I believe in my musical min man.I am not questioning anything about teh authenticity of his stature in music.I am,however,befuddled and baffled by that "sound" that the Purple Rain album has.I know it is not so drastically different than other albums that my head will explode ,but it does not sound like any other album.I can't explain it."Electric Intercourse",of course,has that 'sound" ,also.I just can't put my finger on what it is.


It's also a trip to watch the Syracuse '85 show .It's like that's not even Prince!It seems so far removed from him before or since.It's a stranger in that show.


What happened to the sweet naive poet of FOR YOU?What happened to the trenchcoat-covered perv/freak/badass/rock hero of DIRTY MIND and other collections?Just what happened??


I realize that some songs were credited as collaborations with Revolution members ,but it still doesn't help me figure this out since the solo material has the same "sound".


Through the years ,Prince has revisited some of his earlier styles and sounds with awesome results.This album's sounds have never been recreate in anything I've heard since.And I really wish I could get to the bottom of this.


While I think about it,the 'sound" of the GOLD EXPERIENCE hasn't been recreated either.Very curious.

I think I know what you're getting at, and it's really no more complicated than the fact that each new iteration of Prince's band with new band members affect the style of music he creates. It's as if he feeds off the band, and the band feeds off him. Purple Rain is obviously a special album in the Prince catalog.

But the fascinating thing to me about Prince is that really all of his albums are unique - especially the first 10-12 years. It was only later in his career that I feel he started to have some sounds that were repetative. But even in the later years I'm still just amazed by the variety of his work. I mean, I was just listening to The Truth (the album) and that is amazingly different from ANYTHING Prince has ever done and it is a brilliant piece of work, especially when you listen to against the backdrop of everything else he's created. So really I don't think "Purple Rain" is different in the sense that that sound was not re-created.

I know EXACTLY what you mean. I was living, breathing, and eating that "sound" when I was 14. I think it has something to do with the synths he was using, the Linn-drum (tho used often elsewhere), his guitar and effects, and the same type of mixing process on all these songs. "Electric Intercourse" and "Another Lonely Christmas" also have this sound. Maybe it has something to do with the vocal mixes as well?

Anyone else know why Purple Rain has such a different "sound"?

This is my take.

It does has a magical, rich, and powerful feel to it, Purple Rain.

I think it has to do with a few things.

One, the instruments. They are very organic. Although most are electronic like the drum machine, Linn LM-1 Drum Computer, and vintage synths but also it's how they were used and produced AND engineered.

Two, yes I've noticed that the engineers, especially Susan Rogers brought something to the table. Sometimes engineers do a little more that just turn knobs and it's evident that when she stopped working with Prince, his sound changed. She did most of the classic albums. Along with Coke Johnson, she did Sign O The Times, Parade, Around the world in a day, etc.

Femi Jiya also had a great skills, Lovesexy and then The Rainbow Children.

Three, back to Purple Rain, When Doves Cry, Dr. Fink played that keyboard ending LIVE...yes LIVE.

No MIDI sequencing, no programming, it was LIVE. That's skill man. That's the running feel you get with most of those songs. The balance and interplay between man and machine, musician and technology.

Organic, also because it's all analogue instead of digital. Yeah, sure the Linn and synths are electronic but the way they sound are worlds away from what modern plastic-y instruments of today. And lets's not forget the sound boards, studio equipment.

I have to say that I've played a lot with a Linn Drum LM-1 and there is just something about it's sound and the way it feels and like Prince said, it's timing.

But the drum sounds are really warmer and feel real. Not digital. Listen to many of the early eighties music, Rod Stewarts Young Turks, that's a LM-1! Notice it has like super steady beat, but it sounds warm and grooves like a mother. Don Henley's Sunset Grill has the LM-2, also adds a warm powerful feel to the song.

And fourthly, no MIDI sequencing, ProTools, Mac/Windows, none of that crap. No default sound module patches, none of that modern, bloated tech stuff.

And like I said before, the musicianship playing of that Computer Blue electronic beat and atmosphere really makes the album shine. And you can feel it other of Prince's classic albums.











(Man, just when I thought I had a good post, bam, an error...!)
[This message was edited Tue Jan 28 1:34:22 PST 2003 by FlyingCloudPassenger]

FlyingCloud, I think you're right on with most everything you said. I'm thinking the Linn LM1 and the recording techniques (and engineers) probably played the biggest part in that particular "Purple Rain" sound, in addition to the way the songs were written, similar keys?

I think Prince played the keyboards on When Doves Cry, didn't he?

-Linn Drums
-Ob1 Synth's (Dr Fink said that Prince would record a keyboard line with the OB1 synth, then repeat the same line on top of that, and "layer" each line one on top of the other, so it would sound PHAT!)
-Revolution groove
-Engineers

When Rave was being recorded and mentioned that the Linn Drum would return on that album, I though cuz it came out in 1999, It would have that 1999 / Purple Rain vibe about it. However, the Linn drum was used to a minimum:-((although "Wherever u go"'s beat was dope in the first few seconds of the song and the Keyboard line in "Strange but true" was close to the Purple Rain days)

dnaplaya said:

Yeah, I thought it would be really cool new Linn inspired album too. But he gave Kirky J. the LM-1 and well...it was okay, that beat for Undisputed.

Then he used it on that other song "Wherever U Go", but it the kick was to strong, nearly blew my speakers! And the beat was cool, but like, the engineer didn't know what to do with it. Plus it was just NOT produced right, something was wrong.

Interesting to note too that Madonna started using all those sounds from the early 80's for her Music album and song right after Prince said he was taking it back to '82.

This ws Princes "I am Jesus" album

I think that the microphone was mixed VERY hot - to the point of distorting on songs like Nikki and Computer Blue, Christmas and 17 Days.


He had a little of that distorted mic thing on 1999, but after PR, the mic cleaned up - Around the World, for instance, sounds MUCH cleaner.

Purple Rain had a serious grittiness to the vocals, throughout, not lyrically, but sonically. (well, sure, lyrically too).

When I think about the production values of 'Purple Rain' I am reminded of the process that led to the recording of landmark albums such as 'Blonde On Blonde' by Dylan, or the brilliant debut album by 'The La's'(whose main man insisted on a mixing desk "with real sixties dust, man").
As for Dylan's opus, the makeshift arrangement of equipment in the recording studio and the unorthodox positioning of microphones, etc, in order to capture "that sound", were all part of what ended up being a true once-in-a-lifetime recording experience.
Cynics on the other hand might label these innovations "happy accidents".

Let's not forget 'Purple Rain' was primarily a collection of songs of disparate origins.
'Darling Nikki' was a home studio recording. 'I Would Die 4 U', 'Baby, I'm A Star' and 'Purple Rain' resulted from live recordings captured at First Avenue by way of a mobile recording unit. 'Let's Go Crazy' was cut live at the St. Louis Park warehouse, a cavernous space that gave way to those wonderful guitar distortions, in controlled-chaos conditions.
'Take Me with U' the first song of Prince's to feature finger-cymbals, was a duet with Apollonia. 'The Beautiful Ones', 'When Doves Cry' and 'Computer Blue' were taped at Sunset Sound, and 'Baby, I'm A Star' was a re-recording of a song Prince had demoed in 1981.

Susan Roger's role aside, the imput by Revolution members cannot be discounted either. Indeed,'Purple Rain' was the first album in Prince's career to feature so many contributions, not least of which was the appearance of a string section. Lisa and Wendy are so prominent as vocalists and instrument players that only four of the tracks on the album can be deemed to be true Prince solo performances.

Overall, 'Purple Rain' will always remain one of Prince's most adventurous albums. Come back to it and you'll always discover something new.


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