Diamonds and Pearls

Artist: Prince & the New Power Generation
Label: Warner Bros / Wea
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 075992537926
EAN: 0075992537926
ASIN: B000002L8Z

Release Date: 1991-10-01

Diamonds and Pearls

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Tracks:

Thunder
Daddy Pop
Diamonds and pearls
Cream
Strollin'
Willing and Able
Gett Off
Walk Don't Walk
Jughead
Money Don't Matter 2 Night
Push
Insatiable
Live 4 Love

Similar Items:

Prince & The New Power Generation
Graffiti Bridge
Batman
Come
Lovesexy

Amazon.com essential recording

At its best, Prince's biggest seller of the '90s is an archetype of seemingly casual inspiration, thanks mainly to the ease tracks such as "Cream," "Money Don't Matter 2 Night," and "Willing and Able" exude. Of course, he's working as hard as ever, whether in a mellow groove or an aggressively funky one ("Gett Off"). Compared with the masterpiece Sign o' the Times, <I>Diamonds and Pearls</I> is a minor creation, but it's one for the long haul. <I>--Rickey Wright</I>

Customer Reviews:

High-Water Mark of NPG Phase.......2007-04-07

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".

Prince lite.......2006-04-05

In the early 90's, before the "alternative" music explosion, new jack swing and rap ruled the airwaves. And it's clear that, perhaps for the first time in his career, with "Diamonds and Pearls" Prince was catering at least somewhat to a mainstream audience. It's still a Prince album, to be sure, filled with the usual sexual bravado (on the slinky "Cream" and the throbbing, intoxicating "Gett Off") and mellow political criticism (on the somber "Money Don't Matter 2 Night", and the closer "Live 4 Love"). But the musical influences on the album never stray far from fairly conventional R&B. The album does take a slight detour with the jazzy "Strollin'", but it's a far cry from the sonic adventurousness of "Around the World in a Day", or even the preceeding "Graffiti Bridge". Just call it "Prince Lite".

Diamonds and Pearls - A New Prince.......2005-12-18

The Year was 1991, Prince had released 2 consecutive albums that weren't that good. The Batman soundtrack and Graffiti Bridge to his movie that flopped. This time around he had found a new band "The Power Generation" and had added a new more hip hop influented sound. Basically, the days of catchy pop-funk were gone and he had joined the hip hop revolution. Read on to find out the result.

Diamonds and Pearls is a new chapter of Prince music, although we already had seen hints of that on Graffiti Bridge in 1990, it fully came out here. A very hip hop influented album recorded with new band the Power Generation. It does have other infleunts aswell and some songs still sound like in the late 80's but it's difficult to not point of the sound of hip hop he's added here, almost like a re-born Prince. The album "Diamonds and Pearls" was a big hit, and not surprising with all the good songs it has. Although his top albums of the 80's where slighyly better this got enough good songs to be called "Near Masterpiece".

"Thunder" is a psychedelic-funk song where the hook "Thunder - all thru the night,Promise to see Jesus in the morning light,Take my hand, it'll be alright, C'mon save your soul tonight" is defenitely about religion. "Daddy Pop" got hip hop all over it. If You like songs like "Get Off" you'll this one too. The title track is magnificient. It's a sensual ballad and yet somehwat pompous and duet with Rosie Gaines. Not surprising it was a big hit. "Cream" is one of those trademarks songs about sex, this funky number was another hit single. "Strollin" is a slow and sensual retro-soulish song where Prince sings in falsetto. It got these jazzy infleunces too. "Willing and Able" got gospel choirs in the back and accoustic guitars. A very good song on it's own right.

"Gett Off", with it's hip hop influented sound and introduction of NPG doesn't need further presentation. A big hit and a funky hip hopish number with very explicit lyrics. "Walk Don't Talk" is funny, and it's extremly catchy and it adds sound fom cars. "JugHeads" is hip hop sounding with raps and cool sounds, but it's one of the weaker songs here, but Prince raps on here. "Money Don't Matter Tonight" is a wonderful romantic ballad, it takes up issues like gambling, finding partners for invetsment and killing kids in order to control oil supply. The message is clear though, it's far more important to have a soul then to have cash. "Push" is another hip hop sounding sound, and like the other simular one's it's catchy but lacks a good hook. "Insatiable" is a great erotic slow jam with horns. Lush and beautiful. "Live 4 Love" is another hip hop sounding song, starts with an original robotic countdown. This one also offers a psychedelic guitar solo and a rap. A beautiful closer to a near-masterpiece.

Conclusion, Diamonds and Pearls was a new chapter in Prince's music, he joined the hip hop revolution of the early 90's where basically all hip music had a flavour of hip hop. However, not all songs are hip hop sounding, many still sound like the old Prince of the mid 80's. As a result this album is very rich and is full of variety. Psychedelics, Hip Hop, Romantic Soul and Pop. Perhaps it sound a little unfocused but in the end it's a fantastic album where Prince shows all of his sides, also a big commerical hit. Must have.

Commercial succes, but uneventfull........2005-12-03

What Prince made so special in the 80ties was his abbillity to create innovative music and at the same time appeal to a big audience. Diamond and Pearls appealed to the crowd, considering the 2 million copies it saled, but there is nothing new or exiting to be found on it. Prince even becomes a trendfollower by introducing rap in his music (Jughead) And offcourse there is "Gett off", a nice funk tune, but like all tracks on this cd, very mainstream. Many of the singles that were pulled from this album became great hits (Diamonds and Pearls, Cream, Money Don't Matter 2Night), but they are also amoungst his most uneventfull songs. It shows that being a commercial hit does not equal quality. Only "Willing and Able" and "Strollin'" are showing a tiny glimpse of Prince's true talent and his willingness to experiment with his music. Prince made over 30 albums in his career (I'm proud owner of all of them) and I'm sorry to say this album belongs in the bottomhalf of his catalogue. It was one of his biggest commercial successes and the album sold millions of coppies, but it is also very "middle of the road". It misses spontanity and originality. What is left is a well produced R&B album (perhaps even overproduced), with a handfull of good songs. But non will leave a lasting impression or define Prince's talent. If you seek to be introduced to Prince music get Purple Rain, Sign Of The Times or Lovesexy instead.

Diamonds & Duds.......2005-05-05

Prince enters the nineties on a promising note with this CD. The hits are there with "Cream", "Gett Off" & "Diamonds and Pearls". But for me the highlights are "Money Don't Matter 2Night" and "Live 4 Love". The latter being one of Prince's best funk jams.

Still, this is easily obtainable as a used CD at a bargain price.

When are they going to re-master those 80's classics?

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