Prince and The Revolution (March 31 1986) Parade - LP
Updated: May 26
Parade is Prince’s eighth studio album and the third and final album to credit The Revolution. Released as the soundtrack to the film Under the Cherry Moon, it marked a sophisticated, psychedelic, and European-influenced evolution from the rock-heavy sound of Purple Rain.
RELEASE DETAILS
Artist: Prince and The Revolution
Label: Paisley Park / Warner Bros. Records
Date: March 31, 1986
Catalogue: 9 25394-1
Format: LP
Country: United States (worldwide release)
THE STORY
Parade blends psychedelic pop, funk, jazz, and baroque elements with a lighter, more orchestral touch than previous releases. The album moves away from guitar-driven rock toward elegant, European-inspired arrangements while retaining Prince’s signature funk and sensuality. It features the massive hit “Kiss” and the melancholic ballad “Sometimes It Snows in April.”
CONTEXT & NOTES
Following the massive success of Purple Rain, Prince deliberately chose a more artistic and less commercial direction. Though initially polarizing, Parade received strong critical acclaim and produced one of Prince’s signature #1 hits with “Kiss.” The album served as the soundtrack to his second feature film, Under the Cherry Moon.
TRACK LIST
Side One
Christopher Tracy’s Parade (2:11)
New Position (2:20)
I Wonder U (1:39)
Under the Cherry Moon (2:57)
Girls & Boys (5:29)
Life Can Be So Nice (3:13)
Venus de Milo (1:55)
Side Two
Mountains (3:57)
Do U Lie? (2:44)
Kiss (3:37)
Anotherloverholenyohead (4:00) Sometimes It Snows in April (6:48)
PERSONNEL
Musicians
Prince — lead vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, drums, percussion
Wendy Melvoin — guitar, vocals
Lisa Coleman — keyboards, vocals
Dr. Fink — keyboards
BrownMark — bass
Bobby Z. — drums
Sheila E. — percussion, vocals
Eric Leeds — saxophone
Atlanta Bliss — trumpet
Additional string and horn players
Production
Prince — producer, arranger
Susan Rogers, Peggy McCreary, David Tickle — engineers
Bernie Grundman — mastering
PACKAGING HIGHLIGHTS
Surreal, colorful painted cover artwork
Gatefold sleeve
Elegant, artistic design.
CHARTS America
Country: Chart | Entry Date | Peak Position | Weeks in Chart
USA: Billboard 200 | April 19, 1986 | 3 | - USA: Billboard Black LPs | - | 2 | -
SINGLES RELEASED
“Kiss”
“Mountains”
“Anotherloverholenyohead”
“Girls & Boys” (Europe)
Parade was released on March 31, 1986, to acclaim from music critics, who viewed it as a creative comeback after the critical disappointment of Around the World in a Day. In a contemporary review for The New York Times, John Rockwell said that the album succeeds in part because of the more aggressive songs, "in which Prince chooses to play up the black side of his multifaceted musical sensibility." The Sunday Times found its musical scope "stunning", and the Detroit Free Press called the album "a confirmation of Prince's place as a superior melodist, arranger, and player, as well as a celebration of his creativity." Hi-Fi News & Record Review called songs such as "New Position" and "Girls and Boys" well-crafted funk and said that "when Prince opts to go completely daft, as he does on 'Do U Lie'... even then the result is somehow endearing and instantly likeable."
Commercially, Parade charted at number 3 on the pop chart and at number 2 on the R&B chart, while selling 1 million copies in the United States. It also garnered him a new commercial audience in Europe and sold 2 million copies internationally. The album finished 25th in the voting for The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics poll. Christgau, the poll's creator, ranked it as the 33rd best album of the year on his own list. NME magazine named it their album of the year for 1986.
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine viewed Parade as a musically diverse near-masterpiece that is given depth by Prince's "weird religious and sexual metaphors".
Simon Price later wrote in The Guardian that it was "the sound of Prince at his most effortless and assured. Cohesive and ice cream-cool, nobody would guess it was a soundtrack for a (sub-par) film. And it has 'Kiss' on it."
In a less enthusiastic review for Entertainment Weekly, David Browne said the record's ornate ballads and inconsistent material made it more self-indulgent than Around the World in a Day.
SOURCES Discogs, 45cat, Official Charts, Wikipedia, Prince Vault, Sleevographia, Warner Bros. archives.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
All album artwork, photographs, logos, and original text excerpts remain the property of their respective copyright holders. This entry is a transformative, non-commercial archival summary created for historical documentation and educational reference.
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