NR Essentials #3: Prince - Purple Rain
 

 

Prince And The Revolution
Purple Rain
1984, Warner Bros. Records

The important thing to stress right off the bat [for the few possibly uninitiated who walk among us] is that there is not an ounce of irony in calling this album 'essential.' You will not read cliches such as "cover art that is more 80's than Miami Vice" or "synth parts so cheesy they're good." The truth is that this album just plain rocks, and has my vote for all time greatest soundtrack.

Though only 8 tracks long, the album has a dizzying array of sounds. From the gospel/preacher opening and segueing into guitar freakout of "Let's Go Crazy" to the synth/drum machine panic that turns into pure Sunday afternoon bliss on "Take Me With U" to the NOTES HE HITS ON "The Beautiful Ones" and the ode to singular female exploration on "Darling Nikki" which leads into (probably) the closest thing that Prince has ever come to an autobiography (right?) in "When Doves Cry" to the pop celebration of "I Would Die 4 U" -- it all leads up to the title track! THE TITLE TRACK.

Yes, this is an album for album purists. For [or I mean 4] those of us who think of a record as a film without video to distract us. It condenses so many genres that the Paisley One has touched upon into 45 minutes of incredible vocal delivery, guitar work and studio trickery -- part studio/part live recording really. Brilliant.

when Prince played Purple Rain at the super Bowl it made me weep

Serious?

for real. it was awesome! it was raining, and he played like 4-5 songs and it was great and then he busted into purple rain and it was fucking awesome.

it is unavailable on any youtube or video feed I can find

you got the feature to instantly keep me interested in things I wouldnt had thinked of I could be interested anyway

I remember. It WAS incredible. I mean, it RAINED during "Purple RAIN." Perfect.

Y'know why you cant find it anywhere? Cuz HE made everyone take the clips down. He's pretty well known for weird catty stuff like that. Like how he almost never approves of cover versions. He made youtube take down his SNL appearance from 2006 (which was also incredible-- he scorched thru an axe-smoking version of "Fury") and he made youtube and blogs get rid of him covering Radiohead live. Weird.

Haha, that's my plan.

yeah Ive heard about his paranoic behavior regarding youtube and every mass media too. funny little man...<---if he heard that I would instantly receive a beating of him

I'm more of a "Around the World in a Day" kinda guy

been around the world and you you you, you can;t find your baby?

haha.

bump

purple rain (superbowl halftime performance) :o

also snl has their clips taken down usually from youtube because of copyright issues. the nfl probably does the same thing with their clips.

this cover makes me laugh all the time.
good musician / composer
not my thing but who cares?

if you can play better guitar solos in higher heels you can say you are better then prince, who now remains after these recent deaths, the funkiest man alive [rip james brown]

i don't know about this album as a whole, but the title track fucking kills me each and every time. one of my favorite songs ever.

not my favourite prince album, he has finer...sign, controversy, around the world..., but yeah, it is as they say "epic in its proportions"....

respect for the post!

I'm a little annoyed by the 'irony' comment. If people can't like Prince without thinking of irony then... well, they don't like music. I'm not saying people should like Purple Rain... but if the idea of liking it is impossible without accusing people of being ironic, then you're no better than the slavering hordes of musical non-appreciators. Worse, if you claim to care.

I hated this album for quite a time before it hit me. It's a top-tenner for sure.

Incidentally, appreciators of this will likely enjoy Britney's Blackout, if you're able to ignore the 'great singles but guff albums' trend of her previous albums. See also: JT's first.

People should like Purple Rain because it is an incredible album. Every song on it is excellent. One of the greatest of the 80's definately. Computer Blue and The Beautiful Ones are my favorite. 80's rock gets a bad rap

The idea of liking it is possible without irony. That's sort of what I was trying to make clear.

Also, I'd recommend both JT albums. They're both excellent.