-selling superstar and he could basically do what he wanted, he went one step further again and released a album that is pop-psychedelic with songs simular to Beatles "Sgt. Pepper" but with more pop. This album wasn't the biggest hit and critics often critisize it for it differences from previous albums. However, they're all wrong. This album is fantastic, both musically since it feautures loads of fascinating instruments and lyrically it explores new levels of Prince's brillianct song writing. The colourful cover of this album is a good way of descibing it's versatility. "Around the World In One Day" is too unique too not be enjoyed.

It starts with the title track, it got both African percussion, flutes and a whole lot off odd instruments. It stands for a good intro to what is coming. "Paisley Parc" his second song was also his new label. Musically it gives a good preview on the psychedelia. The song is about an utopia, (an alternate world) where everything is good and people get along. "Condition of the Heart" is a ballad, it starts with piano 2:30 minute before he starts singing. This melancholy song is exceptionally long, no hit single but good ballad. "Raspberry Baret" was the big hit from this album! And listening to it you can understand why, it's cathcy as hell. "Raspberry beret, The kind U find in a second hand store
Raspberry beret, And if it was warm she wouldn't wear much more"

"Tambourine" is really odd, but coming from Prince and this album in particular I'm not surprised. "Close my eyes what's it like,What's it like inside your tamborine?" and "All alone by myself Me and I play my tamborine". "America" is funky as hell (Especially it's riff), the song itself critisise political America and it's fight to destroy communism in the 80's instead of taking care of it's own citizen. We can draw paralles today to the Iraq War that's been a political priority. "Pop Life" is my favorite pick of this album, it's a very cathcy song and it's about how celebrity status can change people's life for the worse. So true.

"The Ladder" is simply amazing, it a slow paced song that feautures saxophone, it's starts spoken where Prince desribes a king from the land of sinapeny that didn't deserve to be. He doesn't do anything right and does not know where he comes from. Neither the love from Electra is adeqaute for him, all he wants is "The Ladder". The song is about finding yourself I think, and finding the right path in life. Something that is very difficult, for everyone. If you wanted something very heavy, the you got it with "Temptation". It feautures horns and heavy guitar riffs. The song is about what the title suggest.

Overall, A diffrent but fantastic album, Prince had the guts to record a very unique album, both musically and lyrically. The album is not as much about tabu's and sex as other album, this one's more political and personal. Before you listen to critics, listen to the album yourself and you should enjoy this other side of Prince.… (más)

Product Details

* Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
* Original Release Date: 2000
* Number of Discs: 1
* Label: Warner Bros / Wea
* Catalog Number: 23720
* ASIN: B000002KY8
* Other Editions: Audio Cassette
* Average Customer Review: based on 95 reviews. (Write a review.)
* Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,569 in Music (See Top Sellers in Music)
Yesterday: #4,696 in Music

Listen to Samples
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1. 1999 Listen Listen
2. Little Red Corvette Listen Listen
3. Delirious Listen Listen
4. Let's Pretend We're Married Listen Listen
5. D.M.S.R. Listen Listen
6. Automatic Listen
7. Something In The Water (Does Not Compute) Listen
8. Free Listen
9. Lady Cab Driver Listen
10. All The Critics Love U In New York Listen
11. International Lover Listen
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Prince's fifth album came right before the lascivious multi-instrumentalist became a huge star with his 1984 film and soundtrack, Purple Rain. But Prince had already proved himself to be the most audacious talent to emerge in the 1980s, and 1999, the bulk of which features Prince on all the instruments, reflects the dance-rock styles that he also brought to the acts he produced, particularly the Time. Prince knows how to run a one-man-band individual instruments don't blend together as much as they compete in a funky showdown which allows tracks like "Automatic," "D.M.S.R.," and "Delirious" to sustain their long playing times. But the album's two enduring hits, "1999" and "Little Red Corvette," outshine the rest, and define the essential roles that rock and funk play in Prince's music. "Little Red Corvette" is a sexy song about a car, which would have been enough to make it a terrific rock song even if it didn't also boast an infectious chorus and a great guitar part. As for "1999," count on it being the dance song of the millennial year. --John Milward
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
2000 zero-zero party's over oops out of time, April 21, 2002
Reviewer: Daniel J. Hamlow (Farmington, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
Looking back, I don't know if we were ever that close to nuclear war, but Prince put out a double-LP worth of songs (due to the plethora of long songs) back in 1982 and declared that he was gonna "party like it's 1999." That album made 17 years before the title year is one of Prince's most vital, danceable, and best albums.

"1999" is one of Prince's masterpieces, punctuated by punchy synthesizers and an infectious percussive beat, with Cold War nuclear angst lyrics: "Everybody's got a bomb/we could all die anyway. Jill Jones, keyboardist Lisa Coleman, and guitarist Dez Dickerson all have guest vocal duties. The song closes with a poignant child-like question "Mommy, why does everybody have a bomb?" Why indeed?

That classic number is followed by "Little Red Corvette," the highest charting single from this album, and rivalling "1999" in importance, career-wise. Using a hot red car as a metaphor to a red hot, love'em and leave'em lover before AIDS was a concern works. Lisa and Dez have more co-lead vocal contributions here.

"Delirious" follows with an infectious backbeat and squeaky keyboards. Hey, I don't know how else to describe it, okay?

Things get a little bit hotter with "Let's Pretend We're Married," hotter meaning explicit content. I've no doubt that it was the single edit that was played on the radio and not the unexpurgated version here. As this is an unabashed paean to free love, the line "all the hippies sing together" is apposite. It also paraphrases the 60's slogan, "if it feels good, do it." Key lyric: "My baby's gone and she don't care at all/And if she did, so what, come on baby, let's ----."

"D.M.S.R." continues the party but with a funkier tone, handclaps, synthesizers, and in a more fun, Bacchanalian vein.

For a song to clock in over nine minutes, it had better be good. Well, "Automatic," though not as rowdy as "D.M.S.R.", is compelling even at its great length.

"Free" starts out as a ballad before exploding into a gospelish-style number. If John Stuart Mill ever needed a song to associate to, this would be it. Prince is ever the populist, civil libertarian, and this is his best political song. The song tells us to be glad that we are free compared to other countries in the world. What about Holland or Denmark? For those worried about the denting of our personal liberties in the wake of 9-11, these lyrics seem apropos: "Soldiers are a marching they're writing brand new laws/We will all fight together for the most important cause/Will we all fight for the right to be free?" And I'm NOT referring to the terrorists! A wonderful song, with backing vocals courtesy of Jill Jones, Lisa, Vanity, and Wendy Melvoin.

Prince then asks a "Lady Cab Driver" (Jill Jones) to take him away from his "trouble winds [that] are blowin hard" and back to her place, where some heavy action takes place. It would be more appropriate to call Jill's lines, "sounds." Yes, THOSE kinds of sounds. Come on, this is a Prince album!

"International Lover" is done in the same vein as Controversy's "Do Me Baby." He uses the analogy of a pilot inviting a passenger aboard, flying to one's destination, and preparing to land an airplane to a date and sex. After the climactic falsetto screams, he gasps, exhausted but satisfied, "Thank you for flying Prince International." Sheer genius of the man!

Trivia: on the album cover, notice the football-shaped bulge in the "I" of "Prince." Spelt backwards are the words "and the Revolution." The unisex symbol that would be on Prince's Purple Rain motorcycle can be seen in the first "9."...

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