| Around The World In A Day is the seventh full-length studio album by Prince, and the second to be credited to Prince and the Revolution. It was released worldwide in April, 1985, just ten months after the release of Prince and the Revolution's best-selling album, Purple Rain. It was the first release of any kind on Prince's own Paisley Park Records, a subsidiary of Warner Bros.
The album was mostly recorded between January and December, 1984, although Raspberry Beret had first been recorded in 1982 (it was re-recorded in August, 1984). Pop Life was the first new recording for the album, recorded in February, 1984. Temptation was recorded at some point in Spring, 1984, although further recording followed in December, 1984. Three of the album's nine tracks had been recorded by Prince prior to the release of Purple Rain, therefore.
Around The World In A Day was demoed (by David Coleman, with no input by Prince) in June, 1984, and recorded by Prince in September, 1984. America was recorded in July, 1984. Specific dates are not known for Tamborine, but it was recorded in Summer / Autumn, 1984. Paisley Park was recorded in early September, 1984. Condition Of The Heart followed in October, 1984. The Ladder was recorded in December, 1984, marking the final track recorded for the album (although further work followed on Temptation).
Six of the album's nine tracks - Around The World In A Day, Paisley Park, Condition Of The Heart, Raspberry Beret, Tamborine and Temptation - are essentially solo performances by Prince, often containing background vocals by Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman, and other occasional musical embellishments by others. America is a full-band performance, edited down from a longer version later released on the America 12" single, and Pop Life and The Ladder are also band performances.
The album produced four commercially-released singles, Raspberry Beret, Paisley Park (in Europe, Australia and Japan only), Pop Life and America, although no single was released prior to the album, as an artistic statement by Prince following the huge commercialism of Purple Rain.
There was no tour to support the album, although a few songs from the album had been previewed on the Purple Rain Tour, which ended just two weeks prior to the album's release.
The album reached number 1 on the US Billboard Top Pop Albums Chart, and number 4 on the Billboard Top Black Albums Chart. It was certified Gold/Platinium/Multi-platinium on July 2nd 1985 by the RIAA, indicating 2,000,000 copies shipped in the USA. It was also certified Silver/Gold by the BPI on April 22nd, 1985, indicating 100,000 copies shipped in the UK.
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1984: Purple Rain ◄
