Prince's second album is a kaleidoscopic pivot toward orchestral pop and psychedelic studio experimentation, recorded almost entirely by Prince alone across multiple Minneapolis sessions in 1984 and 1985. It's tighter and weirder than Purple Rain, less immediately obvious, and absolutely rewarding—the sound of a 26-year-old musician proving he could do anything and choosing to do something genuinely strange. If you know only "Raspberry Beret," you're missing the actual album.
Around the World in a Day arrives as the sound of Prince negotiating with himself. The album was recorded almost entirely by Prince in the Sunset Sound studios in Los Angeles and his own Paisley Park in Minneapolis between 1984 and 1985. He played nearly every instrument, arranged everything, and engineered much of it alongside David Rivkin, a decision that gave the record its distinctive clarity and obsessive detail.
What’s remarkable about this album is how disciplined the strangeness feels. Prince had momentum after Purple Rain. He could have made another funk-rock vehicle for his guitar prowess. Instead, he leaned into orchestration—strings, horns, synthesizers layered like a Motown A-team was in the room—but always with an undercurrent of psychedelia that keeps it from feeling neat or predictable.
The Songs Behind the Sound
“Paisley Park” opens with that unmistakable synthesizer wash, a four-minute travelogue that’s half worldly curiosity, half inside joke about his own studio compound. Prince had just purchased the building; he’s describing it like a tourist would, which is funny if you know that he’s already living there. The title track followed as a single and became the album’s calling card—a piece that could fit on FM radio but had something genuine underneath the pop sheen.
“Condition of the Heart” features what sounds like a full string section, but it’s Prince layer upon layer, orchestrating his own violin and synth arrangements. The song moves through four distinct sections without repeating itself once. It’s a seven-minute commitment to an idea, and it works because he doesn’t doubt it.
“Raspberry Beret” is the hit that everyone remembers, and for good reason—it’s a perfectly constructed pop song with genuinely clever lyrics and a chorus that lodges itself in your brain. But listen to what’s happening underneath: the hi-hat pattern is syncopated in an odd way, the bass line has more character than it needs, and Prince’s vocal performance is playful without being cute. This is a hit record made by someone who wasn’t thinking about making a hit record—he was thinking about making something interesting that also happened to be commercially viable.
“Temptation” is genuinely unsettling, nearly eight minutes of Prince working through a scenario with himself, layers of harmony that suggest internal debate. There’s something almost prog-rock about the arrangement, the way it builds and retreats, but it’s anchored by a groove that’s unmistakably Prince.
The Production Approach
What distinguishes this album from his Minneapolis sound is the room. Sunset Sound in Los Angeles is a large, dead studio—it doesn’t add natural reverb or character the way smaller rooms do. Prince engineered the record to be extremely clean and controlled, which gives everything a kind of clinical precision. Every element sits exactly where he placed it. The synthesizers are crisp. The drums are tight. The strings feel somehow both lush and separated from the rest of the mix.
He recorded “around the world,” musically speaking, sampling and incorporating instrumentation from different traditions—there’s a gamelan influence on some tracks, a very deliberate attempt to honor the album’s title not just as a sales angle but as a genuine creative direction. It’s 1985, and Prince is thinking about world music when world music wasn’t a category in American record stores yet.
This is also the album where Prince’s obsession with layering and studio technique became so pronounced that you can hear it in every decision. Nothing is accidental. The vocal harmonies on “Temptation” or “The Ladder” reveal themselves on the fifth or sixth listen—they’re hidden in the mix but they’re doing the heavy lifting of the emotional content.
By the album’s close with “Raspberry Beret” riding high on the charts, Prince had created something that satisfied both sides of his nature: the pop craftsman and the studio magician who wanted to see what would happen if he kept pushing the arrangement one more layer deeper. Around the World in a Day is the sound of someone who had complete control and used it to make something that sounds like no one else in 1985.
🎵 Key Takeaways
- Prince played nearly every instrument across two studios in 1984-1985.
- Orchestration with strings and horns avoids neat predictability through psychedelic undercurrent.
- Paisley Park describes his newly purchased studio compound like a tourist.
- Condition of the Heart features Prince layering violin and synth for seven minutes.
- Raspberry Beret has syncopated hi-hats and characterful bass beneath pop perfection.
Is this album as good as Purple Rain?
Different animal. Purple Rain is more guitar-driven and immediately anthemic; Around the World is more orchestral and chamber-like. Both are essential. Purple Rain has the four-minute moments that hit harder; this album rewards repeated listening and reveals itself slowly. Pick based on mood, not hierarchy.
Why did Prince play almost everything himself instead of hiring session musicians?
By 1985, Prince had complete creative control and was at his peak as a multi-instrumentalist. He'd proven he could write and arrange anything. Playing it himself allowed him to achieve the exact textures and layering he heard in his head—there's no compromise between concept and execution. It's also how he worked fastest.
What should I listen for on first play?
Start with the layering of vocals and strings on 'Condition of the Heart' and 'Temptation'—Prince's arrangement choices are the actual melody sometimes. The hi-hat pattern on 'Raspberry Beret' is slightly off in a way that makes it swing. By the end, you'll notice the album has almost no filler despite being 39 minutes of intricate detail.