Recorded with his then-backing band, The Revolution, Purple Rain captures the tension between robotic synth-pop and raw, bleeding guitars. The album opens with “Let’s Go Crazy,” a faux-sermon set to a distorted rock riff. It moves through the scandalous “Darling Nikki” (which got Tipper Gore so angry she started the PMRC), the orchestral sweep of “The Beautiful Ones,” and the seismic power ballad “When Doves Cry”—a number-one hit that famously has no bass line.
This was the breakthrough that brought the "Minneapolis Sound" to the mainstream. Key Tracks: "1999," "Little Red Corvette," "Delirious." Why it matters: prince best ever albums