SoftSkarlettLovisa said:

Yes, here's another Diamonds and Pearls topic. I read some reviews made at the time of the 1991 release. One review said that Prince is returning to his 70s roots, musically. The most 70s sounding song on that album was "Strollin'" - largely due to the roots guitar, a common sound in Eric Clapton tunes. Other than that, the rest of the songs have a late 80s sound.

Like everything Prince did, it is not easy to put the Diamonds and Pearls album in a box. It sounds like a lot of things and like nothing else really. Yes, Prince moved towards more organic instruments/organs/etc that individually sounded more 70's, but overall the album wasn't "retro" in that Lenny Kravitz sort of way.

[Edited 1/16/19 8:42am]

I think Money Don't Matter 2night sounds like 70s Fleetwood Mac. I hear Sly in Daddy Pop. Cream reminds me of Get It On (Bang A Gong) by T. Rex. The live drums give it a retro feel, as drum machines started to take over in the 80s. There are obviously modern (at the time) touches as well, but I get 70s comparisons.

SchlomoThaHomo said:

I think Money Don't Matter 2night sounds like 70s Fleetwood Mac. I hear Sly in Daddy Pop. Cream reminds me of Get It On (Bang A Gong) by T. Rex. The live drums give it a retro feel, as drum machines started to take over in the 80s. There are obviously modern (at the time) touches as well, but I get 70s comparisons.

Those are some great examples, I was thinking of exactly those songs you mentioned when I saw this thread´s title, especially Cream and Get It On Bang A Gong.

I think Insatiable is a little bit reminiscent of some 70s songs. It reminds me a little bit of Smoky Robinson.

well, u know the style they were sportin', the ladies and the fellas, was godfather 3 meets barbarella.

which was like late late 60s, pre 70s. so there is that.

Nope. Does not sound 70s

Oh Lawd, here goes the "Bang A Gong" comparison again.
The only thing "Cream" has in common with it, is the very first wah-wah guitar gimmick,
which is rhytmically similar to the main riff in the T-Rex song. That's all.
In which wannabe-musicologist deranged mind has this correlation originated and why,
I dunno. Probably one too many a bong.

"Diamonds & Pearls", a 70's album? The individual who came up with this
ignoramus crap must have gone through the decade in suspended animation.
"Willing and Able" is more like 60's. You could argue, with a stretch, that "Money Don't Matter 2 Night"
has a Steely Danish je-ne-sais-quoi.

Poor culture. Every day it drowns a little deeper in the sewers,
shitted on by daddy's boys who didn't know what to do with their lives.
Oh, hey, I know! Rock critic! I got to meet the babes!
Lester Bangs is severely missed.

[Edited 1/16/19 13:31pm]

To me it sounds like badly dated 90s music. I know some people love it but it's in my 5 least favourite Prince albums.

No. The only album that sound 70's, is For You

bonatoc said:

Oh Lawd, here goes the "Bang A Gong" comparison again.
The only thing "Cream" has in common with it, is the very first wah-wah guitar gimmick,
which is rhytmically similar to the main riff in the T-Rex song. That's all.
In which wannabe-musicologist deranged mind has this correlation originated and why,
I dunno. Probably one too many a bong.

"Diamonds & Pearls", a 70's album? The individual who came up with this
ignoramus crap must have gone through the decade in suspended animation.
"Willing and Able" is more like 60's. You could argue, with a stretch, that "Money Don't Matter 2 Night"
has a Steely Danish je-ne-sais-quoi.

Poor culture. Every day it drowns a little deeper in the sewers,
shitted on by daddy's boys who didn't know what to do with their lives.
Oh, hey, I know! Rock critic! I got to meet the babes!
Lester Bangs is severely missed.

[Edited 1/16/19 13:31pm]

Wrong song. Cream is a nod to Jeepster, musically less but rhythmically and the way the lyrics are delivered are in total Marc fashion.

NorthC said:

No, if there's one Prince album that has a 70s zou d, it's HitnRun 2.

what agbout his two albums he released in the 70s?

bonatoc said:

In which wannabe-musicologist deranged mind has this correlation originated and why,
I dunno. Probably one too many a bong.

I believe you are French, too? IDK in other countries but in France it felt like every critic felt they had to point that out back then.

Why? IDK, I hear more resemblance than you do but that's besides the point, the point being that the vast majority of pop critics back then were literally obsessed by mid-60's to late 70's rock, and interpreted everything thru that lense. As a teenager grown in the 80's, a decade filled with drum machines and synthezisers, it was hard for me to connect with those critics who based their judgement on a long gone "golden age" of rock, and seemed to have a hard time realizing the significance of later musical movements. Now that I'm older I understand the nostalgia factor better, but I still feel many rock critics back then were way too biased by their 70's rock obsession. You can still feel it a little when you look at those "best albums of all times" lists in music magazines, even in the US: the golden age of rock is ridiculously overrepresented. It's time for this generation of critics to retire.

So yeah, Cream sounds a tiny bit like that T-Rex track, no big deal, but those nostalgic critics had to make a big point out of it, like "you see, our 70's rock is everywhere". Except, in 1991, no one our age remembered who fucking T-Rex was

bonatoc said:

alandail said:

thats what u get for listening to reviewers ...misdirection

recordmanben said:

bonatoc said:

Oh Lawd, here goes the "Bang A Gong" comparison again.
The only thing "Cream" has in common with it, is the very first wah-wah guitar gimmick,
which is rhytmically similar to the main riff in the T-Rex song. That's all.
In which wannabe-musicologist deranged mind has this correlation originated and why,
I dunno. Probably one too many a bong.

"Diamonds & Pearls", a 70's album? The individual who came up with this
ignoramus crap must have gone through the decade in suspended animation.
"Willing and Able" is more like 60's. You could argue, with a stretch, that "Money Don't Matter 2 Night"
has a Steely Danish je-ne-sais-quoi.

Poor culture. Every day it drowns a little deeper in the sewers,
shitted on by daddy's boys who didn't know what to do with their lives.
Oh, hey, I know! Rock critic! I got to meet the babes!
Lester Bangs is severely missed.

[Edited 1/16/19 13:31pm]

Wrong song. Cream is a nod to Jeepster, musically less but rhythmically and the way the lyrics are delivered are in total Marc fashion.

Mmm. "Jeepster"? If we really have to stretch it, I would say "Mambo Sun".
Whatever, Electric Warrior is an absolute masterpiece and a great life companion.

One thing with Bolan and this album, he really has a knack for starting his phrases before the one,
and some of his melodies go 5th-6th-1st, which is how the "Cream" verses start ("This is it", "You will hit", "It's your time"),
but also Jackson's "Heal The World" chorus, and of course the "Get It On" chorus the "Mambo Sun" and "The Motivator" verses.
But this 5-6-1(8va) is to be found in lot of other places.
Pop music copies itself all the time.
The framework is just too simple not to be subject to constant rehashes.

[Edited 1/19/19 15:52pm]

SoftSkarlettLovisa said:

I think one of the albums that has one the most 70's ethos is 20Ten.
Songs revolving about peace and love, and also a kind of homemade Stevie Wonder approach,
a sort of 8-tracks recording feel to it (the notable exception being the ultra-layered "Future Soul Song").

[Edited 1/19/19 18:55pm]

No.

It has some straight up R&B like the title track, and Prince didn't really do straight up R&B up to that point. I can kinda get what OP is saying. Still has that 90s polish that a lot of MJ's stuff did as well.