Purple Rain 20 th anniversary disc, new details are revealed (1 Viewer)

[oscar_merkx]

 

[Douglas Bailey]

If Warners will finally release the film in OAR, I'll buy it (as a guilty pleasure: it's a terrible movie, but one with a great soundtrack).

 

[Robert Anthony]

I'd like to see a special edition where it's about 1/2 Prince plotline, 1/2 Morris Day plotline.

The Time saved that movie. I want bonus footage of them performing "The Bird" and "Jungle Love" and "777-9311" in full.

That was one funky band. Depending on if the transfer and sound are upgraded, and some extras with SUBSTANCE ladled on, I'll probably pick it up.

"SQUAAWWWWWWWWKKK! Hallelujah!"

 

[JonSpice]

Ah memories of the kid and Apolonia Kotaro, I have the DVD but like his greatest hits DVD much better, old MTV videos are on it, my favorite 1999.

 

[Jeff McMillan]

One of my greatest guilty pleasures as well. I saw this at least 3 times in the theater (when I was so young I had to sneak in because of it's R rating).

 

[Jeff D Han]

I'll be getting the special edition. I agree that
the movie as a whole is not too good (the acting
and script is lousy), but the music and stage scenes
were great.

 

[Marc_Savoie]

Too often I've held the current edition of Purple Rain and thought... "well, it's cheap, and even though it's not OAR I might as well just finally get it".
I'm glad my conscience kicked in all those times, as I'm now really looking forward to this upcoming edition!

 

[StacyV]

As a Prince fan, boy you really had my hopes up with that headline: "new details are revealed". I'll get excited when word is official; oar, deleted scenes, commentary, music videos, premiere night footage, Oscar acceptance speech, etc. Those are the details I'm waiting for.

 

[oscar_merkx]

Hi Stacy

well at least we know that there will be interviews with The Revolution. I would also like to see rehearsel footage

 

[DavidS]

The old 5.1 release has all the source music coming out in 2-channel stereo from the front L/R speakers... it sounds so-so, but lacks punch. Where's Prince singing in the center channel? where's the deep thumping bass in the LFE?

The sound needs an upgrade. And while they're at it, a Purple Rain DVD-Audio soundtrack release would be nice too.

 

[Nick Totoro]

Ever seen the DVD from the New Years Eve show on 12/31/99? The audio there is similar, in that respect, whether choosing DD or DTS. There's no real separation, just five channels of everything and one of bass...

I'd love to see Purple Rain done with OAR, anamporphic with an amazing soundtrack, though. That's one disc about which you'll never hear me complain in regards to double-dipping.

Nick

 

[Ted Todorov]

The Revolution (in Purple Rain, anyway) didn't have a bass player, so there is no bass, thumping or otherwise.

I'll be ecstatic if Purple Rain is released in anamorphic OAR with a restored soundtrack. Anything else is gravy. Not a guilty pleasure for me at all -- I'll watch it with my head held high!

Ted

 

[Jodee]

What about Brown Mark? He was their bass player and he was in the movie. Perhaps you are thinking of the song "When Doves Cry", which did not have a bass line.

I would love for them to re-release this DVD with an anamprphic transfer and upgraded sound. I'd like a commentary track by the director (Albert magnoli) and I'd also like bonus footage.

I remember when Purple Rain was big in the 80's, there was a bootleg VHS floating around that contained cut footage, including the infamous barn sex scene with "Purple Rain" falling. I believe a brief clip of this scene is featured in the "When Doves Cry" video.

And I disagree with those who say this is a bad movie. I have always loved this film and I thought it was a great story. I seem to recall even Siskel & Ebert had even included it on their Top 10 best of the year--they were among the very few critics who enjoyed it for what it was.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

As Jodee mentions, the Revolution DID have a bass player. But you don't need a bass guitar to have thumping bass! Plenty of other instruments could provide that. Heck, the bass drum sound should be enough...

 

[Robert Anthony]

Actually--there wasn't all that much of an emphasis on bass on the Purple Rain album. I typically find, when making mixtapes for road trips or whatever--if I want a song off that album to match other Prince songs--I gotta basically remaster it to add more low end.

I'm not so sure there's any thumping, thundering bass to be had. Maybe during "The Bird" with that long, low keyboard note near the beginning, but for the most part, there's not going to be anything that dips below 100-150 hz in the music.

If there's an interview with the Revolution, there'd better be an interview with The Time. Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Jesse, Morris, Jerome? There's gotta be a whole bunch of really good stories coming out of that.

Honestly, looking at the period between 82-91, I think some of the best stuff Prince ever wrote was for that band. Better than most of his own stuff.

 

[DavidS]

point well taken.

There did seem to be ALOT of scenes that were cut from the film, just look at the trailer on the DVD for proof...

P.S. I noticed that "Let's Go Crazy" in the film is an extended version. Is a version available of that on a CD release anywhere?

~edit~ "Let's Go Crazy (extended version)" is only officially available on CD as a 1989 3" CD from Germany... i'm bidding for it on eBay...

my memory was triggered again when someone played the longer version at a club's 80's night...

 

[Robert Anthony]

I know there was a 12 inch single released at the time. I found one at a Goodwill a couple years ago--had extended Erotic City as the B side. It was a weird 12 inch, in that you played it at 45 rpm, instead of 33 1/3, like most 12 inchers. I believe the extended version is about 7 1/2 minutes long.

I don't know if that long version is on any official compilation, or if the "let's go Crazy" single was ever re-released on CD.

It's weird--all of Princes "extended versions" of his songs sound like they're actually the ORIGINAL versions, and that the album versions are edits of those.

 

[Ted Todorov]

I stand corrected on the bass issue -- I'm listening to Let's Go Crazy right now, and there is a bass line -- I can't tell for sure if it is played on a bass or a synth, but that's not relevant.

However, I do stand by my assertion, that there is NO thumping bass on the Purple Rain soundtrack, caused by a bass, bass drum or anything else. The most likely reason is that Prince (quite deliberately) cut off the bottom frequencies, to get a certain, different from the norm, sound.

If you doubt me, just put on your soundtrack CD and listen carefully.

Ted

P.S. No bass line in Take Me With U, so it's not just Doves Cry.

 

[Robert Anthony]

Actually, now that Let's Go Crazy is getting mentioned, there IS one moment of pretty nice low end going on--and it's during the end of the song. It was recorded live in one take, and I think whoever was running the board that night slipped or something, because right at the end, when the drums kick back in after Prince's solo--they kick in VERY loud and VERY deep. They scale back after a couple seconds, to what they sounded like for the previous 5 minutes, but if there's any significant bass on that album, it's on that song, specifically near the end.

Doves Cry DID have a bassline in it--Prince took it out during mixing, and like Ted said, probably applied the same general idea to the rest of the album. There's bass guitar played on the songs, save for Take me With U and Doves, but the whole album sounds sort of clipped--in both the high AND low end frequencies.

 

[oscar_merkx]

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