Revolution is a detailed exploration into the era of Prince’s most prolific and groundbreaking music made with considerable inspiration and performed by a unique cadre of musicians he gathered and relentlessly drove to be the sonic, visual, and ideological reflection of his evolving vision. Although being the most self-contained, versatile, and prolific artist of his era, Prince reveled in the band, a multi-racial, intergender unit that acted as both family and loyal acolytes that embodied his ethos, expressed his pathos, and lifted him to rarified heights of pop dominance.
This is the story of the genre-shifting, multi-media, trailblazing Prince & the Revolution from their humble inception to their precipitous rise in celebrated hit singles, albums, films, and tours to their controversial and shocking demise.
Revolution: Prince, the Band, the Era by James Campion will be published August 7, 2025. Bloomsbury Academic provided an early galley for review.
Prince is my all-time favorite recording artist (period). How could I not check out Campion's upcoming book on the subject? Also, with an introduction by noted music expert Rob Sheffield, I knew this would be worth the read.
Before diving into the history, the book opens with an in-depth description of the Purple Rain tour performance from Syracuse, NY, on March 30, 1985. By this point, the band had been on the road for nearly 16 months. I saw the tour a little more than a month in of the run, and it was fantastic. The Syracuse show, near the height of the tour, was sheer perfection. How did the Revolution get to that point? That is the focus of the author's analysis.
Campion, of course, gives the reader the details about Prince that all devotees of the artist know. However, he also goes into great details about the rest of this band - telling us who they were, where they came from, and how they came to be part of this fantastic line up of performers. His book gives major props to Dez Dickerson, André Cymone, Bobby Z, Gayle Chapman, Matt Fink, Lisa Coleman, Mark Brown and Wendy Melvoin. I enjoyed reading about the influences each of them brought to the table and how those, in turn, helped to shape aspects of the music of that time. The key component to remember is there cannot be "revolution" with "evolution", and that becomes very apparent as Campion rolls through his narrative.
The book also covers the creation of various side projects that sprang forth from Prince's loins: the Revolution's (as the Rebels) unreleased album, the funk-filled Morris Day lead band the Time, the sexy girl-group Vanity 6 and more. Campion's narrative sticks to a chronological order which shows the changing tides that Prince navigated during this most prominent time in his career.
I very much recommend for both long-time fans as well as the more casual followers.
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