Prince: Before the Rain

Another year, another book of Prince photographs. This time, the photos are all by Allen Beaulieu, who took so many iconic photos of Prince during his early days, leading up to and including the "1999" album and tour. Presented in a more or less chronological order, the pictures are themed around each album and tour, and are accompanied by some short pieces of writing by the likes of Dez Dickerson and Jim Walsh. Much of the book is repetitive, as there are several pictures from each shoot, so there are multiple images from the "Controversy" cover session for example, all of which look fairly similar, but it's still enjoyable to look at them all. For me, my favourite shots were the more candid ones, so you'll find some here of Prince backstage, or rehearsing - including one of him wearing jeans - and best of all, some where he looks a little off-guard, so he's smiling or laughing with his bandmates or friends. There are also quite a few live pictures scattered through, and a couple of mistakes in the text, the biggest of which claims his band on the 1986 "Parade" tour were the New Power Generation.All in all, it's an enjoyable book to flip through. Personally, I preferred some of the other photo books of Prince, such as the one by Afshin Shahidi, but this is a nice addition to your collection if you're a fan and want to see more from his career prior to "Purple Rain".

The often overlooked pre-Purple Rain era of Prince's career is captured perfectly in this book of photographs by one of the best photographers Prince ever worked with. Along with Jeff Katz, Steve Parke and Randee St. Nicholas, Allen Bauliaeu captured the essence of Prince's character and mystique.The book covers 1979-1983 with a few post Purple Rain era photos at the end. The stories connected to each photo shed new light on Prince. Unlike some of the other books released, this shows the early years of Prince where his guard is a bit lower.I can't recommend this book enough. If you love Prince... Buy it!

One of my favourite photo books about Prince. It has beautiful pictures from the late 70s to the early 80s. I wish they were all in big size because I love every single one of them!

Got this for 8 pounds and some pence. And I was shocked. Thought it would be small. I was so wrong. Great book. With some great pics.

Another present

unseen photos of Prince in the early years of his career, this book is worth every penny, truly beautiful book

The book is simply Amazing!! Beautifully written and Awesome previouslyunseen photographs, Any Prince fan would love this book!

Beautiful pictures of Prince.Nicely presented.Well worth the purchase.RiPrince 0)+> ☆