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"Hey, look me over / Tell me, do U like what U see?" The patience of Prince fans eager to mourn their fallen hero finally bears some catalogue fruit today, as the long-gestating expanded edition of Purple Rain--the first catalogue reissue of any of the late icon's works--is confirmed.
Fans have been intently waiting for a reissue of Purple Rain for at least the past three years, when Prince finally acquired his original masters from Warner Bros. Records and promised to reissue the landmark 1984 album for its 30th anniversary. That never materialized, and when the world mourned his passing last year, one could only wonder if that reissue would ever turn up, even as it was promised following the release of posthumous compilation 4Ever and the reinstatement of his Warner-era catalogue to streaming services.
A glimmer of hope appeared as a purported leaked track list made the rounds last week, gaining surprising traction in mainstream publications. That track list is now confirmed, and digital services unveiled the first of 11 unreleased outtakes included on the package: a sterling studio version of "Electric Intercourse," a sensuous slow grind swapped out for "The Beautiful Ones" in the final film and album. (This version has never even appeared on bootlegs, discovered only during a posthumous search of Prince's fabled vault.)
The deluxe edition of Purple Rain will include a new master of the album, completed in 2015 at Paisley Park Studios and approved by Prince, plus the bonus disc of outtakes, including Prince's version of "The Dance Electric" (a tune given to friend and former bandmate André Cymone), the "hallway speech version" of "Computer Blue," an early uncensored version of "We Can Funk" (considered for the mid-'80s Crystal Ball triple album and finally recorded with George Clinton for 1990's Graffiti Bridge) and the mournful "Father's Song," a musical portion of which served as the bridge for "Computer Blue."
A third disc, exclusive to the "deluxe expanded edition," features all the single sides released to promote the album, in both 7" and 12" formats. That means the B-sides "17 Days," "Erotic City," "God" (and its rare U.K. 12" long version) and "Another Lonely Christmas," plus edits and extensions of "When Doves Cry," "Let's Go Crazy," "Purple Rain," "I Would Die 4 U," "Baby I'm a Star" and "Take Me With U"--15 tracks in all.
Physical consumers are due for even more riches, with the deluxe expanded edition offering the first official DVD release of Prince and The Revolution Live! Recorded at Syracuse's Carrier Dome in the spring of 1985, less than a month before the surprise release of follow-up album Around the World in a Day, this spirited show effectively capped the Purple Rain story once and for all, with performances of every track from the album (plus B-sides and outtakes "God" and "Possessed") as well as hits, album cuts and B-sides mostly stemming from the 1999 era.
The Purple Rain reissue is available June 23. All three sets--a 2CD, 3CD/1DVD and LP pressing of the new album master--are now available for pre-order!
Welcome 2 The Dawn.
Purple Rain: Music from the Motion Picture - Deluxe Expanded Edition (NPG Records/Warner Bros. Records, 2017)
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.
3CD/1DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.
CD 1: Remastered original album (released as Warner Bros. Records 25110, 1984)
- Let's Go Crazy
- Take Me With U
- The Beautiful Ones
- Computer Blue
- Darling Nikki
- When Doves Cry
- I Would Die 4 U
- Baby I'm a Star
- Purple Rain
CD 2: From The Vault (all tracks previously unreleased)
- The Dance Electric
- Love and Sex
- Computer Blue (Hallway Speech Version)
- Electric Intercourse (Studio Version)
- Our Destiny/Roadhouse Garden
- Possessed
- Wonderful Ass
- Velvet Kitty Kat
- Katrina's Paper Dolls
- We Can F**k
- Father's Song
CD 3: Edits and extended mixes
- When Doves Cry (7" Edit)
- 17 Days
- Let's Go Crazy (7" Edit)
- Let's Go Crazy (Special Dance Mix)
- Erotic City
- Erotic City (Make Love Not War Erotic City Come Alive)
- Purple Rain (7" Edit)
- God
- God (Love Theme from Purple Rain)
- Another Lonely Christmas
- Another Lonely Christmas (Extended Version)
- I Would Die 4 U (7" Edit)
- I Would Die 4 U (Extended Version)
- Baby I'm a Star (7" Edit)
- Take Me With U (7" Edit)
Disc 2, Tracks 1-2 released as Warner Bros. Records single 7-29286, 1984
Disc 2, Tracks 3 and 5 released as Warner Bros. Records single 7-29216, 1984
Disc 2, Tracks 4 and 6 released as Warner Bros. Records 12" single 0-20246, 1984
Disc 2, Tracks 7-8 released as Warner Bros. Records single 7-29174, 1984
Disc 2, Track 9 released on Warner Bros. Records U.K. 12" single W 9174T, 1984
Disc 2, Tracks 10 and 12 released as Warner Bros. Records single 7-29121, 1984
Disc 2, Tracks 11 and 13 released as Warner Bros. Records 12" single 0-20291, 1984
Disc 2, Tracks 14-15 released as Warner Bros. Records single 7-29079, 1985
DVD: Prince and The Revolution Live! (originally released as Warner Bros. Records VHS 38102, 1985 - previously unreleased on DVD)
- Let's Go Crazy
- Delirious
- 1999
- Little Red Corvette
- Take Me With U
- Do Me, Baby
- Irresistible Bitch
- Possessed
- How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore
- Let's Pretend We're Married
- International Lover
- God
- Computer Blue
- Darling Nikki
- The Beautiful Ones
- When Doves Cry
- I Would Die 4 U
- Baby I'm a Star
- Purple Rain
Recorded live at the Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY - March 30, 1985
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I'm sure a lot of Prince fans will be happy with the track selection, but I'm sad that the non-Prince songs from the movie - particularly those that have never gotten formal release that I'm aware of, such as "Modernaire" by Dez Dickerson - are not included. Perhaps some enterprising label could do an actual soundtrack album of the movie, maybe even including the incidental music. Of course, I wish the same for Streets of Fire...
Modernaire was released by Dez on some independent label a few years back, and is easily found on bootlegs. There just is not enough demand for it to be included, but it would be awesome if they could make a 30 disc collection of everything Prince 1984, I would pay $1000 for it, but sadly, these releases are moved by profit, not by what the fans want.
I thought it was hinted in advance that the non-Prince songs from the film might make on to this release? Seems like a missed opportunity.
I'm actually pretty satisfied with this track listing! Though the full First Avenue show(s) should've been a no-brainer.
Shame they never added the full extended versions of "Darlin Nikki" and "The Beautiful Ones" which in my opinion are superior to the edited versions which made the album.
Don't be disappointed by what's missing. Just look forward to their inclusion on the inevitable 40-yr anniversary edition in just 7 more years. May U live 2 C the double-dip.
And if you can wait until the 50th Anniversary of "Purple Rain" in 2034, we'll get an even bigger edition of the album. "May we all live to see the dawn"!
Amazon.com has started taking pre-orders for the new editions of "Purple Rain" (and I've placed my order). "Welcome To The Dawn"!
I'd love some of the more obscure stuff mentioned here, but this release is meant for the masses, so I totally get what's included and what's not. Still very excited for some of disc three that's never seen the (legal) light of day.
u can get the '20th anniversary' release of 'purple rain' on 'e-bay'. that's what i did. it contains the song 'modernaire' the slightly extended version of 'darling nikki' that also has the ending played 'forward' instead of backwards. it also has the extended version of 'computer blue' however, it was both extended and edited meaning that it runs 7 or 8 minutes longer. and it has the extended version of 'apollonia 6's 'sex shooter'.