Ticket 2 Ride

Prince was on a roll in the 1980’s with Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981), 1999 (1982), Purple Rain (1984), Around the World in a Day (1985), Parade (1986), Sign o’ the Times (1987), Lovesexy (1988) and Batman (1989). That’s an extraordinary output for a decade.

I discovered Prince’s Dirty Mind which it was first released. I like it enough to purchase his next two albums, and by 1999, Prince was already considered a musical phenomenon. I’m likely the only music fan on Earth to not go ga-ga over Purple Rain. I enjoyed a couple of songs from it; I saw over-commercialization and simple exhaustion with everything Prince.

Around the World in a Day brought me back into Prince’s realm, the pop and psychedelic overtones were refreshing, although I’d love everything on the album, but the musical direction I felt was great.

Prince never stopped experimenting and evolving. He didn’t follow the trend. Sometimes his later work mystified me, and honestly, I pick and choose from his later catalog. Admittedly, he was a genius who could write the most gorgeous melodies and harmonies, and to my ears, some of the least interesting and over-produced noise imaginable. He was Reggie Jackson with a purple guitar. Homerun or strikeout. Hit or foul, he was a phenomenal writer, musician and producer. Interesting note, this album is credited to Prince and the Revolution, but this album is mainly Prince writing, producing and performing everything.

Prince can weave a delicate melodic symphony with just a few instruments and a studio of effects, but without the layers of 1980’s production gloss.

A fresh listen to Around the World in a Day brought back memories. With the headphones reveals a subtle soundscape of sounds you might hear on Sgt Pepper, Dark Side of the Moon, Pet Sounds, Quadrophenia or Close to the Edge, things hidden on casual listens. Designed to not sound like Purple Rain, it certainly doesn’t. Fewer obvious commercial songs, Prince pivots to start tracking a different musical path. Idealistic, spacey, preachy and somewhat mind-bending.

The 2025 Rerelease

I found the remastering somewhat disappointing, it sounds pristine, but compressed and lacking warmth. Comments in reviews use the word “clean” in describing the sound of the remaster.

Disc 1: Original Album Remastered

Around The World In A Day (3:25)
Paisley Park (4:41)
Condition Of The Heart (6:46)
Raspberry Beret (3:31)
Tamborine (2:46)
America (3:40)
Pop Life (3:42)
The Ladder (5:26)
Temptation (8:17)
America (12″ Version) (21:46)

Disc 2: Singles, Mixes & Edits Remastered

Raspberry Beret (New Mix) a.k.a. Extended Remix
She’s Always In My Hair (7″ Version)(3:28)
She’s Always In My Hair (New Mix)(6:30)
Paisley Park (Remix)(7:02)
Pop Life (Fresh Dance Mix)(6:15)
Pop Life (Extended Version)(9:06)
Hello (7″ Version)(3:23)
Hello (Fresh Dance Mix)(6:14)
Girl (7″ Version)(3:48)
Girl (12″ Version)(7:46)
4 The Tears In Your Eyes (We Are The World Version) (2:48)
4 The Tears In Your Eyes (The Hits/The B-sides Version) (3:24)

Disc 2 has some interest bonus tracks, but I’m told that these versions have been released before on various formats, so for the collector, there’s little that’s new. For the average fan, there is more to explore. As the rights to Prince’s music have changed hands, the strategic vision for this and future releases may have also shifted towards long-term monetization and holding back unreleased material for later releases.

Thoughts…

I’m glad to see this album get new life, it seems an outlier in Prince’s discography. In the 1980’s, Prince was like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell in the 1970’s, after a commercial high, they pivoted towards less commercial and more artistically obtuse material in plowing new ground. Prince’s direction was away from Purple Rain, where Young didn’t want to deliver Harvest 2, or Mitchell Court and Spark Part 2.

Around the World in a Day is a good, but not great album, certainly next to 1999 and Purple Rain, but that’s an unfair comparison. Evaluated on its own, Around the World in a Day reached beyond the bounds of expectation to paint other expressions and convey messages Prince wanted to convey. If you enjoyed this album before, buying the 2025 version is unnecessary, put your old vinyl on the turntable, your CD in the machine or cassette in the player, and imagine the Raspberry Beret.