Purple Rain album cover
Purple Rain

Prince and the Revolution

1984
Warner Bros. Records

Such a monster hit-machine auteur move as an album it’s possible to forget that it’s technically a soundtrack to a movie about a young up-and-comer who still lives with his parents. It’s also one of the strangest-sounding blockbuster records ever made, where the rightful omnipresence of “Let’s Go Crazy” (Funkadelic on nitrous) and “When Doves Cry” (synthpop shining through a soul eclipse) and its closing title cut (balladry entering the upper atmosphere) can’t hide how ambitiously unprecedented it all sounds.

Nate Patrin

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