So, boys and girls, today we're facing the biggest "sellout mainstream pop" albums that Prince ever did. Both released when the man needed some cash/popularity (GB was a disaster and Musicology was not that big of a seller, despite the comeback).

which one do you prefer? The endless early-90's pseudo-hip/hop, newjackswing, pop/rock parade of D&P? Or the modern 00s sound of 3121?

hell I'll choose 3121. No filler (D&P has plenty), and I love the fact that every song is different: funk, dance, pop, ballads, rock, R&B, latin rhythms. Excellent.

btw, this time, is serious

I've gotta go with '3121' for a few reasons.....no Tony M or rapping, no 'Walk Don't Walk' or 'Jughead'....it's other reasons too, but I won't go there right now.....

I love them both, though neither one is in my top 5 or anything, but I'll go with 3121. I think about half of D&P was great, but yes there was just as much filler. The only songs I don't love on 3121 are Lolita and Black Sweat. The final five songs are classics imo (maybe not Beautiful, Loved and Blessed as much as the others, though).

And by the way, Purple Rain is the biggest sellout mainstream pop album Prince ever did.

3121, because it doesnt have anything as bad as "jughead". Plus diamonds and pearls doesnt have alot of rock whereas "fury" is one of his best rockers.

The1592 said:

And by the way, Purple Rain is the biggest sellout mainstream pop album Prince ever did.

Seriously? The man INVENTED sounds on Purple Rain. And there's nothing mainstream about the weirdness of When Doves Cry.

UltraLash said:

The1592 said:

And by the way, Purple Rain is the biggest sellout mainstream pop album Prince ever did.

Seriously? The man INVENTED sounds on Purple Rain. And there's nothing mainstream about the weirdness of When Doves Cry.

The MPLSound had become mainstream due to the success of Purple Rain.

And to answer the question, Diamonds And Pearls is a far better album.

IMO they both have filler and tracks i would skip, but i'm going with Diamonds And Pearls.

D&P - Yeah it has the lows, but it also has a great NPG band sound on tracks like Willing & Able, the guitar on Strollin' that kind of thing. Rosie, The Steeles. Well crafted but over-exposed singles, but I do like those maxi singles.

3121 - Yet more soul-less plastic blahs. Yeah title track and Lolita are frothy fun, but it's all way more NPS than TRC isn't it. Entirely over-rated, Black Sweat is beyond dull - great title, but it ends there - it's not funky, it's not even a dancefloor filler, it's a slumber party snoozefest trying to sound like _______ (insert boring black pop act of 2003-5). And that drippy seduction ballad that sounds *exactly* like the one Musicology? - It was void of imagination and spark the first time, why do a carbon copy?! Oh look, he's the funky intro, oh look here's the retro track, here's the ballad, here's the screaming ballad, here's the 'I have to sound like the guys producing Britney Spears' track, here's the embarrassingly unfunky James Brown jam number, here's the guitar track overproduced to an inch of it's life - did I miss anything out?

Eat yer heart out 3121 fans.

[Edited 7/20/11 1:25am]

NouveauDance said:

D&P - Yeah it has the lows, but it also has a great NPG band sound on tracks like Willing & Able, the guitar on Strollin' that kind of thing. Rosie, The Steeles. Well crafted but over-exposed singles, but I do like those maxi singles.

3121 - Yet more soul-less plastic blahs. Yeah title track and Lolita are frothy fun, but it's all way more NPS than TRC isn't it. Entirely over-rated, Black Sweat is beyond dull - great title, but it ends there - it's not funky, it's not even a dancefloor filler, it's a slumber party snoozefest trying to sound like _______ (insert boring black pop act of 2003-5). And that drippy seduction ballad that sounds *exactly* like the one Musicology? - It was void of imagination and spark the first time, why do a carbon copy?! Oh look, he's the funky intro, oh look here's the retro track, here's the ballad, here's the screaming ballad, here's the 'I have to sound like the guys producing Britney Spears' track, here's the embarrassingly unfunky James Brown jam number, here's the guitar track overproduced to an inch of it's life - did I miss anything out?

Eat yer heart out 3121 fans.

who were trying to sound like prince in the first place.

3121 by a long shot. It's not a masterpiece by any distance and a little under half the songs don't do anything for me, but unlike D&P, I'm not ever moved to get up and manually jump forward.

I like 3121 as a sort of light little thing, like two fourths of a good meal. D&P might be two thirds of a good meal, but there's dirt in the salad.

Definately: Diamonds And Pearls, those 5 big singles are amazing: this album... 9/10

3121 is boring like hell, only Black Sweat appeals to me, a few other tracks are OK, this album is weak 5/10

Diamond And Pearls has certain tracks that are better than anything on 3121. However, 3121 as an entire album is better.

bigd74 said:

who were trying to sound like prince in the first place.

Right! So why try copy them?!

Have to go with D&P , 3121 wasn't that adventurous (now that I think of it it was kinda boring, except for the magnificent title track)

Vict0r said:

Diamond And Pearls has certain tracks that are better than anything on 3121. However, 3121 as an entire album is better.

Agree, but I love both albums...top5/10 material.

Get Off is one of his all time best singles ever!!!

If U don´t like that one...well, Get Off IS Prince!!!

Although I love a lot of songs on Diamonds and Pearls, I prefer 3121 overall. D&P have much lower lows.

*happy to see a recent album getting some love*

I go with 3121 Some very good songs I'll always love on D&P but the lows are very low..

3121.

3121. D+P ruined Prince for me for about 10 years. I still don't listen to much of his music from 1990-2000. I don't understand how some people can like that period the most. To each his or her own, I suppose.

3121 slightly > D&P ...

xpertluva said:

Although I love a lot of songs on Diamonds and Pearls, I prefer 3121 overall. D&P have much lower lows.

I completely agree. It's not that they both don't have duds, it's just that D&P's duds are so much worse.

That's a tough debate, for sure.

I'm not as in-tune with what Prince is doing these days or listening to him as much as I used to a couple years back, so I might be a little rusty.

But I'll try my best to bring forth my opinion.

First of all,
had to get both of these when I was starting my collection because I'm just into pop music. Or at least I was looking for that at the time. Wanted to stay current while going through the past as well as I could manage so Musicology and 3121 were immediately on my hitlist.
Because of all the singles and video footage, D&P was given, but I wouldn't find it for quite a few months.

Musicology grew on me a bit, but at the time it wasn't what I was looking for as far as music goes.
Maybe a little too old-fashioned sounding, certainly didn't sound like a Prince album.

After watching Purple Rain and getting over the weirdness of The Gold Experience (whatever conceivable I had as to what it would be was BLOWN), I got around to 3121 by the end of that week of spring break. And it was exactly what I wanted to hear at the time.

Second of all, I think it all depends on what kind of record you feel like listening to. Do you want more of a cohesive effort where all of the songs kinda fit together with the same tone... or do you want variety... organic vs. electric

3121 was kind of a love/hate relationship. I loved it at first, then I kinda felt like it was a pop record sell-out so I prefered the organicness of Musicology.
But there's some great variety. On the other hand, though, the songs sound better live (i.e. Lolita, Te Amo and Fury)

It has some songs that I love playing on heavy rotation without going through the entire album. My personal favorites are Love, Incense & Candles (on occasion), The Word and The Dance... especially those last two because they're just different and thought-provoking (and I was kinda too in love with the uniqueness of The Word to worry about the religious connotations)

D&P isn't perfect either, but it also has its share of "unmined gold," if you will. Underappreciated, I find.
I love the first and last tracks of the album, just blow me away. The singles are somewhat cheesy but they carry a heck of a catchy beat.

If you were to do the "only as strong as its weakest link" argument, it's still tight for me. The weakness of D&P is Tony's incorporation to somewhat try to stay current/trendy... I find Jughead intolerable 99.9% of the time, so I never listen to it. Push, I've started to ignore and Daddy Pop isn't one of my favorite tracks.

The weakest part of 3121 is the fact the tracks are all individuals that really don't play off each other.

Seeing as most of the records I like to listen to these days are cohesive efforts where I can easily listen to the whole thing, I'll have to opt for D&P. And it doesn't hurt that I'd heard it the more recently of the two

One of them has "Gett Off" and the other one doesn't. Therefore, by default, 3121 is the better album.

I have tried, over and over, to "get" Diamonds and Pearls but I just can not connect with that album. For me it is his most disappointing album. When you consider what he was capable of at that time and compare it with what he actually delivered I just have to shake my head and ask "why?" I would have been fine with him doing a commercial album if he had given me some worthwhile album tracks but Diamonds and Pearls just bores me. I'm not even that bothered by the rapping and I don't think that "Jughead" is that bad but I was very disappointed with the lack of adventurousness the album displayed. It's just so bland.

I'm no great fan of 3121 either but I quite like the first four tracks. "Love" and "Incense and Candles" grate on me a bit but after that there are some decent tracks. I would rate Musicology, Planet Earth, Lotusflow3r and 20Ten above 3121 but 3121 is miles better than MPLSoUND.

Shouldn't Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic be in the running for worst "sellout mainstream pop" album that he ever did? It wasn't a successful "sellout mainstream pop" album but he was certainly trying to be commercial and get a hit album.

[Edited 7/20/11 14:37pm]

rialb said:

rialb said:

Shouldn't Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic be in the running for worst "sellout mainstream pop" album that he ever did? It wasn't a successful "sellout mainstream pop" album but he was certainly trying to be commercial and get a hit album.

[Edited 7/20/11 14:37pm]

yeah yeah, that's true, but that album is beyond redemption...ergo I didn't include it as an option lol

I mean, D&P may be bland & safe, buy I can't believe you prefer Rave...