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Forums > Prince: Music and More > Would you consider Diamonds & Pearls to be a very different album for P or ordinary, run of the mill?
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Thread started 11/22/23 6:42am

SoftSkarlettLo
visa

Would you consider Diamonds & Pearls to be a very different album for P or ordinary, run of the mill?

When I heard the singles off D&P, they sound very unique even by Prince's standards. But the non-single tracks (Walk Don't Walk, Strollin') sounded subpar. To me, D&P was a mix of spectacular hits and filler tracks.

Would it be fair to say D&P was THE Prince album of the 1990s or at least his most successful album of the 1990s?

[Edited 11/22/23 8:23am]

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Reply #1 posted 11/22/23 6:56am

funkbabyandthe
babysitters

When I heard the singles off D&P, they sound very unique even by Prince's standards. But the non-single tracks (Walk Don't Walk, Strollin') sounded subpar. To me, D&P was a mix of spectacular hits and filler tracks.

fair comment. strollin is nice filler. but walk dont walk is a great little song. willin n able has some cool genre-mixing happening - gospel, south african styles (wish i could be more exact), rnb. live 4 love has great guitar. daddy pop is one of the funkiest things he did in the 90s.

Would it be fair to say D&P was THE Prince album of the 1990s

yes

or at least his most successful album of the 1990s?

yes

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Reply #2 posted 11/22/23 8:27am

SoftSkarlettLo
visa

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:



When I heard the singles off D&P, they sound very unique even by Prince's standards. But the non-single tracks (Walk Don't Walk, Strollin') sounded subpar. To me, D&P was a mix of spectacular hits and filler tracks.




fair comment. strollin is nice filler. but walk dont walk is a great little song. willin n able has some cool genre-mixing happening - gospel, south african styles (wish i could be more exact), rnb. live 4 love has great guitar. daddy pop is one of the funkiest things he did in the 90s.




Would it be fair to say D&P was THE Prince album of the 1990s




yes




or at least his most successful album of the 1990s?




yes



Willing And Able was a fun bluesy track. Kinda sounded like a demo more than a proper, fleshed out song but the grittiness adds to its' charm.
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Reply #3 posted 11/22/23 10:02am

Ndorphinmachin
a
It was THE album of the 90s in the sense that it was the most commercially successful. There are some obvious designed for radio hits.

But IMO Come, Gold, Chaos, Emancipation, The Truth and Crystal Ball are better.
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Reply #4 posted 11/22/23 1:23pm

Se7en

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If you listen to Graffiti Bridge and then listen to Diamonds & Pearls, something is lost . . .

Yes, it's an almost all-new band, but that "Prince-ness" is gone. D&P is where Prince fully adopted hip-hop so much, he had a full-time rapper.

I know he was trying to keep up with current trends, but others (Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul, etc) had a guest rapper on one or two tracks. Not all over the whole album.

He needed a hit record, with hit singles, and he got it. But I much prefer the Prince of SOTT/Lovesexy/Graffiti Bridge before he changed.

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