Around the World in a Day

Released on April 22, 1985, Around the World in a Day was Prince's deliberate swerve away from the sound that had just made him one of the biggest stars on the planet^[1]. Rather than chase another Purple Rain, he pushed toward a denser, more psychedelic style built on unconventional instrumentation and cryptic, impressionistic lyrics^[1].

The album's title track reportedly grew out of a demo by David Coleman, the brother of Revolution keyboardist Lisa Coleman^[1]. The record's swirling cover art drew immediate comparisons to the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, a parallel Prince waved off while still embracing the era's general psychedelic association, telling interviewers that period simply delivered memorable songs and colors^[1].

Warner Bros. gave the album minimal promotion and withheld a single for weeks, honoring Prince's wish to let the record stand on its own rather than be marketed as a Purple Rain sequel^[1]. Initial reviews were split: Spin's Greg Tate called it one of the most bewildering follow-ups an artist had ever made to their best-known work^[1], while critic aggregators show scores ranging from Rolling Stone's lukewarm 50 up to The Guardian's perfect 100^[2].

Retrospective opinion has moved decisively in the album's favor. Pitchfork later praised it as a brave and deeply personal project, and The Guardian noted it tends to sound better than expected on every return visit^[1]. Commercially, despite the muted rollout, the album still topped the US chart, went double-platinum, and produced two top-ten singles, led by its breezy, melodic opener-turned-hit, "Raspberry Beret"^[1].