Diamonds and Pearls

I am a major fan, so have many Prince CD's. This is definitely one of my favorites. Nice mix of funky and smooth. Top of my playlist.

After disappointing sales of Graffiti Bridge, Warner Bros. (his label) was planning to release a "best of" or retrospective. To head off this disaster, Prince made sure he produced a highly commercially viable album, which he did, in order to head off Warner's plans.Of course Prince could be his own worst enemy on occasion, wielding the power to tell Warners what single to release first. Prince wanted "Gett Off." Warners wanted either "Diamonds & Pearls" or "Cream." Prince got his way, but Warner Bros. had the right idea. Nonetheless, "Cream" still went to #1 and "Diamonds & Pearls" is a stone cold pop classic that did well, too.This is one of Prince's finest hours of his so-called "classic" era. He would never again enjoy the kind of commercial success that he did with this album. It was his last truly huge full length record. Even its successor, Love Symbol, which is a really cool album and spawned a really great hit, "7," didn't do as well as Diamonds & Pearls did. Aside from the hit in '94, "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World," which was his last #1 single, Diamonds & Pearls (from '91) is kind of a high water mark for Prince, commercially speaking, beyond the Purple Rain era of '84.

As described…

if i stop being a Prince snob for just a second ,this isn't as bad as i thought.but it's hard,man,after his major run.the thing is that even when not fully focused Prince is the best.this is a pain.i would get this for the songs,the songs like Money don't matter tonite which is great.Cream too.and Thunder even.I'm working with looking beyond lovesexy and "the beef"and Princecertainly did tons of great things post 88,but it's scattered.it's here,a bit more on the love symbol,fully realized on come,buti just feel a bit disrespected with this album.like,come on……..but again,some classic songs.and they are truly wonderful.take the title track.Diamonds and pearls in full version for next tour,please.or just play the whole album in sequence.i know many,many people love this album.some like it even more than the obvious ones.peace,.

The first half of the album is really tight.(I used to listen to "side A" repeatedly on road trips.) And it's a sexy album too, rivaling Madonna's "Erotica" as the best sex/dance album of the early 90s. (My vision of a perfect college party would be going into a dark basement and everyone is dancing to this album and making out.) The only weak spots here are where Prince lets his New Power Generation bandmates shine: "Push" and "Jughead" are especially forgettable. Still, if you like this dirty & danceable phase of Prince's career, this album is much better than the other New Power Generation-era albums, mostly because it's so concise you can listen to it in one sitting. And there are moments of real Marvin Gaye-esque pathos in "Insatiable" and "Money Don't Matter 2 Night".

A somewhat uneven album, but contains many gems.

I have to admit that when it was released, i did not pay much attention to this album since it took me time to assimilate the fact that Prince had to evolve and do things differently form what he had done previously in the 80's where every release was a jewel. but boy, what a mistake. This is an incredible album! It is probably his best album in the 90's. We all learn from our mistakes, and I can tell hard core Prince fans that they will not be disappointed if they give the album a try like a finally did.

Simply put, this might be the best album I have ever heard in my entire life. When you listen to it the first time, you say hmm, good. Then as you listen to it again and again, it continues to grow on you until you realize the sheer genius behind it is unparalleled. Just buy this album: it's that simple. You'll be very glad you did.