Jump to content

Purple Rain (album)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Niceguyedc (talk | contribs) at 21:44, 1 October 2015 (v1.36 - Repaired 1 link to disambiguation page - (You can help) - Tempo (magazine) / WP:WCW project (HTML text style element <small> (small text) double)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Untitled
"When Doves Cry"
Prince's "When Doves Cry" from Purple Rain
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Purple Rain is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Prince and The Revolution and is the soundtrack album to the 1984 film of the same name. It was released on June 25, 1984 by Warner Bros. Records.

Purple Rain is regularly ranked among the best albums in music history. Time magazine ranked it the 15th greatest album of all time in 1993, and it placed 18th on VH1's Greatest Rock and Roll Albums of All Time countdown. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it the second-best album of the 1980s and 76th on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Zounds magazine ranked it the 18th greatest album of all time. Furthermore, the album placed 4th in Plásticos y Decibelios' list of The Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2007, the editors of Vanity Fair labeled it the best soundtrack of all time and Tempo magazine named it the greatest album of the 1980s.[1] In 2012, Slant Magazine listed the album at #2 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s" behind only Michael Jackson's Thriller.[2] That same year, the album was added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important"[3]

The two main songs from Purple Rain, "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy", topped the US singles charts and were hits around the world, while the title track went to number two on the Billboard Hot 100.

The 1000th issue of Entertainment Weekly dated July 4, 2008 listed Purple Rain at number one on their list of the top 100 best albums of the past 25 years.[4] In 2013, the magazine also listed the album at number two on their list of the 100 Greatest Albums ever.[5] The RIAA lists it as having gone platinum 13 times over.[6] To date, it has sold over 22 million copies worldwide, becoming the sixth-best-selling soundtrack album of all time.[7]

Background

Purple Rain was released by Warner Bros. Records on June 25, 1984, and was Prince's sixth album. Prince wrote all of the songs on the album, some with the input of fellow band members. "I Would Die 4 U", "Baby I'm a Star" and "Purple Rain" were recorded live from a show on August 3, 1983, at the First Avenue club in Minneapolis, with overdubs and edits added later. This marked the first time Prince included live recordings on any release.[8] The show was a benefit concert for the Minnesota Dance Theater and featured the first appearance of guitarist Wendy Melvoin in Prince's band, The Revolution.

Music

"The Beautiful Ones"
A sample of Prince and The Revolution's "The Beautiful Ones" from Purple Rain
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Purple Rain was the first Prince album recorded with and officially credited to his backing group The Revolution. The resulting album was musically denser than Prince's previous one-man albums, emphasizing full band performances, and multiple layers of guitars, keyboards, icy electronic synthesizer effects, drum machines, and other instruments. Musically, Purple Rain remained grounded in the Minneapolis sound and R&B elements of Prince's previous work while demonstrating a more pronounced rock feel in its grooves and emphasis on guitar showmanship. As a soundtrack record, much of the music had a grandiose, synthesized, and even—by some evaluations—a vaguely 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 pop/psychedelic records Prince would record after Purple Rain. As with many massive crossover albums, Purple Rain's consolidation of a myriad of styles, from pop rock to R&B to dance, is generally acknowledged to account in part for its enormous popularity.

In addition to the record's breakthrough sales, music critics noted the innovative and experimental aspects of the soundtrack's music, most famously on the spare, bass-less "When Doves Cry".[citation needed] Other aspects of the music, especially its synthesis of electronic elements with organic instrumentation and full-band performances (some, as noted above, recorded live) along with its landmark consolidation of rock and R&B, were identified by critics as distinguishing, even experimental factors. Stephen Erlewine of Allmusic writes that Purple Rain finds Prince "consolidating his funk and R&B roots while moving boldly into pop, rock, and heavy metal" and identifies the record's nine songs as "uncompromising...forays into pop" and "stylistic experiments", echoing general sentiment that Purple Rain's music represented Prince at his most popular without forsaking his experimental bent.[9]

"Take Me with U" was written for the Apollonia 6 album, but later enlisted for Purple Rain. The inclusion of that song necessitated cuts to the suite-like "Computer Blue", the full version of which did not earn an official release, although a portion of the second section can be heard in the film Purple Rain, in a sequence where Prince walks in on the men of The Revolution rehearsing. The risqué lyrics of "Darling Nikki" contributed to the use of Parental Advisory stickers and imprints on album covers that were the record labels answer to complaints from Tipper Gore and the Parents Music Resource Center.[10][11][12]

"There's every emotion from the ballad to the rocker," observed Jon Bon Jovi. "All the influences were evident, from Hendrix to Chic."[13]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[9]
BBC Music(favorable)[14]
Blender[15]
Robert ChristgauA−[16]
Entertainment WeeklyB[17]
IGN(10/10)[18]
Rolling Stone (2000)[19]
Rolling Stone (2004)[20]
Spin Alternative Record Guide(9/10)[21]
Yahoo! Music(favorable)[22]

Prince won two Grammy Awards in 1985 for Purple Rain, for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group and Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or TV Special, and the album was nominated for Album of the Year. Prince won a third Grammy that year for Best R&B Song (songwriter) for Chaka Khan's cover of "I Feel for You". Purple Rain also won an Oscar for Best Original Song Score in 1985.

Purple Rain sold 13 million units in the United States, including 1.5 million in its debut week,[23] earning a Diamond Award from the Recording Industry Association of America. According to Billboard magazine, the album spent 24 consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard album charts (August 4, 1984 to January 18, 1985) becoming one of the top soundtracks ever. Purple Rain traded the #1 album chart position with Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. twice, during 1984 and 1985. The album has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.[7] This album further established him as a figurehead for pop music of the 80's.

Singles from the album became pop hits worldwide, with Prince scoring four US Top 10 singles from the album. Of them, "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy" reached #1, "Purple Rain" reached #2, and "I Would Die 4 U" reached #8. The fifth and final single "Take Me with U" reached #25.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Prince except "Computer Blue" by Prince, John L. Nelson, Wendy & Lisa and Dr. Fink

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Let's Go Crazy"4:39
2."Take Me with U"3:54
3."The Beautiful Ones"5:13
4."Computer Blue"3:59
5."Darling Nikki"4:14
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."When Doves Cry"5:54
2."I Would Die 4 U"2:49
3."Baby I'm a Star"4:24
4."Purple Rain"8:41

Early configurations

Prince configured at least two unique track listings of Purple Rain prior to setting the final running order.[24] The 7 November 1983 and 12 March 1984 configurations are listed below. The majority of changes are edits to "Let's Go Crazy" and "Computer Blue" in order to include "When Doves Cry" and "Take Me With U" in the final running order.

Personnel

  • Prince - all other vocals and instruments
  • Wendy Melvoin - guitar and vocals (1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9)
  • Lisa Coleman - keyboards and vocals (1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9)
  • Matt Fink - keyboards (1, 2, 7, 8, 9)
  • Brown Mark - bass (1, 2, 7, 8, 9)
  • Bobby Z. - drums and percussion (1, 2, 7, 8, 9)
  • Novi Novog - violin and viola (2, 8, 9)
  • Suzie Katayama, David Coleman - cello (2, 8, 9)
  • Apollonia - co-lead vocals (2)
  • Jill Jones - background vocals (2)

[8]

Singles

  1. "When Doves Cry"
  2. "17 Days"
  • "Let's Go Crazy" (US #1, US R&B #1, US Dance #1, UK #7, Australia #10)
  1. "Let's Go Crazy"
  2. "Erotic City"
  1. "Purple Rain"
  2. "God" (vocal)
  3. "God" (instrumental) — UK version only
  1. "I Would Die 4 U"
  2. "Another Lonely Christmas"
  1. "Take Me with U"
  2. "Baby I'm a Star"
  • "Let's Go Crazy" and "Take Me with U" were released as a double A-side single in the UK in 1985.

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[46] 6× Platinum 600,000^
France (SNEP)[48] Platinum 338,600[47]
Germany (BVMI)[49] Platinum 500,000^
Japan (Oricon Charts) — 197,000[30]
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[50] Platinum 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[51] 2× Platinum 600,000^
United States (RIAA)[52] 13× Platinum 13,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

References

  • Nathan Brackett, Christian Hoard (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely Revised and Updated 4th Edition. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  1. ^ "Prince's Purple Rain reigns over movie soundtrack list". CBC News. 24 October 2007.
  2. ^ http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/feature/best-albums-of-the-1980s/308/page_10
  3. ^ "The National Recording Registry 2011". National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress. Library of Congress. May 24, 2012.
  4. ^ "The New Classics: Music". Entertainment Weekly (999–1000). 20 June 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  5. ^ "Entertainment Weekly's 100 Greatest Albums Ever". Jun 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2014. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ^ "American album certifications – Prince – Purple Rain". Recording Industry Association of America.
  7. ^ a b Taneja, Nikhil (9 December 2008). "Those chart busters". Hindustan Times. Mumbai: HT Media. OCLC 231696742. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
  8. ^ a b http://princevault.com/index.php/Album:_Purple_Rain
  9. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Prince & the Revolution: Purple Rain > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  10. ^ "PMRC". 2003-04-06. Archived from the original on 2003-04-06. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
  11. ^ "Page 11". Joesapt.net. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
  12. ^ Cruz, Gilbert (November 2, 2006). "All-TIME 100 Albums - Purple Rain". TIME. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  13. ^ Q, June 2000
  14. ^ Jones, Chris (30 May 2008). "Prince Purple Rain Review". BBC Music. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  15. ^ Harris, Keith (June–July 2001). "Every Original CD Reviewed - Prince". Blender (1). Alpha Media Group.
  16. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Prince and the Revolution". Robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  17. ^ Browne, David (21 September 1990). "Purple Products". Entertainment Weekly (#32). Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  18. ^ Spence D. (24 August 2004). "Purple Rain: 20 years later it's still Prince's masterpiece". IGN. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  19. ^ Loder, Kurt (13 April 2000). "Prince: Purple Rain (Soundtrack)". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  20. ^ Hoard (2004), p. 655. Portions posted at "Prince: Album Guide". RollingStone.com. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  21. ^ Weisbard, Eric (10 October 1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide (1st ed.). Vintage. ISBN 978-0-679-75574-6. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  22. ^ Clay, Jennifer (1 January 1984). "Purple Rain". Yahoo! Music. Archived from the original on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  23. ^ Palmer, Robert (22 July 1984). "PRINCE CREATES A WINNER WITH 'PURPLE RAIN'". The New York Times. New York City: The New York Times Company. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  24. ^ Nilsen, Per (2003). DanceMusicSexRomance: Prince - The First Decade. Firefly. p. 263. ISBN 978-0-946719-64-8.
  25. ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  26. ^ "austriancharts.at Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  27. ^ "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 40, No. 25" (PHP). RPM. August 25, 1984. Retrieved April 2, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  28. ^ "dutchcharts.nl Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain" (ASP). Hung Medien. MegaCharts. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  29. ^ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" (in French). infodisc.fr. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  30. ^ a b Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4871310779.
  31. ^ "charts.org.nz Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  32. ^ "norwegiancharts.com Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain" (ASP). Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  33. ^ "swedishcharts.com Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain" (ASP) (in Swedish). Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  34. ^ "Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain - hitparade.ch" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Swiss Music Charts. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  35. ^ "Prince > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved April 2, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  36. ^ a b "Allmusic: Purple Rain: Charts & Awards: Billboard Albums". allmusic.com. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  37. ^ "Album Search: Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  38. ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1984". RPM. January 5, 1985. Retrieved May 2, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  39. ^ "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1984" (in Dutch). Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  40. ^ "Les Albums (CD) de 1984 par InfoDisc" (PHP) (in French). infodisc.fr. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  41. ^ a b "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". Archived from the original on January 11, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  42. ^ "Top Pop Albums of 1984". billboard.biz. 1984-12-31. Archived from the original on 2012-12-31. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  43. ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1985". RPM. December 28, 1985. Retrieved April 2, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  44. ^ "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1985" (in Dutch). Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  45. ^ "Billboard 200 Albums - 1985 Year End Charts". billboard.biz. 1984-12-31. Archived from the original on 2012-12-31. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  46. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Prince – Purple Rain". Music Canada. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
  47. ^ "Les Albums Platine :" (in French). Infodisc.fr. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
  48. ^ "French album certifications – Prince & Revolution – Purple Rain" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  49. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Prince; 'Purple Rain')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
  50. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Purple Rain')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
  51. ^ "British album certifications – Prince – Purple Rain - OST". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved August 29, 2012. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Purple Rain - OST in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  52. ^ "American album certifications – Prince – Purple Rain". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album
August 4, 1984 – January 18, 1985 		Succeeded by
Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen
Preceded by Australian Kent Music Report number-one album
August 13 – 19, 1984 		Succeeded by
Rodney Rude by Rodney Rude
Preceded by Dutch Mega Chart number-one album
October 27, 1984 – November 19, 1984 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Purple_Rain_(album)&oldid=683689548"