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A bunch of Prince's weirdest albums are now available on Tidal

A bunch of Prince's weirdest albums are now available on Tidal

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You can't stream them anywhere else

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Tidal is the exclusive streaming home of Prince's discography, and the service is celebrating what would've been the late musical legend's 58th birthday by digging deep into his catalog and making over a dozen albums newly available. (They're not the only ones celebrating: Minnesota's governor declared today Prince Day in the state, and fans are continuing to reminisce about Prince's life and work on social media.) The batch release is made up of studio albums, live albums, remixes, and rarities compilations, all of which date back to the '90s and '00s. The oldest release is The Black Album, which was recorded in 1987 before being shelved for almost a decade; the newest is Indigo Nights, a live album packaged with a coffee table book and released in 2008.

There isn't much linking these albums beyond their obscurity; the majority of them are quite strange. After extricating himself from his contractual obligation to Warner Bros., Prince began to work and release music at a pace that boggled the minds of even his most devoted fans, and these releases — starting with 1996's mammoth Emancipation — are the fruit of that labor. They're exploratory, overlong, and openly spiritual. And while there are plenty of gems embedded within them, they're the kind of albums that appeal to completionists, contrarians, and the extremely curious. No one will blame you if you stick to streaming Purple Rain and Sign o' the Times.

Prince was a vocal Tidal supporter

Prince became a vocal Tidal supporter after the service's relaunch in March of last year. He removed his music from other streaming services and released his last two LPs, HITnRUN Phase One and HITnRUN Phase Two, exclusively on Tidal. "After one meeting, it was obvious that Jay Z and the team he has assembled at Tidal recognize and applaud the effort that real musicians put in2 their craft," wrote Prince in an August 2015 statement. "Tidal have honored us with a non-restrictive arrangement... we're extremely grateful 4 their generous support." Here's the full list of his albums being made available on Tidal:

Credited to Prince: The Black Album (1987), The Gold Experience (1995), Chaos & Disorder (1996), Crystal Ball (1998), 1999: The New Master (1999), Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic (1999), Rave In2 the Joy Fantastic (2001), The Rainbow Children (2001), One Nite Alone... Live! (2002), One Nite Alone... The Aftershow: It Ain't Over (2002), Indigo Nights (2008)

Credited to The New Power Generation: Exodus (1995), Newpower Soul (1998)

Credited to various: 1-800-NEW-FUNK (1994), Girl 6 (1996)