I'm surprised how much credit people take away for misfires... while I'd obv rather have a "perfect" album, I really prefer the maximum number of great songs + some clunkers vs. a more consistent album with less standouts. (I know that some people just think Symbol is better, but there also seems to be a common attitude that D&P just has too many bad songs.) IMO, D&P is the last P album that, if it were edited to the length of his 80-88 classics, woud be just as strong as some of those greats. Picture the following configuration:

1. Thunder

2. Diamonds and Pearls

3. Cream

4. Strollin'

5. Willing and Able

6. Gett Off

7. Walk Don't Walk

8. Money Don't Matter 2Night

9. Insatiable

You could put that in the argument with some of P's best work! I know it doesn't include some real misfires that were actually on the album, but still... really surprised Symbol is winning this poll by such a landslide, even though I get the argument that it's more consistent. I also think P fans have a very different idea of which songs are "embarrassing" than most of the general public. That's not a topic I care much about, but when both albums came out, I was in school and at basically the exact age (early to mid teens) when what's "trendy" and public perception are everywhere and dominate how people feel about music. My experience was that D&P was really popular... my peers liked Gett Off a lot, as it was both funky and explicit, Cream was just a big mainstream hit almost everybody dug and acccepted as such and even D&P was a popular love song played at school dances. Nobody ever cared that a couple of the album tracks sounded silly. I never once heard hate for "Jughead" or "Push" brought up, and I played the album and was around kids playing the album... everyone acted like those songs were normal (or if they got skipped, I've forgetten it, and certainly nobody made an issue out of it... I actually remember the ballads getting skipped instead sometimes since they weren't as "trendy" for teens). I know what's "popular" isn't the same as what people like, but the topics seem to bleed over on the org, and I think the perception that songs like "Jughead" and "Push" are horrible embarrassments just isn't true with the general public. Yeah... they're filler, but whatever... "My Name Is Prince" becoming a lead single had a much worse effect on his career and it's easy nowadays to make a copy of D&P with the above tracklist. I know this is sacrilege, but my list of all-time best P albums would include that above tracklist somewhere around #5 or #6... Symbol (even with a similar "top 9" tracklist) would land easily 8-10 spots below for me.

[Edited 4/27/15 6:52am]

I voted for but am I the only one who seriously likes Daddy Pop (the song, not the Arsenio Hall performance gif )?

LewArcher said:

I'm surprised how much credit people take away for misfires... while I'd obv rather have a "perfect" album, I really prefer the maximum number of great songs + some clunkers vs. a more consistent album with less standouts. (I know that some people just think Symbol is better, but there also seems to be a common attitude that D&P just has too many bad songs.) IMO, D&P is the last P album that, if it were edited to the length of his 80-88 classics, woud be just as strong as some of those greats. Picture the following configuration:

1. Thunder

2. Diamonds and Pearls

3. Cream

4. Strollin'

5. Willing and Able

6. Gett Off

7. Walk Don't Walk

8. Money Don't Matter 2Night

9. Insatiable

You could put that in the argument with some of P's best work! I know it doesn't include some real misfires that were actually on the album, but still... really surprised Symbol is winning this poll by such a landslide, even though I get the argument that it's more consistent. I also think P fans have a very different idea of which songs are "embarrassing" than most of the general public. That's not a topic I care much about, but when both albums came out, I was in school and at basically the exact age (early to mid teens) when what's "trendy" and public perception are everywhere and dominate how people feel about music. My experience was that D&P was really popular... my peers liked Gett Off a lot, as it was both funky and explicit, Cream was just a big mainstream hit almost everybody dug and acccepted as such and even D&P was a popular love song played at school dances. Nobody ever cared that a couple of the album tracks sounded silly. I never once heard hate for "Jughead" or "Push" brought up, and I played the album and was around kids playing the album... everyone acted like those songs were normal (or if they got skipped, I've forgetten it, and certainly nobody made an issue out of it... I actually remember the ballads getting skipped instead sometimes since they weren't as "trendy" for teens). I know what's "popular" isn't the same as what people like, but the topics seem to bleed over on the org, and I think the perception that songs like "Jughead" and "Push" are horrible embarrassments just isn't true with the general public. Yeah... they're filler, but whatever... "My Name Is Prince" becoming a lead single had a much worse effect on his career and it's easy nowadays to make a copy of D&P with the above tracklist. I know this is sacrilege, but my list of all-time best P albums would include that above tracklist somewhere around #5 or #6... Symbol (even with a similar "top 9" tracklist) would land easily 8-10 spots below for me.

[Edited 4/27/15 6:52am]

Yeah we had this thread recently enough where we all got our 8-track diamonds and pearls playlists out:

http://prince.org/msg/7/408772

It works well imho

Averett said:

I voted for but am I the only one who seriously likes Daddy Pop (the song, not the Arsenio Hall performance gif )?

Nope, I love it too.

motherfunka said:

RJOrion said:

motherfunka said:

Nope, I love it too.

nah..."Daddy Pop" the song, goes hard...its the video performance with them Gameboyz thats suspect...the song itself though, is one of the best joints on D&P

It's a good song...i never saw the video and from that little snippet above thats a good thing.

and it isn't even close.

Averett said:

I voted for but am I the only one who seriously likes Daddy Pop (the song, not the Arsenio Hall performance gif )?

I like that song!

CharismaDove said:

PurpleSullivan said:

If you were to take off the garbage (excessive Tony M. raps *cough cough*) and replace it with unreleased vault tracks from the time, Diamonds & Pearls, in my opinion, would completely KILL ! Lmfao.

The Martika tracks, the 'Hold Me' 'Allegiance' 'Open Book' ballads, Schoolyard, etc?

Yepppp

The production on is so great it's hard to believe he did it.

gets my vote.

VelvetKittyKat said:

KingSausage said:

VelvetKittyKat said:

The production on is so great it's hard to believe he did it.

gets my vote.

I thought this same thing when I was listening to it the other day. It's so warm and organic sounding. It's hard to believe it's Prince.

Yes, it still sounds great all these years later, I love the live band with horns sound.

D&P has its moments but Symbol is a big step up for me.

Its interesting to see the progression from D&P to Symbol to Gold era.

[Edited 5/1/15 3:40am]

D&P is a good collection of good pop songs but it's much more consensual than which is an extravaganza. I think there's no contest, really, has many more layers of complexity musically and thematically, and is a much more intense artistic proposition.

Y'know, this was a funny time for Prince. As a recording artist, he was obviously feeling the pressure to deliver commercially, and it shows in how disjointed his albums were getting. You started seeing a lot more obvious clunkers and genre-chasers making their way into the tracklist. At the same time, he was still capable at the time of writing masterful pop songs like Cream and 7.

I'll vote Diamonds and Pearls because it's less cluttered with filler and stand-out misfires. has some great tracks that get buried as the album falls apart in the second half.

The song Get Off was the song that got me interested in Prince when I was 14 years old so DP will always have a special place in my heart, although I rarely listen to it, I listen to NEWS more than it for some reason. It's a good album but Jughead and Push are probably Prince's worst songs in my opinion. The LS and The God Experience are the albums I listen to the most so LS wins this contest for me.

Symbol LP by far!

hands down, eventhough I love a lot of the D&P tracks.

KingSausage said:

I've always fucking hated Gett Off. Like, HATED.

Even the remixes?

Graycap23 said:

Love Symbol all the way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlnWxETWggg

Cx

KingSausage said:

I've always fucking hated Gett Off. Like, HATED.

I am so with you. Even Jughead will do instead.

Are you guys serious??? Gett Off is a first rate club banger, what is not to like about it?

RJOrion said:

bonatoc said:

KingSausage said:

I've always fucking hated Gett Off. Like, HATED.

I am so with you. Even Jughead will do instead.

Averett said:

bonatoc said:

I am so with you. Even Jughead will do instead.

Agree with a lot of people on this thread that D&P is the safer/tamer of the two albums. is a crazy musical trip through many styles...the more flamboyant and virtuoso of the two. I like the live sound to the instuments on both of these albums...it carried on somewhat onto Come..

Anyway my vote is for