AND ONE MORE THING: Remember a few...

AND ONE MORE THING: Remember a few years ago when Prince albums got virtual consensus acclaim from the critics? Not so now. A scan of reviews by nine major U.S. publications--initiating Pop Eye’s periodic roundup of critics’ opinions of major releases--shows a critical rift. Five give the formerly Purple One’s new “Diamonds and Pearls” the thumbs down, with only three singing his praises, while Rolling Stone came down in the middle.

Perhaps the best zinger came from reviewer Mim Udovitch in the New York-based Village Voice: “Dig if you will the picture: Prince is really desperate for a hit,” she wrote, mimicking Prince’s own 1985 hit “When Doves Cry.” “The record as a whole sounds cautious and impersonal, more compromise than commercialism.”

J. D. Considine of the Baltimore Sun was only slightly kinder: “It would be a terrific album, except for one thing. It’s boring. Moments are about all this album offers. . . . on a compositional level, ‘Diamonds and Pearls’ is just cut glass and paste.”

But, in the interest of fairness, here’s a rave from Musician’s Charles M. Young: “Beyond the philosophy and theology and sexology, this is simply a knockout party album.” And a 3 1/2-stars review by Edna Gundersen of USA Today called it an “uplifting, soul-fueled pop bash.”