Prince released Around the World in a Day

Around the World in a Day Prince

Released: April 22, 1985 Charted: May 11, 1985 Peak: 13 US, 4 RB, 5 UK, 16 CN, 12 AU Sales (in millions): 2.85 US, 0.1 UK, 5.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: R&B/funk

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Around the World in a Day [3:28] (Prince, John L. Nelson, David Coleman) Paisley Park [4:42] (5/25/85, 18 UK) Condition of the Heart [6:48] Raspberry Beret [3:33] (5/18/85, 2 US, 1 RB, 40 AR, 25 UK) Tamborine [2:47] America [3:42] (10/19/85, 46 US, 35 RB) Pop Life [3:43] (7/27/85, 7 US, 4a RB, 60 UK) The Ladder [5:29] (Prince, John L. Nelson) Temptation [8:18] All songs written by Prince unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 42:33

Rating: 3.473 out of 5.00 (average of 24 ratings)

About the Album: “Purple Rain made Prince sound like he could do anything, but it still didn’t prepare even his most fervent fans for the insular psychedelia of Around the World in a Day.” AMG Prince “made his interior world sound fascinating and utopian on Purple Rain, but Around the World in a Day is filled with cryptic religious imagery, bizarre mysticism, and confounding metaphors which were drenched in heavily processed guitars, shimmering keyboards, grandiose strings, and layers of vocals.” AMG The album drew comparisons to the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band because of its sound and album cover. WK “As an album, the record is a bit impenetrable, requiring great demands of the listener, but individual songs do shine through: Raspberry Beret is a brilliant piece of neo-psychedelia with an indelible chorus, Pop Life is a snide swipe at stardom that emphasizes Prince’s outsider status, Condition of the Heart is a fine ballad, America is a good funk jam, Paisley Park is heavy and slightly frightening guitar psychedelia, while the title track is a sunny, kaleidoscopic pastiche of Magical Mystery Tour. The problem is, only a handful of the songs have much substance outside of their detailed production and intoxicating performances, and the album has a creepy sense of paranoia that is eventually its undoing.” AMG Despite mixed critical reviews, the album followed Purple Rain to the top of the album chart and went double platnium. “Raspberry Beret” and “Pop Life” were top-10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Prince AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/23/2008; last updated 8/22/2021.