Prince - Purple Rain - 180g Reissue on Rhino

Bought this over the weekend at a record shop that will remain nameless (since I guess it's officially not out until February 10?). This is the reissue vinyl cut by Kevin Gray. The vinyl was pressed at RTI. My past experience with their work with Matador Records assured me that the sound quality would be good.

Listening to it right now on a not so fancy system. But it sounds very good. All the instruments sound very clear. The kick drum on the uptempo songs (Let's Go Crazy, Baby I'm a Star, I Would Die 4 U, etc) totally thump but it's not overbearing. Vinyl itself is very quiet. Overall, I'm impressed with the sound quality of the reissue.

The only bad thing I've found about the reissue is the packaging. It looks like Rhino just scanned an old copy of the cover. Perhaps the original master print wasn't available? I think even the barcode on the back cover is the same as the original. I don't have my original press handy but here are the barcode numbers

0 81227 99149 4

But the catalogue number on the spine is R1 25110. Can anybody confirm what the original barcode number is?

The lyric sheet is a folded insert. The vinyl itself is housed in a anti-static sleeve. Rhino chose not to reproduce the poster that came with first pressings of the album. Kind of disappointing as it would have made a nice bonus.

Overall, it's a very good reissue soundwise.

 

This is one I'm very excited to pick up.

Glad to hear it sounds good.

 

The barcode I have on both of mine is 07599-25110-1, so different barcode.

I'm excited for this!!

:edit: Spine number 26116-1 on both of them.

 

glad to see this come out even though I recently bought a sealed original for 5 bucks. hope they do more of the Prince catalog, especially Controversy & 1999

 

IF someone can please compare the original to the reissue... and posts your findings...

thanks

 

One of the greatest albums ever.

Almost makes me want a turntable..

 

I have mixed feelings about even trying out an "audiophile" version of Purple Rain. Listening to better pressings of Neil Young, the Stones, or The Who in my living room is not vastly different than the original experience of doing so with friends in a dorm room, bedroom or apartment. Listening to Purple Rain, on the other hand, was much more of a social experience, almost exclusively done at parties or while dancing. As great as the mastering could be, I'm not sure an audiophile version can come close to the social experience many of us had when we first listened to these songs. Are others planning on picking up this release? Thoughts?

 

My original sounds pretty darn great, but if I saw some glowing reviews here I'd be tempted.

In fact, I'm tempted by something here almost every day!

 

I never played it around people, as when it was popular in 1984, I knew not one single person who liked Prince.

I will probably buy this, since it was cut by Kevin.

 

One great album!

 

Yes. That topic is a whole other thread and probably a good one. Maybe an in-depth search will pull up an old thread that can be revived.

The book, Rocking the Classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture by Ed Macan discusses this need to always consider society and the culture during the time it made when looking at music critically.

 

Hmmm...interesting premise.

I recently found a used WB copy, so I'll probably pass on this.

I did do a lot of coke to this record in the 80's. That, and ambient room noise, can do much to ruin an audiophile experience.

Having said that, a recent spin reveiled things I'd missed many times previous.

later, chris

 

Poster included? Other extras?

 

Original poster said no poster. Wait...that's confusing!

 

I second that one!!!

 

Bernie's original cut of PR set the bar pretty high. It'll be interesting to hear how Kevin's stacks up.

 

Agree. The original LP is hard to beat. 12" singles of the period as well!

 

That is a sin - I had that on the wall and loved the look of it better than most other posters - maybe the pyramids in the original DSOTM beat that...
No Poster ? Then I am not interested - stick my copy then - wished i could get the poster again..

 

Is it pressed on purple vinyl?

 

Wow, this is the complete opposite of my experience at that time. That summer and fall practically everyone I knew in high school was heavily into this album. It was blasting in people's cars in the high school parking lot, at parties and of course was all over the radio. The video for "When Doves Cry" was a hot topic of discussion. You would even see girls mimicking the hand gesture from the movie for "I Would Die 4 U" when it was played at parties. Many were also digging "Erotic City", which was the B-side of "Let's Go Crazy".

Michael Jackson had someone fallen out of favor and Madonna and Prince were the hottest things with the kids I knew.

It's always interesting to hear of the varying impacts of specific music in different regions and social circles.

 

I may have to give this new reissue a try. Actually, I have been pretty happy with the standard CD, which I think is relatively faithful to my original LP from 1984. This album always had a rather cold, clinical sound, which was probably intended given the production and arrangements.

It will be interesting to hear how another mastering engineer handles it.

 

Honestly, it shouldn't be that difficult to track down a copy of the poster. I'm pretty sure that the entire original vinyl press run of the LP had a copy inserted into the jacket.

Though I've bought this album at least 3 or 4 times over the years, I'll definitely be buying a copy of this new pressing.

 

I was living in sorry Arizona. Most people were into either hip-hop, R&B, or hard rock.

Wow! The summer of 1984, the Jackson family's music was everywhere! I mean you had Michael, Janet, Jermaine, and the Jacksons, all with albums out. There was even a Jermaine/Michael duet that they couldn't issue as a single because of Michael's management. Madonna was hot, and everyone was waiting for her new album to drop. but Prince? The movie was popular, but no one I knew cared much about the album itself, or Prince. I remember making a tape called "No Jackson Music!", and it had a lot of cuts by Prince, Appolinia 6, and The Time on it.

I agree! It's fun to hear/read what happened in different areas of the country.

 

LOL. I was living in the even sorrier area of backwoods southern Illinois.

That's interesting about the Jacksons in your area. What I recall from my crowd that summer was a burnout on Michael Jackson due to Thriller overexposure. In addition, there was a somewhat negative reaction to "State Of Shock". The previous summer, we couldn't get enough of MJ.

Prince was viewed as being much hipper at that particular time and place. 1999 had created quite a stir with the kids the previous year and there was great anticipation for his new album. I must admit that I didn't even go see the Purple Rain movie (and still haven't seen it to this day!), but got hooked on "When Doves Cry" then the Purple Rain album. While a lot of my friends went to see the movie, it didn't generate nearly as much discussion as the album.

Speaking of regional differences, I got quite a rude awakening when I went off to college in 1985. Everyone was listening to the 80s alternative/new wave acts (Cure, New Order, Violent Femmes, Smiths, etc.). I had never even heard of most of them. My small-town, top 40 listening habits were the essence of uncool in a large university environment!

 

I remember when I went out and bought "Controversy" in 1981. Everyone said ""Prince? Who's that?". When I bought "1999", people were like "Prince who?". That change when "Little red Corvette" raced up the charts, and MTV got popular, but people still didn't care for him. The Time, the funk band he produced, was popular, though.

No one really listened to that stuff around here, either. I'm thinking new wave/alternative mostly was a metropolitan/college thing, aside from the top 40 stuff. I used to watch MTV and Night Tracks, and wonder what all that Tommy Tutone and Oingo Boingo mess was. Shannon I understood. The Pretenders I understood. Chaka Khan, was popular. Grandmaster Flash, Journey, Yes, The Cars, Peter Wolf, Midnight Starr, Madonna, SOS Band, Whodini...all that stuff was big around here. Pretty much all the stuff the Hoffmanites hate or aren't knowledgeable about.