Prince & the Revolution - Around the World in a Day

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. Prince had 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. As an album, it's 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. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Name Credits Ann Atkinson Bass Annette Atkinson Bass Bobby Z Drums Brad Marsh Vocals, Percussion, Tambourine Brownmark Vocals, Bass David Coleman Finger Cymbals, Oud, Cello, Wind, Finger Snaps, Vocals, Vocals (Background), Darbouka David Leonard Engineer David Tickle Engineer Denyse Buffum Viola Dr. Fink Keyboards Eddie M. Saxophone Jon Malvoin Percussion Jonathan Melvoin Tambourine, Vocals (Background) Laury Woods Viola Lisa Coleman Keyboards, Sitar, Vocals Novi Novog Violin Peggy Mac Engineer Prince Composer, Guitar, Vocals, Drums, Bass, Keyboards, Producer, Arranger Revolution Producer Sheila E. Drums, Vocals Susan Rogers Engineer Susanna Hoffs Vocals (Background) Susannah Melvoin Vocals Suzie Katayama Cello Taj Vocals Tim Barr Bass Vaj Violin Wendy Melvoin Vocals, Guitar, Percussion