Prince and the Revolution

Purple Rain Deluxe Expanded Edition

NPG/Warner Bros

IF the entire back catalogue of Paisley Park's Purple Pixie is to be re-issued as sumptuously as this four-disc set it is time clear some shelf-space and save on the groceries. The 1984 Purple Rain album and movie phenomenon was when many hopped aboard the Prince experience, and the original album, included here in the version re-mastered by himself in 2015, remains a classic. The various version of singles and their b-sides are gathered together on another CD, but it is the collection of rarities from the vaults and previously unreleased versions on the disc sandwiched inbetween that excites more interest. Perhaps Prince would have edited (in duration) tracks like The Dance Electric and We Can F**k before letting them loose, but they are still terrific productions, as are the self-explanatory Wonderful Ass and slightly more coded Velvet Kitty Cat.

The fourth disc is a DVD of the man and his band of the time, with Wendy and Lisa to the fore, in concert at Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York State on March 30, 1985. Over three months before Live Aid, the gig was beamed live to Germany, which was ground-breaking at the time.

Keith Bruce