Prince and the Revolution: Live is a live concert video by Prince and the Revolution. Released after the Purple Rain Tour was complete, the video is a recording of the March 30, 1985 concert at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. The concert was also broadcast live throughout Europe as the final act of the 15th "Rock Night", an all-night show of four concerts staged by West German public broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk as part of its Rockpalast series that was simulcast by the Eurovision network of European TV stations.[2]
| Prince and the Revolution: Live | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Video by Prince and The Revolution | ||||
| Released | July 29, 1985 | |||
| Recorded | March 30, 1985 | |||
| Venue | Carrier Dome Syracuse, New York, United States | |||
| Genre | R&B, pop, rock, New wave | |||
| Length | 116:00 | |||
| Label | Warner Music Video, Paisley Park | |||
| Director | Paul Becher | |||
| Prince chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Pitchfork | 8.7/10[1] |
First released on VHS on July 29, 1985,[3] a DVD version was later released with the 2017 deluxe edition of Purple Rain.[4] An audio companion of the concert was released digitally on May 15, 2020.[5] On June 3, 2022, Legacy Recordings, in association with NPG Records, reissued the project for the first time in physical audio format (CD and vinyl) and Blu-ray video with remastered video and the audio being remixed by Chris James for both 5.1 surround sound and Dolby Atmos (with the Atmos mix also being issued digitally through select streaming platforms on the same day).[6]
Background
editIn 1984–85, to capitalise on his growing success with the Purple Rain album, Prince toured the United States extensively to promote the album and sales increased accordingly. Though not on the video, the tour was opened by Sheila E.
Music
editUnlike Prince's past tours, which usually opened with older material, Prince now had some #1 hits and chose to open the tour with Purple Rain album opener, "Let's Go Crazy". This segued into a triple-dose from the 1999 album. "Delirious" contained a bit of the extended version of "Let's Go Crazy". "1999" followed. Next came "Little Red Corvette" and audience participation with "Take Me with U".
The pace was slowed down with "Do Me, Baby", introduced by a bit of "Purple House", Prince's take on Jimi Hendrix's "Red House". The ballad was jolted into the funk of B-side, "Irresistible Bitch". The shortened version segued into "Possessed" (which was dedicated to James Brown in the credits). Another audience tease came with "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore" before a mostly-spoken "Let's Pretend We're Married". A brief "International Lover" was followed by the lengthy ode to the Divine, "God".
The remainder of the concert was dedicated to Purple Rain material. "Computer Blue" (which was heavily based on the original uncut version found on the special deluxe edition of Purple Rain) was followed by "Darling Nikki." On the album, "Darling Nikki" is suffixed by a backward message over rain and storm sounds effects. In the concert, the backward message is played forward. In a twist, a bit of backwards "The Dance Electric" (a Prince-written song for former bandmate André Cymone) introduced "The Beautiful Ones". The song flowed immediately to "When Doves Cry". In post-production, a mirrored camera effect was added to the song to mimic the mirroring in the video for the song. The last three songs followed the album's track listing for side two. Serving as the first of two encores, "I Would Die 4 U" and "Baby I'm a Star" were drawn out into an extended jam session. Sheila E. and her band, Apollonia 6 and Eric Leeds) were also in this section of the show. The last encore was "Purple Rain." Prince played this over 18 minutes which included a longer intro, Wendy encouraging the audience to sing the song's post-chorus "ohh ohh" vocals, and lengthy guitar solos on two of Prince's guitars (both seen in the movie and in videos), including the white Cloud guitar.
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Album release(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Let's Go Crazy" | Purple Rain | 5:30 |
| 2. | "Delirious" | 1999 | 2:46 |
| 3. | "1999" | 1999 | 4:15 |
| 4. | "Little Red Corvette" | 1999 | 5:10 |
| 5. | "Take Me with U" | Purple Rain | 4:15 |
| 6. | "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (Interlude) | N/A | 6:10 |
| 7. | "Do Me, Baby" (includes "Purple House" spoken intro) | Controversy | 4:40 |
| 8. | "Irresistible Bitch" | B-side of "Let's Pretend We're Married" The Hits/The B-Sides | 2:00 |
| 9. | "Possessed" | 1999 Deluxe Edition (1982 version) Purple Rain Deluxe Edition (1984 version) | 4:24 |
| 10. | "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore" | B-side of "1999" The Hits/The B-Sides | 5:05 |
| 11. | "Let's Pretend We're Married" | 1999 | 4:15 |
| 12. | "International Lover" | 1999 | 1:00 |
| 13. | "God" | B-side of "Purple Rain" The Hits/The B-Sides | 8:30 |
| 14. | "Computer Blue" | Purple Rain | 4:30 |
| 15. | "Darling Nikki" | Purple Rain | 4:00 |
| 16. | "The Beautiful Ones" (includes backwards "The Dance Electric" and wind chime intro) | Purple Rain | 7:30 |
| 17. | "When Doves Cry" | Purple Rain | 8:15 |
| 18. | "I Would Die 4 U" | Purple Rain | 3:50 |
| 19. | "Baby I'm a Star" | Purple Rain | 10:00 |
| 20. | "Purple Rain" | Purple Rain | 18:24 |
| No. | Title | Album release(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Let's Go Crazy" | Purple Rain | 5:30 |
| 2. | "Delirious" | 1999 | 2:46 |
| 3. | "1999" | 1999 | 4:15 |
| 4. | "Little Red Corvette" | 1999 | 5:10 |
| 5. | "Take Me with U" | Purple Rain | 4:15 |
| 6. | "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (Interlude) | N/A | 6:10 |
| 7. | "Do Me, Baby" (includes "Purple House" spoken intro) | Controversy | 4:40 |
| 8. | "Irresistible Bitch" | B-side of "Let's Pretend We're Married" The Hits/The B-Sides | 2:00 |
| 9. | "Possessed" | 1999 Deluxe Edition (1982 version) Purple Rain Deluxe Edition (1984 version) | 4:24 |
| 10. | "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore" | B-side of "1999" The Hits/The B-Sides | 5:05 |
| 11. | "Let's Pretend We're Married" | 1999 | 4:15 |
| 12. | "International Lover" | 1999 | 1:00 |
| 13. | "God" | B-side of "Purple Rain" The Hits/The B-Sides | 8:30 |
| 14. | "Computer Blue" | Purple Rain | 4:30 |
| No. | Title | Album release(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Darling Nikki" | Purple Rain | 4:00 |
| 2. | "The Beautiful Ones" (includes backwards "The Dance Electric" and wind chime intro) | Purple Rain | 7:30 |
| 3. | "When Doves Cry" | Purple Rain | 8:15 |
| 4. | "I Would Die 4 U" | Purple Rain | 3:50 |
| 5. | "Baby I'm a Star" | Purple Rain | 10:00 |
| 6. | "Purple Rain" | Purple Rain | 18:24 |
Source:[7]
Personnel
edit|
Prince and the Revolution
|
Guests
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Charts
edit| Chart (2022) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[8] | 96 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[9] | 15 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[10] | 5 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[11] | 4 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[12] | 4 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[13] | 8 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[14] | 20 |
| Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[15] | 26 |
| Portuguese Albums (AFP)[16] | 16 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[17] | 6 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[18] | 27 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] | 7 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[20] | 21 |
| UK R&B Albums (OCC)[21] | 1 |
| US Billboard 200[22] | 22 |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[23] | 11 |
References
edit- ^ Thompson, Shy (June 4, 2022). "Prince / The Revolution: Prince and the Revolution: Live Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
- ^ 15th Rocknacht, March 30/31, 1985. Rockpalast Archive, Retrieved on July 14, 2014.
- ^ Prince and the Revolution; Live (VHS). ASIN 630237426X.
- ^ Kaufman, Gil (April 28, 2017). "Prince's 'Purple Rain' Expanded Edition Coming June 23 with Unreleased Tracks". Billboard. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
- ^ Graves, Wren (May 15, 2020). "Prince and the Revolution 1985 Live Album Finally Released: Stream". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
- ^ "'Prince and The Revolution: Live' Completely Remastered & Digitally Enhanced Release June 3, 2022". Legacy Recordings. March 30, 2022.
- ^ "30 March 1985 - Prince Vault". www.princevault.com.
- ^ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 13 June 2022". The ARIA Report. No. 1684. Australian Recording Industry Association. June 13, 2022. p. 6.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – Prince and the Revolution – Live" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Prince and the Revolution – Live" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Prince and the Revolution – Live" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Prince and the Revolution – Live" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Prince and the Revolution – Live" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
- ^ "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2022-06-13/p/2" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
- ^ "Billboard Japan Hot Albums: 2022/06/08 公開". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved June 8, 2022.
- ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – Prince and the Revolution – Live". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
- ^ "Top 100 Albums Weekly". El portal de Música. Promusicae. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Prince and the Revolution – Live". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
- ^ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
- ^ "Prince Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
- ^ "Prince Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
Further reading
edit- Aswad, Jem (2022-06-07). "Prince's Biggest Night: The Revolution Remember the 1985 Syracuse Concert and the 'Purple Rain' Tour". Variety. Retrieved 2024-04-25.