Purple Rain (album)

Purple Rain
File:Princepurplerain.jpg
Soundtrack album / Studio album by Prince and The Revolution
Released	June 25, 1984 (1984-June-25)
Recorded	August 1983 – March 1984
Studio	First Avenue (Minneapolis, Minnesota) The Warehouse (St. Louis Park, Minnesota) Record Plant (Los Angeles, California) Sunset Sound (Hollywood, California)
Genre	R&B rock funk pop new wave soul
Length	43:51
Label	Warner Bros. 25110
Producer	Prince and The Revolution
Prince chronology
1999 (1982)19991982 Purple Rain (1984) Around the World in a Day (1985)Around the World in a Day1985
Singles from Purple Rain
"When Doves Cry" Released: May 9, 1984 "Let's Go Crazy" Released: July 18,1984 "Purple Rain" Released: September 26, 1984 "I Would Die 4 U" Released: November 28, 1984 "Take Me with U" Released: January 25, 1985

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. In 2012, Slant Magazine listed the album at #2 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s" behind only Michael Jackson's Thriller. 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"

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. In 2013, the magazine also listed the album at number two on their list of the 100 Greatest Albums ever. The RIAA lists it as having gone platinum 13 times over. To date, it has sold over 22 million copies worldwide, becoming the sixth-best-selling soundtrack album of all time.

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. 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

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". 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.

"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.

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

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
BBC Music	(favorable)
Blender
Robert Christgau	A−
Entertainment Weekly	B
IGN	(10/10)
Rolling Stone (2000)
Rolling Stone (2004)
Spin Alternative Record Guide	(9/10)
Yahoo! Music	(favorable)

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, 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. 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 songs written and composed by Prince except "Computer Blue" by Prince, John L. Nelson, Wendy & Lisa and Dr. Fink. 

Side one
No.	Title	Length
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.	Title	Length
6.	"When Doves Cry"	5:54
7.	"I Would Die 4 U"	2:49
8.	"Baby I'm a Star"	4:24
9.	"Purple Rain"	8:41

Early configurations

Prince configured at least two unique track listings of Purple Rain prior to setting the final running order. 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.

7 November 1983 configuration

• Side one

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"

• Side two

1. "Purple Rain"
2. "I Would Die 4 U"
3. "Baby I'm a Star"
4. "Father's Song"

12 March 1984 configuration

• Side one

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

• Side two

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

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)
• David Coleman – cello (2, 8, 9)
• Suzie Katayama – cello (2, 8, 9)
• Apollonia – co-lead vocals (2)
• Jill Jones – background vocals (2)

Singles

• "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, US R&B #1, US Dance #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.

Charts

Peak positions

Chart	Position
Australian Kent Music Report	1
Austrian Albums Chart	8
Canadian RPM Albums Chart	1
Dutch Albums Chart	1
French SNEP Albums Chart	8
Japanese Oricon LPs Chart	12
New Zealand Albums Chart	2
Norwegian Albums Chart	4
Swedish Albums Chart	3
Swiss Albums Chart	7
UK Albums Chart	7
US Billboard 200	1
US Billboard R&B Albums	1
West German Media Control Albums Chart	5

Year-end charts

Chart (1984)	Position
Australian Albums Chart	13
Canadian Albums Chart	2
Dutch Albums Chart	5
French Albums Chart	53
UK Albums Chart	43
US Billboard Pop Albums	24

Chart (1985)	Position
Canadian Albums Chart	41
Dutch Albums Chart	48
UK Albums Chart	60
US Billboard Pop Albums	9

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)	6× Platinum	600,000
France (SNEP)	Platinum	338,600
Germany (BVMI)	Platinum	500,000
Japan (Oricon Charts)		197,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)	Platinum	50,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	2× Platinum	600,000
United States (RIAA)	13× Platinum	13,000,000
^shipments figures based on certification alone xunspecified figures based on certification alone

See also

• List of best-selling albums worldwide
• List of best-selling albums in the United States

External links

• Purple Rain at Discogs
• Purple Rain at Prince Vault

Preceded by Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen	Billboard 200 number-one album August 4, 1984 – January 18, 1985	Succeeded by Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen
Preceded by Breaking Hearts by Elton John	Australian Kent Music Report number-one album August 13 – 19, 1984	Succeeded by Rodney Rude by Rodney Rude
Preceded by The Unforgettable Fire by U2	Dutch Mega Chart number-one album October 27, 1984 – November 19, 1984	Succeeded by Make It Big by Wham!