SoulAlive said:

lust said:

SoulAlive said:

I still like it but a lot of it now sounds really dated.Same with many other early-90s albums.

I guess that’s it. I do like the bootleg with the alternative versions though. Guess it’s fresh.

Because you've grown to be a miserablly unhappy prick....u, kidding I don;t know you.

It may just be a phase. Different Prince eras coem and go for me. In fact there's been times where I've sold some cds thinking I didn't like them anymore..only to buy them back!

lust said:

Someone tell me damn it!

Diamonds and Pearls era is a total start over. (outside of Batman 89) Prince was coming out of very low place compared to his 'golden' era. Diamonds & Pearls going forward Prince was very different. Different camp, different look, sound, I always felt D&P was sanitary. It was kinds clean starting out. Prince 1991 was more 'Hollywood' than we might want to believe. And most people in the camp were 'new' people, outside of (Levi. Fink was there right at the beginning before D&P happened and on the way out) the 'proteges' of the time were extremely weaker than the weakest of the 1980s proteges-which I would put Apollonia 6 as the weakest link. I heard echoes of Prince from before in songs like Money Don't Matter To Night. I always listened for the echoes. But it just felt 'clean' to me.

Phase3 said:

lust said:

Someone tell me damn it!

Maybe you have heard it too many times?
Purple rain album is boring to me now but I get excited when I listen to the Controversy album.

homesquid said:

Phase3 said:

lust said:

Someone tell me damn it!

Maybe you have heard it too many times? Purple rain album is boring to me now but I get excited when I listen to the Controversy album.

Purple Rain is still so innovative, futuristic and electric, I never get bored with it. I listen to Computer Blue in all forms about 10xs a week. Outtakes B sides, extended versions etc

But I'm the same with Controversy 1999 What Time is It? Glamorous Life Madhouse Around the World in a Day Parade the Family Dirty Mind the Black album etc

Lovesexy is one that i need to be in an ERA mode to listen to. It doesn't keep my attention

I like it but haven't been listened the album for 30 years, so...

It lacks an edge. There's something restrained and musical theater about it.

Because it's a pretty cynically made album, purposely put together to have a few hits and make some money and prove Prince still had it. And it worked. I wouldn't call it soulless because he was never so cynical that he'd put out stuff that meant nothing to him, but it's polished down and down, with all the interesting bits rubbed off so as to appeal to the largest audience. It's shiny.

I do agree it's a great album, but I pretty much never play it either. I have an 9-track version that i vaguely rearranged to make it flow like an 80s Prince album and I play that now and then but that's just playlisting.

[Edited 8/6/20 2:18am]

The sans kitchen sink versions are much more pleasing to the ear imo.

Loved it when it came out. It sounded fresh. Loved the singles. Gett Off sounded revolutionary with that tinny drum beat. Loved the fresh new look, The Typhoon. Cream and Gett Off Maxi singles. Loved the promotion and the tour. Know what you mean, sounds dated listening to it now. Still love it though, special place in my heart for Diamonds and Pearls and all the memories it brings

lust said:

Blimey. I thought I’d be slammed for this. I feel like the little boy in The Emperor’s New Clothes!

if this the only gif that works with your realization

I love songs from D&P...but as an album, I agree, isn't aging well at all.

Classic:

D&P (schmaltzy yes, but will always LOVE Rosie's vocals on this)

Gett Off

Willing & Able

Walk Don't Walk

Runners up:

Thunder

Cream

Money Don't Matter...

The rest, eh...

The main criticisms I've read over the years about Diamonds and Pearls is that its too polished, contrived, commercial, and sounds really dated. While I can understand where those criticisms come from, I still really enjoy the album. I think a big part of my enjoyment is due to the nostalgia element. Purple Rain + Diamonds and Pearls were my first Prince albums and made me into a fan...Ultimately, I think its pretty common for the great Prince albums not appealing to every fan. For example, we've seen plenty of other Prince fans not liking albums like Parade and ATWIAD.

Poplife88 said:

I enjoyed the album back then, but I haven't listened to it since 1992. Like the "Symbol" album, I thought "D&P" was too long....and as others have mentioned, it sounds dated..... It was great seeing P getting a lot of exposure on TV, radio,magazines, MTV, BET and VH-1. The official WB home videos were cool too... That was a good era for him.

I'd be curious to know if you're still listening to/energized by other artists who had huge albums that year?

MJ Dangerous
Metallica - Metallica
Nirvana Nevermind
U2 Achtung Baby
Pearl Jam Ten
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Guns N Roses - Use Your Illusion
Etc.

Se7en said:

I'd be curious to know if you're still listening to/energized by other artists who had huge albums that year?

MJ Dangerous
Metallica - Metallica
Nirvana Nevermind
U2 Achtung Baby
Pearl Jam Ten
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Guns N Roses - Use Your Illusion
Etc.

Never been a fan of Dangerous. The only MJ album I still listen to on a reg basis is Off the Wall and the stuff he did with his brothers.

Metallica, still love both the album and band. They will always be my go-to when I am pissed off.

Nevermind...like it and them but this album was so overplayed.

U2 Achtung Baby has become my fave U2 album. Still love U2 but they've lost me on their recent stuff.

Pearl Jam Ten...not my fave album from them (that would be Vs) but have really good memories associated with this. I went to see them at Wrigley Field a few years back and I fell back in love with them all over again. This album however was overplayed too tho.

RHCP- I prefer the stuff before they got huge. This one like Nevermind was totally overplayed. Under the Bridge...please no more.

GNR I remember Illusion being such a big deal when these were released. I preferred 1 over 2, but now like some songs, but never listen to as albums. Appetite will always be their best.

Phase3 said:

Poplife88 said:

I love songs from D&P...but as an album, I agree, isn't aging well at all.

Classic:

D&P (schmaltzy yes, but will always LOVE Rosie's vocals on this)

Gett Off

Willing & Able

Walk Don't Walk

Runners up:

Thunder

Cream

Money Don't Matter...

The rest, eh...

Insatiable and Live 4 Love are great too

I always forget about Insatiable, but do love it. Live 4 Love is ok...prefer the stripped down version tho.

I liked Metallica's last studio album ("Hard Wired")...good return to form. "B.S.S.M" was the last RHCP album I liked..that was also the beginning of the end of them for me...I dug their 80's output more. The other bands on that list I was never really into.

lust said:

Someone tell me damn it!

-

My personal opinion;

The overall sound (new band = new sound)

-

- loads of (if not too much) organ

- new and un-Princely synth use

- his drum-&-percussion sounds changed,

(Michael Bland's hand is too perfect. Prince's drumplaying is more sloppy (warmer) which matched his way of playing his other instruments.)

- loads of sampling (he did it from 1989 onwards, here it sounds too loud and 'melted')

- (even) the sound of his guitar changed too.

Listen to the previous Grafitti Bridge guitar sounds, compare that with the Diamonds and Pearls' sound (new pedals?)

- all too much echo; his songs used to sound 'dry' with some warm reverbaration

- also, the overdubs on his own voice created a much intertwined whirle

-

I personally think that sonicaly (not musically) it is his weakest album (certainly after his glorious unmistaken recognisable 80's sound).

It could also be the reflection of a new decade, and the need to change his pop status after Grafitti Bridge.

The album also targeted a wide audience (mainstream?) and there simply was no purple 'Minneapolis sound' anymore.

Digital use of all sorts of sounds emerged as well. He wàs always looking for something new.

-

Overall, in my personal opinion, this album sounds like it was mostly recorded in a metal tank.

I never liked it although there are good songs on it, but it's the the sound that I can't recall as Prince's. I barely listen to it.

I heard it more than enough on the radio at the time.

-

[Edited 8/6/20 8:21am]

a lot of fans don't like this, but d&p shows Prince lost his touch whith being edgy,

but who could blame him, he made one after the other insane album in the 80's.

D&P has some amazing singles, but gone were the days whole albums were genius.

I wouldnt have been this much of a fan without his 80's output.

So yeah, i listen to tracks of D&P, but they don't have the magic of the 80's, expect for some songs.

I could listen to Parade over and over again, D&P is not Parade.

Wolfie87 said: