After a few days listening to Rave and finally take the time to REALLY listen to it I must say I slightly revised my opinion about it. When I read back my earlier opinions on amp I think they come across too negative. It was probably because my expectations were rather high and my preconceived idea about the album was different from what it actually is. First I'll give my main criticisms about the album, just to get them out of the way.. -It's a collecetion of songs, but not a real cohesive album -Some songs are too plastic sounding for me. He started to sound very  slick with Emancipation and went way too far on NPS, but on RAVE he  seems to be shedding this plasticness, but still there's some of it  present here and there. Positive notes: -Many songs feature excellent music and lyrics -The guitar isn't very prominent on most of the album, but when he's  using it, it sounds very fresh. -Some of the songs are the best he's written since the 80s. -It's a great album to have on in the back while you're working, but  it's also a great album to have on your headphones and realy listen  to. -O{+'s vocals are great. On NPS they were probably the best thing of  the album, here they are mixed with good music and the end result is  very very nice. -The guest appearances are very nice, most of them truly add something  to the songs. Song by song: -Rave un2 the joy fantastic   A bit monotonous, but it's a very cool jam. Gotta love that late 80s   guitar sound. The main guitar theme was also used in The Max, but it   works much better in this original context. Most people will know   this song from the Den Haag aftershow bootleg, this version is much   less heavy on the guitar, but the instrument is still all around   the song. -Undisputed   Cool rhythm, nice vocals. I don't mind the NPG chants that much, but   they don't seem necessary.. Chuck D is introduced in this song by   almost removing all music and slowly building it up again in his   rap. This works extremely well. Cool rhythm guitar BTW. The vocoder   vocals by this Kip gut sound very cool. -The greatest romance ever sold   The first ballad of the album and the first single. Too bad it's one   of the weakest songs on the album. It has been executed with great   craftmanship, but to me it sounds a bit too bland. It's much better   than 95% of the R&B crap that's on the radio though! -Segue   4 seconds of silence for Miles Davis. Okay I guess.. -Hot with U   Don't like this one too much, although it definately has its   moments. Singing is very good. Eve's rap is rather cool and   disrespectful. I had never heard of her, but she adds a nice rap to   this song. The sound of this song is like some of the funkier tracks   on Emancipation (like Joint to joint), which means it's got that   plastic sound, but is very listenable nonetheless. -Tangerine   Nice melody, but way too short. It's very easy to completely miss   this one when the album is playing in the background while you're   doing something else. It's a bit like a song from the Truth with   it's acoustic guitar and soundeffects. I'd love to hear a longer   version of this one. Cool acoustic bass playing by Rhonda. -So far, so pleased   Cool little rock duet with Gwen Stefani. Sounds a bit like Take me   with U and similar _style_d tracks. Gwen is very audible and their   voices work well together. Could be very cool sounding live. It's   got Kirk on live drums, Rhonda on bas and and Marva King on backing   vocals. So this would it make it the most band-like song on the   album. -The sun, the moon and stars   Great song. Adventurous like the Prince of old.  Drum programming   sounds a bit like a cross between Space and something off SOTT. Ver   sparse sound, intimate atmosphere. Clare Fischer adds strings which   is always a good thing! The end has raggalike rap, which actually   works pretty good. Cool lyrics as well. -Everyday is a winding road   At first this Sheryll Crow cover seemed a bit superfluous to me, but   it is  massively different from the original. It's turned into a   funk jam,   which sounds like a cross between Prince, Graham Central   Station and  P-Funk. I don;t like the simple monotonous drums on   this one. Larry joins in near the end of the song and does his   'everyday' thing. I'd rather have him lay down a cool bassline than    just have him chanting though. Or better yet, the very short guitar   solo before Larry enters could have been continued for a while.   The last few minutes of the song are a cool jam. I bet he'll be   playing this one live a lot. -Segue   Cool little orchestral interlude. Very parade like sounding. Too   short. -ManOwar   Classic Prince ballad. Suffers a bit from the plastic Emancipation   sound, but the whole thing just vibrates with sensuality. Ver slow   song. The hornheadz add a few wellplaced horn parts in the back.   Also Clare Fischer added some strings, but they remain even more to   the back.   The atmosphere of this song reminds me most of Dark. At one point   O{+  is dueting with himself, using his high and low voice as the   the  vocalists, which sounds amazing. The guitar makes a welcome   entry  after a minute or two, adding some rough edge to the song.   Later on there's a not too long solo, which could have been a lot   longer IMHO. -Baby knows   Cool, simply rock tune. Nice harmonica intro by Sheryl Crow, who is   not very prominent in her vocal parts she got assigned. Typical   Prince-rocker, with guitar and organ, similar to Calhoun Square, but   much more poppier. It's got Michael B on drums! I wonder if this   means that the song was lying around in the vault for a few years   and updated, or if Michael B returned to recording wioth Prince for   this song. I'd love to hear this one live. -Eye love U, but eye don't trust U anymore   Maybe the best song on the album, this is a classic Prince ballad,   which sounds most similar to Sometimes it snows in April. It has   Prince on vocals and piano and Ani Difranco on acoustic guitar. I   could listen all day to this one, although it's very sad-sounding.   The piano playing is typically Prince-_style_, sparse and effective.   I'd love to hear this one live in concert during a piano medley. -Silly game   A happy sounding theme starts off this ballad. Lots of strings   throughout, but the song itself remains a bit non-de_script_. It's not   bad, especially the vocals are very good, but it doesn;t stand out. -Strange but true   Weird song, which has great moments, especially in the end. It   reminds me a bit of joint to joint. It has O{+ speaking the lyrics   in a low voice for the first minutes over a simply drumbeat, later   things get more diverse. Synth lines pop in and out to great effect.   Also it has this Controversy/Sexuality _layer_ed vocals going on at   some point. The synth melodies become increasingly weird after the   lyrics have ended. This is the kind of jamming I love to hear,   reminds me of a modern version of some songs from 1999. -Wherever u go, whatever u do   This song features the best example of the good old Linn drum     machine. The sounds are exactly like Prince always used, the rhtyhm   itself sounds maybe a bit too much like Love thy will be done and   One of us, but it's a great littl etune. It's a bit I wish u heaven   like, with it's melodic feel. The guitar remains mostly in the back,   but defines the feel of the song. This is another one that could   have gone on for a few more minutes. -Commercial   A bit stupid, but luckily very short. Weird music going on in the   background. -Prettyman   Why is this a hidden track? It's a great James Brown _style_ funk jam,   featuring the amazing Maceo Parker on saxophone. The lyrics and   vocals are very funny. It's the first time in years O{+ shows his   selfconfident pimp _style_! Maceo plays some great lines and solos.   This song vibrates with fun and mockery, which sounds like it was   written and performed in 1987 or 1988, but it defiantely isn't   because of the scratches and Y2K mention. Another great one for live   performances I think. Some final lines: I'd love to hear many of these songs in a live context. I would be very disappointed if the Rave tour would be yet another variation on the greatest hits tour he's been doing since late 1996. His band probably will focus on the more funky songs, but I much rather hear the more poppy songs live. To me O{+ has proven he can still deiver, although the album might have been a bit more focused. It's definately in the top3 of his 90s albums, together with Come and the Gold Experience, but still I wouldn't trade it in for any of the 80s albums. Let's hope he can continue this newfound return to form for the next few years. English is not my first language, but I hope I got my points across. dennis