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Prince: All the Songs, a newly-published masterwork by Benoît Clerc, is a must-have for any Prince fan’s collection. The beautifully-designed book clocks in at over 600 pages, includes gorgeous photography throughout and spans 40 years of Prince albums, EPs, B-sides, box sets, live performances, legendary photo shoots and more.

Prince spent his adult life tirelessly recording, committing countless tracks to tape day and night, and this book aims to shed new light on the 684 tracks that make up his official discography. The book moves along chronologically, and includes everything from the inspiration behind Prince’s lyrics, his views on life through song, meeting famous musicians and artists (including one of his idols, Carlos Santana), and his career launch.

Though the book can seem daunting at first, the chapters are colour-coded by year and collaborations are also easy to find via a colour bar on the left of the page. From early hits I Wanna Be Your Lover and Dirty Mind, through his creative Purple Rain years, When Doves Cry and Kiss, up to the final releases after his untimely death, it’s all here.

Included are recording sessions and the recording process — album by album, track by track.

Author/composer Clerc has been a professional musician for over 20 years. His previous works include All the Songs books on Queen and David Bowie.

Published by Octopus Books (UK), Prince: All the Songs retails for £50/CAD $65/USD $60 and is also available in an easily-portable eBook format, however the hardcopy version makes for a prominent spot on the coffee table and invites page-turning at leisure. Wrap this one up with a pretty purple bow and it’ll make the perfect holiday gift!

Available in the UK at Blackwell’s and Waterstones, and in the US and Canada at Amazon.com.