Parade came out in March 1986, and it's the eighth studio album from Prince, plus the third and final one credited to Prince and the Revolution. It also doubled up as the soundtrack to his film Under the Cherry Moon, which most people agree was a much better album than it was a film. Coming right after the slightly patchy Around the World in a Day, this was widely seen as Prince finding his footing again, and it landed him a UK number one and a US top five single with Kiss.

It's a real departure from the guitar-driven rock of Purple Rain, leaning instead into a lush, orchestral kind of psychedelic pop, all woven through with jazzy funk and a distinctly French, cinematic flavour thanks to the film's Riviera setting. Strings, horns, chanson-style arrangements and stripped-back, minimalist grooves all sit side by side, and the whole thing feels wonderfully cohesive despite jumping between styles constantly. It's playful and eccentric in places, properly moving in others, and never quite sounds like anything else in his catalogue.

Kiss is obviously the big one, all sparse falsetto funk that still sounds utterly unique decades on. Girls & boys is a fantastic slice of understated groove, while Mountains brings a big, euphoric synth-pop lift to the middle of the record. Then there's Sometimes it snows in April, the aching acoustic closer that took on a whole new weight after Prince's death and remains one of the most quietly devastating things he ever recorded. It's an album that rewards patience, full of odd little detours and genuine emotional depth, and that unpredictability is exactly why it still feels fresh to put on today.