Prince’s Diamonds and Pearls Gets The Vault Treatment
Unboxing the rarities-rich editon of an NPG classic
By the early 80’s, the Artist who was still known as Prince was five albums into his high-flying career and tearing up the pop charts with 1999, premiering his equally audacious band The Revolution and graduating from playing theaters to arenas.
Even early on, like Dylan and Bowie, he wore many masks and made himself so strange and contradictory that there was no way to know who he was, which added to his allure. By 1984’s Purple Rain movie/soundtrack, he launched himself into superstar territory. While he could command thousands of fans with some of the most impressive large-scale shows that audiences had ever seen (easily rivaling Bruce and Madonna), even his late 80’s successes like Parade and Sign ‘O’ The Times were still measured against his triumphs from earlier in the decade. Restless and obsessive soul that he was, the end of the 80’s was quite a rollercoaster for him. After pulling a hardcore funk record from release (The Black Album) for a somewhat less impressive though successful record (Lovesexy), he provided the soundtrack to Tim Burton’s blockbuster Batman film. That’s not even mentioning how he had spent years building up his credentials as one of the premier pop songwriters of his time, turning out hits not just for himself but also Chaka Khan, The Time, Sheila E., the Bangles, Sheena Easton, Patti LaBelle and more, which included a number of old friends and proteges. Chances are, you were probably humming a Prince song then, even if you didn’t know it.
By 1990 though, he had put out three flops as follow-up films: the ‘musical comedy’ Under the Cherry Moon, the concert film Sign O’ The Times and the rock musical Graffiti Bridge (with help from Mavis Staples and George Clinton). After bagging his storied back-up band and coming off a head-spinning decade that he helped to define, the Artist clearly thought it was time for a reset at the start of the 90’s, right in the middle of the grunge revolution and without his own Revolution.
1991’s Diamonds and Pearls was his 13th album and his first with his new band The New Power Generation, who had a cameo on Graffiti Bridge. Like The Revolution, the NPG was a multi-racial, multi-gender band, harkening back to Sly and the Family Stone. Singer/keyboardist Rosie Gaines would have a prominent role, sharing lead vocals with Prince on a few numbers here, before going solo afterwards. Also making the NPG distinct was a rapper on board (Tony M) and a pair of dancers / percussionists (Damon Dickson, Kirk Johnson) to liven up an already incredible concert act. Also notable is that on the album, Prince was actually getting comfortable with co-writing songs, which he did rarely before, making this more of a collaborative effort as such, though it was obvious that he was the one who was always in charge.
Ultimately, what makes Diamonds and Pearls so intriguing nowadays is that while it sold well, it’s still probably an underrated part of Prince’s middle-period catalog. It’s an odd, head-spinning mix of ass-shaking dance tunes, gorgeous ballads, some bizarre bits and a few relatively lightweight tunes. But then again, he was still one of popular music’s premiere songwriters, with only newcomer Cobain, old-timer Prine and similarly middle-period R.E.M. as his only real competition.
Wisely enough, he starts the album out with some loud, undeniable grooves. “Thunder” begins with a Jesus shout-out and a promise to ‘save your soul,” reminding us that like Sun Records superstars Elvis, Jerry Lee and Johnny, he also wrestled between heavenly and secular urges. From there, he offers us sitar-like twang, exquisite keyboards, a grimy guitar solo and a thrilling guitar/keys back and forth, with layers of voices hovering around. And this was all him as a one-man band, which makes it even more phenomenal. And let’s not forget the slamming beats he was also famous for and doesn’t get enough credit for: He was a expert, pioneering drum programmer, using cutting edge models like the Roland R-8 (also beloved by Aphex Twin, New Order, Tangerine Dream) as well as classic older models like the Linn LM-1. “Daddy Pop” then is his way of saying ‘this is my new band.’ It’s a NPG tune that would soon become a show staple, featuring Gaines’ organ and Family Stone touchstones like a Larry Graham-like bass vocal and femme backing vocals, along with heavy guitar breaks, though Tony M’s rap breakdown sounds more like George Clinton territory.
From there, he shifts gears to the title track, which happens to be one of his most delightful ballads, almost up there with “Purple Rain,” “The Beautiful Ones” and “Nothing Compares 2 U.” With a lovely, delicate five-note synth riff that he later sings, Gaines joins in to harmonize, answer him and spell out the title, leading to a majestic middle section with drum rolls, guitar blams and synth trumpet. Interestingly, near the end, he wonders to his loved one, “Would you be a happy boy or girl?” leaving us intrigued as always.
VIDEO: Prince & The New Power Generation “Cream”
Brilliant show-off that he was, he follows one of his most enchanting tunes with one of his most indelible dance tunes. “Cream,” which was his last number one song, is so subtle and low-key yet so undeniably catchy and sinuous, much like “Kiss.” From the cowbell count-off, moans and echoed screams at the start to the drum blasts, wah-wah guitar, staccato organ and Gaines answering him again, the song makes itself felt as a classic right away, with a stripped-away, almost dub-like section near the end.
After a stunning quartet of songs to start with, honesty compels me to admit that things do dip a little bit in the middle in comparison, but then again, even Prince’s relatively ‘lightweight’ material would still be the envy of most any respectable pop artist otherwise. “Strollin’” is a nice, mellow jazzy ditty with finger snaps, doo-wop chorus and seemingly light romantic fare, at least until he throws in a bit about ‘dirty magazines.’ “Willing and Able” starts with a ska beat and rides along gracefully, with his guitar dancing around him and a shout-a-long chorus, and later featuring a soulful back and forth interaction with the other singers (aka him and Gaines) plus a smooth recital/rap from Tony. “Walk Don’t Walk” continues the promenading theme with some easy-going funk and a “Sha-la-la-la-la” chorus followed by synchronized car horns.
Maybe he was just giving us a breather there but right in the middle of that low-key run is the galactic thump of “Gett Off,” which features horn player Eric Leeds, his only hold-over from the Revolution. Beginning with his patented blood-curdling shriek, Prince adds in his bump/grind drum machine and a “When Dove Cry”-like guitar solo along with Leed’s flute riff, Gaines’ vocal answers/interjections and a quote from James Brown’s “Mother Popcorn, Part 1.”
VIDEO: Prince & The New Power Generation “Gett Off”
For the rest of the album, he alternates between bizarre, ambitious dance numbers and a pair of stunning ballads. “Jughead” trades off raps from Gaines (who also adds blaring synths) to Tony to Prince himself, who adds in a stinging, playful guitar solo, and ends with a violent contract dispute that name-checks Little Richard- remember that Prince himself would soon have a full-court battle with Warner Bros. over his own contract. The likable romantic ballad “Money Don’t Matter 2 Night,” co-written with Gaines, stands out as the story of a high-roller gone bust who realizes that dough ain’t happiness and even has an anti-war message thrown in, which was pretty gutsy coming just after the polarizing, ill-conceived Gulf War of 1990/1991. The socio-economic realism of the accompanying Spike Lee video was supposedly too much for MTV then. Deciding to sail further into weirdo territory, “Push” is another Gaines co-write where she and he duet over high-flying orchestra samples and exotic keyboards and then trade-off raps with Tony, who sounds like Shock G, while Prince imitates Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Roise out-classes both of them with an old-school style toast over a supreme beat.
What’s so remarkable then about “Insatiable” is that 1) as a slow one, it’s almost on par with the title track, 2) it’s also another great one-man-band song, and 3) it somehow didn’t chart well as a single. Here, Prince lays out some delicate synth work, occasionally imitating flutes and brass, over slow, sensuous drum (machine) beats. His sweet crooning here sounds like his early ‘80s lusty hymns and the 70’s soul he loved, like the Stylistics. Ending off with an elongated scream, he proves once again that he could do R&B serenades with the best of them, making this something of an underrated gem in his catalog.
To take us out, he leads us back into wacko territory with “Live 4 Love (Last Words from the Cockpit).” Starting out with a robotic voice and partial countdown, he launches into sweaty funk with slamming drums and electronic noises/beeps, then adding in guitar screams and vocal screams, followed by alternating raps between him and Tony (who honestly isn’t in G.O.A.T. territory), a brief bass solo and an extended, angry, psychedelic guitar solo near the end. The lyrics are equally audacious, covering a space launch, a war mission, childhood abandonment and a plea for unity. This strange, ambitious mix recalls the rock/funk productions that Bill Laswell did in the early/mid ‘80’s but here, Prince also provides a blueprint for Outkast’s Stankonia.
Overall, Diamond and Pearls did well on the charts, going double platinum in the States, spawning two top ten hits (“Cream,” the title track) and two more top 40 hits (“Money Don’t Matter 2 Night,” “Gett Off”), though only the hits stayed in his set-list long term.
The rest of the 90’s saw an impressive run of albums from him: the ‘Love Symbol’ album (also bizarre, strangely thematic), The Gold Experience (sadly out of print for too long), the Black Album (finally officially released), Chaos & Disorder (a VERY underrated guitar album), Emancipation (a rare great triple album) and Crystal Ball (finally opening his tape vault), all of which came out while he was fighting with Warner Bros. As for his ‘99 albums and post-millennium work right up to his untimely death in 2016, we can argue and discuss that another time.
Circling back to the album at hand, his own NPG label, in conjunction with former nemesis Warner Bros., has now serving up a “Remastered, Deluxe & Super Deluxe” editions, piling on fan goodies like remastered versions and edits, unreleased ‘vault’ recordings, a concert recording, a ‘dress rehearsal’ and a lottery to win the chance to get freaky with the official Prince hologram (good luck with that). The relatively puny two-CD version gives you two more versions of “Gett Off” plus other mixes and edits of the album tracks and a few worthy unearthed outtakes (the sleazy fun of “Violet The Organ Grinder,” the dirty guitar feature “Call the Law”) that have undeniable pleasure but aren’t anything revelatory. The “Super Deluxe” version meanwhile is manna for fans: a three-hour tour of his fabled vault of unreleased material plus two more discs from a ’92 live show. The 30-song vault dive proves that even in his most conventional mode, the guy was still a brilliant pro as nothing drags or makes you wince, though would-be joke “Work That Fat” comes close. Even on auto-drive, the man can play and sing like no one else but the problem is that most of it sat in the dark for the simple reason that he also knew about quality control- not much jumps at you and screams for attention or multiple plays.
Sure, “Martika’s Kitchen” is a nice ballad, “Spirit” almost makes it as an inspirational anthem and “Hold Me” is a nice weeper but that just makes a case for disc 4 being the one to keep and the other two ‘vault’ albums as the ones to file away. Not all extras are created equal though as the final two bonus discs capture a hot and loose show from the ’92 tour, which includes much of Diamond and Pearls where even the slow ones (especially the title track and “Insatiable”) make themselves felt more dramatically and up-tempo jams like “Jughead” get even wilder. Though “Nothing Comes 2 U” still belongs to Sinead, he more than makes up for it with a impressive 14-minute medley that includes “Cream” jammed in with three little-heard numbers from his catalog and nine, roof-raising minutes of “1999 / Baby I’m A Star / Push” that roars at an insistent, pedal to the metal speed.
But despite the extra new goodies and sundries, the original Diamonds and Pearls does deserve to be rediscovered on its own, though it has something of a mixed reception even after its relative success. Even resident Prince expert J. Crit who hosts the Purple Madhouse podcast and NPG Underground fan page on Facebook has mixed feelings about the record: “it was not the most cohesive album in terms of a direction he was going in, but you can tell he was dabbling in a jazzier sound with a touch of funk thrown in for good measure. There were a couple head scratchers, which felt like they were meant for something and just tossed them in.”
Regardless, even for its faults, the album is as good an excuse as any to ponder his genius, and remember our loss.
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