The twelfth studio album, 1990's soundtrack to "Graffiti Bridge" really has some Prince songs on it that are really standouts that seemed to have become better with time. My very favorite is "The Question of U." Why was it never released as a single??? IT IS BRILLIANT!

Anyway, there is an interesting Wikipedia listing for it that is attached below. (It sure makes me miss Prince at the start of the 90's!)

The album was much better received in sales than the film, reaching #6 in the US and #1 in the UK. Nearly every song on the record was written by Prince despite the handful of artists performing, including Tevin Campbell, Mavis Staples and The Time. The album produced the hit singles "Thieves in the Temple" and "New Power Generation", an anthem in two parts celebrating Prince's newly created backing band, The New Power Generation. The band would get its first official outing on Prince's next album, Diamonds and Pearls. Though its 17 tracks constituted a double album, the significance of this was paled by the rising popularity of the CD format.

Evolution of the album

The concept for the album and film began as early as 1987, or possibly earlier, but kept getting delayed for various reasons. The title track was originally recorded during this period, hence the liner notes listing Sheila E. and Boni Boyer as performers on the track. In fact, nearly the entire album is composed of previously recorded tunes that were updated for this release.

"Tick, Tick, Bang" was originally from 1981 during the Controversy sessions, and considered for Vanity 6. Written by Prince under the pseudonym Joey Coco, it was originally a more punk rock number with a bass synthesizer, the update of the song includes an uncredited drum sample from Jimi Hendrix's "Little Miss Lover". "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got" was from 1982, but later updated in 1986 for his unreleased project Dream Factory, along with a 1983 track, "We Can Funk". A melody similar to that of "Purple Rain" can be heard during the bridge of "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got". The two tracks were drastically updated for Graffiti Bridge.

"The Question of U" was from 1985 during the Parade sessions, surviving with little updating to the original version. "Joy In Repetition" was a Crystal Ball outtake from 1986 that survived unchanged. Prince even kept the original segue of party noise at the beginning of the song, which is also found at the end of "Eye No", leading into "Alphabet St." from Lovesexy. As mentioned, the title track was updated from the 1987 recording, as well as "Elephants & Flowers" (from the unreleased Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic album) and "The Latest Fashion" (later given to The Time). "Melody Cool" and "Still Would Stand All Time" were considered for an album called Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic in 1988, with the later two performed in some Lovesexy aftershows. "Still Would Stand All Time" was also considered for Batman, but was replaced by "Scandalous". The four tracks featuring The Time were originally going to be on their unreleased Corporate World album, recorded in 1989, though "The Latest Fashion" shares elements with "My Summertime Thang" from their album Pandemonium.

The only truly "new" material recorded for the album was "Round and Round", "New Power Generation", and "Thieves in the Temple", recorded in January 1990, and included at the last minute. Many outtakes for the album are also in circulation, several of which exist as samples in "New Power Generation (Pt. II)".

Charts

Singles and Hot 100 chart placings

• "Thieves in the Temple" maxi-single (#6 US, #1 R&B, #7 UK)

1. "Thieves in the Temple" (extended)
2. "Thieves in the House"
3. "Temple House dub"

• "New Power Generation" maxi-single (#64 US, #27 R&B, #26 UK)

1. "New Power Generation" (funky weapon remix)
2. "T.C.'s Rap"
3. "Brother with a Purpose"
4. "Get Off"
5. "The Lubricated Lady"
6. "Loveleft/Loveright"

• "Round and Round" maxi-single (#12 US, #3 R&B)

1. "Round and Round" (Solu Mix Edit)
2. "Round and Round" (The House Mix)
3. "Goodbye" (Tevin's Dub - Part 1 & 2)
4. "Goodbye" (Soiddub & Listen)

• "Melody Cool" maxi-single (#36 R&B)

1. "Melody Cool" (Extended LP Mix)
2. "Melody Cool" (Extended Remix)
3. "Melody Cool" (Deep House Vocal)
4. "Melody Cool" (Mellow Dub Mix)
5. "Time Waits for No-one" (Edit)

• "Shake!" maxi-single

1. "Shake!" (Extended Mix) – 5:03
2. "Shake!" (Battle Mix) – 4:06
3. "Shake!" (Funky House Mix) – 8:20
4. "The Latest Fashion" (Remix) – 6:20
5. "Shake!" (Boom Mix) – 5:01
6. "Shake!" – 4:00

"Joy In Repetition" was a Crystal Ball outtake from 1986 that survived unchanged.

Sadly, Not True. The original had no segue, and started with some of his best Linn Drum machine

parts, and when it was released, it had the same boring segue that was between Eye No, and Alphabet St.

stillwaiting said:

"Joy In Repetition" was a Crystal Ball outtake from 1986 that survived unchanged.

Sadly, Not True. The original had no segue, and started with some of his best Linn Drum machine

parts, and when it was released, it had the same boring segue that was between Eye No, and Alphabet St.

The segue was originally on the 1986 configuration of the Crystal Ball LP. The crowd noise was at the end of "The Ball" and segued into "Joy In Repetition". The complete outtake with the Linn drum intro is still my favorite, but, aside from the intro, the relased version is identical to the outtake.

duggalolly said:

stillwaiting said:

"Joy In Repetition" was a Crystal Ball outtake from 1986 that survived unchanged.

Sadly, Not True. The original had no segue, and started with some of his best Linn Drum machine

parts, and when it was released, it had the same boring segue that was between Eye No, and Alphabet St.

The segue was originally on the 1986 configuration of the Crystal Ball LP. The crowd noise was at the end of "The Ball" and segued into "Joy In Repetition". The complete outtake with the Linn drum intro is still my favorite, but, aside from the intro, the relased version is identical to the outtake.

not soliciting here, just want to know what bootleg is the non segue version of JIR on?

RicoN said:

FormerlyKnownAs said:

• "Round and Round" maxi-single (#12 US, #3 R&B)

1. "Round and Round" (Solu Mix Edit)
2. "Round and Round" (The House Mix)
3. "Goodbye" (Tevin's Dub - Part 1 & 2)
4. "Goodbye" (Soiddub & Listen)

The Round And Round US maxi-single I'm familiar with has these tracks:

Round And Round US CD Maxi-Single

1 Round And Round (Single Version)

2 Round And Round (Soul Mix Extended)

3 Round And Round (The House)

4 Round And Round (Soul Dub)

Round And Round US 12" Vinyl Maxi-Single

1 Round And Round (Soul Mix Extended)

2 Round And Round (Soul Dub)

3 Round And Round (The House)

KingSausage said:

Good god, nobody should be familiar with ANY Round and Round maxi single.

The Graffiti Bridge Soundtract has major Brilliant music/lyriucs on it, imo. And it instilled lots of radical feelings that I still enjoy to this day.

Prince has so many songs that were sure to be hits, if only the masses knew what they've been missing:

I love it

KingSausage said:

Is his screaming on We Can Funk (in the background towards the end) his highest note he's hit? It's gotta be up there... might be my favorite screams by him too, I'd love to have a less "busy" version of We Can Funk.

perhaps his only album that makes no sense, despite some gems here and there...

Prince has released worse album which at least made sense/had focus...

colorblu said:

The Graffiti Bridge Soundtract has major Brilliant music/lyriucs on it, imo. And it instilled lots of radical feelings that I still enjoy to this day.

Prince has so many songs that were sure to be hits, if only the masses knew what they've been missing: O( >

Agreed.

We Can Funk is one of my favorite songs in general. The 10 min version, Dream Factory version, and GB version are all ridiculous.

Joy In Repetition has one of the most intense guitar solos of all time, no bullshi*t.

Putting aside the non-Prince tracks, I feel that this is a fun album that offered a handful of standout tracks and was a neat cap on a 12 year period of originality and creativity that he has obviously never duplicated.

"Cant stop this Feeling I Got" was a catchy little pop-rock opener reminiscent of "Play in the Sunshine", and "New Power Generation" likewise had a pleasing groove and catchy chorus.

I will say that I wish Prince had done "Release It" himself, I thought it was a great funky-as-Hell track and a worthy successor to "Housequake", and while I was always a Time fan, I was just a much bigger Prince fan.

"The Question Of U" and "Joy In Repetition" stood out for me for the guitar solos of course, but also the melancholy and emotion, particularly with JIR.

I always enjoyed "We Can Funk", thought it was bouncy and sexy, and I found that the drums and synths created a big fun wall of sound. The song also builds to a nice sexy crescendo, and I like the change-up at the end that leads into JIR.

"Thieves In The Temple" has a another drumbeat I always enjoyed, melancholy but still with a slinky, sexy groove. I almost always listen to the extended version.

"Tick Tick Bang" is the craziest thing on the album, I always enjoyed the chaotic mix and wild interplay of guitar, synths, and beat. Throw in the falsetto and the nutty lyrics, and this may be the one of the last times I found Prince to be totally off the wall and totally original, producing something I had never heard before.

"The Latest Fashion" is again, catchy, toe-tapping, with a pleasing beat that changes up. Prince's silly little rap near the end is mercifully short.

My one wish is that the album would have ended on a snappier note, - a joyous "Baby I'm A Star" type number would have been nice- but I found "Still Would Stand All Time" to be a rather stirring and emotional number at the time, and "Graffiti Bridge" to be irresistibly catchy, the type of song perfectly suited to play over the closing credits of a happy ending, and alongside CSTFIG, a nice bookend to the album.

I also really liked the production on this album, something I haven't been able to say a lot of since. Prince's songs on the album share a unity of sound- many of them have a similar feel of synths and beat and guitar that I felt blended together well, even though the styles- bouncy rock, R&B, ballads- were as usual varied.

It's a good album. Some of it I can do without (Elisa Fiorello on Love Machine to me is like nails on a chalkboard) but there are some gems.

The Question of U

Elephants & Flowers

Joy In Repetition

Still Would Stand All Time

...all amazing!

Love Machine, The Latest Fashion and the title track should've been chucked to the bottom of Lake Minnetonka.

Can't Stop This Feeling I Got

New Power Generation

The Question of U

Elephants & Flowers

We Can Funk

Joy In Repetition

Tick, Tick, Bang

Theives In the Temple (Remix)

Pink Cashmere

Still Would Stand All Time

Graffiti Bridge

New Power Generation Pt. II

Loveleft, Loveright (hidden track)

Graffiti Bridge for me. I have no idea why he decided to include all the associated artist tracks on the record. It just ruins the flow of an album that sounds and flows well with only Prince tracks on it.

I never really gave this album a chance to grow on me, maybe I should try a bit harder. Funnily enough I used to dislike "Thieves In Temple" on the Hits 1 but it eventually grew on me.

This (highlighted) isn't right.

"Tick, Tick, Bang" was originally from 1981 during the Controversy sessions, and considered for Vanity 6. Written by Prince under the pseudonym Joey Coco.

Fuckin' Wikipedia.

When I went to Chicago back in the beginning of the 90s, I constantly listenned to that album, and it grew on me, I felt the words in my pores..

I love the album.

Now, he's going to Chicago, we chat about that..so strange; sometimes, coincidences happen and it's so unlogical, as if ideas, minds collided.

billymeade said:

Is his screaming on We Can Funk (in the background towards the end) his highest note he's hit? It's gotta be up there... might be my favorite screams by him too, I'd love to have a less "busy" version of We Can Funk.

There is a less "busy" version. But I've only seen it on the boot CRUCIAL...

Hmmm... I may have to revisit this album tonight or sometime this week. I posted on another topic that Graffiti Bridge, for me, got worse as time went on. But I guess if you take out all of the associated artists, it is a cool album. That was mainly why I haven't listened to it for a long, long time even though when I first got it I really liked it. There is absolutely no flow and I know it's supposed to be a soundtrack but PR didn't have Time or Appolonia songs on it so wtf? (but even if it did, it'd still be a helluva lot better than Graffiti Bridge. On second thought, I might have to add those songs to PR and burn it that way!)

PurpleJedi said:

It's a good album. Some of it I can do without (Elisa Fiorello on Love Machine to me is like nails on a chalkboard) but there are some gems.

The Question of U

Elephants & Flowers

Joy In Repetition

Still Would Stand All Time

...all amazing!

Love Machine, The Latest Fashion and the title track should've been chucked to the bottom of Lake Minnetonka.

I agree about "The Latest Fashion".It's surprising that,for the 'big battle scene' with The Time,Prince chose such a lackluster song.Plus,the lyrics are silly.

I find most of this album to be "just alright".It's not terrible,but it's not all that exciting,either.

For me,the highlights are "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got","We Can Funk" and "Thieves In The Temple".

Everything else is either decent or simply mediocre ("The Latest Fashion","Release It","New Power Generation").

PurpleJedi said:

The Question of U

Elephants & Flowers

Joy In Repetition

Still Would Stand All Time

...all amazing!

Yes. add in the 'Thieves' extended version and it makes a great E.P.

I'm not mad keen on this album as a whole though. 6/10

SoulAlive said:

PurpleJedi said:

It's a good album. Some of it I can do without (Elisa Fiorello on Love Machine to me is like nails on a chalkboard) but there are some gems.

The Question of U

Elephants & Flowers

Joy In Repetition

Still Would Stand All Time

...all amazing!

Love Machine, The Latest Fashion and the title track should've been chucked to the bottom of Lake Minnetonka.

I agree about "The Latest Fashion".It's surprising that,for the 'big battle scene' with The Time,Prince chose such a lackluster song.Plus,the lyrics are silly.

Since the soundtrack came out before the movie when I heard "The Latest Fashion" it DID sound like it would be a big battle scene. Unfortunately there must have been a big re-write before the movie came out because the movie version of the "battle" was nothing like what I imagined it would be from listening to the song.