Anyone who knows me knows that although I am a die-hard fan of every single era of Prince’s recording career, my heart belongs to the work that he did with The Revolution and released in what I consider to be the holy trinity of Purple Rain, Around The World in a Day, and Parade. So if you asked me to vote for which era of Prince’s career should receive the deluxe box set treatment next, I would have immediately said Around The World In A Day followed by Parade, and then move on to other eras of his career. But fast forward to October 27, 2023, and here I am holding the Super Deluxe Edition of Diamonds and Pearls in my hands. Was Diamonds and Pearls the next release that I wanted to be released in Super Deluxe form? Honestly, no. Not even in the Top 10 on my wish list. Sure, I love that album, but it was never one of my all-time favorites. However, Revolution fans like me have been spoiled since Prince passed away, with releases like the Purple Rain Deluxe mini set and the Prince and The Revolution Live box set. And for those loyal fans eternally asking, “When is Prince’s 90’s work with the NPG going to get some love?” the answer is right now. And it’s admittedly overdue.
The Diamonds and Pearls album was released in October 1991 when I was a junior in college. Just like I always did, I bought the album on release day and went on to play the hell out of it. The CD was in heavy rotation on my home stereo and I played the cassette to death in my car commuting back and forth to classes. But it was an album I rarely came back to after a few months of listening to it ad nauseam. I eventually put it back on the shelf and moved on. I revisited the album only occasionally until 2023 when the news broke that Diamonds and Pearls would be the next album to be released in Super Deluxe form. In anticipation of the upcoming box set, I pulled my original 1991 CD off the shelf, gave it another spin, and fell in love with it all over again. I was all revved up and ready to go. Bring on the Diamonds and Pearls box set!
So after taking a deep dive into the Diamonds and Pearls era via this new Super Deluxe Edition, am I happy? Of course. In fact, I am elated. I will never complain about receiving previously unreleased Prince music regardless of the era or the style. I love it all. He can do no wrong musically as far as I am concerned. If you hooked me up to an MRI, I’m certain that the musical pleasure center of my brain would erupt like fireworks simply at the sound of Prince’s vocals and would shine like a Christmas tree when the music kicks in. It doesn’t matter what era of his career. Just keep the unreleased tracks coming. More please!
The Super Deluxe CD set is a stellar collection consisting of the remastered album, tracks from Prince’s vault, and a 1992 live concert recorded at Prince’s Glam Slam club in Minneapolis (the live show is represented as two audio CDs as well as a superb Blu-ray Disc with video of the show). I already knew the NPG of that era was a tight, funky, and musically proficient powerhouse, but after watching the video of the Glam Slam concert, I was still blown away by the raw, pure energy of this lineup of the NPG. I never caught this version of the band live in concert and had only seen crappy bootleg videos from the era. The stunning quality of the audio and video on the Blu Ray brought me as close as I will ever get to seeing that version of the NPG live, and it was one hell of a show! I always respected and enjoyed this era of the NPG, but the Blu Ray really made me realize just how spoiled we all were by this band back in 1991. I love the Revolution, but I can love the NPG too. After all, the NPG (in a somewhat different lineup) would go on to help Prince create one of my favorite of his albums years later, The Gold Experience.
Many of the vault tracks on the Diamonds and Pearls Super Deluxe set give great insight into what Prince and the NPG were up to during the era, with most of the vault tracks spanning 1990-91. The absolute gem of a track for my money is Prince’s version of “My Tender Heart” written by Rosie Gaines and Prince. If included on the original album and released as a single, it could have been a Top 10 hit, but Prince’s version was buried until this release. Some of my other personal favorites from the vault include “Darkside”, a jam that sounds similar to Prince’s Undertaker session, and the “Darkside” jam eventually evolved into “Blood on the Sheets”, an instrumental that appears a little later on in this collection. I was also thrilled to hear Prince’s version of some of the tracks that he originally wrote for Martika. Another revelation is a jazzy instrumental called “Letter 4 Miles” that Prince recorded right after his beloved colleague Miles Davis passed away. And if you’re into Prince’s bluesy side, you’ll love “I Pledge Allegiance to Your Love”. These are just some of my personal favorites on the set.
The liner notes in the hardcover book that comes with the set includes an in-depth chronological sessionography written by Duane Tudahl, archivist and senior researcher for the Prince estate; an introductory tribute by Public Enemy founder Chuck D.; and revealing, scholarly, and emotional essays from author and broadcaster Andrea Swensson, professor De Angela L. Duff, social media personality KaNisa Williams, and British music critic and Prince expert Jason Draper. It’s especially gratifying to see these familiar names, as they are known worldwide in the online Prince fan/fam community as being some of the individuals most committed to preserving Prince’s legacy and making sure it is shared with future generations. I would also like to give props to the excellent mixing job by Chris James on this collection. The majority of the vault tracks sound great, and I can tell that the ones that don’t were sourced from cassette tapes or demos, and those are challenging to mix. The sound is especially great on the live show! I’m looking forward to hearing Chris’s Dolby Atmos mix of the Diamonds and Pearls album, which I believe is now streaming.
Now that the Prince estate seems to be getting its affairs in order (the jury is still out on that issue) I hope that it will release much more Prince music, and at an exponentially faster pace than it has in the last few years.
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