MINNEAPOLIS — After exploring different eras from Prince's legendary vault for recent releases, the singer's estate is returning to the career peak around "Purple Rain" for the next posthumous music collection.
The 1985 concert recording "Prince and the Revolution: Live" will be released June 3 — four days before the late Minneapolis legend's 64th birthday — as a three-LP vinyl set or three-disc CD/Blu-ray DVD collection.
Both the audio and video have been restored and remastered by Sony Legacy for these new versions of the performance, which was captured in Syracuse, New York, on the Purple Rain Tour. Originally available on VHS, the concert has been previously available for streaming and as a DVD in a "Purple Rain" box set that Prince himself approved for release in 2015.
While it's not the holy grail of "Purple Rain"-era live recordings — that would be the still-vaulted August 1983 First Avenue performance used in part for the album and movie — the Syracuse set is highly regarded among fans as well as Prince's bandmates. It captures the tightness and excitement within the group five months into touring behind the album (and film) that changed everything.
"Listening back to that Syracuse show, I'm like, wow, we sound like a freight train just coming out of nowhere," Revolution bassist BrownMark said in a statement. "That was powerful. I've been to a lot of concerts, and I've never seen anything like that."
In addition to the songs off "Purple Rain," the album also includes live performances of "1999" tracks such as "Little Red Corvette," "Let's Pretend We're Married" and "Delirious" and a few B-sides/outtakes from those eras such as "Irresistible B—" and "Possessed." Of course, it all kicks off with "Let's Go Crazy," the video of which was released online Tuesday to promote the new collection. Goosebumps again, anyone?
Preorders for "Prince and the Revolution: Live" are now available, priced $55 for vinyl, $39 for CD/DVD, or $120 for a collector's box set featuring all formats plus some extra do-dads.
The Prince estate also recently approved a limited-edition version of 1995's "The Gold Experience" that will be released to independent stores for Record Store Day on April 23. Last year's major vault release was the unearthed "Welcome 2 America" album, originally recorded in 2010.
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