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Diamonds and Pearls [Super Deluxe Edition] [Box Set] Image
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78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews What's this?

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  • Summary: The seven-disc super deluxe edition of Prince & The New Power Generation's 1991 Diamonds And Pearls album is remastered and includes 33 previously unreleased tracks as well as a previously unreleased January 1992 concert performance recorded at Glam Slam nightclub and a disc of remixes and edits.
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 6
  2. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. Oct 31, 2023
    91
    Some of the most interesting material is the pile of stray tracks toward the end of the studio segment, which the producers have done a masterful job of presenting. The songs are stylistically diverse and offer an expanded view of what this band and this musician were capable of. .... But we saved the best for last: The live set consists mostly of songs from the “Diamonds and Pearls” album, but it finds the band in peak form and stretching out as they roar through a 90-minute set.
  2. Uncut
    Oct 31, 2023
    80
    "Daddy Pop" has a Queen-like Break; "Jughead", post-Bomb Squad production. "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" is more subtly impressive. .... B-Sides plus intinerant sessions yielding 33 unreleased tracks. [Dec 2023, p.51]
  3. Nov 7, 2023
    80
    The bulk of the previously unheard material mainly comprises Prince’s original versions of tunes he gave to other artists. .... D&P showed how Prince could still work his magic while operating in narrower artistic parameters. This wasn’t the grandiose vision of Purple Rain or Sign O’ The Times but rather revealed Prince operating in a new guise, as an artisan who was tuned into the pop and rap zeitgeist.
  4. Classic Rock Magazine
    Nov 16, 2023
    80
    Now up to seven discs with live set, it's even harder to resist. [Dec 2023, p.85]
  5. Oct 31, 2023
    78
    It’s a solid study of a genius after he’d peaked creatively, but it doesn’t transcend that mission. There are some gems, yes, but we already knew about those. Too few are the diamonds in the rough.
  6. Oct 31, 2023
    60
    This new box set offers a ton of unreleased tracks (47 in total). Ranging from the ropey – Schoolyard sees him at the age of 32 singing about losing his virginity at 16 to, erk, a 14-year-old girl; Horny Pony features a toe-curling rap – to the bafflingly binned, they nonetheless provide real insight into Prince’s creative mind. Highlights include ghetto chronicle The Voice, jazz instrumental tribute Letter 4 Miles (recorded two days after his friend Davis’s death) and, best of all, the gently trippy Alice Through The Looking Glass. [Dec 2023, p.105]