No other 90's album has the depth of soul that Graffiti Bridge does.

Graffiti has the two most hauntingly soulful songs of the 90s, The Question Of U and Joy In Repitition. The most heartfelt funk song on any 90's album, We Can Funk. The most soulful lead and follow up singles, Thieves in The Temple and New Power Generation. It's also more spiritual than any other Prince album in the 90s, containing Still Would Stand All Time and Elephant and Flowers. It even has the most heartfelt opening...

Dear dad, things didn't turn out quite like I wanted them too
Sometimes I feel like I'm gonna explode

Everybody should want Graffiti Bridge. It bares Prince's soul with more bite than any other 90's record.

Anji said:

The question of u always felt like it was unfinished because it's just a verse and a chourus then solo.

I do like it tho!

theSpark said:

I felt the same with "Life can be so nice". but then again, it would have probably made the song worst if it was extended.

theSpark said:

The title track sounds unfinished! The rest of the album is boffo.

well, it's defiantly his best album of the 90s.

Jem said:

how so?
I've always felt that way about "i wonder you"---I want more!!!

The Question Of U and Joy In Repitition. We Can Funk.

haha

arent all these songs from like 1986 ?

just shows how shite his output at that time was
that he had to reach back 4 years to when he actually
made some good songs to make a (barely) listenable album
in the 90's

even elephants and flowers and was from 1986

and dont get me started on tick tick bang !!

1980 anyone ? or was it 1979 ?

justanotherasshole said:

Mind your table manners.



'Elephants And Flowers' was not from 1986.


'Tick, Tick, Bang' #1 was neither from 1979 nor 1980, do some research..


It matters not a jot whether 'Graffiti Bridge' was in some ways a compilation of tracks recorded four years or forty years earlier. Prince wrote the songs and should not make apologies for releasing them whenever he damn well pleases. Also, if the album is not generally deemed to be one of his best that's neither here nor there since such a debate always degenerates into a matter of opinion leading absolutely nowhere, as has so often been the case on this forum. We should learn lessons from that.

.

Doozer said:

What does boffo mean?

lovebizzare said:

I disagree.

justanotherasshole said:

I remember reading in an interview from a UK magazine around the time Diamonds & Pearls was released. Prince pointedly says that Graffiti Bridge was meant to be a collection of songs from different eras and he wanted to see how his audience would react to it. I think he acknowledges that it wasn't received well.

That beat from The Time's 'Release It' and Candy blowing hard. Damn!

Variant(s): or bof·fo /'bä-(")fO/
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural boffs or boffos
Etymology: perhaps from box office
Date: 1946
1 : a hearty laugh
2 : a gag or line that produces a hearty laugh
3 : something that is conspicuously successful

On what terms, conspicuously successful?

I love this entire album and it's in my top five favorite Prince albums.

justanotherasshole said:

'81, dahling.

as 4 gb, i still stand by my belief that it sux hot warthog booty. the album wuz a little mo' betta.


find the graffiti edit.
[This message was edited Fri Mar 7 7:38:43 PST 2003 by Handclapsfingasnapz]

Anji, bro, you need to put the crack pipe down and come to your senses. Graffiti Bridge the most soulful album ofthe 90's?? Graffiti Bridge was so soft, so sappy--probably the biggest disappointment of any of Prince's albums in his career considering the buildup of a Purple Rain sequel, etc. This album does NOT stand the test of time. "Can't Stop This Feeling I got" has to be the worst opening song of any Prince album. And the title track?? What the fuck was that? One of the worst Prince songs ever. With the exception of Joy in Repetition, We Can Funk (which by the way, was a much lousier version than the one he did in the 80's), and Question of You, the album sucks! Don't even tell me you feel "Elephants And Flowers". Maybe you did back then when you were 13 years old listening to a new Prince album, but if you play this song now, there is no way you can listen to it the whole way before you'er forced to skip to the next song. I'm disappointed in you Anji. I used to respect your taste in Prince's music a lot more.

-phunk

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Thank you Handclapsfingasnapz! I always knew you could differentiate good Prince music from uninspired, sappy, ill-defined, doesn't stand the test of time Prince music as in Graffiti Bridge.

-phunk

Phunk said:

Phunk, I know you weren't talking to me but I feel Elephants and Flowers. I absolutely love that song. The message in the song is simple and any song that reminds me, that as long as I love God and he loves me, everything will be alright, is okay in my book. Corny, but true. If you ever get to a truly dark place in your life, any reminder helps. I will be ridiculed for this, but if you gonna come, come strong or stay at home!

I really like this album too, i absolutely adore several of the songs on this album, and i know everyone else hates it, but i think it is one of his better 90s efforts. honestly i woud take this over the symbol album, chaos and disorder, come, diamonds and pearls, etc.

Phunk said:

I find the album one of his most angry, lost and searching records of the 90s. I think it is his most soulful.

Graffiti Bridge is a call for hope, honesty and salvation. It is his least cynical recording of the 90s. Rarely has he ever allowed himself to be brought to that level since. The Truth had elements, The Rainbow Children too. Given the backlash against that record, it is no wonder he produced Diamonds and Pearls and Symbol. Again, as much I enjoy those records, they are nowhere near as soulful.

Suggesting Graffiti Bridge is Prince's most soulful record of the 90s does not necessarily mean I think it is his best. I am talking about soul here. There is a difference, I understand.

[/quote]I find the album one of his most angry, lost and searching records of the 90s. I think it is his most soulful.

Graffiti Bridge is a call for hope, honesty and salvation. It is his least cynical recording of the 90s. Rarely has he ever allowed himself to be brought to that level since. The Truth had elements, The Rainbow Children too. Given the backlash against that record, it is no wonder he produced Diamonds and Pearls and Symbol. Again, as much I enjoy those records, they are nowhere near as soulful.

Suggesting Graffiti Bridge is Prince's most soulful record of the 90s does not necessarily mean I think it is his best. I am talking about soul here. There is a difference, I understand.[/quote]

I get what you're sayin', Anji,totally:


There is more of a simmering restlessness and anger brewing under the surface going on in that record.Soul in torment.More emotional vunerability in the lyrics, as opposed to the sometimes over-confidence & plastic hollow sexual bragging in early 90's Prince & the NPG records.I think Prince was in a musical transition period, and you hear the last strains of his 80's sound. It's an interesting album. By contrast, "The Kid" in the movie is less angry, and more a weak victim. "Grafitti Bridge" in it's album and movie form, kind of revealed a more vunerable Prince than usual, before and since. Maybe some fans aren't comfortable with that?

Anji said:

Graffiti Bridge had a very loose, fun, and let it all hang out, sound. Prince let his hair down, wore loose flowing outfits, and played a helluva lotta funk and soul. Some of the stuff like New Power Generation, Melody Cool, and the title track kind of get old real quick. But Joy In Repetition is worth the price of the album alone.

Diamonds and Pearls was definitely a more uptight and refined approach, perhaps him trying to regain some respect from his label, and to show he can still make a marketable album. This also seems to be reflected in his new hairdoo and more uptight outfits.

warning2all said:

What the Black Album has got in funk, it somewhat lacks in soul. Graffiti Bridge is dark but it bares witness to Prince's redemption. As you say, you can't help but feel that 'simmering restlessness and anger brewing under the surface.' Prince had a point to prove on Graffiti Bridge but he actually proves it on Diamonds & Pearls, at the expense of putting his soul on the backburner. That was the cost.

Actually, I feel that the "Come" album was a bit more soulful than Graffiti Bridge. And "Chaos and Disorder" had every bit as much anger and passion as Graffiti Bridge.

Elephants and Flowers, Still Would Stand All Time, and the title track are all very spiritual songs, almost gospel-like. Combine that with a couple of tracks from Lovesexy, and some unreleased ones like "God is Alive"...I think Prince could've kept on the spiritual tip and made Graffiti Bridge an altogether more spiritual and infinitely more cohesive album, as was originally planned.

Did you say soulful, or awful???

Anji said:

YES YES YES I LOVE U!!!

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

The symbol album is when some silly rappin guy took over...