Prince and the Revolution: Purple Rain (2017 remaster) [WARNER]

Why you'll love it

This is the 2017 remaster, overseen by Prince himself before his passing. Purple Rain spent 24 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, won two Grammys and an Oscar, and "When Doves Cry" was the biggest single of 1984 in the US.

This edition

• 2017 remaster
• Single LP, 9 tracks
• Includes "When Doves Cry", "Let's Go Crazy" and "Purple Rain"

About the album

Purple Rain is the moment Prince became a superstar: the soundtrack to his semi-autobiographical film and the album that turned the Minneapolis wunderkind into the biggest musician on the planet in 1984. With his band the Revolution behind him, he pushed his synth-funk into wide-open rock and pop territory without losing an ounce of strangeness or sex appeal.

"Let's Go Crazy" opens with a sermon and explodes into one of the great guitar solos, "When Doves Cry" famously has no bass line at all and still hits like a ton of bricks, "I Would Die 4 U" and "Baby I'm a Star" are pure euphoria, and the closing title track is nine minutes of gospel-rock catharsis. Nine songs, every one essential, and this remaster sounds magnificent.

Also at Kops: more Prince on vinyl · browse Funk

Tracklist

Listen

On NPG/Warner, a 2017 remaster of the 1984 album.