Purple Rain

Warner Bros. Records

Released under the name Prince and the Revolution, Purple Rain is the soundtrack to the movie and has since remained one of the most successful albums in history, selling over 14 million copies in the US and 6 million elsewhere. Purple Rain originally peaked at number 7 in the UK however bettered this in 2016, climbing to the number 4 spot in the week following Prince’s death.

Thirty years later, there’s nothing remotely close.

Purple Rain sat at the top of the US album charts for 6 months, and won Prince two Grammy’s and an Oscar for best original soundtrack. It is considered Prince’s masterpiece and has been certified Platinum a staggering 13 times by the RIAA.

The song Darling Nikki became part of music history, in that it was the catalyst responsible for the album to receive the first ever Parental Advisory warning, after complaints from the Parents Music Resource Center (a movement founded by Al Gore’s wife Tipper Gore) owing to its ‘filthy’ lyrical content. In 2008 Purple Rain was ranked number 2 in Entertainment Weekly’s best albums ever; 18th in VH1’s best albums of all time and 2nd by Rolling Stone Magazine in their list of best albums of the 1980s. Following Prince’s death in 2016, Purple Rain re-entered the charts, reaching #2 on Billboard and was the highest selling soundtrack album in the US that year.

In 2015, the album was remastered to incorporate state of the art sound and was to be re-released to mark the 35 anniversary of the original issue. Prince subsequently withdrew his cooperation from the project and that release was shelved, albeit until 2016 when following his death, Purple Rain Deluxe was released on 23 June 2017.

The Revolution

Vocals/Guitar: Prince
Drums: Bobby Z.
Guitar: Wendy Melvoin
Keyboards: Matt "Dr." Fink; Lisa Coleman
Bass Guitar: Brownmark

Data

Producer: Prince and the Revolution
Label: Warner Bros. Records
Distribution: Warner Bros. Records
Cover Art/Photo: Ed Thrasher and Laura LiPuma
Released: 35 years ago, 25 June 1984
Running Time: 43:51
US Chart Peak: 1
UK Chart Peak: 4
Prince Album: #6

Track list

Let's Go Crazy (4:39) ¹
Take Me With U [duet with Apollonia] (3:54) ¹
The Beautiful Ones (5:15)
Computer Blue (3:59) ²
Darling Nikki (4:15)
When Doves Cry (5:52) ¹
I Would Die 4 U (2:57) ¹
Baby I'm A Star (4:20)
Purple Rain (8:45) ¹

¹ Released as singles.
² Co-written with John L. Nelson, Lisa Coleman and Wendy Melvoin.

Singles from Purple Rain

When Doves Cry

Warner Bros. Records

Released: 16 May 1984
US Chart Peak: 1
UK Chart Peak: 4

When Doves Cry [Edit] (3:47)
17 Days (3:54)

Let's Go Crazy

Warner Bros. Records

Released: 18 July 1984
US Chart Peak: 1
UK Chart Peak: 7

Let's Go Crazy [Edit] (3:46)
Erotic City [feat. Sheila E.] (3:53)

Purple Rain

Warner Bros. Records

Released: 26 September 1984
US Chart Peak: 2
UK Chart Peak: 6

Purple Rain [Edit] (4:02)
God (3:59)

I Would Die 4 U

Warner Bros. Records

Released: 26 November 1984
US Chart Peak: 8
UK Chart Peak: 58

I Would Die 4 U (2:57)
Another Lonely Christmas (4:51)

Take Me With U

Warner Bros. Records

Released: 25 January 1985
US Chart Peak: 25
UK Chart Peak: No Release

Take Me With U [duet with Apollonia] (3:42)
Baby I'm A Star (2:56)

Supporting tour

Purple Rain Tour

1984/5

98 shows from 4 November 1984 to 7 April 1985

Purple Rain – review

Purple Rain sounds like Prince’s greatest hits album, because that’s exactly what it is. Needing no introduction, it is, to put it bluntly, the template album for musical perfection. 13 times platinum and like it or not Purple Rain contains the greatest and best known work of the 80’s and the album which Prince will always be remembered for. To this day Prince still tries to emulate this level, and to be honest, he never will. Purple Rain contains some of the greatest music of all time and comes from an era when the media talked of the music rather than a tired obsession with Prince’s name changes. With songs like Let’s Go Crazy, Take Me With U, Computer Blue, Darling Nikki (yes the very song which gave birth to the Parental Advisory warning), When Doves Cry, well, actually, every track on this album, makes it the definitive album of a decade. Although I am not an old-school Prince fan, here one has to give in, and accept music simply does not come better than this. Purple Rain is and always will be the essence of Prince. Essential in any music lover’s collection.

Purple Rain is reviewed by Goldies Parade.