Imagine, if you will, a parallel universe were a long-struggling artist, let's call him Prince, bursts onto the scene with his debut album: Diamonds and Pearls. In 1991. How would this Prince's career be viewed do you think?

D&P was a hit pop record,

maybe Prince would have been viewed more of mainstream pop artist, we would certainly had missed all the great funk albums with those great "Prince beats" 1980 to 1988...

I guess D&P and the Symbol album were to blame for that name change that followed in 1993,

According this Rolling Stone article, Prince simply got sick of that "rockstar threadmill":





I've posted this already,

but hey I like this article - here it is on repeat - again.
[Edited 2/23/10 8:45am]

I was always in awe of someone who could, literally, make a song and dance out of the fact that his name was Prince AND THEN IMMEDIATELY INSIST IT WASN'T!

"Diamonds & Pearls," is a great album. The 90's Prince is just as charming as the 78' thru 89' Prince.

Absolutely.

Elephants said:

It would have been hailed as a masterpiece. It would have been described as something new, fresh, bizarre, unhinged, and altogether unparalleled.

D&P for all of it's catch-up criticisms in the early 90's would have been seen as a masterpiece in the late 70s.


Thunder itself would have been an instant cross-over radio hit, Cream, D&P, and Money Don't Matter tonight would have been sizable singles, and Gett Off would have been dubbed "scandalous"


Many of Prince's 90s work, especially Emancipation, and to a lesser degree, Diamonds & Pearls would have been enormous successes and enjoyed critical acclaim had they been released earlier.


Just my opinion of course.

If he had kicked off in 91 then I suspect Emancipation would have been the tremendous single album it deserved to be.

TheVoid said:

Oops.

Sorry, I see you mean if D&P released IN 1991 as a debut from him would have had an impact..

NO, it wouldn't have. He would have been viewed as a copy-cat act of some kind, and possibly received little or no radio play. D&P wasn't a success because of the material--but becuase Prince worked it like a 9-to-5, appeared on MTV music awards and Arsenio (a VERY popular show at the time) and created a splash with his racy videos. He was already well known at that time. He appeared on the cover of SPIN magazine for D&P as well. Many of those performances and appearances were only possible due to his already established celebrity status--as a newbie on the scene this would not have been available to him had he just burst onto the scene.

thedance said:

basically sums up my love for Prince.

i really feel for prince in regards to the article...the execs hold their projects like carrots until they can get the most milage out of the horses (the consumers) ...they should be bitch slapped and stolen from imo.