Prince - Diamonds and Pearls (BD-A w/Atmos mix of studio album / box set with BD-V live material and videos) October 27 2023

[britmarc]

On October 27, WB Records and Rhino Records will reissue his 1991 set, Diamonds & Pearls. For this, all stops have been pulled as management has ok’d the extravagant reissue of this title with multiple CD, DD, and vinyl LP packages to attract all comers

Diamonds & Pearls will be reissued on CD, 2CD, DD, 180g-weight Milky White 2LP vinyl, 180g-weight Clear 2LP vinyl, and Industry Black 180g-weight 4LP. With box sets in mind, there will be an industry black 180g-weight 12LP that packs in the newly remastered album, 15 remastered singles and edits, unreleased studio recordings, 14 live performance tracks from Glam Slam (01/11/1992), along with a BD that offers three hours of content. Another box set offers the title in a 7CD/BD set that includes all mentioned for the 12LP/BD box. Finally, there is a Limited Edition 7 7″ vinyl singles box. the track list info below provide details on the 7CD Box. The audio tracks on the BD are high resolution Stereo/5.1 Surround/Dolby Atmos/Dolby True HD. The video content are presented in 2k cinema resolution and 1080p.

 

[HomerJAU]

Prince’s last live Atmos BDV was pretty disappointing for me. Mix wasn’t great and he wants to ‘reimagine’ some songs.

 

[dobyblue]

I’m seeing Amazon DE now for the standalone Blu-ray also, not HFPA packaging like the Blur release was…but I think Townsend might have the best price for me in Canada so far. I’ll hold out for Amazon CA for a few weeks.

https://www.amazon.de/Prince-and-The-New-Power-Generation-Diamonds-and-Pearls-Blu-ray/dp/B0CGDBTPX3

 

[Jeffrey Michael]

What was the price??

$159.99 for seven 7” singles. It was limited to 1,991 copies.

 

[@gpoly]

From the Prince website re the video blu-ray from the Boxed set:-

• The Blu-ray features the previously unreleased Live At Glam Slam 1992 show (presented in 2K video with Dolby ATMOS / Dolby True HD 5.1 / Stereo audio), as well as the Special Olympics Concert recorded and broadcast on July 20th, 1991 (in 1080p HD video with Dolby ATMOS / Dolby True HD 5.1 / Stereo audio) and Special Olympics Soundcheck recorded on July 19th, 1991 (in 2K video with Stereo audio).
• The Blu-ray content is completed by the inclusion of a restored version of the Diamonds And Pearls Video Collection (in 1080p video with Stereo audio), originally released in 1992. The Video Collection features the original promo videos for "Gett Off", "Cream", "Diamonds And Pearls", "Insatiable", "Strollin'", "Money Don't Matter 2 Night", and "Call The Law", as well as live videos of "Thunder", "Jughead", and "Live 4 Love".

“The Video Collection” is the video from the old Laserdisc, but ”restored”, so I’m thinking maybe only upscaled rather then remastered, but I’m hoping. My old Prince laserdisc died from Laser Rot a decade ago….

 

[emili]

According to SDE's email "The ONLY place to get this mix as a physical product".
As I can see there are live preorders on jpc.de, fnac.com, amazon.de, etc
What am I missing?
Is it or is it not a SDE exclusive release?
I bought all the SDE series releases but if this one is not exclusive, it is cheaper for me to get it on amazon.fr, for example.

 

[@gpoly]

According to SDE's email "The ONLY place to get this mix as a physical product".
As I can see there are live preorders on jpc.de, fnac.com, amazon.de, etc
What am I missing?
Is it or is it not a SDE exclusive release?
I bought all the SDE series releases but if this one is not exclusive, it is cheaper for me to get it on amazon.fr, for example.

Yeah, the email said that, but the SDE website does doesn’t.

 

[MrSmithers]

Fantastic news! So pleased this album is getting a Dolby Atmos mix! The production and songwriting is just fantastic. This album is an all time classic. I only hope that the mix can match up to it... The When Doves Cry Atmos mix is pretty good so that's hopefully a good sign...

According to SDE's email "The ONLY place to get this mix as a physical product".
As I can see there are live preorders on jpc.de, fnac.com, amazon.de, etc
What am I missing?
Is it or is it not a SDE exclusive release?
I bought all the SDE series releases but if this one is not exclusive, it is cheaper for me to get it on amazon.fr, for example.

Yeah also slightly confused around this too? I get that the Blu Ray in the boxset is live material, but I see a listing for Diamonds & Pearls Dolby Atmos single blu ray on Amazon.co.uk and also listed at HMV, which alludes to me from the listing that it's the album?

A real good sign that Warmer are starting to issue standalone Atmos blu rays.

 

[dobyblue]

I think Paul is stating that the standalone Blu-ray is the only place to get the Atmos mix on a physical product, not that SDE Shop is the only place to buy it.

It’s a poor choice of words, “this standalone Blu-ray is the only option to buy the Atmos mix as a physical product” would have been more accurate.

 

[ssully]

Pity they couldn't dig up/get rights to video of his smoking sets on 'Arsenio' when he was promoting this album.

Probably the best live version of 'Purple Rain' I've heard ( and I saw him in concert four times between 1988 and his death)

 

[marpow]

Prince’s last live Atmos BDV was pretty disappointing for me. Mix wasn’t great and he wants to ‘reimagine’ some songs.

I purchased his last box set with Blu Ray, Welcome 2 America, The Blu Ray was a Live At The Forum.
The Atmos mix was blah, blah, blah. The video sucked.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

I purchased his last box set with Blu Ray, Welcome 2 America, The Blu Ray was a Live At The Forum.
The Atmos mix was blah, blah, blah. The video sucked.
View attachment 95514
View attachment 95515

Yeah, that’s why I did my own up-mix of the main album (not in surround), but I still had to buy the HiRes separately.

 

[Tres Discrete]

I think Paul is stating that the standalone Blu-ray is the only place to get the Atmos mix on a physical product, not that SDE Shop is the only place to buy it.

It’s a poor choice of words, “this standalone Blu-ray is the only option to buy the Atmos mix as a physical product” would have been more accurate.

I agree that it is confusing, but he’s a pretty clever guy…maybe his choice of words was intentional?
He is trying to sell product after all

 

[key_wiz]

I just kept it simple for me and ordered from SDE, as much as I like big box sets, this is one I likely would not dive into.
I am listening now stereo via Tidal at work and it is very pleasant.

Big box sets like this are really for mega-fans only, for sure. I’m in for any Prince sets up through probably “The Gold Experience”. After that? The proper albums are no longer consistent enough for me to want to delve too much into the vault tracks.

But I’m a bit frustrated by the inconsistency of these releases. No uniformity as to the size/shape of the boxes. Jumping back and forth within the catalog. And in the case of “Purple Rain”, at least, a lot of additional material they could/should have included.

 

[BulldogsRus]

I really wish they'd take a stab at a proper 4k remaster (if even possible) and Atmos mix of "Purple Rain" the movie and soundtrack.

 

[key_wiz]

I really wish they'd take a stab at a proper 4k remaster (if even possible) and Atmos mix of "Purple Rain" the movie and soundtrack.

There are longer edits, with additional verses, of “The Beautiful Ones”, “Darling Nikki” and “Purple Rain” I’d love to see released as well.

 

[dobyblue]

Found the best price so far at iMusic and pre-ordered The Harmony Codex as well. Came to CDN$61 whereas two BDs at SDE would be CDN$95 - was going to order Prince from them but will just do the Duran exclusive now.

https://imusic.co/music/06034978286...generation-2023-diamonds-pearls-blu-ray-audio
US$19.49
CDN$26.49

 

[privateuniverse]

U.S. retail links:

Bull Moose: $37.97
Import CDs: $34.29
Amazon: No price listed
Deep Discount: $37.75
CD Universe: $42.49

 

[djstephan]

Now on Apple TV and sounding mighty fine !!

 

[MrSmithers]

Yeah it's dropped on Tidal as well.
https://listen.tidal.com/album/318363731
I listened to a tiny preview and indeed the mix sounded good! Great to have, I'm going to wait until I get the Blu Ray from Amazon in a few weeks to listen to it though. Want it to sound it's best...