Home / Prince Discography / Posthumous Releases /
Prince And The Revolution: Live Prince and The Revolution album
Sony Legacy
albumOne of the most iconic live recordings in pop and rock history
Prince And The Revolution: Live features restored footage and separate audio tracking of a show captured during the first of two performances Prince and The Revolution played at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York, on 30 March 1985 as part of their Purple Rain Tour.
The footage was first commercially available as VHS home video on 29 July 1985, as a concert movie issued shortly after the tour’s conclusion. Owing to the considerable success of the tour, sales of the home video received Platinum certification that August and eventually Double Platinum. Following a near thirty-year hiatus out of print, Prince And The Revolution: Live was reissued on 23 June 2017, this time on DVD and packaged with Purple Rain Deluxe Edition.
In 2020, the footage underwent full restoration, digitisation and colour correction. Additionally, the original 2-inch reel multitrack master of the show’s source audio, discovered within the vault at Paisley Park during its inventorying in the aftermath of Prince’s death in April 2016, likewise underwent remastering into 5.1 surround sound and was released on streaming services from 15 May 2020. The restored video and audio were released by The Prince Estate on 3 June 2022, upgraded to Blu-ray format, as well as for the first time in physical format the stand-alone audio. The announcement of the release was issued on 30 March, the date of the original concert.
Prince And The Revolution: Live was issued on 150g vinyl pressed on three LPs coloured purple, red and gold, and CD, both formats containing the Blu-ray. A Limited Edition bundles the vinyl and CD versions and Blu-ray, as well as a poster. Prince And The Revolution: Live includes an accompanying 24-page booklet featuring previously unpublished photos shot by the tour’s official photographer Nancy Bundt, plus liner notes contributed by the five members of the Revolution: Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, BrownMark, Matt “Dr” Fink, and Bobby Z. The Prince And The Revolution: Live reissue peaked at 22 in the Billboard album chart and thus marked Prince’s first live album to enter the US top-40.
Performers
- Vocals/Guitar
- Prince
- Drums
- Bobby Z.
- Guitar
- Wendy Melvoin
- Keyboards
- Matt "Dr." Fink
- Lisa Coleman
- Bass Guitar
- Brownmark
- Saxophone
- Eric Leeds
Data
- Producer
- Paul Becher (director)
- Label
- NPG Records
- Distribution
- Sony Legacy
- Cover/Design
- Nancy Bundt, Mathieu Bitton & Trevor Guy
- Released
- 4 years ago on 3 June 2022
- Running Time
- 116 mins
- US Chart Peak
- 22
- UK Chart Peak
- 21
- Orig. Formats
-
Tracklist
Disc 1: Live in Syracuse - 30 March 1985
- Let's Go Crazy (6:03)
- Delirious (2:51)
- 1999 (5:50)
- Little Red Corvette (3:38)
- Take Me With U (4:56)
- Yankee Doodle [Interlude] (6:45)
- Do Me, Baby (2:00)
- Irresistible Bitch (1:53)
- Possessed (4:24)
- How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore (5:01)
- Let's Pretend We Are Married (4:26)
- International Lover (1:55)
- God (7:42)
- Computer Blue (4:29)
- Running Time
- 61 min, 53 sec
Disc 2: Live in Syracuse - 30 March 1985
- Darling Nikki (5:02)
- The Beautiful Ones (5:16)
- When Doves Cry (9:28)
- I Would Die 4 U (3:26)
- Baby I'm A Star [feat. Sheila E] (11:32)
- Purple Rain (19:23)
- Running Time
- 54 min, 08 sec
Blu-ray: Live in Syracuse - 30 March 1985
- Let's Go Crazy (6:03)
- Delirious (2:51)
- 1999 (5:51)
- Little Red Corvette (3:38)
- Take Me With U (4:56)
- Yankee Doodle [Interlude] (6:46)
- Do Me, Baby (2:00)
- Irresistible Bitch (1:53)
- Possessed (4:24)
- How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore (5:10)
- Let's Pretend We Are Married (4:19)
- International Lover (1:49)
- God (7:43)
- Computer Blue (4:27)
- Darling Nikki (5:01)
- The Beautiful Ones (5:17)
- When Doves Cry (9:29)
- I Would Die 4 U (3:26)
- Baby I'm A Star [feat. Sheila E] (10:56)
- Purple Rain (19:24)
- Running Time
- 116 minutes
Prince And The Revolution: Live – review
As part of The Prince Estate’s Deluxe Editions of Sign of the Times and 1999 we were treated with an accompanying disc containing remastered soundboard recordings gleaned from the live shows of the supporting tours. When Purple Rain the first Deluxe was issued, with an accompanying albeit grainy conversion simply transferred to DVD of Prince And The Revolution: Live, in 2017 The Estate realised an opportunity had been missed and rectified the situation in 2022 – treating the audio of the 1985 original to a faultless remastering, lovingly issued in deluxe presentation and a glossy booklet to boot.
The remastering was actually done back in 2020 and was sat on until 2022 for its commercial physical release, prompting criticism at The Prince Estate for mining once again the Purple Rain era. But on this occasion they should be forgiven, the cleaned-up conversion of the concert to Blu-ray is crystal sharp. Making available the audio separately breathes a whole new life, and appreciation, into this over explored era. Separating the music from the visual captures the energy and nuances in the recording, revealing it for what it was and remains a truly immersive performance. The audience is alive and its all-in participation in Darling Nikki is a highlight of the recording. Prince And The Revolution: Live reignites appreciation for The Revolution, a band as on point as any incarnation of the NPG.
All that said. Although superbly packaged, the release offers nothing seen nor heard before. With Prince And The Revolution: Live The Estate lavishly demonstrates what can be achieved, ask a fan and they will offer their frustration that, as the milestone anniversaries pass by, tour recordings of Parade, Lovesexy and Diamonds And Pearls languish in the vault.
Prince And The Revolution: Live is rated 4 out of 5 by Goldies Parade.
Related release
© Goldies Parade, 1998 – 2026 • Privacy