Here we are on the third of the “big name” albums in this particular (purple) patch of 1984. For my money, Purple Rain is my favourite Prince track, an epic piece of theatrics that builds to the guitar solo and high wordless vocals, before gently fading away over a lengthy denouement.
Prince dials up the emotional rawness throughout this album, from the primal screams at the end of The Beautiful Ones, to the down and dirty bit of funk-rock that is Darling Nikki which apparently shocked the usual parade of self-righteous morons in the USA (led by Al Gore’s missus). Compared to Zappa’s Joe’s Garage, though, it’s tame as anything, merely a celebration of female sexuality as much as Cindy Lauper’s She Bop is.
Musically it feels a bit more robust compared to 1999 (even the bass-less When Doves Cry), with backing singers Wendy (Melvoin) and Lisa (Coleman) coming more to the fore, even sharing a bit of a spoken word into on Computer Blue. There was a film, of which this formed the soundtrack, but it doesn’t sound like a soundtrack in that you can pick out a storyline or throughline, and I must admit I have no idea what the film was about (apart from the iconic image of Prince astride the purple motorbike).
This was the album that really launched him, though. It’s funny what grants commercial success, because to me there’s nothing on here, or the last two albums from Springsteen and Turner, that are so far above less successful albums that you can immediately point to it. Some of it, I think, is the right time and place, some is probably having a more universal appeal.
Comments
Post a Comment