Warner Bros. plans vinyl reissues of Prince's 1985-1992 albums

Nine of his post-"Purple Rain" albums will be released between June 21 and December, starting with "Around the World in a Day."

May 3, 2016 at 6:28PM
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

If you're scouring your local record stores and eBay looking for Prince albums on vinyl at newly inflated prices, Warner Bros. seems to have a message for you: Let's not go crazy.

Prince's heyday-era record label is set to release nine of his biggest post-"Purple Rain" titles newly pressed to wax this year, starting with "Around the World in a Day" on June 21. One or two albums will be released per month after that in the order they were originally released (or at least in the order recorded; see: "The Black Album").

Amazon and other retails sites are now offering pre-sale orders starting around $20 for the new editions, which will also include the acclaimed "Sign o' the Times" and the big commercial hits "Parade," "Diamonds and Pearls" and the "Batman" soundtrack.

This vinyl reissue campaign was already in the works before Prince's death, and started with a remastered version of his 1978 debut album "For You," timed to Record Store Day on April 16. It seems Warner Bros. is expediting the rest of the series in the wake of his death -- shrewd business, sure, but also undeniably good news for music lovers. The label had already pressed new vinyl editions of "Purple Rain," "1999," "Dirty Mind" and "Controversy" in 2011 (still widely available), so it skipped ahead to his late-'80s and early-'90s records.

Some of the albums in this particular batch fall in the era when CD sales took over the industry, and Warners and the other big record companies made little to no vinyl editions of the records. These new pressings will feature the albums in their original format (no bonus tracks). Here's the full list of what's to come:

  • June 21st: "Around the World in A Day" (1985)
  • July 19th: "Parade (Under the Cherry Moon soundtrack)" (1986)
  • August 23rd: "Sign o' the Times"(1987)
  • September 20th: "The Black Album"(1987 recorded; 1994 released)
  • October 18th: "Lovesexy" (1988) and "Batman" soundtrack (1989)
  • November 22nd: "Graffiti Bridge" soundtrack (1990) and "Diamonds and Pearls" (1991)
  • December 13th: "The Love Symbol" (1992)
about the writer

about the writer

Chris Riemenschneider

Critic / Reporter

Chris Riemenschneider has been covering the Twin Cities music scene since 2001, long enough for Prince to shout him out during "Play That Funky Music (White Boy)." The St. Paul native authored the book "First Avenue: Minnesota's Mainroom" and previously worked as a music critic at the Austin American-Statesman in Texas.

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