View source for Album: Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic

{{Unreleased-Album|
|album name             = Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic
|album image            = [[File:Unreleased project.png|200px|Unreleased (no cover)]]
|date                   = 1989
|label                  = [[Paisley Park Records]] / [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner_Bros._Records Warner Bros.] (assumed)
|studios                = [[Paisley Park Studios]], Chanhassen, MN, USA; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Studios Olympic Studios], London, England; [[Sunset Sound]], Hollywood, CA, USA
|previous year          = 1986
|previous album         = Album: Untitled Live Album (1986)
|previous album link    = [[Album: Untitled Live Album (1986)|''Untitled Live Album (1986)'']] 
|next year              = 1993
|next album             = Album: Untitled Live Album (1993)
|next album link        = [[Album: Untitled Live Album (1993)|''Untitled Live Album (1993)'']] 
|introduction           = '''Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic''' is an unreleased album by [[Prince]], and was worked on in the second half of 1988 and early 1989 before [[Prince]] committed to work on the [[Album: Batman|Batman]] movie soundtrack. It is not known if [[Prince]] settled on a "final" configuration of the album that would have been planned for release before the project was abandoned. Other than the title track, this album is not related to [[Prince]]’s 23rd album [[Album: Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic|Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic]], released in 1999 using the name [[File: SymbolSmallerBlue.png|link=Alias: Symbol]] (see [[Album: Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic|Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic]] for details of that album).

[[Prince]] began work on '''Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic''' in mid-June 1988, at [[Paisley Park Studios]], Chanhassen, MN, USA, prior to beginning the [[Lovesexy Tour]] in Europe. The first three tracks recorded were [[Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic|Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic]], [[God Is Alive]] and [[Blues In C (If I Had A Harem)|If I Had A Harem]]. 

[[Prince]] worked further on [[Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic|Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic]] on [[Prince_Vault:Selected_anniversaries/July 24|24 July 1988]] at [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Studios Olympic Studios], London, England, within a few hours of arriving for the UK dates of the [[Lovesexy Tour]]. During the tour, [[God Is Alive]] and [[Blues In C (If I Had A Harem)|If I Had A Harem]] were played often (with [[Blues In C (If I Had A Harem)|If I Had A Harem]] being reworked into a blues track known as [[Blues In C (If I Had A Harem)]]. 

[[Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic|Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic]] was played a few times in aftershows on the tour. [[Prince]] resumed work on the album in early October, although he worked simultaneously on both '''Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic''' and an early configuration of [[Album: Graffiti Bridge|Graffiti Bridge]], and it is not entirely clear whether he viewed them as entirely separate projects or simply saw these as two names for the same project; for clarity’s sake, information pertaining to '''Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic''' is listed here, and information pertaining to early configurations of [[Album: Graffiti Bridge|Graffiti Bridge]] is listed on that album’s page. 

In early October, [[Prince]] recorded [[Still Would Stand All Time]] and [[Elephants & Flowers]], and mixed [[Big House]] (recorded earlier in the Summer), [[Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic|Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic]] and [[Stimulation]] (which had been recorded on [[Prince_Vault:Selected_anniversaries/September 8|8 September 1987]] and was originally planned for the [[Film: Graffiti Bridge|Graffiti Bridge]] movie). 

[[We Got The Power]] was recorded on [[Prince_Vault:Selected_anniversaries/October 15|15 October 1988]]. In late October, [[Prince]] recorded [[The Voice Inside]] and completed the first known sequence of the album. The exact sequence of songs is unknown, but the songs known to have been included are listed below. Work continued on the album in late 1988. 

[[Am I Without U?]] and [[Good Judy Girlfriend]] were recorded in late 1988 or early 1989. [[Electric Chair]] and [[Pink Cashmere]], both recorded in June 1988, were also pulled out and considered for the album, as was the July 1982, track [[Moonbeam Levels]].<br>
Of the tracks included on the three known configurations, many have been released in one form or another. [[Electric Chair]] was included on [[Prince]]’s next album [[Album: Batman|Batman]]. 

[[If I Had A Harem]] was released on video as a live version, titled [[Blues In C (If I Had A Harem)]] on the [[Home Video: Lovesexy Live|Lovesexy Live 2]] home video in 1989. [[Melody Cool]] was included on [[Album: Graffiti Bridge|Graffiti Bridge]] with new vocals by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mavis_Staples Mavis Staples]. 

[[Still Would Stand All Time]] and [[Elephants & Flowers]] were also included on [[Album: Graffiti Bridge|Graffiti Bridge]] with slight musical differences. [[Good Judy Girlfriend]] was released, with new vocals by [[Carmen Electra]], on [[Album: Carmen Electra|Carmen Electra]]. 

[[Pink Cashmere]] was included, with string overdubs, as one of two previously-unreleased tracks on [[Album: The Hits 1|The Hits 1]] (also included as the first disc of [[Album: The Hits / The B-Sides|The Hits / The B-Sides]]). [[Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic|Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic]] was released in a slightly edited version as [[Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic]] on [[Album: Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic|Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic]], the 1999 album which otherwise has nothing to do with the album listed here. [[We Got The Power]] has not been released, but was sampled on [[Batdance]] and on the unreleased [[Power From Above]]. 

[[Moonbeam Levels]] was released after [[Prince]] passing on the the first official posthumous compilation [[Album: 4Ever|4Ever]].

The tracks [[The Voice Inside]], [[God Is Alive]], [[Stimulation]], [[Big House]], [[We Got The Power]] and [[Am I Without U?]] remain unreleased.
<br>
|format                 = LP
|tracklisting           = 
====27 October 1988, configuration====
*The specific sequence of tracks is unknown, but tracks known to have been included are: 
:<b>[[The Voice Inside]]</b>
:<b>[[Melody Cool]]</b>
:<b>[[Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic|Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic]]</b>
:<b>[[God Is Alive]]</b>
:<b>[[Blues In C (If I Had A Harem)|If I Had A Harem]]</b>
:<b>[[Stimulation]]</b>
:<b>[[Still Would Stand All Time]]</b>
:<b>[[Elephants & Flowers]]</b>
:<b>[[Big House]]</b>
:<b>[[We Got The Power]]</b>

:''No details are known about the sequence, other than that [[The Voice Inside]] is known to have segued into [[Melody Cool]] ''.
<br>
====27 November 1988, configuration====
# <b>[[Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic|Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic]]</b> 
# <b>[[Blues In C (If I Had A Harem)|If I Had A Harem]]</b>
# <b>[[The Voice Inside]]</b>
# <b>[[Melody Cool]]</b>
# <b>[[Stimulation]]</b>
# <b>[[Elephants & Flowers]]</b>
# <b>[[God Is Alive]]</b>
# <b>[[Still Would Stand All Time]]</b>
<br>
====Mid-January 1989, configuration====
# <b>[[Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic|Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic]]</b> 
# <b>[[Blues In C (If I Had A Harem)|If I Had A Harem]]</b>
# <b>[[Good Judy Girlfriend]]</b>
# <b>[[Pink Cashmere]]</b>
# <b>[[Electric Chair]]</b>
# <b>[[Am I Without U?]]</b>
# <b>[[God Is Alive]]</b>
# <b>[[Still Would Stand All Time]]</b>
# <b>[[Moonbeam Levels]]</b>
<br>
|credits                = All songs written by [[Prince]] except where noted.
|* comment               = 
<!-------PERSONNEL ------->
|musicians              = [[Prince]] - all vocals and instruments, except where noted
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mavis_Staples Mavis Staples] - co-lead vocals on [[God Is Alive]]
*[[Sheila E.]] - background vocals on [[We Got The Power]] <small>(assumed)</small>
*[[Boni Boyer]] - background vocals on [[We Got The Power]] <small>(assumed)</small>
*Other recording personnel details unknown
|production             = [[Prince]] - producer
*Other production details unknown
|see also               =
{{SeeAlso|
|item1   = [[Album: Graffiti Bridge|Graffiti Bridge]]<br>(Album)
|image1  = [[File:Graffitibridge.jpg|60px|link= Album: Graffiti Bridge]]
|item2   = [[Album: Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic|Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic]]<br>(Album)
|image2  = [[File:Raveun2thejoyfantastic_album.jpg|60px|link= Album: Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic]]
}}
|trivia                 = 
|alternative            = 
|references             = ''[[Book:_The_Vault|The Vault: The Definitive Guide to the Musical World of Prince (2004)]]'' 
|categories             = [[Category:1988]][[Category:Unreleased Albums]]
}}