Purple Rain
Prince
1984
Album Summary
Purple Rain is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Prince, released on June 25, 1984, by Warner Bros. Records and the soundtrack to the 1984 film of the same name. Purple Rain was musically denser than Prince's previous albums, emphasizing full band performances, and multiple layers of guitars, keyboards, electronic synthesizer effects, drum machines, and other instruments. Much of the album had a grandiose, synthesized, and psychedelic sheen to the production and performances. The music on Purple Rain is generally regarded as the most pop-oriented of Prince's career, though a number of elements point towards the more experimental records Prince would release after Purple Rain. The music video for the album's lead single "When Doves Cry" sparked controversy among network executives, who thought its sexual nature was too explicit for television. The risqué lyrics of "Darling Nikki" raised complaints from Tipper Gore and the Parents Music Resource Center and contributed to the implementation of Parental Advisory stickers and imprints on album covers. Purple Rain became Prince's first album to reach number one on the Billboard 200. The album spent 24 consecutive weeks atop on the Billboard 200 and was present on the chart for a total of 122 weeks. "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, while "Purple Rain" peaked at number two and "I Would Die 4 U" peaked at number eight. In May 1996, the album was certified 13× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Its total sales stand at 25 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. Prince and the Revolution won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, while Prince also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for the film Purple Rain. Music critics noted the innovative and experimental aspects of the soundtrack's music, most famously on the spare, bass-less "When Doves Cry". Other aspects of the music, especially its synthesis of electronic elements with organic instrumentation and full-band performances along with its consolidation of rock and R&B, were identified by critics as distinguishing, even experimental factors. Purple Rain is regularly ranked among the greatest albums of all time. Rolling Stone ranked the album number eight on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry list of sound recordings that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
WikipediaTaken together, all of the stylistic experiments add up to a stunning statement of purpose that remains one of the most exciting rock & roll albums ever recorded.
Its a shit film by word what an album (or soundtrack). The cover is horrendous. But the Music is glorious and the album flows between frenzied synth driven Lets go crazy through the eclectic fantasy of Darling Nikki all the way to the greatest closer of all time; the masterful Purple Rain, all which instantly became iconic. To this day the greatest live performer I've ever seen. Unbelievably he actually has a better album then this (Sign O'the Times) but this is a masterpiece in itself from one of the most complex song writing geniuses of his time. 5/5
How does something sound simultaneously so excessive and so uncluttered all at once? That crisp, clean, joyfully exuberant sound with not a note out of place speaks of an artist working expertly in the easy-to-espouse-difficult-to-achieve mode of Serious Play. And so the entire album is suffused with a sense of delight and playfulness, whilst not-quite holding at bay the melancholic void that sits at the centre of all hedonistic partying. In short: tremendous.
Brilliant funky pop. Possibly Prince's best and cohesive standard length LP (Sign 'O' the times being a double!). Not too long, superb "backing" band in The Revolution.
There are a ton of major singles that came from this album; let alone the fact that it helped his win multiple awards including an Oscar. Prince's powers are firing on all cylinders as he is showing diverse influences in a tightly produced album.
His mission is transcendence, and as a what-you-see-is-what-you-get performance he succeeds. Everything is oversized, virtuoso. No drum beat is permitted unless it's the biggest, baddest motherfucker of them all. No emotion expressed if not in extremis. It coheres too, mostly around the concept of ALBUM AS EVENT. Or maybe ARTIST AS EVENT. And on that level I enjoy the shit out of it in the same way I enjoy a fireworks show. Turn up, happily gawp for however long it lasts, retire home. EVENT over. As for the aftertaste, I'm not so sure.
I didn't see this one and I don't have to listen to this because I know every word and every guitar riff, Prince will remain a wonder always.
One of my favorite albums of all time. I find it thoroughly enjoyable throughout and consider it a perfect album. Prince's absolute zenith with his greatest lineup. Love pretty much everything about this album.
Calkiem niedawno przesluchalem purple raina poza listowym chalengem, bo jesli artysta/albumik zawiera w sobie tyle referencji bizarnych, to cos musi byc na rzeczy, i dokladnie tak bylo, dziwne ze opis albumiku nie wspomina, ze nagrany zostal on za banda the revolution, jako ze nie mialem okazji poznac sie wczesniej na poprzednich albumikach princowych i jego karierze, to aspekty autobiograficzne zawarte w tym albumiku dla mnie nie istnieja, ale podobno sa, bo sama plyta jest soundtrackiem do filmu o takim samym tytule, co wyroznia albumik, charyzma i energia princowata ktora sie z niego wrecz wylewa, zwlaszcza na 3 ostatkich trakach, ktore byly nagrywane live, wiec tytulowy purple rain jest to wersja koncertowa, oczywiscie edytowana i overdubowana, ale jednak czuc zycie w tym co slychac, mimo ze to prince byl glowna sila sprawcza za konceptami, to jednak tutaj banda revolutionowa dala mu dobry backup do tych pomyslow zapewniaja silidne gransko, nieprzesadzana ilosc synthow, co tak bardzo boli pop tamtego okresu, co do strony lirycznej, to jest tak szczera, ze w niektorych momentach az obsceniczna, jak na traku darling nikki , wiec nie bez powodu byl demonizowany jako spiewany zbereznik, nie moge sie przyczepic nawet do wycia na the beutiful ones, jak zazwyczaj bym zrobil, bo jest to tak ekspresyjnie wyjcowane, nie wiem gdzie slyszalem take me with u, ale wydaje mi sie ze musiala to byc jakas giera lub hinska bajka, ewentualne kompozycja oparta na tym traku, bo sluchajac tego mam lekkie deja vu, leci na plejke, kolejny trak to when doves cry, no i tytulowy purple rain, ktory jako najdluzszy trak albumiku, 8 minut, jest spokojnym kloserem niespokojnego albumu, jesli jackson byl krolem czarnego popowego granska, tak prince niech bedzie princem w moim rankingu popowych legend
Never listened to Prince before as I'd assume it would be cheesy 80s. Despite some outdated production, I was proven wrong. It has 3 great singles on here and the album cuts were good too. It has made me look forward to watch the movie just to see how the songs are featured. Only a 4 because a couple of songs were average.
another album from the little purple pervert. i wonder if prince writes the music or comes up with his sex words first? i'm pretty sure everything he says is about sex and even when it's not, it is really. it must have made life difficult when normal conversation and making small talk sounds like you're going to mount someone like some sort of sweaty 80s stallion. prince: excuse me, what aisle is the ketchup in? shelf stacker: i'm going to have to ask you to leave the store sir, that is not appropriate way to talk to staff. Prince: but i just need some red sauce. shelf stacker: * crumples to the floor suffering from a monstrous orgasm* to give it some credit its got his big ones on it. they're super 80s cheeseball and i still don't get why he's so famous. is he massive because he was big in the 80s and he somehow didn't get left behind?
Top 5 Guitar Player EVER. Sorry I never saw him perform live. OUTSTANDING collection of songs on this album!
I mean. It has all the bonkers fun stuff of prince just having a blast. Bop after bop.
I approached this album with some preconcieved notions, even some trepidation, being an MN native and resident but not a huge Prince fan. I realized very quickly though that I had never listened to this album as a whole, and I really thought it was exceptional. The songs are well written, they hold together well, and his raw talent is showcased throughout, both his musicianship and his vocals. Purple Rain as the album finale is just epic.
Maybe I’m biased because of New Girl but this album was amazi by. Lots of special hits on it and although it was thoroughly 80’s, something about a few of the songs were truly timeless. Best of his niche/sub genre. 4.5/5
Absolutely loved this album, a real rock classic. I like the way the whole album is great and upbeat. This was also the first time listening to the Purple Rain song in the 9 minute variant. All I can say is… wow!
All-time classic. All tracks are fire, and "Purple Rain" is my least favorite--saying something.
No question this gets a 5. It's Prince. It's one of the more formative albums of my childhood. Purple Rain was the closing song of every dance in middle school and high school. It's a classic, he's a genius and it deserves all of the stars.
Masterpiece. Prince at his greatest. Extended version of Purple Rain with the guitar solo 👏🏻👏🏻
Classic 80's album. Some excellent so gwriting with great melodies and arrangements, very much enjoyed.
Take me with you... Where do we go, moment to moment? If thoughts were physical locations, the brain, a teleporter. What did we leave to be born? Is the uterus a revolving door between dimensions? Emerging, we are tiny astronauts out on a space walk, tethered to the mothership. Mama Placenta I am air, antibodies, food, and blood -- I was once your entire world. the entire earth in my belly. When it is time for you to leave, pack that picnic basket of essentials: shortbread cookies, potted meat, and celery sticks. Take me with you, but be sure to leave all of our disappointments behind.
15th June 2021 Listened on the living room speaker with jen during the afternoon after hanging my notice at GCF. It's Prince. It's purple rain. One of the best ever.
I happen to really like Prince; liked him when I heard him all the time in the 80s, and now as I re-listen to him, I'm blown away by the musicianship. Because there is so much to Prince that his guitar playing (he played more instruments than I can list, and he was a phenomenal guitarist) gets overlooked, but he belongs in the Pantheon of all-time great guitarists. Quite a bit of his music can be too dance-pop for me, but that's just a matter of taste. Prince rocked.
YES, THIS!! I've only come to appreciate Prince in the last few years, really. This album is a fav though. The tracks are all so varied, but so funky. Love it.
The day before his deathiversary too, what timing. I miss albums that were more varied and dynamic like this.
-Just a bunch of great songs -I liked "Let's Go Crazy," "The Beautiful Ones," and "When Doves Fly"
Tremendous. Triumphant. Transcendent. Fourth Tr word. I’ve never listened to this full album as the artist intended it. I have now remedied that frankly unconscionable failing. This is the sort of thing I signed up for with this challenge.
Damn HBO Max for removing the film after adding it only 3 months ago. This album is best experienced through the film. Despite this, Prince combines pop, rock, R&B, electronic, and dance and experiments with every known instrument and sound the human mouth can make, and you've got to appreciate how much each track differs must each other while still being glued together by Prince's voice, personality, and themes. There is a balance found in every song. There's never too much vocals or too much instrumental. Everything mixes so well, and despite all but one song go 4 minutes or longer, there's always something new and exciting to enhance the experience. Despite its popularity, I'm actually not too big of a fan of the opener "Let's go crazy", but I admit it's a great way to excite the audience for what's to come. I like the experimental sound and storytelling of "Darling Nikki," which as we all led to the creation of the Parental Advisory label (just for referencing masturbation). "When Doves Cry" is without a doubt my favorite Prince song, and quite possibly a candidate for one of my favorite pop songs of all time. Thank god for it being 6 minutes. I'm a sucker for New Wave, so "I would die 4 U" really resonates with my pop soul. Finally, "Purple Rain" smacks us with heartbreaking lyrics in the first half while the other half is a masterpiece in music composition, extending the story without a single word.
I swear I've heard every single song from this album covered by at least one other artist, I like these versions better
This album was shorter than I remembered. There is little to be said that hasn't been said though. A ton of hits came off this thing, most notably the title track. That song is timeless. At just 44 minutes, the only complaint is that I wish there was more. The movie is a weird one, but the music is pretty much perfect. Prince was stylistic, an influencer, and a true artist.
The man and master. Prince is a marvel of modern music. We lost him too young. This is his masterpiece. This is one of the most obvious 5/5 in this list it's not even a question.
нет слов - одни эмоции невольно сравниваешь с Майклом Джексоном, на половине перестаешь и слова кончаются, начинаются эмоции
ЧТО: Шестой студийный альбом короля ритм-н-блюза - Принса, который стал самым популярным альбомом в дискографии артиста, а также неким манифестом его уникального стиля. Считается одним из самых успешных альбомов в истории (чтобы было понятно, по миру было продано 22 миллиона копий). КАКОЙ: Лучший R&B альбом, что я слышал. Одно решение здесь выглядит безумнее другого. Весь альбом пропитан энергией провокации и сексуальности. Но смысл пластинки, конечно, гораздо глубже банальной провокации. В каждой песне подбор инструментов, звучание вокала, структура песен индивидуальны. Но общее звучание альбома вдохновлено каким-то готическим нуаром из бёртановского «Бэтмэна» (саундтрек к которому кстати тоже написал Принс). При этом сексуальная энергия борется как одна из сторон личности музыканта с другой стороной - религиозностью. Первое начало проявляется в бодрых гитарных риффах и вокальных изысканиях Принса (например, на Darling Nikki). Сексуальность вообще одна из главных тем в творчестве исполнителя. Религиозное же начало проявляется в использовании органа на некоторых песнях, а также в некоторых фишках, которые Принс делает со своим голосом: то он похож на госпэл, то звучит по-дьявольски (например, гроул (гуттеральный вокал; звуки, издаваемые за счёт резонирования гортани) на When the doves cry). Видны попытки избежать посредственности. Именно поэтому все на той же When the doves cry напрочь отсутствует басовая линия, что необычно для танцевальных песен. Интересно, что начинается альбом с некой небольшой интерлюдии в начале Let’s go crazy, а оканчивается долгим проигрышем и аплодисментами на Purple rain. Таким образом происходит своеобразное замыкание альбома на самом себе, по форме напоминающее цельный музыкальный перфоманс. Подводя итог, можно сказать, что Purple rain структурно и музыкально вовсе никаким нормам не подчиняется, по крайней мере он так выглядит; очень старается быть таким: ярким и неформатным, при этом штурмуя мировые чарты. Такое может себе позволить только поистине гениальный музыкант. О ЧЕМ: Тексты оплетают уже высказанную выше основу: единство противоположностей в душе Принса, выраженных сексуальной свободой и религией. Многие песни повествуют о прекрасном времяпрепровождении с любимым человеком. Но, естественно, всё не настолько целомудренно. Darling Nikki - вовсе история о безумном сексе, в которой Nikki - это дьявол. Последние реверсивные (здравствуйте, мистер Нолан) строчки показывают, что эта песня есть признание в грехах, перекликающееся с историей Фауста. Тут стоит упомянуть, что именно «Пурпурный дождь» стал поводом для появления знака Parental Advisory, обозначающего, что альбом содержит ненормативную лексику, либо тексты провокационного или непристойного характера. Вспоминая о прекрасной титульной песне Purple rain, следует сказать, что весь этот альбом является саундтреком к одноименному фильму. Вкратце: Принс учится исполнять роли бойфренда, музыканта, лидера, сравнивая себя со своим отцом, который не смог реализоваться, растерял все свои мечты и стал жестоким. При этом, сколько бы боли этот человек не вызвал в сердце, Принц все равно говорит, что любит его. Короче говоря, секрет в том, чтобы быть собой и верить в свои силы даже если больше никто не поддержит. ИТОГ: Во всех смыслах сильный альбом супер-звезды в зените славы. Справедливо названный классическим этот альбом затрагивает проблему неидеальности людей. Человек ошибается, но от этого не перестаёт быть человеком. Эта пластинка не только триумф Принса, но и манифест свободы и оригинальности, который покажется потрясающим до глубины души всем хоть сколько-нибудь мыслящим людям. ЛУЧШИЕ ПЕСНИ: Let’s go crazy, When doves cry, Purple rain.
Epic album. So many upbeat good groove bangers before possibly the greatest closing track ever. The more I hear this album the more I love it.
🦹🏼♀️Loved the artist and all his quirkiness. Tiny man with huge talent. I’d put him up there as one of the best writer, performer and guitarist out there. I know he is in a band with Freddie Mercury right now fighting over who gets to wear the tightest, brightest, studded out fit. Rock on gentleman. Easier to list which songs I didn’t like-none.
Legendary. Sent me down the rabbit hole of watching live performances. His Super Bowl halftime show may never be topped. Best track: Purple Rain
This album is prime Prince for me. He may have gone deeper lyrically on later albums, and certainly broke as much (or more) new ground sonically elsewhere, but PURPLE RAIN is nothing if not pure Pop/R&B genius.
Really liked the combination of catchy pop sounds paired with the extravaganza of Prince's rock and funk
Wow, simply wow. His virtuoso playing and singing, mixed with his writing and sense of performing, all create an album that throughout is completely unique and authentic, blending all the sounds and genres from the 80s. A great run time as well with on point production. The entire vine felt like a concert with that legendary outro to Purple Rain the song to conclude it. Prince is probably the greatest musician in 20th century popular music. What can he not do?
No surprise this was great! Knew most of the songs but didn’t realize how fast it would go. Wanted to listen to it again immediately
This album was in my house soon after it’s release (an LP purchased by my sister I believe), I’ve listened to it I’m sure a hundred times, and very happily listened to it again as it came up on this list. I think it’s a true masterpiece, blending psychedelic funk, R&B and Soul, pop and rock With a seamless precision not seen before or since. Prince’s vocals are as good as anything James Brown did, as good as anything by Michael Jackson - and he’s a virtuoso guitarist to boot. This one will survive the ages
I remeber being kid in the video store and seeing the wall sized poster for this album/movie. I had no real idea of who Prince was and my parents seemed pretty eager to keep it that way, but I remeber being frozen in awe of just how damned cool Prince must be. So, the elephant in the room - Darling Nikki. What a singularly fascinating song. I'm sure the sexual subject matter and the outro with lyric played in reverse is a big part of why this whole album was the focus of so much conservative and censorship ire. It's probably also part of the reason why my parents weren't stoked to see me gawking at the poster, all those years back. If you can look past that though, it is a relentlessly catchy track, merging funk, rock and healthy portion of musical theater. Outside of that one salacious track, the rest of the album is focused on common funk and R&B lyrical themes. The arrangements, the live band vibe, Prince's vocal diversity and improvisation all come together with fluid perfection. Nearly every track is a stand alone hit, and played back to back they sound cohesive and congruent. An all out great album!
Absolute masterpiece. Wanted to give 4.5 stars but Purple Rain is so 5 stars its ridiculous
Driving, sexual, anthemic. This album is obviously in the upper echelons of popular music. Prince was a musical chameleon and this album reflects his best. His musicianship is understated despite the fact that his guitar playing is some of the best. He always did what was best for the song at hand.
The G.O.A.T. with one of my all time favorite albums. I could ramble on for hours about this one, and nobody wants that, so I'll just say 5 stars and leave it at that.
Yaasssss! I have listened to this album too many times to count. Solid fucking 5! Anyone that disagrees is an idiot
It’s easy – and helpful – to forget that this is the soundtrack to one* of the worst films of the 1980s. I mean, I really worked on liking this film. Really worked. But after a fourth watch, I pretty much lost the will to live. (I was, in a dumb 12 year old kind of way, quite shocked to discover that it is actually ok to like the album but hate the film. Sort of like loving the sinner but hating the sin.) *‘Purple Rain’, believe it or not, is not even the worst film Prince made in the 80s.
An absolute banger of an album, there isn’t a bad track on here which easily makes it a 5 out of 5. From the freneticness of I would die for you through two the mellow vibes in the beautiful ones for me this was Prince at his absolute best
Prince was a genius, I acknowledge that. When he was on, he was on and Purple Rain is the best example of his work. 5/5.
This album has universal appeal. Most people have heard at least one of the tracks. Great entry album for new Prince fans. Low 5, for rollercoaster of themes best listened to alone.
10/10. Has a couple of my favorite Prince songs on it, and while a couple songs are only meh, I still enjoy it all the way through.
Purple adjacent people in order of preference: 1. Purple Aki 2. Prince 3. Paul Manning 4. Tinky Winky 5. Barney
People often tell me I look like a young Prince when he was in his purple pomp. My chosen colour is brown though, because it's the colour of shit. I'm really into scat porn at the moment. People shitting on things, people shitting on eachother, people eating shit. It all gives me a raging stiffy. Here, Prince shits out a record that tastes delicious.
Admitedly, Purple Rain is not a perfect album, but Prince's effortless blending of funk, blues, rock, and very poppy pop produces great results. 4.75
There’s always a back beat that keeps even the ballads driving you forward. His music is timeless and has elements of music from decades that proceeded him. Whether you like him or not, He’s pure genius when it comes to composition. The iconic beginning to “When Doves Cry” and “Purple Rain;” when you can hear two chords and know the song, that’s talent. His whole album follows in that vein. one-of-a-kind mastery.
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to give this five stars. The last three days I've had Prince, Sabbath and the Talking Heads. We really are into the greatest of all time now! This is another one that would get in on the strength of two or three all time classics (Crazy, Doves, title track) so there really is no need for the rest to be so good too! It's not even my favourite Prince album - though I suspect that Around the World in a Day and Sign O The Times are coming too...
Absolutely an amazing album. This deserves way more than five stars. If I could give more stars I would. All of the songs are fantastic and none of lack in any way. If this list had more Prince music, it would actually be legitimate.
Sigh. That’s how you open and close an album. Still a killer soundtrack after all these years.
What an album! Packed with bangers, opening with one of my favourite Prince tunes - Lets go Crazy - and racing through with high energy, none of when he sometimes sneaks towards cringe... which lets him get away with the finale. Loved it.
I love Prince, but I'm actually wavering on 4 or 5 stars for this album, which seems crazy. It's got some of his most recognisable hits and the titular epic closer, it's just that some of the lesser known tracks don't really have the same pizazz. 4.5/5... fuck it, it's Prince. Have the 5 stars!!
Again a super-classic. Prince released from 1978-1992 an album every year except from 1983. But given the high quality of the b-sides, he could have released a 5 star album in 1983 as well. (Out of all the Prince albums from that period, Dirty Mind, 1999, Purple Rain and Sign O the Times are obviously 5 star. Lovesexy, Parade or Around the World are say 4.5 star so 5 star should these be on the list... )
Funky! Never listened to this all the way through before but I see why it's a classic album. Instrumentally top tier work. When doves cry is a JAM. Cranked up the volume on the solo in purple rain and loved it, excellent end to a great album
I'm with Craig on this one. There is only one song here that I'm lukewarm about ("Computer Blue") and even that one gets a pass because it seems like it should have been on the soundtrack for WEIRD SCIENCE. Everything else? I mean... there's five singles here. Five. And it's only a 9 song album! And you know damn well "Darling Nikki" would've been a single, too, if it wouldn't have likely been censored for that bit about masturbating! This is about as close to perfect as a pop-leaning record is going to get in my book. I think it's also the only album on this list so far that I own on vinyl, which was nice for a change. This was a pretty good week for the list!
Pffft. 5 stars. There are few perfect albums and this is one of them. All killer, zero filler. Most of it shouldn't even work but it does. Like, this opening with the organ and the eulogy? This could've crashed and burned. But it's fucking great. I like a lot of Prince's stuff, but he never got back to this. I bet this album benefitted from him writing, like, 200 songs and then paring it down to 9; that was his beef with WB, wasn't it? That they wouldn't let him release multiple albums a year? Anyway, I think curation helped this one a lot. I kinda wish he'd taken every three albums after this and pared those songs down to one album. Imagine. Extra points to Prince for making me believe, when I was 10, that somehow when I grew up, adult life would be something like what is on this album and its cover. Oh but here is some bullshit - on the 'normal' album on Apple Music, the end of I Would Die 4 U doesn't lead directly into Baby I'm a Star. Like, it just stops the party at the end of Die 4 U. I will take one star away from Apple Music for this and give Purple Rain 6 stars.
The king of funk decided to write the most blistering rock song of all time. That opens a stunning album. I prefer the purple one's funk which is why Die 4 U is probably my favourite track. But the album just a sublime over the top piece of glorious madness.
All Prince songs exist somewhere within a classic, three-circle Venn diagram. One circle is "brilliant musicianship", one is "sheer egotism", and the last is "utterly insane". The best songs fall into that beautiful center overlap. "Purple Rain" has SO MANY songs in the dead center of the diagram ("Let's Go Crazy", "When Doves Cry", "Purple Rain") that it demands a 5-star review.
I've probably been a little too harsh for my review of the purple dwarf's *1999* (and my grade, 3/5, was harsh too). It was a fun rant, so I have no regrets. But still... So to get the karmic balance about Prince right, and given that I don't have anything original or interesting to add about this classic record from the eighties, I'm just gonna add one point to my initial estimation of *Purple Rain* (which was around 4 to 4.5) and therefore make its cover appear on my personal gallery of all-time stunners when you click on my profile. Those covers are starting to look good now, even if there are so many other personal favorites of mine I want to add to them right now. I also have to admit that it's fun to go from hall of fame to hall of shame, and smirk at the lowest-graded numbers. There too, I badly want to add a few stinkers to the list. I know some of them are coming up--not from Prince, though, even if his later stuff dangerously added that extra layer of cheese no one needed in the first place. But, hey, I know there's even worse than Prince's later carreer when it comes to ridiculous stuff--I've checked Dimery's list, and it's there, hiding among the gems. It'll be great singling those horrors out too. What a fun app, really. Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 829 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory: 94 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 42 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): 36
Many genres with a central theme to a beautifully crafted body of work. There’s is something for everyone in this album and I love it
Well this one takes me back. Be interesting to listen to it now vs on release as a 11 year old... Fantastic, great time in music history, the synthpop and protorap combined with the guitar work. Just wow. Great.
So fun! Made me want to dance the Mambo in Havana in the 20s. Even though it’s not my normal style of music, I enjoyed every song and would definitely listen again or even put this on during a dinner party.
Excelente álbum, Prince siendo Prince. Instrumentos destacados, la bateria y la melodía. La voz como siempre un 10/10. Canciones tranquilamente bailables o para utilizar en alguna ocasión especial de fondo. Sin dudas un álbum que recomendaría. 10/10
Stone Cold Classic - introduced me, as an innocent british teen, to all kinds of exotic things. One or two of these songs would make my all time top ten
Great album! Not always what I was expecting but still had some great moments and Purple rain is an amazing finisher.
I feel like this is such an iconic album, and I’ve never listened to it. And why have I never really listened to Prince in general? I’m not sure why he wasn’t played on the stations I listened to growing up. I liked this one pretty well and am still perplexed at the lack of Prince in my growing up radio life.
Just Prince innit,absolutely class. Super talented and a lot of thought gone into the album design, felt like a story. I was going to just automatically give this a 5 but it's hard because even though I appreciate the class it still isn't ever going to be a regular 'go to' album for me. So, 4/5 but in reality it's like 4.8 😂
In conclusione: Io gli anni ottanta li odio musicalmente (e forse anche non) però Prince è una delle poche eccezioni per me. È un artista che rispetto molto, suonando e producendo mediamente tutto da solo (anche se in questo album aveva la sua band) comunque ha sviluppato molto la sua voce artistica che è davvero riconoscibile anche se il suo modo di comporre è così pieno di influenze e raramente si ripete. Questo album ha dei piccoli gioielli come Darling Nikki o When Doves Cry e nonostante la patina anni ottanta sia tutt'altro che assente comunque secondo me l'identità artistica di Prince riesce ad emergere lo stesso con quei testi così surreali e gli arrangiamenti eclettici. Anche la stessa purple rain con i suoi 8 minuti in cui parte mezza ballad country e poi finisce in tutt'altro modo. Si sente che è un album colonna sonora da una parte ma questo in bene e in male (il film non l'ho mai visto). Diciamo che per me è un quattro solo perché non posso passare sopra a certi suoni, in particolare i brass e i lead synth e i riverberi sui rullanti me ammazzano.
5/5/21: I've heard many of these songs on the radio, but first time listening to album from start to finish. 1. Let's Go Crazy - Damn, that bass in the outro was hittin hard, I loved it. Never noticed before. The drums on these headphones are amazing. 2. Take Me with U - Great intro with the drums. Is that Prince and someone else? "I don't care...just take me with you" 3. The Beautiful Ones - Sounds similar to something else, not sure though if from before or after this song, so who inspired who, you know. No mistaking that 80s synth. "I gotta know, do you want me?! Baby baby " Yea, karaoke song right here! haha 4. Computer Blue - Who names a computer Wendy? I guess someone named Lisa...whatever. That like the weird science riff? Nice guitar solo. That sounds familiar too. 5. Darling Nikki - Damn Nikki. 6. When Doves Cry - That melody always hits. Not to overshadow Purple Rain but just as good. 7. I Would Die 4 U - One of my favorites on the album, but I always go towards the upbeat, dancing type, synth. 8. Baby I'm a Star - Honestly didn't pay close attention to this one. Not the most memorable, just waiting for Purple Rain to come on...wonder if this is what cassette playing listeners felt back in the day. 9. Purple Rain - YES!!! Fuck, if I could play guitar I'd play this all day. When it comes to Prince, I can't help but remember Sandra Bernhardt dancing to Little Red Corvette at the end of her special. While I don't always get her comedy, she was doin alright by in the day.