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| #8—Let's Go Crazy! |
Notable tracks: Let's Go Crazy, When Doves Cry, I Would Die 4 U, Take Me With U, The Beautiful Ones, Computer Blue, Darling Nikki, Baby I'm A Star (this is the whole album!)
Released: 1984 (when else?)
Chart peak: #1 in U.S. for 24 weeks
Popularity: 20 million copies sold worldwide
I hated Prince—just HATED him. Couldn't stand his music, couldn't stand his stupid Jherri-curl, or his stupid platform boots, or his stupid junior-high mustache. But in 1984, I was chasing this one girl, and she just LOVED Prince, and she told me that I had to watch the movie Purple Rain. I didn't want to watch the movie because I hated Prince, but it also meant two hours sitting on the couch next to the girl I was chasing.
So I watched Purple Rain. And from that moment on, I have LOVED Prince.
I've been taking a lot of my factual information on these albums from their Wikipedia entries, but in this case, I'm going to extensively quote their entry on this album to get a true sense of its ongoing impact:
Purple Rain is regularly ranked among the best albums in
music history. Time magazine ranked it the 15th greatest album of all time in
1993, and it placed 18th on VH1's Greatest Rock and Roll Albums of All Time
countdown. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it the second-best album of the 1980s
and 76th on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Zounds magazine
ranked it the 18th greatest album of all time. Finally, in 2007, the editors of
Vanity Fair labeled it the best soundtrack of all time and Tempo magazine named
it the greatest album of the 1980s. In 2012, Slant Magazine listed the album at
#2 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s" behind only Michael
Jackson's Thriller. That same year the album was added to the Library of
Congress's National Recording Registry list of sound recordings that "are
culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect
life in the United States."
And now they can add #8 on the Enter Sandman 2013 countdown. There's not much more I can add to that in terms of praise. Purple Rain is an absolute masterpiece. I have listed every song on the album as a "notable track" in my summary at the top, something that no other album on this list can lay claim to. Every single song is amazing; there's not only no bad songs, there are not average songs, either. Prince has also proved to have staying power over the decades and has continually contributed to the artistry of popular rock music in America.
Years after my conversion to Prince fanhood, I remarked to someone that Prince was the true heir to Jimi Hendrix's rock/blues/funk guitar solo crown. For anyone who doesn't believe that claim holds water, I'm including a video from his performance on stage with Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne (ELO), Steve Winwood, Dany Harrison, et. al. on the occasion of George Harrison's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. These stars are jamming on George's classic "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." About 2/3 of the way into the video, Prince steps up on lead guitar and just sets the place on fire. It's freaking amazing. But then again, so is Prince.
He's also the last man in America who can unironically wear a pimp hat.
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