Diamonds And Pearls?


...lots of memories...

The first Prince album I bought. I played the hell out of it back in 1991.
Now my favourites are "Strollin'", "Insatiable", "Money Don't Matter 2Night" and "Thunder".
It's a very enjoyable album to me... ,,,apart from "Jughead"...

Push is pretty turgid too, especially Tony, get on the Mike, but its great Princes rap "Its thunder when I'm on the mike, Daddy Pop ins the house and it all be allright, Diamond sure dont mind it Pearl I'm good to cream every boy and girl, is extremely clever he combines song titles in order off the album into its most effective rap, after Tony Ms garbage u get this gem.

And I LOVE the first four tracks, all are different, Rocker, sexy braggy pop tune, gorgeous ballad and funky pop track, things he does the best. Also the parts that arent dated you have clearly modern Prince touches there now.

I expect this album to be more glowingly assessed in the future, altho u guys have shown some luv 4 it and I like it. Some people diss it like someone said
1. It was a commercial hit about 5-8 million copies sold and had a Purple Rain effect, and a lot of non fans bought it, after PR most of these are likely to own Diamonds and Pearls if they have another P album. I went to a 60 year old lawyers house (WhiteUpper class) and the only Prince album he had was this, he liked Thunder incredibly saying it was Wagnerian in feel.
2. Some throwawy dated stuff, Willing and and Able, Walk Don't walk and Jughead for instance.

BUT REMEMBER
1. Cream washis first #1 not promoted by a movie, no other Prince song had the juice to go #1 without a movie behind it.
2. Most hits on a album equal with Purple Rain, 5 songs, Insatiable was also released and became #76 Pop hit and Top 10 dance.

3. 4 Top 30 hits, only Purple Rain had bettered this, S.O.T. had 3 Top 10s, but If I was your girlfriend bombed

4. 2nd equal for Top 10s, Purple Rain had 4 Top 10s, but along with 1999, ATWIAD, D and P had 2 Top 10 hits.

5. 2nd for two highest hits after a #1, Diamonds and Pearls went to #3 after Cream was #1, only Purple Rain had #1 and a #2. S.OT had a 2 and 3, but Parade a #1 and then a disamal 22 for Mountains, also Batman only got #13 with the second hit Partyman.

6. Cream was his last #1 to date, only TMBGITW has bothered the Top 5 since the singles off this album.

7. Apart from 3121 its the last time he had an album at #1 and this album has sold 15 x as many as 3121, infact D and P sold so many copies that all the original studio albums since can not match its total worldwide sales of 8 million albums.

Theres seven reasons to prove it was great

ufoclub said:

Totally agree, I know everyone hates Jughead, but I have to say that I've
always had a soft spot for it. Rapping aside, it has a great dense funky
groove and IMO was a precursor (sound-wise) to the layered NPG sound on tracks
like Days Of Wild, Now & Acknowledge Me etc.

I can't help thinking that if Prince had handled the main rapping duties instead
of Tony M, that this track wouldn't get the flak it does now (in fact, I'm
sure the same could be said for any of the Tony M lead tracks). I wonder how
people would percieve this album if Tony had just written the raps but Prince
had actually performed them?

It's a flawed album for sure, but it definitely gets ripped on more than it deserves. Add to me to the list of those who don't like "Money Don't Matter 2 Night". Also add me to the list of those who don't hate "Jughead".

tane1976 said:

.

Wow...and all this time i thought it was great cause i thought i had some pretty good taste in music.

1 of my favorites

SDNafka said:

At the time,I thought that every P-fan would looove this album,that's
be4 I joined the Org

I just love the album,can't help it.
What can possibly be wrong with Gett Off,Cream,Willing & Able,Strolling,
Money don't matter..????

I'll revoke my "worst" statement, as I've been giving the album a couple of spins since this thread popped up.

I'm finding that I really like:

Cream
Willing and Able
Strollin'
Walk Don't Walk

The rest still seems rather "eh" and dated, but I'll admit that those four songs are really a lot of fun. And the fact that he made a smart, concise pop album is a relief after Graffiti Bridge's bloated running time, which featured only a few true gems amongst the filler.

I love it . The title song is my favorite song of all time .

I remember when this album came out I was totally NOT feelin' it. I didn't buy the album b/c I thought D&P was too sappy and I didn't really like Cream either. I thought P had gone too soft/easy listening. I finally bought the album last year and it's okay...if I were to rank all P's albums it would probably be somewhere in the middle of my list.

My first Prince album. Will always be special to me. Stop the hate against it.

I think it's his most cynical and desperate album. It follows the twin disaster of the Graffiti Brigde album and film, and by now it was clear Batman was just a fluke and Prince's commercial clout was fading. So Prince needed a hit in a bad way. The whole thing sounds like Prince "product," like it was hatched out of a bot at Paisley Park.

It reminds me of what people do in relationships when they sense their lover is losing interest. They suddenly get keenly focused, they turn sweet and attentive, saying all the right things and spoiling them rotten. That's what "Diamonds and Pearls" was. Prince desperately trying to hold on to his pop audience with sappy sweet pop treats.

padawan said:

You obviously haven't heard NPS, Rave, Musicology or 3121.

SDNafka said:

Yes I have. But by the time he made those records he had already fallen from grace. "Diamonds and Pearls" was his first and most desperate comeback. He was feeling the pressure of losing his megastar cache for the first time.

it was the first time i discovered that prince live was much better then prince on record....i was introduced to the song Diamond & Pearls via the Special Olympics performance and was blown away by it....

The album itself is a good one....but not great. Personally, I enjoy Rosie's contributions...

I always enjoyed Horny Pony!!

Its classic "having fun" Prince

tane1976 said:

its a soild album.i remember the singles from back in the day.but listening to it now...some of it very dated ....tony m,some of the samples,the clothes,etc

I really like this album. It marks the beginning of a new sound for Prince and gives rise to the ever changing NPG. I may have to hold my head in shame, but I actually like Jughead!... It’s a well funky tune. Live 4 Love sucks though and the title track is quite dire in its sappy girlishness. Willing & Able however is one of my favourite P tunes ever.

Christopher said:

Cloudbuster said:

where have YOU been?!!!

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Taking a break from your relentless boffing.

Cloudbuster said:

monte said:

Amen Monte! My personal favorites on the album!

i LOVE it.. it was my first prince album, and therefore i will always treasure it.. i dig all the tracks but my faves are d&p, money dont matter, willing & able, cream, gett off & thunder

forgot-the-obvious-edit
[Edited 5/15/06 9:18am]

I'll keep it simple this time.

Why I love it so much


CRRRRREEEEEAAAAAMMMMM!!!!!

I love it! With this album I couldn't deny the little freak's genius any longer. I felt compelled to start collecting his music thereafter. I was heavily into Public Enemy's "Fear Of A Black Planet" at the time so I didn't mind the rapping at all. In fact, rather than chasing trends, hip hop was still sort of an outlaw concept to me, so I really appreciated Prince mixing it up with his own style rather than try to act like it didn't exist like most other aging 80s rejects.

.....

Cream and Gett Off are my favorite songs.