PURPLEIZED3121 said:

Nonsense...your point has been made since the album came out. ...

Well, the people who were there at the time knew.

herb4 said:

Nah, that started with Batman ...

I think he recorded Batman in a week. That was just Prince having fun in the studio, nothing deep or ground-breaking, but he wasn't trying to hit some target or fit into a formula.

That Theives performance from the D&P show one dude posted is crazy cool.

Band is tight too. Rapping not so much but we know that.

EDit: BAND not Banit

[Edited 7/29/18 13:33pm]

herb4 said:

herb4 said:

That Theives performance from the D&P show one dude posted is crazy cool.

Band is tight too. Rapping not so much but we know that.

EDit: BAND not Banit

[Edited 7/29/18 13:33pm]

That part is nuts. He really was that dude. Untouchable.

modified said:

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

Nonsense...your point has been made since the album came out. ...

Well, the people who were there at the time knew.

herb4 said:

Nah, that started with Batman ...

I think he recorded Batman in a week. That was just Prince having fun in the studio, nothing deep or ground-breaking, but he wasn't trying to hit some target or fit into a formula.

errrr I was there at the time...HMV were palying album tracks each day from the album a week before release...I was there. I saw 3 D&P live gigs too, bought every single, video etc, bought the boot-legs etc....yes I think I am qualified to comment!

Its a good album, with some solid songs. I woudn't say a classic...but good, fun, and entertaining. I remember feeling good that he had a hit and back in the spotlight especially after GB.

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

modified said:

I think he recorded Batman in a week. That was just Prince having fun in the studio, nothing deep or ground-breaking, but he wasn't trying to hit some target or fit into a formula.

errrr I was there at the time...HMV were palying album tracks each day from the album a week before release...I was there. I saw 3 D&P live gigs too, bought every single, video etc, bought the boot-legs etc....yes I think I am qualified to comment!

I meant the first real sign of a commercial grab form Prince as his main intent.

[Edited 7/30/18 11:04am]

herb4 said:

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

errrr I was there at the time...HMV were palying album tracks each day from the album a week before release...I was there. I saw 3 D&P live gigs too, bought every single, video etc, bought the boot-legs etc....yes I think I am qualified to comment!

I meant the first real sign of a commercial grab form Prince as his main intent.

[Edited 7/30/18 11:04am]

Like I stated in my earlier post... I don't believe Batman was a sign of commercial intent...

Remember how quickly he recorded the Batman soundtrack, was on set, got preview from the scenes and film... It was more of him quickly recording songs to fit the mood for the film and the scenes... He surely didn't have or take the time to record a each single thinking it would become a commercial hit. Remember only one song hit #1 and that was Batdance hence due to the movie. He wasn't writing pop songs to hit the charts for the Batman album, he was writing songs that would fit the mood of the film/scenes.

Batman was commercial because of the movie, the album piggybacked off the movie... If you want to talk about albums with commercial intent, there are many examples where Prince really tried everything to garner a hit, D&P is the most commercial example, Emancipation he really tried, Rave and Musicology... Those albums were really were the albums with true commercial intent if you delve down into the history of promotion with these albums...

feeluupp said:

herb4 said:

I meant the first real sign of a commercial grab form Prince as his main intent.

[Edited 7/30/18 11:04am]

Like I stated in my earlier post... I don't believe Batman was a sign of commercial intent...

Remember how quickly he recorded the Batman soundtrack, was on set, got preview from the scenes and film... It was more of him quickly recording songs to fit the mood for the film and the scenes... He surely didn't have or take the time to record a each single thinking it would become a commercial hit. Remember only one song hit #1 and that was Batdance hence due to the movie. He wasn't writing pop songs to hit the charts for the Batman album, he was writing songs that would fit the mood of the film/scenes.

Batman was commercial because of the movie, the album piggybacked off the movie... If you want to talk about albums with commercial intent, there are many examples where Prince really tried everything to garner a hit, D&P is the most commercial example, Emancipation he really tried, Rave and Musicology... Those albums were really were the albums with true commercial intent if you delve down into the history of promotion with these albums...

Well, you're kind of proving my point then. I mean, then WHY DO THE ALBUM?

It wasn't an artistic statement or a big message about fucking Batman that Prince just totally needed to be heard. It was an easy gig that he knew would sell millions of copies and all he had to do was dust off some old tracks, repurpose them, change a lyric or two, slap a Batman logo on it and call it an album. Not to get too far off track here since thsi is a D&P thread, but you honestly hear a song like "Batdance" and think it was some sort of artistic statement? You hear songs like "Electric Chair", "Vikki Waiting", "Lemon Crush" or "The Future" and think Prince just picked up a pen while thinking about how to make a visonary, inspired artistic statement about the caped crusader?

By your own admission he recorded it in a week and several tracks were brushed up dust offs he had laying around. I don't even dislike the album. I don't love it and it doesn't really fit with Batman but it's OK. But don't give me this shit that it had anything close to any sort of artistic integrity or message fromt eh guy that gave us Purple Rain, ATWIAD, Parade, SoTT, Lovesexy or even Gb for that matter.

Come on.

herb4 said:

feeluupp said:

Like I stated in my earlier post... I don't believe Batman was a sign of commercial intent...

Remember how quickly he recorded the Batman soundtrack, was on set, got preview from the scenes and film... It was more of him quickly recording songs to fit the mood for the film and the scenes... He surely didn't have or take the time to record a each single thinking it would become a commercial hit. Remember only one song hit #1 and that was Batdance hence due to the movie. He wasn't writing pop songs to hit the charts for the Batman album, he was writing songs that would fit the mood of the film/scenes.

Batman was commercial because of the movie, the album piggybacked off the movie... If you want to talk about albums with commercial intent, there are many examples where Prince really tried everything to garner a hit, D&P is the most commercial example, Emancipation he really tried, Rave and Musicology... Those albums were really were the albums with true commercial intent if you delve down into the history of promotion with these albums...

Well, you're kind of proving my point then. I mean, then WHY DO THE ALBUM?

It wasn't an artistic statement or a big message about fucking Batman that Prince just totally needed to be heard. It was an easy gig that he knew would sell millions of copies and all he had to do was dust off some old tracks, repurpose them, change a lyric or two, slap a Batman logo on it and call it an album. Not to get too far off track here since thsi is a D&P thread, but you honestly hear a song like "Batdance" and think it was some sort of artistic statement? You hear songs like "Electric Chair", "Vikki Waiting", "Lemon Crush" or "The Future" and think Prince just picked up a pen while thinking about how to make a visonary, inspired artistic statement about the caped crusader?

By your own admission he recorded it in a week and several tracks were brushed up dust offs he had laying around. I don't even dislike the album. I don't love it and it doesn't really fit with Batman but it's OK. But don't give me this shit that it had anything close to any sort of artistic integrity or message fromt eh guy that gave us Purple Rain, ATWIAD, Parade, SoTT, Lovesexy or even Gb for that matter.

Come on.

Never said it was an artistic statement... He did the album because WB offered it to him and paid him well upfront since it was tied to a big movie... Simple.

He was working on Rave at the time before he got the Batman offer so clearly his intent was not "commercial"...

feeluupp said:

herb4 said:

Well, you're kind of proving my point then. I mean, then WHY DO THE ALBUM?

It wasn't an artistic statement or a big message about fucking Batman that Prince just totally needed to be heard. It was an easy gig that he knew would sell millions of copies and all he had to do was dust off some old tracks, repurpose them, change a lyric or two, slap a Batman logo on it and call it an album. Not to get too far off track here since thsi is a D&P thread, but you honestly hear a song like "Batdance" and think it was some sort of artistic statement? You hear songs like "Electric Chair", "Vikki Waiting", "Lemon Crush" or "The Future" and think Prince just picked up a pen while thinking about how to make a visonary, inspired artistic statement about the caped crusader?

By your own admission he recorded it in a week and several tracks were brushed up dust offs he had laying around. I don't even dislike the album. I don't love it and it doesn't really fit with Batman but it's OK. But don't give me this shit that it had anything close to any sort of artistic integrity or message fromt eh guy that gave us Purple Rain, ATWIAD, Parade, SoTT, Lovesexy or even Gb for that matter.

Come on.

Never said it was an artistic statement... He did the album because WB offered it to him and paid him well upfront since it was tied to a big movie... Simple.

right...so we agree.

Now back to D&P.

"Live 4 Love" is criminally underrated and my second favorite track on the record. I love funky, raw, guitar driven Prince to death. The performance from the show that was posted last page was another highlight for me.

"Get Off" is an all time funk/club classic.

When the record came out I was friends with a fellow fan and our other friends were asking hwo it was. He said "It's him putting on a bunch of different hats and playing around with different styles wrapped in a sort of safe, commercial bow" and i always thought was an apt description. I didn't see is BLATANT a commercial cash grab as Batman so much as Prince asserting "OK. Back up. You want hits? I got grooves and grooves up on the shelf. Deep Purple concorde jams" and playing it a LITTLE safe without straight up selling out.

Felt like a compromise of sorts to me. The album suffered some for that but also benefited in that it was a little more cohesive and tighter.

The thing I like most about the album was that it was actually the FIRST TIME it sounded like an actual BAND playing and not a bunch of overdubs. Maybe not the first. First time since Dirty Mind anyway. I love the one man band stuff of 1999 and SoTT, the studio wizardry of Lovesexy, the stripped down elements and cleverness of Parade and there was some production trickery here and there on D&P for sure but mostly it sounded like a group of people playing and had an organic feel I hadn't heard from him in some time.

The live performances bore this out

As average as the song Live 4 Love is... It has to be in his Top 10 best guitar performances of all time... I think the Live 4 Love performance is very under rated when people equivicate his greatest guitar solo performances, you rarely here that mentioned.

feeluupp said:

As average as the song Live 4 Love is... It has to be in his Top 10 best guitar performances of all time... I think the Live 4 Love performance is very under rated when people equivicate his greatest guitar solo performances, you rarely here that mentioned.

i tend to forget about it sometimes, since i like the song but don't feel the need to play it very often.

but when i do i'm always amazed by that guitar all over again. it's very, very good indeed

As Diamonds & Pearls is one of my favorite Prince albums, I really enjoyed reading through this thread. Some interesting points being made...

.

I agree with many others about the rapping elements being the weakest point of the album. Also agreed that the music videos for the album are some the best he's ever made.

herb4 said: