Around the World in a Day cover

Around the World in a Day

Released

Around the World in a Day served as the opening salvo of Prince’s Paisley Park Records imprint, a magical mystery tour of funk that followed up Purple Rain in the best possible way: by going completely left. He’d never been as emotionally mature or Joni Mitchell moody as on “Condition of the Heart.” The album also heralded a sonic expansion with Middle Eastern instruments (oud, darbuka, finger cymbals on the title track), orchestral strings (“Raspberry Beret”) and saxophone (“Temptation,” “The Ladder”). Often underappreciated, it’s still Prince’s second-biggest-selling album.

Miles Marshall Lewis

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