Out of print in the U.S.! When an exceptional package like this hits the market (no pun intended), the world should join together and breathe a loud (and sensual) 'thank you' to everyone involved. The 56 tracks on this triple disc set are essential to any music lover's collection. Spanning the first decade-and-a-half of his career, every track is a classic or near-classic. The first two discs are the Hits 1 and Hits 2 compilations that were also available separately.
Even geniuses (maybe especially geniuses) are taken for granted, not seen as geniuses, or only appreciated in small doses. Which is a grandiose way of saying that, no matter how partisans may complain, there are many listeners out there that don't want to delve into the deliriously rich catalog of Prince and would rather spend time with a single disc of all the hits – especially since the first singles compilation was botched, spread too thin over two discs and sequenced as if it were on shuffle play.
How can a movie with atrociously bad acting, a wafer thin script and haphazard direction be released as a Two Disc Special Edition DVD? Well, for all its flaws, and there are many, Purple Rain is a gloriously entertaining film and one of the films that personifies the "me" decade that was the 1980s. Ninety-eighty four was supposed to be the ominous year of Orwell and big brother, but instead, 1984 was ruled by the Purple Prince. In 1984, Prince managed to have the number one album, number one single and number one film at the same time, something that only the Beatles and Elvis Presley had accomplished before him.