Prince - “Around The World In A Day” (1985)

Is Prince on drugs? Given his general spiritual approach to life and vegetarian diet, probably not. But thanks to this album I, as a young teenager, was convinced of the opposite. Songs like the title track or Paisley Park were so psychedelic that a huge drug intake must be its source. That made the record even more interesting.

Like so many other of my early musical influences, it was my older brother who introduced me to Prince. 1984-85 he lived as an exchange student in the U.S. and sent as a Christmas present a tape with an artist who called himself Prince and his latest creation Purple Rain. It was quite nice beats in a 12-year-old ears, so when Around The World ... was released I obtained it. I don’t remember if I bought it or got it as a gift, probably the latter because as a 13-14 year old I did not have much money to spend.

Prince let the album be out on the market a month before he released a single from it, the reason for this was that he wanted the audience to hear the album as a whole rather than individual songs. In addition, he released it more or less without any marketing. Nevertheless, it became a bestseller.
As I listen to it today, I think the album has stood up well against time. The opening song, also the title track, begins with a flute that vibrates for maybe 20 seconds before Prince gets into the picture and tells you "Open Your Heart / Open Your Mind / A train is leaving all day / A wonderful trip through our time / And laughter is all you pay '. No wonder I suspected the man for using mind-altering chemicals. The following song is the previously mentioned Paisley Park, which takes us even deeper into the psychedelic jungle, this track was and still is my favorite. Look at the beautiful video at the bottom of this post (original video). Tune in, Turn on! Another song the reader may know is the hit Rasberry Beret, a pretty groovy pop song with a nice chorus.

All is not well on this record, though. I've always been ambivalent to Prince, I sometimes have had trouble with his rather dry sound with a lot of funky drums and bass. In addition, you always get his somewhat cheesy love ballads which I find pretty boring. His funkier side pops up in songs like America and Tambourine while The Ladder and the Condition of the Heart belongs to the cheesy ballads. None of these songs taste well in my mouth, so to speak.
Despite this, I think this is one of Prince's best albums and I think it should be part of anyones recordcollection, if you are serious in calling your pile of records a “collection”.  It should also be noted that Prince himself plays nearly every instrument on the album (except some drums, horns and strings).

A reviewer from yesterday (NY Times, 1985):
"It is Ambitious, complex and stylistically diverse, but at the same time a unified whole – a 'concept album' in the tradition of the 60's classics as the Beatles 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band’.''

“''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. Overall, whether one approaches it as a concept album or simply a collection of superb pop songs, it is an instrumental and stylistic tour de force, Prince's finest hour - for now.”

Favorite Songs
Around the World in a Day
Paisely Park
Rasberry Beret

Tracklist

Side A
"Around the World in a Day" (David Coleman, John L. Nelson, Prince) - 3:28
"Paisley Park" - 4:42
"Condition of the Heart" - 6:48
"Raspberry Beret" - 3:33
"Tamborine" - 2:47

Side B
"America" (Prince & the Revolution) - 3:42
"Pop Life" - 3:43
"The Ladder" (John L. Nelson, Prince) - 5:29
"Temptation" - 8:18