Happy 30th Anniversary to Artist’s twelfth studio album (and soundtrack to the film) Graffiti Bridge, originally released August 21, 1990.
The promise of a Purple Rain sequel was enough to make any purple heart skip. With the announcement that Prince and The Time were heading back to the ongoing story of the Kid, excitement built around the promise of what a sequel to one of the greatest rock films and soundtracks of all time would be like.
But as reality would bear witness, the aspirations of a Purple Rain sequel were somewhat misplaced. As a film, Graffiti Bridge has a pretty straightforward plot, yet somehow it comes across as convoluted and somewhat unfocused. The viewing experience, when set against the near perfect standard of its predecessor, was underwhelming. As for the soundtrack, it suffers a little from the same issues, but ultimately redeems itself on the strength of the new Prince music. And besides, a new Prince venture was always bound to be exciting, so it was definitely a different story.
For the most part, the Prince tracks are amongst his strongest for that era. Opening the album with “Dear Dad things didn’t turn out quiet like I wanted them to…,” there was an obvious nod to the “Dearly beloved” intro of “Let’s Go Crazy,” but “Can’t Stop This Feeling I Got” actually harks back to the early ‘80s, 1999 era of recording. But this was hardly his strongest album opener. In fact, with its rockabilly vibe, it transports me back to the cheesy anthems of 1980s movies like Footloose (1984), not quite the auspicious start I was hoping for.
Thankfully though, Prince delivered on tracks like the funk heavy “New Power Generation” with its mix of social consciousness and dance grooves, and the super funky “Release It” credited to (not necessarily performed by) The Time.
As if echoing the competition motifs in Purple Rain, Prince gives many of the funkier tracks to The Time or other guest artists, being more content to explore other sonic terrains. As a result, the tepid “Shake!” and the groove-driven “The Latest Fashion” (refashioned as “My Summertime Thang” on The Time’s 1990 Pandemonium release) lack a little of the finish and focus of some of the other tracks. And amongst the throng of guest artists, the new jack swing inspired tracks “Round and Round” by Tevin Campbell and “Love Machine” by The Time feel limp and generic.
The saving grace is the gospel funk of “Melody Cool” with the force of nature Mavis Staples behind the mic and Prince behind the board, and the P-Funk meets Minneapolis sound jam that is “We Can Funk.”
“We Can Funk” (original circa 1983) is a true meeting of the minds. This is one of the rare occasions when two artists with distinct feels come together and it meshes without one overpowering the other. George Clinton’s understated vocal delivery has a sense of confidence, while Prince’s delivery is filled with a sense of urgency and passion. It’s one of the standout tracks on the album for me.
This left Prince space to play, unleashing the brilliant blues inspired “The Question of U” (originally recorded in 1985). With that flanged underwater bass underpinning the song, Prince’s vocals cut clear and reach for the heavens in their bid to find the answer, the infectiously skittish “Elephants & Flowers” (originally recorded in 1987) with its hopeful aura has an amazing arrangement of Prince’s layered backing vocals that are amongst his best. I contend this is one of Prince’s most underrated tracks.
The off cast “Joy In Repetition” finds a welcome home here and can easily be pushed aside as one of Prince’s “experiments,” but that just diminishes its brilliance. With a slow build melody, half spoken, half sung vocal delivery and unfolding story of passion, this is Prince at his most free. He even has time to tease the much lored and widely unheard (at that time) “Soul Psychodelicide.”
With an uncredited sample of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Miss Lover,” Prince combines groove and a sense of humor in the loop heavy “Tick, Tick, Bang.” Never has arriving too soon been so boastful. The track toes the line of misstep for me, but stays this side of the line.
Sadly, the titular track “Graffiti Bridge” crosses the line, and how. Whilst musically it is a richly textured song, the lyrical melody fails to gather you up in the way you feel Prince was hoping this obvious reach of an anthem would deliver. It very much ends up feeling like “Purple Rain” lite.
But all this unfocused and sometimes weak delivery can be forever forgiven whenever Prince delivers a song in the caliber of “Thieves In The Temple,” arguably one his strongest moments on record. A haunting dance track, “Thieves” hits hard with its inventive drum programming (just pay attention to the hi-hat pattern) and the layered vocals hook you straight away. Concise and packing a punch, the album version is an absolute masterpiece that is unbelievably improved upon in the extended 12” cut.
Likewise, the gospel inspired “Still Would Stand All Time” is a revelation. Soulful, sorrowful, and yearning, it’s a beautifully arranged and composed track, sparse yet full and comforting—a masterpiece of Princely proportions. The layered vocals alone are a marvel. Like “The Question of U,” “Joy In Repetition,” “Elephants and Flowers,” and “Thieves In The Temple,” this was the music we craved from Prince. And these are the tracks from Graffiti Bridge that remain inviting and present, whilst the other tracks show their age.
As a whole listening experience, Graffiti Bridge is uneven, occasionally misguided, and lacks the purity of vision that exists in most of Prince’s canon. With the calamity of the accompanying film, the moments of brilliance the album does contain can get lost. Ultimately, it’s better for its standalone Prince tracks than for the collective it offers. And if it had some worried about Prince’s viability as a commercial success when contrasted against the smash that was Batman released just over a year earlier, those concerns would soon be silenced with the release of his next album, the worldwide smash Diamonds and Pearls (1991).
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