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Purple Rain /  by and ReleasedJune 25, 1984RecordedAugust 1983 – March 1984Studio
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The Warehouse
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(, )           Length43:51
25110Prince and The Revolution chronology
(1982)Purple Rain
(1984)
(1985) from Purple Rain ""
Released: May 9, 1984 ""
Released: July 18,1984 ""
Released: September 26, 1984 ""
Released: November 28, 1984 ""
Released: January 25, 1985 MENU 0:00 's "" fromPurple Rain Problems playing this file? See .

Purple Rain is the sixth  by American recording artist , the first to feature his backing band , and is the  to the 1984 . It was released on June 25, 1984 by .

Purple Rain is regularly ranked among the best albums in  history.  magazine ranked it the 15th greatest album of all time in 1993, and it placed 18th on 's Greatest Rock and Roll Albums of All Time countdown.  magazine ranked it the second-best album of the 1980s and 76th on their list of the .  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  labeled it the best soundtrack of all time and  magazine named it the greatest album of the 1980s. In 2012,  listed the album at #2 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s" behind only 's . That same year, the album was added to the 's  list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important".

The two main songs from Purple Rain, "" and "", topped the US singles charts and were hits around the world, while the  went to number two on the .

The 1000th issue of  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  lists it as having gone  13 times over. To date, it has sold over 22 million copies worldwide, becoming the .

Background

Purple Rain was released by  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  club in , with overdubs and edits added later. This marked the first time Prince included live recordings on any release. The show was a  for the Minnesota Dance Theater and featured the first appearance of guitarist  in Prince's band, The Revolution.

Music MENU 0:00 A sample of  and 's "" from Purple Rain Problems playing this file? See .

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  effects,, and other instruments. Musically, Purple Rain remained grounded in the  and  elements of Prince's previous work while demonstrating a more pronounced rock feel in its grooves and emphasis on . As a soundtrack record, much of the music had a grandiose, synthesized, and even—by some evaluations—a vaguely  sheen to the production and performances. The music on Purple Rainis generally regarded as the most -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  to  to , 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 "". 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  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.

"" was written for the  , but later enlisted for Purple Rain. The inclusion of that song necessitated cuts to the -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 , in a sequence where Prince walks in on the men of  rehearsing. The risqué lyrics of "" contributed to the use of  stickers and imprints on album covers that were the record label's answer to complaints from  and the .

"There's every emotion from the ballad to the rocker," observed . "All the influences were evident, from  to ."

Reception Professional ratingsReview scoresSourceRating(favorable)A−B(10/10) (2000)Rolling Stone (2004)(9/10)(favorable)

Prince won two  in 1985 for Purple Rain, for  and , and the album was nominated for . Prince won a third Grammy that year for  for 's cover of "". Purple Rain also won an  for  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 . According to  magazine, the album spent 24 consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard albums chart (August 4, 1984 to January 18, 1985), becoming one of the top  ever. Purple Rain traded the #1  position with 's  twice, during 1984 and 1985. The album has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. The album further established him as a figurehead for pop music of the 1980s.

Singles from the album became pop hits worldwide, with Prince scoring four US Top 10 singles from the album. Of them, "" and "" reached #1, "" reached #2, and "" reached #8. The fifth and final single "" reached #25, but became a top 10 hit in the United Kingdom, meaning all Purple Rain singles became worldwide hits.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by  except "Computer Blue" by Prince, ,  and . 

Side oneNo.TitleLength1.""  4:392.""  3:543.""  5:134.""  3:595.""  4:14Side twoNo.TitleLength6.""  5:547.""  2:498.""  4:249.""  8:41