Diamonds And Pearls (Super Deluxe Edition)

Prince had ended the 1980s—the decade in which he reigned supreme—on a royal high with 1989’s <i>Batman</i> soundtrack, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts and gave him a chart-topping single in “Batdance”. But when Prince started the 1990s with yet another soundtrack—this time for his own film, 1990’s <i>Graffiti Bridge</i>—it failed to recapture the glory of 1984’s <i>Purple Rain</i> or even 1986’s <i>Parade: Music From the Motion Picture Under the Cherry Moon</i>. Hoping to make his mark on the new decade, Prince reset with a new backing band, the New Power Generation—also known as the NPG—resulting in 1991’s <i>Diamonds and Pearls</i>, another multi-platinum jewel in his crown. Having first made made their presence felt on <i>Graffiti Bridge</i>—appearing on the soundtrack’s aptly titled second track, “New Power Generation”—the NPG was in full force on <i>Diamonds and Pearls</i>, Prince’s 13th studio album. The move marked a major departure from the sound perfected by Prince’s previous band, The Revolution. That group had helped his Purple Highness reach the pinnacle of his pop-rock powers on <i>Purple Rain</i>, <i>Around the World in a Day</i> and <i>Parade</i>. But the New Power Generation was an R&B-based combo incorporating elements of jazz, blues, gospel and, most significantly, hip-hop—which Prince clearly recognised was becoming the sound of the future: The NPG’s resident rapper, Tony M., flexes his flow on tracks like “Gett Off”, which finds Prince putting some hip-hop swag in his own delivery. But Tony M. isn’t the only vocalist to share the mic with Prince on <i>Diamonds and Pearls</i>. Rosie Gaines duets with Prince on the sparkling title track, one of this album’s two Top 10 hits. And the NPG are in full force on the chart-topping “Cream”, which harkens back to the psych-rock era of The Revolution, but with a bluesy streak that befits Prince’s new band.