Album: Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic

1999: The Vault... Old Friends 4 Sale ◄

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► 2001: Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic

Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic

Album details Released: 9 November 1999 Length: 69:52 Label(s): NPG Records / Arista Records Studio(s): USA Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA; Electric Lady Studios, New York, NY, USA; O'Henry Sound Studios, Burbank, CA, USA U.K. Olympic Studios, London, England; Charts, Certifications & Awards Charts America Country: Chart Entry Date Peak Position Weeks in Chart USA: The Billboard 200 27 Nov. 1999 18 15 USA: Billboard Top R&B Albums 27 Nov. 1999 8 16   Europe Country: Chart Entry Date Peak Position Weeks in Chart France: SNEP Top Album 75 13 Nov. 1999 37 3 The Netherlands: Album Top 100 13 Nov. 1999 17 13 Certifications Institution, Country Date Certification RIAA (USA) 10 Dec. 1999 Gold (500,000) Awards Institution, Country Date Award Top Major Label Release 22 Apr. 2000 Minnesota Music Awards Best R&B Album 22 Apr. 2000 Minnesota Music Awards Singles released The Greatest Romance Ever Sold b/w Baby Knows promo only b/w Man'O'War promo only b/w See also Rave In2 the Joy Fantastic (album)

Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic is Prince's 23rd full-length studio album, and the sixth to be released using the name . It was his first and only album to be released by Arista Records. It was released worldwide in November 1999 (just two and a half months after the vault album The Vault... Old Friends 4 Sale). The album was overseen by music industry executive Clive Davis, who had used guest stars to revive the career of Santana and others. Rather than the guest stars receiving payment for their appearances, Prince repaid the favor by offering to record with them for their own projects, although only Waiting Room by No Doubt, Providence by Ani DiFranco and versions of The Greatest Romance Ever Sold and Baby Knows by Maceo Parker have been released. It is not known if recordings took place with Chuck D, Eve or Sheryl Crow (the cover of Everyday Is A Winding Road may have repaid the favor, as Crow would receive writer's royalties for the track). The album was later given a companion piece, Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic, containing many of the same tracks, and remixes/extended versions of others. While Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic was clearly intended to be a commercial hit, Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic seemed to be more closely tied to Prince's musical interests of the time. Recording process The title track was recorded in July 1988 (initially titled Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic) and served as the title track of an unreleased 1988 album, Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic. The rest of the tracks were recorded between June 1998 and mid-September 1999. The album contains a cover version of Sheryl Crow's Everyday Is A Winding Road, while the rest of the tracks were written by Prince (as ). The album was produced by "Prince", marking the first "new" use of the name since changing his name to in 1993 (before "Prince" was announced as the producer, several articles and interviews had stated that for the first time, Prince (as ) would be using an outside producer for commercial appeal). While the album is largely recorded solely by Prince (as ), the album features a number of famous guest-stars, in keeping with a trend of the time. Undisputed featured Public Enemy rapper Chuck D. Hot Wit U featured rapper Eve. So Far, So Pleased featured No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani. Baby Knows featured Sheryl Crow. Love U, But Don't Trust U Anymore featured independent singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco. The hidden track, Prettyman, featured the first appearance on a Prince-related track of saxophonist Maceo Parker, with whom Prince would work a lot in the years to come. Promotion The album produced only one commercially-released single, The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (which preceded the album), and also produced two promotional singles, Baby Knows and Man'O'War. The Hot X-perience, a vinyl 12" single containing remixes of Hot Wit U, was also planned for release in 2000, and advertised on Love4oneanother.com, but was ultimately left unreleased. Prince (as ) did not launch a full-scale tour to support the album, but during the month of the album's release he performed on ten different European TV shows, along with a few one-off live shows to promote the album. A pay-per-view special shown on New Year's Eve 1999, titled Rave Un2 the Year 2000, also served as a promotional tool for the album. The album reached number 18 on The Billboard 200, and number 8 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart. Track listing CD MC The compact disc version is the original issue. Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic (4:19) 1  Undisputed (4:20) 2  The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (5:30) Segue (0:04) Hot Wit U (5:11) Tangerine (1:31) So Far, So Pleased (3:24) The Sun, The Moon And Stars (5:16) Everyday Is A Winding Road (6:13) 3  Segue (0:19) Man'O'War (5:15) Baby Knows (3:19) Love U, But Don't Trust U Anymore (3:36) Silly Game (3:30) Strange But True (4:13) Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do (3:16) (track time is 8:51 including silence after track) Segue (0:44) (not listed on back cover) Prettyman (4:25) (not listed on back cover) The MC format was released at same time as the CD. Side 1: Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic (4:19) 1  Undisputed (4:20) 2  The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (5:30) Segue (0:04) Hot Wit U (5:11) Tangerine (1:31) So Far, So Pleased (3:24) The Sun, The Moon And Stars (5:16) Side 2: Everyday Is A Winding Road (6:13) 3  Segue (0:19) Man'O'War (5:15) Baby Knows (3:19) Love U, But Don't Trust U Anymore (3:36) Silly Game (3:30) Strange But True (4:13) Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do (3:16) (track time is 8:51 including silence after track) Segue (0:44) (not listed on back cover) Prettyman (4:25) (not listed on back cover) All songs written by Prince (as ) except where indicated. 1  Written by Prince 2  Written with Chuck D 3  Written by Sheryl Crow, Jeff Trott and Brian McLeod Personnel Musicians Prince (as ) - all vocals and instruments, except where noted (credited as Prince on Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic) Chuck D - rhyme animal on Undisputed Kirk Johnson - NPG chants on Undisputed, drums on So Far, So Pleased, additional percussion on Man'O'War (credited as "Kirk A. Johnson") Morris Hayes - NPG chants on Undisputed Adele C. - "queen" on Undisputed Kip Blackshire - vocoder vocals on Undisputed and Everyday Is A Winding Road Bros. Jules - scratches on Undisputed and Prettyman Mike Scott - guitar on The Greatest Romance Ever Sold Miles Davis - unknown credit on Segue Eve - rhyme on Hot Wit U Michael B. Nelson - trombone on Hot Wit U (credited as The Hornheadz) Steve Strand - trumpet on Hot Wit U (credited as The Hornheadz) Dave Jensen - trumpet on Hot Wit U (credited as The Hornheadz) Kathy Jensen - baritone saxophone on Hot Wit U (credited as The Hornheadz) Kenni Holmen - saxophone on Hot Wit U (credited as The Hornheadz) Rhonda Smith - acoustic bass on Tangerine, bass on So Far, So Pleased Gwen Stefani - co-lead vocals on So Far, So Pleased Marva King - background vocals on So Far, So Pleased Clare Fischer - string orchestration on The Sun, The Moon And Stars, Segue, Man'O'War and Silly Game Larry Graham - background vocals on Everyday Is A Winding Road DuJuan Blackshire - background vocals on Everyday Is A Winding Road Johnnie Blackshire - background vocals on Everyday Is A Winding Road Sheryl Crow - co-lead vocals and harmonica on Baby Knows Michael B. - drums on Baby Knows Ani DiFranco - acoustic guitar on Love U, But Don't Trust U Anymore Maceo Parker - saxophone on Prettyman Production Prince - producer, additional arrangements Prince (as ) - arranger and engineer, computer programming, horn arrangements Kirk Johnson - computer programming (credited as "Kirk A. Johnson") Michael B. Nelson - horn arrangements Hans-Martin Buff - engineer Steve Mandel - co-engineer on Baby Knows and So Far, So Pleased Femi Jiya - engineer on Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic Arne Frager - engineer for NPG Orchestra Jeff Shannon - engineering assistant for NPG Orchestra Victor Carrillo- engineering assistant for NPG Orchestra Tony Dawsey - mastering Steven Parke - art direction, photography, design Thanks "Clive Davis, NPG, L. Londell McMillan, Kirk A. Johnson, Hans-Martin Buff, Larry & Tina Graham, Manuela Testolini, Takumi, Parke, Jacqui Thompson, Mayte and the Creator." "Props and Favors Due 2: Chuck D., Sheryl Crow, Eve, Gwen Stefani, Maceo Parker, Ani DiFranco, Kip, DuJuan & Johnnie Blackshire... and U."

Releases
LP, CD, Cassettes and Other versions
Country Format Cat. Number Comments Front Back Label 1 Label 2 USA CD 07822-14624-2 reflective image digipak design Variants, Special Editions and Reissues Country Format Cat. Number Comments Front Back Label 1 Label 2 None

Additional Information Promotion (at time of release) Trivia The album was heavily marketed, with many large-name guest appearances on the album, in a similar vein to other contemporary albums like Santana's Supernatural. Both albums were largely spearheaded by Clive Davis, who saw this as a return-to-form for Prince. Prince (as ) gave several media interviews at the time, stating that having Prince as an "outside producer" would make the album tighter in the vein of Prince's 1980s output. Prince (as ) performed a short promotional tour, including some shows and several TV performances in the UK and throughout Europe, listed here and here. Soon after release, the album was promoted with a pay-per-view special shown on New Year's Eve 1999, titled Rave Un2 the Year 2000, which comprised of live material filmed at Paisley Park Studios. While the show was largely comprised of hits and older material, it served as a promotional tool for the album, and a few songs from the album were performed. The CD, when entered into a computer, brings up the enhanced portion of the CD, containing links to the official websites of the time, Love4oneanother.com and 1800NewFunk.com. This album was later given a companion piece, Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic, containing many of the same tracks, and remixes/extended versions of others. The only tracks from Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic not to appear on Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic in any form are Everyday Is A Winding Road, Strange But True, and the three segues. The cover image uses the same photograph as Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic, but Prince's eyes look away from the viewer on Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic (instead of towards the viewer, as on Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic). Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do includes 5:35 of silence tagged onto the end of the song, serving as a break before the commercial and hidden track. The full track, including silence, tracks at 8:51, while the song itself ends at 3:16. References The Vault: The Definitive Guide to the Musical World of Prince by Per Nilsen & jooZt Mattheij, with the UPTOWN Staff (Uptown, 2004)

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2001 Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic