UPDATE: The poll has been closed. Click here to see the results:

http://www.cs.cornell.edu...thm=runoff

Hi again:

Condorcet Album Poll: Graffiti Bridge

This is the next installment in a series of polls ranking the songs on each album officially released by Prince or O+>. The goal of this project is to determine which tracks should be included in a final poll to determine the overall top 25 Prince songs in the opinion of his fans.

For those of you who haven’t been following the polls, these are different than the usual “best song” threads in that they combine the preferences of all the voters into an overall list.

I am going through these in the same order that they were ranked in the earlier poll of the best Prince albums. Now's the time of Graffiti Bridge. 17 songs to rank this time.

Please don’t discuss the preliminary results or campaign for your favorite song(s) until the poll is closed. I plan to close the poll on Friday, but I may close it early if the preliminary results are discussed on this site. This is to make sure the poll is as accurate as possible.

Click here to vote in the current poll:

http://www.cs.cornell.edu...1a5b69f132

For the previous polls, click here:

http://www.cs.cornell.edu...thm=runoff

http://www.cs.cornell.edu/w8/~andru/cgi-perl/civs/vote.pl?id=E_869001eb46cf806c&akey=5651316958e6bd23

http://www.cs.cornell.edu...thm=runoff

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Also, if you haven't yet, please nominate your favorite Prince songs that were not released on Prince's albums or singles here:

prince.org/msg/7/364193

Thanks!

[Edited 8/19/11 5:57am]

[Edited 8/19/11 6:06am]

Up to 23 votes. Keep going!

Time to go to bed for me, with 31 votes! Thanks everybody! Keep voting!

Voted!

first one i've done, enjoyed it! bit gutted I turned up too late to do the others

Up to 61 votes! Keep going! This poll has ALREADY broken the record of participation, and there are still 20 hours left to vote!

Voted

The poll has been closed, with impressive participation: 68 votes! This is, by far, the poll in which more people have taken part. Thanks everybody!

Joy In Repetition has won easily. All the Prince songs in the album rank higher than the associates ones.

One thing of the results I disagree with: I like Graffiti Bridge (the song). Not exactly my favourite, but I ranked it in the first half. Sweet melody, nice way to end the album.

I guess it makes sense that Prince gave the best material to himself.

"Tick, Tick, Bang" doesn't seem to be that popular on this album. I wonder how the original version would have been recieived if it had been released on Controversy or as a Controversy-era B-side. The original version has a rawness and urgency that the 1990 version lacks.

I've always had fond memories of "Round and Round" and hoped it would rate a little higher. The video had deeper rotation on MTV than any other track from Graffitti Bridge, along with clips from Color Me Badd, Boz II Men, Marky Mark, M.C. Hammer and C+C Music Factory. I was only 13 when it came out; so it was cool to see a kid like Tevin Campbell getting Prince's permission to bust a move.

It's a simple pop song, but I still smile when I hear it.

Ah, nostalgia... Guess you had to be 13 in 1990 :-/

UltraLash said:

I've always had fond memories of "Round and Round" and hoped it would rate a little higher. The video had deeper rotation on MTV than any other track from Graffitti Bridge, along with clips from Color Me Badd, Boz II Men, Marky Mark, M.C. Hammer and C+C Music Factory. I was only 13 when it came out; so it was cool to see a kid like Tevin Campbell getting Prince's permission to bust a move.

It's a simple pop song, but I still smile when I hear it.

Ah, nostalgia... Guess you had to be 13 in 1990 :-/

Same here! I was also 13 when Graffiti Bridge was published, and was discovering Prince's music back then. But Round And Round didn't get much airplay in Spain, in fact no track from Graffiti Bridge did.

Sometimes I wonder if the high appreciation I have of Graffiti Bridge and Diamonds And Pearls is, at least in part, due to nostalgia. I suppose so, but the same should apply to Love Symbol, and the fact is that I don't appreciate this album as much as the other two.

Javi said:

UltraLash said:

I've always had fond memories of "Round and Round" and hoped it would rate a little higher. The video had deeper rotation on MTV than any other track from Graffitti Bridge, along with clips from Color Me Badd, Boz II Men, Marky Mark, M.C. Hammer and C+C Music Factory. I was only 13 when it came out; so it was cool to see a kid like Tevin Campbell getting Prince's permission to bust a move.

It's a simple pop song, but I still smile when I hear it.

Ah, nostalgia... Guess you had to be 13 in 1990 :-/

Same here! I was also 13 when Graffiti Bridge was published, and was discovering Prince's music back then. But Round And Round didn't get much airplay in Spain, in fact no track from Graffiti Bridge did.

Sometimes I wonder if the high appreciation I have of Graffiti Bridge and Diamonds And Pearls is, at least in part, due to nostalgia. I suppose so, but the same should apply to Love Symbol, and the fact is that I don't appreciate this album as much as the other two.

I personally believe Love Symbol is a much stronger album creatively than Graffiti and Diamonds. Those two albums were more radio-friendly, though. I was raised in Florida, and New Jack stuff like "Round and Round" and Color Me Badd's "I Wanna Sex You Up" were feeding the eventual boy band craze in Orlando. Throw in some P.M. Dawn, Heavy D, Boyz II Men... Oh, I could go on.

UltraLash said:

Javi said:

Same here! I was also 13 when Graffiti Bridge was published, and was discovering Prince's music back then. But Round And Round didn't get much airplay in Spain, in fact no track from Graffiti Bridge did.

Sometimes I wonder if the high appreciation I have of Graffiti Bridge and Diamonds And Pearls is, at least in part, due to nostalgia. I suppose so, but the same should apply to Love Symbol, and the fact is that I don't appreciate this album as much as the other two.

I personally believe Love Symbol is a much stronger album creatively than Graffiti and Diamonds. Those two albums were more radio-friendly, though. I was raised in Florida, and New Jack stuff like "Round and Round" and Color Me Badd's "I Wanna Sex You Up" were feeding the eventual boy band craze in Orlando. Throw in some P.M. Dawn, Heavy D, Boyz II Men... Oh, I could go on.

Yeah, all those artists also got airplay here, although not as much as in the States, I'm afraid.

I can't help thinking Love Symbol has too much filler (though I know many people say this of Graffiti Bridge and Diamonds And Pearls!) and is overproduced...

Stay tuned for the next poll: Crystal Ball (the 1998 official release)!

I'd love to contribute to the Crystal Ball poll, but I've never heard the whole album. Anyone have any ideas on how I can track it down?

Javi said:

UltraLash said:

I personally believe Love Symbol is a much stronger album creatively than Graffiti and Diamonds. Those two albums were more radio-friendly, though. I was raised in Florida, and New Jack stuff like "Round and Round" and Color Me Badd's "I Wanna Sex You Up" were feeding the eventual boy band craze in Orlando. Throw in some P.M. Dawn, Heavy D, Boyz II Men... Oh, I could go on.

Yeah, all those artists also got airplay here, although not as much as in the States, I'm afraid.

I can't help thinking Love Symbol has too much filler (though I know many people say this of Graffiti Bridge and Diamonds And Pearls!) and is overproduced...

Minus the segues, the "filler" on Love Symbol is still overflowing with creativitiy. Continental, The Max, Arrogance and 3 Chains O' Gold all sound like a bunch of cool ideas mashed together into "almost-songs." I wish they were better developed, but at least they're still fun and interesting to listen to.

UltraLash said:

I'd love to contribute to the Crystal Ball poll, but I've never heard the whole album. Anyone have any ideas on how I can track it down?

The set is relatively easy to find in amazon, ebay, etc., but it's quite expensive, very difficult to get for less than, say, 75 $.

Javi said:

UltraLash said:

I'd love to contribute to the Crystal Ball poll, but I've never heard the whole album. Anyone have any ideas on how I can track it down?

The set is relatively easy to find in amazon, ebay, etc., but it's quite expensive, very difficult to get for less than, say, 75 $.

I've seen it in a bargain bin for under $20 before, and I didn't buy it. Dammit.