Weekday Wayback: Prince- Purple Rain

Recently, the entirety of Prince's discography returned to streaming services including Spotify, which I have a premium subscription for. His talent was like no other and will likely never be matched in this generation or those to come. Purple Rain is demonstrative of this. Opening with a bang in the form of "Let's Go Crazy", the tone of the album is anything but set in stone. Side one (back when albums came out on vinyl and cassette) ends with the yearning of "Darling Nikki". "Darling Nikki" has the distinction of being the song that apparently motivated Tipper Gore to co-found the Parents Music Resource Center. Side two then kicks things off with the timeless "When Doves Cry", which was later sampled in MC Hammer's song "Pray", an exception to the rule regarding Prince's careful curation of his catalogue. The title track closes the album with 8 minutes and 43 seconds of transcendental bliss. There is no way to put into words the magic that is "Purple Rain", but I can say I tried. That being said, go treat yourselves to the sonic masterpiece that is Prince's sixth studio album.

Natalie Doggett