Purple Rain:Prince

Purple Rain is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Prince and The Revolution and is the soundtrack albumto the 1984 film Purple Rain. 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 Stonemagazine 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", would top the US singles charts and were hits around the world, while the title track would go 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 20 million copies worldwide, becoming the sixth best-selling soundtrack album of all time.[7]



Contents
[hide]  *1 Background  ==Background[ edit] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:inherit;">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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-princevault.com_8-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[8]  The show was abenefit concert for the Minnesota Dance Theater and featured the first appearance of guitarist Wendy Melvoin in Prince's band, The Revolution. ==Music<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:inherit;">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.
 * 2 Music
 * 3 Reception
 * 4 Track listing
 * 5 Early configurations
 * 5.1 7 November 1983 configuration
 * 5.2 12 March 1984 configuration
 * 6 Personnel
 * 7 Singles
 * 8 Charts
 * 8.1 Peak positions
 * 8.2 Year-end charts
 * 9 Certifications
 * 10 See also
 * 11 References
 * 12 External links

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:inherit;">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".<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="line-height:1;font-size:11.1999998092651px;white-space:nowrap;">[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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Allmusic_9-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[9]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:inherit;">"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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[10] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[11] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-TIME_-_02Nov2006_-_All-TIME_100_Albums_-_Purple_Rain_12-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[12]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:inherit;">"There's every emotion from the ballad to the rocker," observed Jon Bon Jovi. "All the influences were evident, from Hendrix to Chic."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[13] ==Reception<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:inherit;">The album was universally acclaimed. 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) forChaka Khan's cover of "I Feel for You". Purple Rain also won an Oscar for Best Original Song Score in 1985.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:inherit;">Purple Rain sold 13 million units in the United States, including 1.5 million in its debut week,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-The_New_York_Times_23-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[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 soundtracksever. 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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Those_chart_busters_7-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[7]  This album further established him as a figurehead for pop music of the 80's.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:inherit;">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<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:inherit;">All songs written and composed by Prince except "Computer Blue" by Prince, John L. Nelson, Wendy & Lisa and Dr. Fink. ==Early configurations<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ===7 November 1983 configuration<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:inherit;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-24" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[24]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:inherit;">Side one

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:inherit;">Side two
 * 1) "Let's Go Crazy" (7:37 minutes version)
 * 2) "The Beautiful Ones"
 * 3) "Computer Blue" (7:23 minutes version)
 * 4) "Darling Nikki"
 * 5) "Wednesday"

===12 March 1984 configuration<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:inherit;">Side one
 * 1) "Purple Rain"
 * 2) "I Would Die 4 U"
 * 3) "Baby I'm a Star"
 * 4) "Father's Song"

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:inherit;">Side two
 * 1) "Let's Go Crazy" (Longer version) – 7:37
 * 2) "The Beautiful Ones" – 5:15
 * 3) "Computer Blue" (Longer version) – 7:23
 * 4) "Darling Nikki" – 4:15

==Personnel<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:inherit;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-princevault.com_8-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[8] ==Singles<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ==Charts<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ==Certifications<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ==
 * 1) "When Doves Cry" – 5:52
 * 2) "I Would Die 4 U" – 2:51
 * 3) "Baby I'm a Star" – 4:20
 * 4) "Purple Rain" – 8:45
 * 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, 2,4, 7, 8, 9)
 * Brown Mark - bass (1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9)
 * Bobby Z. - drums and percussion (1, 2, 4, 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)
 * "When Doves Cry" (US #1, US R&B #1, UK #4, Australia #1)
 * 1) "When Doves Cry"
 * 2) "17 Days"
 * "Let's Go Crazy" (US #1, UK #7, Australia #10)
 * 1) "Let's Go Crazy"
 * 2) "Erotic City"
 * "Purple Rain" (US #2, UK #8, Australia #41)
 * 1) "Purple Rain"
 * 2) "God" (vocal)
 * 3) "God" (instrumental) — UK version only
 * "I Would Die 4 U" (US #8, UK #58, Australia #96)
 * 1) "I Would Die 4 U"
 * 2) "Another Lonely Christmas"
 * "Take Me with U" (US #25, UK #7)
 * 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.