9. Purple Rain – Prince and The Revolution (Warner Bros. – 1984)
Mercurial music man Prince Rogers Nelson has had more lightning rod albums such as Dirty Mind, 1999 and Sign O’ The Times, but he truly arrived on a first-name basis with the Pop world with the explosion of his 9-song contribution to the film prophetically created to be his launching pad to superstardom, “Purple Rain.”
Every song became an audio-video classic: from the liberating opener “Let’s Go Crazy” to the glorious finale “Purple Rain” and every song in between – “Take Me With U” (a duet with film co-star Apollonia), the power ballad “The Beautiful Ones” (which builds to an ear-shattering climax), the instrumental workout “Computer Blue” that leads into the sex-drenched “Darling Nikki” (which topped Tipper Gore’s “Filthy 15” hitlist of X-rated songs that begat the Parental Advisory Sticker on recordings), the revolutionary “When Doves Cry,” and the one-two showtime punch of “I Would Die 4 U” and “Baby I’m a Star.”
The-crazy-little-mixed-up-film-that-could also featured Prince’s Minneapolis Funk nemesis’ Morris Day & The Time and sexy pop tarts Apollonia 6 (a revamp of Vanity 6), but their songs from the film were strategically included on albums of their own. Imagine if “Jungle Love,” “The Bird” and “Sex Shooter” had also been included on a more traditional “Purple Rain” soundtrack? Heavy Weather, indeed. Click NEXT for the next album.
