Purple Rain (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture)

iTunes Review

A stone cold masterpiece by any reckoning, Purple Rain is one of those rare albums that managed to be as commercially successful as it was artistically innovative. Released in the wake of the breakthrough success of 1999, Prince designed Purple Rain as a commercial blockbuster, but he didn't let his attempts to woo mainstream pop listeners interfere with his unbridled musical dynamism and irrepressible lyrical eccentricity. Prince’s prodigious talents as a producer, musician and arranger are hardly unique in pop music — Leon Ware, Sly Stone, and Todd Rundgren were similarly inclined jacks of all trades — but unlike those artists Prince was able to express his musical vision while maintaining an uncanny understanding of the demands of the music buying public. He opens Purple Rain with the deliriously cathartic electric gospel roar of “Let’s Go Crazy” only to segue into the impeccably arranged psychedelic pop of “Take Me With You,” flaunting his talents to be sure, but also applying lessons learned from the success of the eclectic 1999 and catering to every imaginable musical demographic. From the innovative ballad “When Doves Cry” to the stately swan song of the title track Purple Rain is a machine-tooled triumph that deserves to be ranked amongst the finest pop albums of the twentieth century.