If I say that Purple Rain is the most perfect album in the world, is that just fan bias?
No matter how many so-called “great” albums I listen to, honestly, none of them give me even a fraction, a fraction of a fraction, of what Purple Rain gives me.
The songs on this album aren’t just good. There isn’t a single moment, not even one second, that isn’t magical. It feels unreal in how perfectly complete it is.
Is there any other album where every track is a 10 out of 10?
Even “Electric Intercourse,” a track that would have been a standout signature song for most other artists, didn’t make the album. Maybe that’s because the nine tracks that did make it form something like a cosmic order, perfectly balanced, nothing extra, nothing missing.
Even Prince’s other albums don’t reach this level of perfection for me.
From Dirty Mind onward, Prince kept evolving his sound, but with Around the World in a Day, he suddenly shifted direction. Maybe it’s because he felt there was nothing more to add after reaching a peak like Purple Rain.
And there’s one more thing: this is also the coolest album in the world.
That might be the real reason I love this album, and Prince’s music, so much. Beyond all the talk about musicality or artistry, it’s just unbelievably cool and sexy.
What’s the point of overanalyzing the artistry of tracks like “The Beautiful Ones” or “Computer Blue”? There’s no need to explain it. It just is cool.
Prince, almost like Abraxas, unites opposites, light and darkness, perfection and spontaneity. He achieves something that shouldn’t even be possible, a kind of spontaneous perfection. It’s a contradiction, but somehow it’s real.
Maybe it’s just that this album and I happened to become soulmates.
Do any of you think he has an album that’s even more perfect?