How old are all of you? I think a lot of this has to do with your age. I was in middle school/high school during Diamonds and Pearls and and kids were eating up everything Prince was doing during this era. Meaning, the 80's were old to us and songs like "Gett Off" and "Sexy MF" and "My Name is Prince" were IT!

-

I mean, Prince was still Prince and a bit "out there" as always, but "Diamonds and Pearls" was a hell of a lot more accessible than "Lovesexy" and "Parade." Those albums were always kinda viewed as "artsy" and "highbrow" by many of my peers. Like, they just didn't get it.

[Edited 9/23/19 14:11pm]

skywalker said:

I agree that some of the tracks on D&P haven't aged well.I feel that way about alot of early 90s music.But,to me,Love Symbol still sounds fresh and powerful.It's a very vibrant album that has held up well,imo.

SoulAlive said:

emesem said:

Prince was at his cringiest from 1990 (Grafitti Bridge) to 1992 (Symbol) it was generally a dark time to be a fan. In 89 we thought his fey nude cover from LoveSexy was peak embarrasing but that was NOTHING compared to that 90-92 period.

I like what you say and I love how ou say it.

The Symbol album is F'n brilliant, end to end. D&P has its challenges.

jdcxc said:

SoulAlive said:

I agree that some of the tracks on D&P haven't aged well.I feel that way about alot of early 90s music.But,to me,Love Symbol still sounds fresh and powerful.It's a very vibrant album that has held up well,imo.

Agree. Although there are some great songs on both. Without the excesses and Tony M, Love Symbol would be a classic...great songwriting. Sexy MF Love 2 the 9’s And God Created Woman All Top 50 Prince songs.

And God Created Woman is fantastic. One of his last truly great songs to me anyway.

Diamonds and Pearls is Prince's "Oh shit Lovesexy didn't do well and Graffiti Bridge did worse, I got to make some hits!" record. And he definitely made some hits, but the all consuming sheen had worn off at that point. I can only theorize as to why, but I'm gonna say that it had to do with relationships. His fame had isolated him fully, he was lost, and went a bit more comercial.

I can watch the D+P launch on Arsineo now and appreciate it, but at the time I thought "All the Way to Vegas, baby." I thought he was making sell-out moves. I didn't like D+P at all. I still don't really. Symbol record is better, has some moments, as all Prince records do, but it's not the Prince music that I truly love and marvel over.

emesem said:

Prince was at his cringiest from 1990 (Grafitti Bridge) to 1992 (Symbol) it was generally a dark time to be a fan. In 89 we thought his fey nude cover from LoveSexy was peak embarrasing but that was NOTHING compared to that 90-92 period.

The Lovesexy nude cover would have been a big collector's item, if he'd gone the John Lennon route and issued it inside a plain brown wrapper.
But doing it "in the open" meant many retailers didn't carry it or put it on display, impinging on sales.

JudasLChrist said:

jdcxc said:

JudasLChrist said:

Diamonds and Pearls is Prince's "Oh shit Lovesexy didn't do well and Graffiti Bridge did worse, I got to make some hits!" record. And he definitely made some hits, but the all consuming sheen had worn off at that point. I can only theorize as to why, but I'm gonna say that it had to do with relationships. His fame had isolated him fully, he was lost, and went a bit more comercial.

I can watch the D+P launch on Arsineo now and appreciate it, but at the time I thought "All the Way to Vegas, baby." I thought he was making sell-out moves. I didn't like D+P at all. I still don't really. Symbol record is better, has some moments, as all Prince records do, but it's not the Prince music that I truly love and marvel over.

Willing and Able is brilliant and the video is a perfect Prince performance time capsule. The rest of the album has some moments...the masses love it.

I find Willing and Able to be kind of one-level.

I heard that only USA tried to hide the cover, and Europe didn't care about censoring the cover, hence why Lovesexy sold 2 million abroad and only 750,000 in USA.

laytonian said:

emesem said:

Prince was at his cringiest from 1990 (Grafitti Bridge) to 1992 (Symbol) it was generally a dark time to be a fan. In 89 we thought his fey nude cover from LoveSexy was peak embarrasing but that was NOTHING compared to that 90-92 period.

The Lovesexy nude cover would have been a big collector's item, if he'd gone the John Lennon route and issued it inside a plain brown wrapper.
But doing it "in the open" meant many retailers didn't carry it or put it on display, impinging on sales.

skywalker said:

How old are all of you? I think a lot of this has to do with your age. I was in middle school/high school during Diamonds and Pearls and and kids were eating up everything Prince was doing during this era. Meaning, the 80's were old to us and songs like "Gett Off" and "Sexy MF" and "My Name is Prince" were IT!

-

I mean, Prince was still Prince and a bit "out there" as always, but "Diamonds and Pearls" was a hell of a lot more accessible than "Lovesexy" and "Parade." Those albums were always kinda viewed as "artsy" and "highbrow" by many of my peers. Like, they just didn't get it.

[Edited 9/23/19 14:11pm]

That's just it imho/for me. The music/songs were 'traditional' and it didnt seem "out there" as always with Prince. At least not as much as usual. Hell, I watched the Special Olympics special and there he was, singing Diamonds n Pearls, the Arms Of Orion of the 90's.

JudasLChrist said:

rdhull said:

skywalker said:

How old are all of you? I think a lot of this has to do with your age. I was in middle school/high school during Diamonds and Pearls and and kids were eating up everything Prince was doing during this era. Meaning, the 80's were old to us and songs like "Gett Off" and "Sexy MF" and "My Name is Prince" were IT!

-

I mean, Prince was still Prince and a bit "out there" as always, but "Diamonds and Pearls" was a hell of a lot more accessible than "Lovesexy" and "Parade." Those albums were always kinda viewed as "artsy" and "highbrow" by many of my peers. Like, they just didn't get it.

[Edited 9/23/19 14:11pm]

That's just it imho/for me. The music/songs were 'traditional' and it didnt seem "out there" as always with Prince. At least not as much as usual. Hell, I watched the Special Olympics special and there he was, singing Diamonds n Pearls, the Arms Of Orion of the 90's.

I know what you mean about D&P but I thought it was a lot better live here with more Rosie and his guitar solo.

.

If you mentioned the dance routine with P controlling the Game Boyz like puppets that would be a different ball game...that was special

leadline said:

A de-tonyfied D&P and Symbol, what an excellent idea. Sound Forge here I come.

Will give him credit for 2Gether though, I thought he sang/spoken worded that one well.

It's already been done for you! There's a couple of albums out there entitled D&P/Symbol 'Unrapped'. All the nastiness edited out. Worth seeking out.

Are you talking about the 'live' video with him in the yellow pants & typhoon hair with the band and the camera crew recording it while snaking around the set? That version is sheer perfection- the notes he's hitting are stupendous! I love how he rearranged it and made it better. I hope that someday the Estate will release this version on a 'deluxe remastered' D&P album.

jdcxc said:

JudasLChrist said:

Diamonds and Pearls is Prince's "Oh shit Lovesexy didn't do well and Graffiti Bridge did worse, I got to make some hits!" record. And he definitely made some hits, but the all consuming sheen had worn off at that point. I can only theorize as to why, but I'm gonna say that it had to do with relationships. His fame had isolated him fully, he was lost, and went a bit more comercial.

I can watch the D+P launch on Arsineo now and appreciate it, but at the time I thought "All the Way to Vegas, baby." I thought he was making sell-out moves. I didn't like D+P at all. I still don't really. Symbol record is better, has some moments, as all Prince records do, but it's not the Prince music that I truly love and marvel over.

Willing and Able is brilliant and the video is a perfect Prince performance time capsule. The rest of the album has some moments...the masses love it.

laytonian said:

emesem said:

Prince was at his cringiest from 1990 (Grafitti Bridge) to 1992 (Symbol) it was generally a dark time to be a fan. In 89 we thought his fey nude cover from LoveSexy was peak embarrasing but that was NOTHING compared to that 90-92 period.

The Lovesexy nude cover would have been a big collector's item, if he'd gone the John Lennon route and issued it inside a plain brown wrapper.
But doing it "in the open" meant many retailers didn't carry it or put it on display, impinging on sales.

[Edited 9/24/19 14:02pm]

[Edited 9/24/19 14:02pm]

nonesuch said:

And God Created Woman is fantastic. One of his last truly great songs to me anyway.

I agree.That song is heavenly.

TrivialPursuit said:

Genesia said:

How has no one mentioned Purple & Gold?

Because no one mentions Beetlejuice either for reasons.

skywalker said:

How old are all of you? I think a lot of this has to do with your age. I was in middle school/high school during Diamonds and Pearls and and kids were eating up everything Prince was doing during this era. Meaning, the 80's were old to us and songs like "Gett Off" and "Sexy MF" and "My Name is Prince" were IT!

-

I mean, Prince was still Prince and a bit "out there" as always, but "Diamonds and Pearls" was a hell of a lot more accessible than "Lovesexy" and "Parade." Those albums were always kinda viewed as "artsy" and "highbrow" by many of my peers. Like, they just didn't get it.

[Edited 9/23/19 14:11pm]

Exactly. DM/1999 era fans thought PR was bad back in the day.

funksterr said:

skywalker said:

I think a lot of this has to do with your age.

Exactly. DM/1999 era fans thought PR was bad back in the day.

.

I mostly came fully onboard during the Purple Rain era, after being initially pulled in by How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore. And I thought then, and still now, that Purple Rain is an atrociously bad song.

[Edited 9/24/19 23:05pm]

SoulAlive said:

Electrostar said:

SoulAlive said:

I agree that some of the tracks on D&P haven't aged well.I feel that way about alot of early 90s music.But,to me,Love Symbol still sounds fresh and powerful.It's a very vibrant album that has held up well,imo.

Totally agree. Personally I think these are great albums. I listen to them more than PR. And I suspect I'm the only Prince fan who loves Jughead lol. Song production does sound "dated" with time. And then soon after it becomes very popular retro!

I also like "Jughead". It disturbs me deeply tho'.

He went from arty, indie, hip, to crass cheesy and an unsuccessfull commercial sound. It went low and dumb.

it was sad to see.

the entire 90s was a sad state for Prince music.

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

He went from arty, indie, hip, to crass cheesy and an unsuccessfull commercial sound. It went low and dumb.

it was sad to see.

the entire 90s was a sad state for Prince music.

1. Unsuccessful? Diamonds and Pearls is one of his most commercially successful albums. went platinum. No?

-

2. Indie? He was on A HUGE label that poured millions of dollars into him. His commercial zenith in the 1984 was due to an enormous cross promotion/commercialization with MTV, the movie, and perfect promotion of the album. Let's be honest, in many regards Purple Rain and Batman were "Prince selling out/going commercial" long before the 90's.

-

3. Crass cheesy? The Time. Vanity 6. Apollonia. All crass. All cheesy. All funky. All before the 90's.

-

Inherently, the chain mask and gun mic from "My Name is Prince" is no more crass than getting stage BJ from Wendy or tongue kissing Gale Chapman or ejaculating guitars. The film "Under The Cherry Moon" is just as cheesy (if not more) than anything on the album.

-

We, as Prince fans, just defend what we like better. Again, much of this depends on your age/your experience and exposure.

[Edited 9/25/19 19:45pm]

TrivialPursuit said:

By the way, the cringiest Prince is The Rainbow Children.

Lyrically speaking perhaps NOT musically.

Genesia said:

How has no one mentioned Purple & Gold?

A horrible song, yet it was fitting for most collegic football theme songs. (Yes, they are all that bad.)

kewlschool said: