A pretty run of the mill album that sold millions, produced a number hit and four top 40 hits.

It did far better than Lovesexy.

Why?

It was easily accessible and the material was great for mainstream radio play.

[Edited 7/9/16 16:14pm]

nursev said:

Exactly, it's a subject that's been covered in recent weeks. A good discussion here: http://prince.org/msg/7/426523

promotion. hired mj's manager frank dileao.

wb did an all out promo for this album for over a year, including the tours... end result... sold over 6.7 million copies world wide.

when prince promotes he gets the numbers he deserves.

Diamonds and Pearls is my favorite album and era.

.
Reasons for its success:

.

Radio friendly hits

Incredible music videos that fit together

Elaborate 1992 World Tour

Many TV Appearances (Arsenio, MTV AMA's etc.)

Heavy promotion by his team and Warner Bros

When Lovesexy dropped in the states, nothing sounded like a hit. I remember people around me saying so. But I remember Gett Off and Cream sounding like monster hits on first listen.

It was a fabulous single and a bomb album!

HELLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Diamonds & Pearls album in the background like:

[Edited 7/9/16 19:37pm]

DMarieIsMe said:

It was a fabulous single and a bomb album!

HELLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Diamonds & Pearls album in the background like:

[Edited 7/9/16 19:37pm]

Because from Pakistan to Poland to straight into your town he was picking up kiddies like a circus clown.

Some fans aren't as into D&P because Prince shifted away from his trademark Minneapolis Sound to some extent and made a very contemporary sounding album for the early 90s that incorporated hip-hop and new jack swing. I think that in some ways, it just doesn't sound as "personal" or "unique" to some hardcore Prince aficionados. Also, it has a couple of really weak throwaway tracks that detract from the beginning-to-end experience of D&P as an entire album.

That said, even though Prince made music that "fit" with the era for D&P, he still managed to include enough of his trademark sound and put his own spin on it to make it stand out, and there are some truly great tracks on there. I've long maintained that if it were an 9-10 track album like his top 80s albums, it would be considered part of his pantheon (or very close) by most... songs like "Jughead" and "Push" really bring it down for many people, but it's easy to skip those or, nowadays, just make a version of D&P that is tracked something like this:

1. Thunder

2. Daddy Pop

3. Diamonds and Pearls

4. Cream

5. Strollin'

6. Willing and Able

7. Open Book

8. Gett Off

9. Money Don't Matter 2Night

10. Insatiable

I know some fans aren't that into "Thunder" or "Daddy Pop" and others really like "Live 4 Live" and "Walk Don't Walk" so obv make your own minor adjustments to that tracklist as you see fit... but the idea is that if you look at D&P via the perspective of a killer 9-10 track album and rearrange it that way it's awesome. There are truly great songs on it, and removing "Push" and "Jughead" gets rid of the only really big misfires.

And, personally, I maintain "Open Book," another song from the same general era, would have been a massive hit if released as a single and promoted properly.

[Edited 7/10/16 4:05am]

LewArcher said:

Some fans aren't as into D&P because Prince shifted away from his trademark Minneapolis Sound to some extent and made a very contemporary sounding album for the early 90s that incorporated hip-hop and new jack swing. I think that in some ways, it just doesn't sound as "personal" or "unique" to some hardcore Prince aficionados. Also, it has a couple of really weak throwaway tracks that detract from the beginning-to-end experience of D&P as an entire album.

That said, even though Prince made music that "fit" with the era for D&P, he still managed to include enough of his trademark sound and put his own spin on it to make it stand out, and there are some truly great tracks on there. I've long maintained that if it were an 9-10 track album like his top 80s albums, it would be considered part of his pantheon (or very close) by most... songs like "Jughead" and "Push" really bring it down for many people, but it's easy to skip those or, nowadays, just make a version of D&P that is tracked something like this:

1. Thunder

2. Daddy Pop

3. Diamonds and Pearls

4. Cream

5. Strollin'

6. Willing and Able

7. Open Book

8. Gett Off

9. Money Don't Matter 2Night

10. Insatiable

I know some fans aren't that into "Thunder" or "Daddy Pop" and others really like "Live 4 Live" and "Walk Don't Walk" so obv make your own minor adjustments to that tracklist as you see fit... but the idea is that if you look at D&P via the perspective of a killer 9-10 track album and rearrange it that way it's awesome. There are truly great songs on it, and removing "Push" and "Jughead" gets rid of the only really big misfires.

And, personally, I maintain "Open Book," another song from the same general era, would have been a massive hit if released as a single and promoted properly.

[Edited 7/10/16 4:05am]

Great post - agree completely.

LewArcher said:

It's an extremely commercial album,filled with radio-friendly songs.Plus,as someone pointed out,Prince hired Michael Jackson's manager,Frank Dileo,to help out with the promotion.Prince noticed that Michael's albums were having five or more successful hit singles.He wanted to have an album like that.

after Graffiti Bridge,Prince knew that he needed to come back in a big way.He succeeded.

There are 4 commercial songs on this album.

D&P

Cream

Gett off

Money Don't Matter

The rest of the album wasn't commercial at all. Those songs carried the album. Along with the huge production videos, and a world tour.

Noodled24 said:

There are 4 commercial songs on this album.

D&P

Cream

Gett off

Money Don't Matter

The rest of the album wasn't commercial at all. Those songs carried the album. Along with the huge production videos, and a world tour.

I disagree.Songs like "Push","Jughead","Daddy Pop","Insatiable" and "Live 4 Love" are also commercial,to my ears.

SoulAlive said:

Noodled24 said:

There are 4 commercial songs on this album.

D&P

Cream

Gett off

Money Don't Matter

The rest of the album wasn't commercial at all. Those songs carried the album. Along with the huge production videos, and a world tour.

I disagree.Songs like "Push","Jughead","Daddy Pop","Insatiable" and "Live 4 Love" are also commercial,to my ears.

I'd say Thunder sounded commercial to me too. The production on most everything had a pop friendly vibe. Which of course many disliked.

Noodled24 said:

There are 4 commercial songs on this album.

D&P

Cream

Gett off

Money Don't Matter

The rest of the album wasn't commercial at all. Those songs carried the album. Along with the huge production videos, and a world tour.

Not all of the world. He didn't tour in the U.S. for it. In fact, he'd not toured in the U.S. since Lovesexy, and wouldn't again for five years until Act I in 1993, which promoted in the U.S. (Act II was the same tour overseas.)

The album was commercial enough to get a lot of attention for it. Videos, the tour, those four singles. I think the video for "Willing and Able" or the live cut from Syndey or London for "Live 4 Love" could have been the 5th single. Instead, he released "Gett Off", "Cream", "Insatiable", "Diamonds and Pearls", "Money Don't Matter 2 Nite", and "Thunder". IMO, "Insatiable" wasn't the same level of Prince balladry that we'd come to expect. However, "Diamonds and Pearls" filled the void.

pandaleka said:

It was easily accessible and the material was great for mainstream radio play.

[Edited 7/9/16 16:14pm]

Didn't hurt that he was super hot! I was 11 at the time and probably shouldn't have been listening to the lyrics on that cd - but am ever so grateful my mom didn't monitor my music selection! It was the album that made my 11-yr old self fall in love with him and have to have EVERY ALBUM I could get my little hands on!! And I wouldn't have it any other way.

CalhounSq said:

Why does the success of D&P baffle you? That's a better question

Yes, this IS the better question... Why does it BOTHER you even?

aiden said:

It's a fantastic, well thought-out album with stand out classic tracks, a new sound for prince, a brilliant band with a unique female vocal throughout.... This is not a RUN OF THE MILL album, are you joking???? Thunder, cream, money don't matter, strollin, willing and able, insatiable... Gett Off and the title track are actually masterpieces imho.... Great marketing was put in place because of how god damn strong this album is... [Edited 7/9/16 15:31pm]

I second all of this! Well said!

ufoclub said:

SoulAlive said:

I disagree.Songs like "Push","Jughead","Daddy Pop","Insatiable" and "Live 4 Love" are also commercial,to my ears.

I'd say Thunder sounded commercial to me too. The production on most everything had a pop friendly vibe. Which of course many disliked.

I actually really like Thunder

Love's kiss was running all thru my veins
The bed started shakin', I don't know who to blame
Me or this flower right in front of my eyes
Is this my sweet savior or the devil in disguise.

SoulAlive said:

Noodled24 said:

There are 4 commercial songs on this album.

D&P

Cream

Gett off

Money Don't Matter

The rest of the album wasn't commercial at all. Those songs carried the album. Along with the huge production videos, and a world tour.

I disagree.Songs like "Push","Jughead","Daddy Pop","Insatiable" and "Live 4 Love" are also commercial,to my ears.

Push is a great song. I like it. I don't think it was ever destined to be a top 10 hit though. Maybe if Tony M's rap had been done by a more prominent rapper. It's a funky album cut.

Jughead is universally loathed by every Prince fan. Nothing about that song says top ten hit.

Daddy Pop is great. Maybe it could have been a hit... if it hadn't been titled "Daddy Pop".

Insatiable is a great ballad. Call it commerrcial if you want, but every Prince ballad is commercial because he did them better than anyone.

Live4Love is cleverly written. I don't think it's instantly catchy in that commerical sense though.

The 4 songs I mentioned are so clearly written to be the big singles. They all scream top 10. This was at a time when Prince knew he had to go after chart success. They support the album commercially allowing him to also include dis-tracks, the funk, & his unusual POV song.