Classic Review: Purple Rain - Prince
CLASSIC/10
Background: To call Prince a cultural icon would be selling the man short to an immense degree. Prince is a name that needs no introduction, needs no explaining. There are no other Princes, there is nobody who might come to mind when the word Prince is mentioned in the context of music. Much like saying MJ, or McCartney, or Bono, Prince is a single word that means a single thing: it is the first name of Prince Rogers Nelson, a little man born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to two musician parents. Over the course of Prince's career, which spanned decades, he released 39 studio albums, 13 EPs, and 104 singles. He has sold over 100 million records, and this particular record has sold over 22 million copies. Purple Rain is regarded as Prince's greatest and most impactful work, and that is saying something considering the man revolutionized cultural perceptions of sexuality, gender identity, and race through his music. This is his first album with the backing band The Revolution. On Prince's previous 5 albums he played every or nearly every instrument, and is credited for having played 27 different instruments on his debut album. Recently, and heartbreakingly, Prince passed away. With his death, we have lost one of the hardest working and most naturally talented musicians to have ever lived, as well as one of the most compelling celebrities to have reached fame in modern society.
Review: Purple Rain is undoubtedly a pop album at its core; nobody would argue that. However, in its accessory sounds, Purple Rain takes a much wider range of influences, ranging from funk to R&B to even heavy metal in the Funkadelic-inspired guitar theatrics (Prince was a virtuoso, of course). Prince's greatest musical attribute was the way in which he was able to synthesize a variety of influences into something that defied traditional genre labels. There are easily ten different genres that this album could be filed under, and each are accurate. Prince, being the musical polyglot that he was, could take influences like Van Halen, James Brown, and Bob Seger and fuse them into a brilliant single work that was distinctly Prince-esque rather than just a slapdash collection of influences.
Much of this album, much like the decade that it helped define, borders on campy or even cheesy. Take, for example, the album's opener "Let's Go Crazy." The track opens with what might be the the most over-the-top, yet guiltily enjoyable, monologue in all of music. It is completely melodramatic, but keep in mind this album was released in a decade where this music video was the biggest in the world for a while. After the painfully 80s monologue, some synthesized drums and over the top metal guitars kick in. The track takes off and Prince does his thing, yelping and singing over the remarkably dance-y and fun instrumental. A synth lead, straight out of a carnival, soon plays. By this time a dozen instruments are furiously playing, a cacophony of brilliant sounds that is almost jazz-like or psychedelic due to the multitude of sounds present at once. This track is structured similarly to many others on the album. Lots of bright, and shrill sounds dominate this album, giving it a sense of overwhelming optimism. To many, this might be a major turn off, especially mixed with Prince's already flamboyant image. Yet, in equal measures this is one of the most intriguing aspects of Purple Rain. There is something incredibly infectious about the energy of this record, something undeniably fun in Prince's glorious excess. To let oneself go and just accept the record's nature is the way to allow oneself to experience it best.
The album then switches into "Take Me With U" which sounds like an updated version of Prince's earlier work. There is a strong disco and dance influence on this string led track, but slowed down to a syrupy tempo. The four-on-the-floor excitement of disco is absent here and is replaced by a strong and passionate string-led groove. The simplicity of the lyrics and melody, however, are classic early Prince. Also worth noting is that this is a duet, with the female voice being sung by Apollonia. She is largely unnecessary, but a female voice is a nice touch. Many find this to be one of the records weaker tracks, but despite that it is filled to the brim with creative ideas, strange influences, and infectious energy.
"The Beautiful Ones" is a gorgeous synth pop ballad, easily a highlight on this amazing album. Prince's heavenly falsetto has rarely sounded more breathy and alluring that it does on this track, as he sighs "Don't make me waste my time / Don't make me lose my mind, baby" over the track's electronic instrumental. The song builds to a climax by its end, with huge strings and metal guitars building into the song as Prince takes his already emotive vocals to a new level. Prince explodes into a fit of shrieking and screaming, and then the track dies down again. The song smoothly transitions into "Computer Blue" which is another more upbeat number. The highlight of this song's first half is Prince's catchy and excited vocals, as the beat and instrumental sound tame in comparison with the chaos of "Let's Go Crazy" and the explosive "The Beautiful Ones." Yet there is more than enough going on in the instrumental, especially once the beat switches half way through the song. The song transitions into a much more simplistic, guitar driven instrumental that is both an interesting direction to move the song into, as well as a nice break from Prince himself, who can get slightly overwhelming at times.
The end of "Computer Blue" fades perfectly into another highlight, "Darling Nikki." This song is the closest thing the album has to a "heavy" song, and the instrumental is intentionally mixed in order to give it a raw, live feel. The lyrics tell a humorous (and dirty) story of one particularly memorable sexual escapade. This song is actually largely responsible for the obnoxious parental advisory sticker now placed on explicit albums, after Tipper Gore walked in on her 11 year old daughter enjoying the works of Prince, particularly this song. The song is fairly tame compared to music nowadays, and even compared to Prince's earlier work, yet for whatever reason this song is the straw that broke the camel's back. Anyway. This song operates at three different tempos, and features a strong use of quiet/loud dynamics. It is placed brilliantly in the track list, as it is followed by another highlight: the bassless "When Doves Cry." This song was one of the album's biggest hits. It features some fairly personal and autobiographical lyrics and a highly experimental beat. The song features no bassline, which is highly unique among 80s dance tracks. Every instrument was played by Prince on this song, making it one of the few on Purple Rain that was recorded in this way.
The next two tracks seem to function as one, in my mind. "I Would Die 4 U" and "Baby I'm A Star" are both highly impassioned dance tracks, although the former is a bit slower than the latter. "I Would Die 4 U" is a bit of a weak spot on the album, as it's vocal melody is the track's only highlight. The beat is fairly minimal and forgettable. "Baby I'm A Star" features an uptempo, driving dance beat as Prince sings his own praises in the vocals. This track features Prince at his most confident, yet not his most bombastic. This song could also be seen as a bit of a partner to "Let's Go Crazy," as both songs go, well, crazy.
The final track is the most monumental, bombastic, brilliant, and wonderful moment of the album. The nearly nine minute title track is easily the highlight of the album, and possibly of Prince's career. This song is a fusion of R&B, gospel, hard rock, and features a beautiful string section. This ballad is written in the style of many of the other power ballads of the 80s, but separates itself with the sheer grandeur of itself. Prince also shows off a bit of his vocal range here, with his voice spanning from F3 at its lowest to A5 at its highest. Now, I can't hear that on my own (my sense of pitch is not that good), but I do understand what it means. That's impressive, trust me. Perhaps the best way to understand this song is to watch Prince play it at the Super Bowl, in the pouring rain. The purple stage lights combine with the rain for a truly incredible performance that needs to be watched, rather than described. All in all, this track is the perfect summary of that album with which it shares its title. Does this track need to be nine minutes long? Absolutely not. Does it need to be this dramatic? Absolutely not. Is it better off for both? Absolutely.
Prince's influence can still be found in modern music. Scores of artists, too many to name, would not exist without Prince's influence. Modern music is also still attempting to find a successor to Prince's legacy. Certainly one of the best at continuing Prince's style of music is Alan Palomo, aka Neon Indian. He plays a style of dance music similar to that of Prince's, and leads that charge in the revival of 80s stye synth pop/nu disco. Yet Palomo lacks Prince's immense popularity, as well as his groundbreaking innovation. In terms of social standings, rapper Young Thug has been making waves in the public eye for breaking gender norms in a genre that is notoriously hypermasculine, as well as for experimenting and bending genres in his music, both of which have earned him a decent amount of Prince comparisons. Unfortunately, Young Thug lacks Prince's popularity as well, in addition to his consistency of output and is usually compared to Prince in an ironic sense. Prince's musical perfectionism is certainly alive in the consistent flawless works of Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar, as well as in West's eccentricity. This difficulty in finding a comparison is truly a testament to Prince himself; there was only one Prince, and there will only every be one Prince.
HIGHPOINTS: "Let's Go Crazy" "The Beautiful Ones" "Darling Nikki" "Baby I'm A Star"
LOWPOINTS: "Computer Blue"
RECOMMENDED ALBUMS: Voodoo - D'Angelo; Off The Wall - Michael Jackson; Multi Love - Unknown Mortal Orchestra; Vega Intl. Night School - Neon Indian
