Graffiti Bridge

Prince | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 13, 1990)
• Original Release Date: August 21, 1990
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002LUY
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,648 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Graffiti Bridge [Explicit Content] Prince Label: Warner Bros / WEA Release Date: 8/13/1990 1 Can't Stop This Feeling I Got - 4:24 (Prince [1]) 2 New Power Generation - 3:39 (Prince [1]) 3 Release It - 3:54 (Time [1]) 4 The Question of U - 4:00 (Prince [1]) 5 Elephants and Flowers - 3:54 (Prince [1]) 6 Round and Round - 3:55 (Prince [1] / Campbell, Tevin) 7 We Can Funk - 5:28 (Prince [1] / Clinton, George [1]) 8 Joy in Repetition - 4:53 (Prince [1]) 9 Love Machine - 3:34 (Elisa / Prince [1]) 10 Tick, Tick, Bang - 3:30 (Prince [1]) 11 Shake! - 4:01 (Time [1]) 12 Thieves in the Temple - 3:20 (Prince [1]) 13 The Latest Fashion - 4:02 (Prince [1] / Time [1]) 14 Melody Cool - 3:39 (Prince [1] / Staples, Mavis) 15 Still Would Stand All Time - 5:23 (Prince [1]) 16 Graffiti Bridge - 3:51 (Prince [1] / Campbell, Tevin) 17 New Power Generation, Pt. 2 - 2:57 (Ellis, T.C / Ellis, T.C.)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Overlooked - for sure!, February 14, 2003

By 

Samhot (Star Land) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Graffiti Bridge (Audio CD)

Prince obviously has made a truck load of music - and to think to this present day, he still has hundreds of songs left in the vaults. Aside from music, he also decided to write a few films ("Purple Rain" he didn't write - surprisingly.) In 1986, he made the hilarious, kitschy and stylish "Under The Cherry Moon," which many critics panned. Then, in 1990, he made "Graffiti Bridge," which also got panned (Note: 1987's "Sign O' The Times" I believe was a concert flick, as opposed to an actual scripted film.) A complex and difficult to understand film, it mainly focused on spirituality. Supposedly, it was also a slightly altered follow-up to Prince's role as "the kid" in "Purple Rain."

Each of those films have soundtracks (of the same names of course.) So now, I won't talk much more about the movie. Instead, I'll talk about some of the underrated music found on this soundtrack and musical smorgasbord. There are many collaborations with such r&b/funk/pop artists as The Time, Tevin Campbell, George Clinton, Mavis Staples and several associates who would turn out to be members of Prince's band, The New Power Generation (the track of the same name probably gives hint of this.)

Plenty of diversity can be found here. There's Prince returning to his classic formula - singing and playing all the instruments to certain tracks like "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got," which shows off his instrumental skills (not to mention some [tail]-kicking guitar playing.) Funky, ...shaking numbers like The Time's "Release It," the sex-tinged Prince & George Clinton get up of "We Can Funk." ... "Tick, Tick, Bang," the hilarious, rowdy and rousing party number "The Latest Fashion," which is performed by The Time & Prince, and the very cool lady power of "Melody Cool," performed by Mavis Staples.

However, for me, the highlight of the album is the title track. A dreamy, ethereal number, which begins with some faraway-sounding orchestral bits, leading into the heavenly vocals and choiral-like chorus.' The building vocal crescendos, which are layered atop one another, combined with the fact that this is an inspirational song, has sent me into tears many times when I've listened to it. That's something that almost never happens to me, but this track is the only one that has actually hit me in a deep, sensitive and designated place that rarely gets accessed. [Darn] you, Prince!

A terribly overlooked album. If you're a fan of Prince's diversity, as well as some of his undertakings (The Time, etc), then there's no reason to skip this album. It's fun, exciting, diverse and, yes - moving. Check it out, and have yourself a jolly good time.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Bag, December 7, 2000

By 

M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Graffiti Bridge (Audio CD)

There are some great tracks here amidst a variety of enervated clunkers. Part of the problem is that this is a soundtrack to the movie of the same name, and soundtracks are sometimes linked (and given more depth) by the scenes in which they appear. The anthemic (I wish he'd get away from those) title track is good, but lacks the emotional impact that it might have on the big screen. Several of these tracks just sound too homogenized and bereft of emotion; for example, "Still Would Stand All Time," "Elephants and Flowers," and "New Power Generation." Then there's the annoying "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got"; I can't help but feeling this sounds too much like Kenny Loggins (!) "Footloose" (another soundtrack title cut).

Here's the good news: Mavis Staples, Mavis Staples, Mavis Staples. On "Melody Kool," her rich husky voice is soaked in soul; Prince performs all the instruments. "Question of You" - equal parts Robert Cray and Bela Lugosi, Prince hits his stride with this ballad, as he does on "Joy of Repetition." ON `Joy' he seems interested in the music again, and there's some excellent screaming guitar work here. "Love Machine" with Morris Day and Elisa on vocals, is either a tribute or a mocking of Michael Jackson, in any event, it's playful and danceable. Finally, "Shake" is an old-fashioned rocker, with great cheesy organ effects, it's like a 50's or garage band song if you had a few million dollars for superb sound.

Some of the "big" songs have some excitement to them; "NPG (part II) has a nice messy sound with a genuine-sounding rap. It moves along nicely, but still needs some instrumentation or vocals to cut through the wall. On the mediocre numbers, there's simply too much background, and not enough foreground... again, this may be due partially to the requirements of a soundtrack. On the better numbers, Prince is superb.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Underwhelming Prince, March 23, 2010

By 

Scott T. Rivers (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Graffiti Bridge (Audio CD)

Disappointing soundtrack to an ill-conceived Prince movie - as though the world needed a sequel to "Purple Rain." Even guest artists such as George Clinton, Mavis Staples and The Time cannot save "Graffiti Bridge" (1990) from utter derivativeness. Only "Thieves in the Temple," "The Question of U" and Tevin Campbell's "Round and Round" are worthy of your time. A definite low point in the Prince discography.