Click above to hear an audio version of this review, with musical selections. Audio produced by Derrick Stevens.

Not only is Purple Rain Prince's best known and bestselling album, but it's actually the top selling record to ever come out of Minnesota — selling more than 13 million copies and effectively putting Minneapolis on the map.

Purple Rain stands up as an incredible collection of songs that showcase Prince's ability to mix R&B, pop, funk, and new wave influences to create what we now know as the Minneapolis Sound.

For music fans raised on disco and classic rock in the 1970s, the lead single off Purple Rain, "When Doves Cry," was a revelation. The song sounded oddly untethered and experimental with no bass guitar anchoring its low end. Instead it floated across the airwaves on these entrancing electronic drum beats that were pierced by passionate screaming guitars and lyrics about mothers and fathers struggling to be decent role models for their kids.

The majority of the album Purple Rain was recorded live at First Avenue in 1983, and the film of the same name will go down in history as the world's introduction to that venue and our gritty downtown scene.

While the movie wasn't exactly autobiographical or true to what was really going on in Minneapolis, it did help to build up a sense of mystery and mystique around Prince. Few guitar ballads have ever come close to rivaling the intensity, emotion, and prowess of Purple Rain’s title track, and like so many of us I still find myself stopping in my tracks whenever those familiar opening chords strike up. It's seven minutes of pure bliss.