Prince - Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic 1999

 

Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic is the twenty-third studio album by American recording artist Prince, who was at the time going by the unpronounceable "Love Symbol" (as shown on the album cover). Released on November 9, 1999, by NPG Records and Arista Records, the album was issued shortly after the release of The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale (1999). It includes several guest appearances, including by Gwen Stefani, Eve, and Sheryl Crow; Prince also completed a cover of Crow's 1996 single "Everyday Is a Winding Road". A pop and R&B album, it departs from the soul genre found on Prince's previous efforts.

The album received generally mixed reviews from critics, who enjoyed the guest appearances on the album, but were confused by Prince's attempts at harnessing the pop music market. Commercially, the album peaked at number eighteen in the United States and number five in Canada, becoming his most successful album in over three years, with similar results elsewhere. By the end of 1999, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album's first and only single, "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold", peaked at number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the album's only song to chart. Second and third singles, duets "So Far, So Pleased" and "Hot Wit' U", were planned for released in summer 2000, but were both cancelled after the album's lukewarm commercial success. Instead, two promotional singles were released, "Baby Knows" and "Man'O'War". To promote the album, Prince hosted a pay-per-view event, entitled Rave Un2 the Year 2000 which would later be released on DVD. 

 

Development of the album began in 1988, under the working title Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic.^[2] However, when the recording and writing sessions proved to be unfruitful, the entire project was abandoned. A majority of the songs written for the album were originally made for Prince's previous works, such as Lovesexy (1988) and Graffiti Bridge (1990).^[3] In June 1998, Prince resumed the project, creating a "reworked" version of the title track, and enlisting help from other musicians, such as Gwen Stefani, Eve, and Sheryl Crow.^[2] Recording sessions took place in Prince's hometown of Chanhassen, Minnesota, at Paisley Park Studios, as well as at Electric Lady Studios, New York City, and O'Henry Sound Studios, in California.^[4] The production for the record concluded in September 1999, nearing two months to its scheduled release date.^[4] A digital version of the album was released exclusively to both of Prince's official website (1800new-funk.com and love4oneanother.com) and features enhancements that are not included on the physical edition.^[5] The cover artwork displays the singer wearing a blue jacket made out of faux wool instead of actual fur. Prince described his decision:

If this jacket were real wool, it would have taken seven lambs whose lives would have begun like this ... Within weeks of their birth, their ears would have been hole-punched, their tales chopped off and the males would have been castrated while fully conscious. [E]xtremely high rates of mortality [a]r[e] considered normal: 20-40% of lambs die b[efore] the age of 8 weeks: 8 million mature sheep die every year from disease, [e]xposure or neglect.

 People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a non-profit organization regarding the humane treatment of animals, stood by the musician and his decision, with member Alisa Mullins claiming that "Prince deserves a lifetime achievement award based on his empathy for animals alone".^[6] Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic was released on November 9, 1999, in the United States, his first major-label release since Emancipation (1996).^[7] In select European countries, including Germany and Spain, the record was released on November 11, two days later.^[8][9] Instead of using his name, Prince displayed the unpronounceable "Love Symbol" as the album's artist.^[10] The CD's standard edition release included sixteen tracks, plus two hidden tracks, "Segue III" and "Prettyman".^[4] The record also includes some of Prince's first radio releases since Chaos and Disorder (1996), to which he commented: "I look forward to hearing my songs on the radio again. It's been a while.