Prince – Graffiti Bridge

Album Revolution #10:

I personal thought that "Prince" would have given up the idea of doing another Movie (especially since he did the Soundtrack to "Batman")....

Then came the movie "Graffiti Bridge"...

I'm sorry, but the movie positivily sucked!!!!!, Now, "Graffiti Bridge", the album itself, is not that bad of an album...Actually it's really GOOD!!!!!!!

The first single, #1 HIT, and ABSOLUTELY the best song "Thieves In The Temple", is an ABSOLUTE STANDOUT!!!!

The next single, "New Power Generation" along with his newly assembled Band ("Levi Seacer Jr.", Bass, "Candy Duffer", Saxophone, "Dr. Matt Fink", Keyboard, "Michael Bland", Drums, "Rosie Gaines", Vocals, along with "Tony (M) Mosley", "Kirk (J) Johnson", and "Damon (D) Dickson" as Vocals and Dancers) is also an standout, and sounds like a anthem call....

Then there are songs like "The Question Of U" and "Joy In Repetition", which are very good offerings....

It also was helpful to have "The Time" (Shake), "Tevin Campbell" (Round and Round), and "Mavis Staples" (Melody Cool) on this set.....

There was no real Slow Song on here, but there is a Crown Jewel in "Still Would Stand All Time" (featuring "The Steels")....

The "Title Track", featuring "Mavis Staples" and "Tevin Campbell", along with former "NPG" , "Levi Seacer Jr." (who was honestly still with the Band), "Boni Boyer" and the One and ONLY "Sheila E." (along with Strings by "Mr. Classical Clare Fischer"), is a pretty nice song...I will say this though...If you are looking for it to be like a "Purple Rain" type Jam, you will be disappointed!!!!! This is where you have to put things into perspective....

"New Power Generation (Pt. II)" (featuring "Mavis Staples", "Robin Power" and "Tevin Campbell"), just continued the ushering of the "NPG Movement"....I have the 45, so I mashed them together, so I could listen to Part I & II together....

In my opinion, this album ran rings around "Batman!!!!!!!!"...I have come to think about it, and I do believe that "Prince" was truly going through something, which prompt him to do this project...I guess if the Movie didn't suck eggs so bad, this album would have done better, but oh well, it's not "Purple Rain"!!!! We can be so glad that Prince's movie career stopped here, but thank goodness the music never stopped!!!!

Regardless of the Movie's flaws, this is a Prince Classic......

PS: 7/5/2024: I was able to get my hands of the 2023 "NPG"/"Warner Music" Reissue....Even though I hate the "Warner Music" name change, it was VERY GOOD to see the Label keep "Graffiti Bridge" on the roster....Anyway, having this Vinyl in MY HANDS, helps puts things into perspective....It sounds SO GOOD and CLEAN, that I may give the Movie another SHOT!!!!!!

An information on graffiti bridge an alternative take? Assuming it is a bootleg?

Beautiful sounding vinyl. Def an overlooked gem in the Prince library.

I've never been in the camp of ing over Prince's mid-career work. While much of his classic 1980s period work cast a large shadow over anything he later recorded, a majority of his 1990s albums were excellent in their own right. The reception of Graffiti Bridge is sharply divided between music enthusiasts, hardcore fans, and novices alike, with some ing it as an uninspired, muddled entry in the Prince canon: the moment the man's Midas touch began to slip, relying on his vaulted material for gold. Not to mention, It's solely tied to its accompanying disaster of a film. But, there's more to it than meets the eye. The strength of Graffiti Bridge lies in how well it demonstrates Prince's all-encoming pop mastery. Underneath the unique celebration of sex, spirituality, and salvation is a thrillingly eclectic sprawl that underscored just how rich this man's stylistic and topical reach could get. Also, the diverse ensemble of guest artists that were employed here is the icing on the cake—who else could pull legendary funkster George Clinton, gospel-soul godmother Mavis Staples, R&B child prodigy Tevin Campbell, and streetwise funk protégés The Time under the same bill and make it work within this album's musical and thematic narrative? Even if this won't go down in history as a noteworthy work in his canon, it's certainly an undervalued triumph that deserved a better fate. Plus, an album chock full of overlooked gems like "The Question of You," "Joy in Repetition," "Elephants & Flowers," "Still Would Stand All Time," and "Thieves in the Temple" is worth anybody's time.

First, think of a movie as a two-hour video and then accept the album as an accompanying audio counterpart.

Sure this film was mainly an experiment - musicals generally are an experiment in the film context. Some of them are superb, many are pure lemonade... And "Graffiti Bridge" isn't a catastrophe many tend to present, more of a clumsy "west side (love) story" attempt that didn't work. The music, of course, saves a great deal and the only "downside" to it is it's rather a compilation of songs that didn't surface on previous albums where they should have, here presented under the "excuse" of a soundtrack.

"The Question Of U" actually was originally written at the time of "Under The Cherry Moon", so there's no need to speculate on that one. And yes, it's an ace piece. "Joy In Repetition" also dates from around the same time (and features the same crowd noise sound that was previously included on Lovesexy's "Eye No"). On the other hand, comparing this album to "Batman" is a little bit baffling. The only "link" to "Batman" is the fact "Graffiti Bridge" is a soundtrack album, but altogether features a far greater variety of collaborators aside from Prince alone.

Technically stellar but deceptively stunning on the surface, "Batman" is one of Prince's less greater albums. "Graffiti Bridge" is far richer in styles it explores and exploits. Its principal hits - "Thieves In The Temple" and "The New Power Generation" are typical funky Prince tunes that carry the promotional side of an album which offers a wider range of songs that should have been even greater hits. Revaluing the album almost 30 years later may seem a bit pathetic in a "nostalgic" attempt at something that at the time felt like a muse gone dry, but "Graffiti Bridge" stood its test of time a great deal.

"Release It", "Round And Round", "Shake", "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got", "Melody Cool", "Elephants And Flowers", "We Can Funk", "Tick Tick Bang" and the closing ballad "Graffiti Bridge" to name a few from the vast collection, speak volumes standing in its defense. Maybe not "Sign O'The Times" as such but still its own collection of remarkable genius that is Prince (and his brigade of amazing collaborators).

Repressing coming November !!!!! Don't pay these people $79 for it. They didn't make the art, Prince did. They don't deserve to profit off his death.

Some of the albums in this particular batch fall in the era when CD sales took over the industry, and Warners and the other big record companies made little to no vinyl editions of the records. These new pressings will feature the albums in their original format (no bonus tracks). Here’s the full list of what’s to come:

June 21st: “Around the World in A Day” (1985)
July 19th: “Parade (Under the Cherry Moon soundtrack)” (1986)
August 23rd: “Sign o’ the Times”(1987)
September 20th: “The Black Album”(1987 recorded; 1994 released)
October 18th: “Lovesexy” (1988) and “Batman” soundtrack (1989)
November 22nd: “Graffiti Bridge” soundtrack (1990) and “Diamonds and Pearls” (1991)
December 13th: “The Love Symbol” (1992)

What, no one has an opinion of this? Ok, Graffiti Bridge is not Prince finest hour, though it survived the tremendous flop that was the movie. This soundtrack to the movie you will never see has a mix of the classic Prince funky jams, some of the new jack swing Prince already suggested in the Batman songs, and some collaboration of artists he ed. Individually there are great songs all along the album, either from Prince or any of his friends , but among them, clear standouts: "The question of U", a ballad that could only be composed by Prince (and which seems like a second part of "Under the cherry Moon") with an amazing guitar solo, and the amazingly funky (and pure new jack swing delight) "Round and Round" sang by a 13 year old Tevin Campbell. The rest? Up to your choice. Prince still had its touch and one cannot deny that there is a lot of care behind this songs, but unfortunately his best ideas were abandoning him and his audience was already being alienated.