Prince – Around The World In A Day (LP) (04.02.2022)

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.