One of the greatest crossover albums of the 80s – and the record that catapulted Prince very firmly into the mainstream! There's a tightness here that surpasses even that of Prince's early classics for Warner Brothers – an unabashed love of a pop hook that makes for some incredibly catchy tunes that are still delivered with a nice funky undercurrent. The whole Prince family is at the top of their game at this point – and titles include "Darling Nikki", "Let's Go Crazy", "I Would Die 4 U", "When Doves Cry", "Baby I'm A Star", and "Purple Rain". This fantastic 3CD/DVD version features a completely new 2015 Paisley Park remaster of the album, done by Prince – plus a full CD that features unreleased songs and tracks from the vaults – with titles that include "Katrina's Paper Dolls", "We Can F**k", "Father's Song", "Possessed", "Computer Blue (hallway speech version)", "Love & Sex", "The Dance Electric", "Our Destiny/Roadhouse Garden", "Wonderful Ass", "Velvet Kitty Cat", and "Electric Intercourse (studio version)". CD3 features lots of rare single edits and non-LP b-sides – with tracks that include "Erotic City", "Let's Go Crazy (special dance mix)", "17 Days (edit)", "Baby I'm A Star (edit)", "I Would Die 4 U (extended)", "Another Lonely Christmas (extended)", "Take Me With U (edit)", "God (edit)", "When Doves Cry (7" edit)", and "God (inst)". DVD features a never-issued concert performance, recorded at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse in March of 1985 – with 19 songs in all! CD

A laidback, and almost rootsy effort from Cassandra Wilson – recorded with small combo backing, and still handled in the sweetly swinging style of her other Blue Note work – but also with some folksy touches that create a more intimate feel on the record than you might think. Of course, part of the reason for that is that a few of the tunes on the set are classic blues numbers – handled by Wilson in an updated style that has kind of a fake authentic quality to it. We still prefer her on the smoother jazzier sides of the set – like the album's great remake of Jobim's "Waters Of March", or the mellow tune "Only A Dream In Rio". Other tracks include "Road So Clear", "Hot Tamales", "Show Me A Love", 'Drunk A Cooter Brown", "Wichita Lineman", "The Weight", and "Justice". (Vocalists, Soul) CD