EnglishGent2 said:

EnglishGent2 said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

Good analysis.

perhaps most encapsulated by the notion of rushing Diamonds & Pearls of all albums as his third grandiose SDE like we just completed the holy trinity of GOAT Prince albums

It's his second biggest selling album, so surely makes sense from the businiess people's point of view?

No.

It has no enduring legacy or cache. It sold like gangbusters because it was one of the few times in his career he put the 'ole artistic integrity on the backburner and went all-in on trying to write Top 40 hits for the masses to nab his $100 million record deal he got in 1992.

It's a pure cold, calculated business venture more than a "real" Prince album that gives you deeper insight into his artistry. And citing 1991 sales figures some 30+ years after the fact can only give you insight into the taste and preferences of Top 40 fans from 1991. How many of these people buying a CD in 1991 for 2-3 hits who probably moved on weeks after overplaying said hits are lining up around storefronts all set to drop $350 bucks on the double-dip? You seriously think the 1991 sales figures for this record reflect potential buyers in todays market?

Even the way you're attempting to frame it here. A gen-Z Prince diletante might infer by your frame of logic that "oh okay, so this is #2 Prince record of all time then, it must be on a #2 level 2nd only to the mighty Purple Rain. Well, I loved Purple Rain, so, must check this out, surely it's #2 as good..." when D&P has zero the appeal to both bubblegum pop fans and indie art snobs that Purple Rain has to this day.

It's a foolhardy attempt to court both segments of the fanbase because it seems like a sure-fire logical choice on paper. In practice D&P isn't fit to wipe the dust off your old copy of Purple Rain, because it has none of the wide-reaching universal cross-over appeal of Purple Rain.

Not to mention only SDE'ing a smattering of select albums before circling back to do Purple Rain SDE yet again gives the implication that hey, he put out a lot of records so, here's the 4 that actually matter... And dn't worry, we got another version of the real one that truly matters most coming up next, so if 4 albums is too overwhelming a catalogue just stick to the album with two different SDE's...

[Edited 8/26/23 19:25pm]

WhisperingDandelions said:

D&P is seen as kindaaa cool if you think only of the singles

all of which are pretty much surefire prince classics

gett off, cream, D&P, all immortal prince songs IMO

its like bowies lets dance to me - amazing singles, pretty good album, but a big break from previous albums from that artist

im not annoyed about it being given the SDE treatment, as long as other albums are due for the same too