Mindbells9 said:

*If* they're going to combine Diamonds and Pearl's and Love Symbol, maybe it's because with Purple Rain turning 40 next year, they're going to milk that cash cow again, so 2 SDE releases this year will be to appease the ones who'll be complaining next year about yet another Purple Rain release. Just a thought

The only scenario I'm willing to contemplate at this moment is

October 2023 -> Diamonds & Pearls / SDE

April 2024 -> Parade SDE

November 2024 -> Purple Rain SSDE


I simply refuse to even imagine it will take another 2 or 3 or even more years before Parade SDE.

If it will be a combination of Diamond & Pearls along with the Symbol Album, and some live tracks from the area, which are really good, then I'll be happy, still would rather have a Parade SDE. But, if it is just Diamonds & Pearls SDE I can't imagine I'll be satisfied after such a long wait.

CAL3 said:

Diamonds and Pearls (mostly) sucked in 1991 and it (mostly) sucks now. . Definitely an album of its time. A super-expensive superdeluxe of this album is going to appeal to such a small audience, it doesn’t make commercial sense to even bother. . The album itself, when remastered and reissued as a single disc (or economic double-disc packsge), is extremely unlikely to grow/expand his fanbase. The album, though reasonably successful for its time, exists as an embarrassingly dated blot on his catalog.

Nope disagree, D&P is what got me into Prince, along with MANY others, the introduction of the full NPG line-up along with some amazing singles, Gett Off, Cream, Diamonds & Pearls, Money Don't Matter Tonight, Thunder.

This was the second biggest album Prince had, I do not believe the audience is small.. in fact I think this "if done right" will be huge

BIGJAYRAFFAS said:

CAL3 said:

Diamonds and Pearls (mostly) sucked in 1991 and it (mostly) sucks now. . Definitely an album of its time. A super-expensive superdeluxe of this album is going to appeal to such a small audience, it doesn’t make commercial sense to even bother. . The album itself, when remastered and reissued as a single disc (or economic double-disc packsge), is extremely unlikely to grow/expand his fanbase. The album, though reasonably successful for its time, exists as an embarrassingly dated blot on his catalog.

Nope disagree, D&P is what got me into Prince, along with MANY others, the introduction of the full NPG line-up along with some amazing singles, Gett Off, Cream, Diamonds & Pearls, Money Don't Matter Tonight, Thunder.

This was the second biggest album Prince had, I do not believe the audience is small.. in fact I think this "if done right" will be huge

I'm really happy for you. Everyone is entitlte to enjoy Prince's music at some starting point;

But ever since you're a fan from D&P, compare Gett Off, Cream, Diamonds & Pearls, Money Don't Matter Tonight, Thunder...

one by one with these, one by one :

- Raspberry Beret

- Little red Corvette

- Sign O' The Times

- I feel For You

- When Doves Cry

- 17 Days

- Alphabet St.

- Something in the Water

- Dorothy Parker

- Kiss

- Do Me Baby

- When You Were Mine

- How Come U Don't Call Me Anymlore?

- Purple Rain

- Sometimes Iy Snowes In April

and then wait and see how good these D&P tracks still tracks are.

Actually everyone had his right to like what he wants.

But for me there is not ONE song on D&P that is better than this too short list.

OK, maybe Gett Off. ))

I'm not nice, i know.

Vannormal said:

BIGJAYRAFFAS said:

Nope disagree, D&P is what got me into Prince, along with MANY others, the introduction of the full NPG line-up along with some amazing singles, Gett Off, Cream, Diamonds & Pearls, Money Don't Matter Tonight, Thunder.

This was the second biggest album Prince had, I do not believe the audience is small.. in fact I think this "if done right" will be huge

I'm really happy for you. Everyone is entitlte to enjoy Prince's music at some starting point;

But ever since you're a fan from D&P, compare Gett Off, Cream, Diamonds & Pearls, Money Don't Matter Tonight, Thunder...

one by one with these, one by one :

- Raspberry Beret

- Little red Corvette

- Sign O' The Times

- I feel For You

- When Doves Cry

- 17 Days

- Alphabet St.

- Something in the Water

- Dorothy Parker

- Kiss

- Do Me Baby

- When You Were Mine

- How Come U Don't Call Me Anymlore?

- Purple Rain

- Sometimes Iy Snowes In April

and then wait and see how good these D&P tracks still tracks are.

Actually everyone had his right to like what he wants.

But for me there is not ONE song on D&P that is better than this too short list.

OK, maybe Gett Off. ))

I'm not nice, i know.

all FANTASTIC songs without a doubt!!!, but I'd say Money don't Matter rates higher than a couple of those tracks to ME (Something in the water, Dorothy Parker)

BIGJAYRAFFAS said:

CAL3 said:

BIGJAYRAFFAS said:

Nope disagree, D&P is what got me into Prince, along with MANY others, the introduction of the full NPG line-up along with some amazing singles, Gett Off, Cream, Diamonds & Pearls, Money Don't Matter Tonight, Thunder.

This was the second biggest album Prince had, I do not believe the audience is small.. in fact I think this "if done right" will be huge

. I think you misunderstood my point.

No I got it, and disagree that it's embarrassingly dated, I know many people who love this period of Prince's career and I believe the audience will be fairly large for the SDE especially if there is a bluray concert as the performances around this time were fantastic.... but to each their own and time will tell

BIGJAYRAFFAS said:

Diamonds and Pearls and/or the Symbol albums was never my "launching point" as a Prince fan but I can certainly understand how they were for a lot of people. There were some monster singles from that era and the band he had over these years was INSANE, arguably the best of his career.

I think an SDE of both of these albums would be very much welcome by the public. 90s Nostaglia is super hot right now and these two albums scream 90s.

[Edited 5/15/23 9:01am]

BIGJAYRAFFAS said:

i love D&P and i wasn't even freaking alive when it came outt

lustmealways said:

i love D&P and i wasn't even freaking alive when it came outt

i'm a real one, alright. represent.

Would I rather have a SDE version of any of the 80s albums (besides Batman) before Diamonds & Pearls? Absolutely. Parade is the one I'm waiting for, followed by Dirty Mind & Controversy. HOWEVER I still am looking forward to D&P. I love a bunch of tunes from that era...Willing & Able, especially that video version!!

[Edited 5/15/23 12:24pm]

FunkJam said:

Poplife88 said:

lol @ marked his decline

D&P is good but he was just getting started. love symbol is even better than D&P and of course after that marked the start of his second golden era in 93-95. D&P nowhere near the gold/come/dawn/whatever era but it's still great. symbol has several of his best ever ever tracks on it.

BIGJAYRAFFAS said:

Vannormal said:

all FANTASTIC songs without a doubt!!!, but I'd say Money don't Matter rates higher than a couple of those tracks to ME (Something in the water, Dorothy Parker)

Oooowww... Now I have to fucking hate you.
And I just started to like you after your first sentence. 
Something In The Water Does Not Compute, AT ALL.
'Doroth Parker' simply IS, if not the absolute super ultimate best song Prince ever wrote, imho of course.
'Money don't Matter Tonight' just is a ... song without tension, for me I always skip it. 
Too much of a bland commercial flat track like most of the songs on that album. 
So let's agree that I can not agree any more with you. Sorry though. lol ;-D

Are you even a P fam/fan/friend if you don't go along with the ride? if you don't go along with the artist's musical growth? if you are just stuck in one time period and cant accept that his "good" "top tier" content goes past that era. dont get me wrong, nobody is gonna like everything that the artist has put out in their lifetime (and you don't have to) but P's hits and good albums did not stop in 89'. d&p (in my opinion), as (lustmealways) says, P was just getting started in 91'. 91'-94' is just like a second 81'-84' era. d&p is a masterpiece and the songs aged well for it's time but love symbol is HUGEEEEE too. d&p and love symbol both need that love, very underrated and overlooked albums. love symbol is an opera, a 2nd Purple Rain (in terms of the songs and storyline (kinda). love symbol should've got the same love purple rain did if promoted well (in my opinion), just listen to it, i mean. what can i say? 4 those wanting a SDE of an 80s P album like (parade, lovesexy, batman (a proper sde of purple rain), i completely understand that, that time will come soon too but (if the hybrid rumors are true, even though I feel D&P and Love Symbol deserve their own SDEs) I could see why the old Estate and (the family owned Estate) are pushing the 91'-93' era rather than another 80s SDE, because Diamonds and Pearls & Love Symbol needs that love, maybe the P fam (in general) will re-discover or discover these albums and appreciate it more.

CAL3 said:

Poplife88 said:

Would I rather have a SDE version of any of the 80s albums (besides Batman) before Diamonds & Pearls? Absolutely. Parade is the one I'm waiting for, followed by Dirty Mind & Controversy. HOWEVER I still am looking forward to D&P. I love a bunch of tunes from that era...Willing & Able, especially that video version!!

[Edited 5/15/23 12:24pm]

. Even Batman before D&P, for sure. . At the time, D&P was the weakest, most banal, and laziest record Prince had the nerve to release. Commercially it was easily digestible for mainstream pop fans at that point in them, obviously. But Prince’s peak was behind him already and D&P really marked the start of his decline. Didn’t seem like it in 1991 because it sold reasonably well and spawned several hits. . It’s a real damn shame that his great albums are being delayed in terms of SD reissues in favor of tripe that had its day in the spotlight - and then aged about as well as a tuna sandwich left out in the sun.

On the other hand, D&P was the way in for a 12 year old me. I'd got excited about Batman two years earlier, primarily because I was into Batman. But videos like Gett Off in particular, and his general image at that time, were the springboard for me becoming a hardcore Prince fan six years later.

Although D&P isn't one of my absolute P favorites, and I'd much rather have an SDE of any of the 80s albums before D&P, it makes sense for the Estate to even consider a D&P SDE.

.

Sure, a deluxe package of D&P would sell well among us super-fans, but it's also an album that the general public would remember. It contains Prince's last Number 1 hit, "Cream". The title track was a Top Ten hit. (I think it hit #3 here in the US.) D&P was heavily featured on an episode of The Arsenio Hall Show, when Prince and the band took over the whole show. The hologram cover actually made the news because it was so unique at the time. (Not long after, comic book publishers overdid the hologram thing in a big way.)

.

So there's a lot of reasons why D&P would make more publicity and financial sense to the powers-that-be as the next deluxe edition.

.

(But I'd rather have "Lovesexy" or "Around The World In A Day"...)

It says a lot that so many call D&P 'weak'...they usually call out his embrace of rap as one reason, his 'following trends' and not setting them another. I always felt D&P was more commercial, as if that was a negative. However, upon returning to it, I feel differently. This album has Strollin', Willing and Able, Insatiable, Money Don't Matter, Daddy Pop.....wow. Who else could put this together? Live 4 love too...so feriocious.

It says so much that a guy who could have this many gems on an album could have that album dismissed b/c of how great his other output was. Amazing.

JoeyCococo said:

It says a lot that so many call D&P 'weak'...they usually call out his embrace of rap as one reason, his 'following trends' and not setting them another. I always felt D&P was more commercial, as if that was a negative. However, upon returning to it, I feel differently. This album has Strollin', Willing and Able, Insatiable, Money Don't Matter, Daddy Pop.....wow. Who else could put this together? Live 4 love too...so feriocious.

It says so much that a guy who could have this many gems on an album could have that album dismissed b/c of how great his other output was. Amazing.

Agreed. Here's the thing: Prince incorporating rap/hip hop into his sound is no more egregious than Prince incorporating elements of new wave and punk into his sound in the early 80's.

@Vannormal

- Raspberry Beret

- Little red Corvette

- Sign O' The Times

- I feel For You

- When Doves Cry

- 17 Days

- Alphabet St.

- Something in the Water

- Dorothy Parker

- Kiss

- Do Me Baby

- When You Were Mine

- How Come U Don't Call Me Anymlore?

- Purple Rain

- Sometimes Iy Snowes In April

Here's the ting: "Better" is a subjective matter of opinion. What I do know is that the best songs Diamonds and Pearls give me a different Prince flavor/feeling than any of the songs you listed.

---

Also, consider this Cream is a #1 single. To me, this suggests that the song resonated with the masses in a way that many of the others you listed did not. Like it or not, Diamonds and Pearls was one of Prince's golden eras and it deserves recognition.

skywalker said:

JoeyCococo said:

It says a lot that so many call D&P 'weak'...they usually call out his embrace of rap as one reason, his 'following trends' and not setting them another. I always felt D&P was more commercial, as if that was a negative. However, upon returning to it, I feel differently. This album has Strollin', Willing and Able, Insatiable, Money Don't Matter, Daddy Pop.....wow. Who else could put this together? Live 4 love too...so feriocious.

It says so much that a guy who could have this many gems on an album could have that album dismissed b/c of how great his other output was. Amazing.

Agreed. Here's the thing: Prince incorporating rap/hip hop into his sound is no more egregious than Prince incorporating elements of new wave and punk into his sound in the early 80's.

That is a good point and I'd like to add, he could have asked any rap star of the time to come and do the Tony M rap parts. It would give him rap credibity and surely help sell even more albums....but he didn't. In typical self reliant fashion, he chose a local who has been skewered ever since.

My own take is - Tony was actually good on some cuts. 2gether is really good.....I think live he suffered from being nearly inaudible but he explained this in his latest Michael Dean interview ...live he did not come across well....for some technical reasons.

Overall, I think his raps will actually get better with age as people will forget he was not an A list rapper of the time.

GiggityGoo said:

Although D&P isn't one of my absolute P favorites, and I'd much rather have an SDE of any of the 80s albums before D&P, it makes sense for the Estate to even consider a D&P SDE.

.

Sure, a deluxe package of D&P would sell well among us super-fans, but it's also an album that the general public would remember. It contains Prince's last Number 1 hit, "Cream". The title track was a Top Ten hit. (I think it hit #3 here in the US.) D&P was heavily featured on an episode of The Arsenio Hall Show, when Prince and the band took over the whole show. The hologram cover actually made the news because it was so unique at the time. (Not long after, comic book publishers overdid the hologram thing in a big way.)

.

So there's a lot of reasons why D&P would make more publicity and financial sense to the powers-that-be as the next deluxe edition.

.

(But I'd rather have "Lovesexy" or "Around The World In A Day"...)

Last US number 1 hit maybe, but not his last number 1.

The Most Beautiful Girl In The World was number 1 in the UK. In fact, his one and only number 1 in the UK!

It was also number one in three other countries

look there's some slight material on this album, slight but i still love it like walk don't walk, but that run of money don't matter to live 4 love is so off the hook great.

you guys do whine a lot. this box set is gonna fuck. and next year's purple rain (?) will fuck hard too. just let it wash over you and be thankful all this music exists...

lustmealways said:

you guys do whine a lot. this box set is gonna fuck. and next year's purple rain (?) will fuck hard too. just let it wash over you and be thankful all this music exists...

I'm not as crazy about Prince's 90s stuff as I am about his 80s output, but at this point I'll gladly listen to the Diamonds & Pearls SDE a hundred times over if there is one. I'm just desperate for any kind of release, this drought has been ridiculous

Purple Rain SDE 2.0 absolutely will fuck hard though, as long as they don't fuck it up somehow