#159
June 25 1984
Prince
Purple Rain
5 out of 5
Highlights:
Let’s Go Crazy
Take Me with U
Computer Blue
Darling Nikki
When Doves Cry
I Would Die 4 U
Baby I’m a Star
Purple Rain
I hate this record.
Said no one of any high regard ever.
A billion + words have been written about this record, one that defies category. It’s dance. It’s rock. It’s R&B. For me, it’s one of the defining records of the era. It’s the record that started the PMRC (and that was caused by a friend of mine, who shall remain nameless unless that person decides to out themselves.
So, I’m sure I’m going to be thought remiss that I don’t devote reams of words to this as I did to Born in the USA. That’s true. But also there’s nothing revelatory for me here. I’ve heard this album a few times over the years and it has never offered any surprises because I thought it was excellent in 86, 96, 06 and today. It’s stellar. It’s leaps and bounds above the contemporaries. It’s the kind of album, much like Art of Noise, that comes out of seeming nowhere and changes the musical paradigm.
I say “nowhere” because, although Prince had shown some big ass chops on previous records there was something different about Rain. The melding and hybridization of musical styles (Is “When Doves Cry” a rock song? A take on Industrial? Is it R&B?
It’s all of that. And any band trafficking in any of those styles could easily make this a hit in their respective genres. Because Prince decided to put them all together. Suck it, MJ. Prince don’t need no Eddie Van Halen to shred on this track. He’s the master. Excuse me now, while I air synth to that amazing section…
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