Anji said:

i feel u on graffiti bridge bein soulful... its like if the rainbow children was a double album graffiti bridge would have been the rock n roll side...while the rainbow children would have been the jazz side... on both albums hes really on a spiritual vibe more than ever and u cant hate him 4 that cause the music still sounds good... i liked elephants n flowers release it still would stand all time round n round the title song and melody cool cant stop this feelin i got

jtgillia said:

Come was definitely soulful and dark. I love the vibe on it.

DreamInWs said:

I used to say awful, now I think soulful.

gypsyfire said:

Tony M. was never in control of Prince's music. Just as Kirky J. was never in control of production. Surely, Prince puts his musical stamp of authority/approval on all his work?

diamondpearl1 said:

Interesting. I've never considered Graffiti Bridge a rock and roll album, per se.
[This message was edited Fri Mar 7 16:24:09 PST 2003 by Anji]

so his most soulful 90's album is leftovers from his 80's work. figures...

AaronFantastic said:

Do you actually believe Graffiti Bridge is Prince's most soulful 90's album?

Anji said:

no, but in the subject of the thread, you made it a declarative statement. i was only speaking from that starting point.

if you do, that's fine. i disagree. but to say that GB is a 90's album at all is stretching a bit. i mean, technically, 1990 is actually the decade before, and most of it is made up of outtakes from that decade.

AaronFantastic said:

So what do you think is Prince's most soulful album from the 90s?

Anji said:

soulful? depends on how you define that. but i'd say Come or Gold.

his actual attempts at soul turned out rather soulless, if you ask me.

AaronFantastic said:

I don't want to agree.

Anji said:

i didn't ask you to GB is a fine record. i just wouldn't lump it with his 90's efforts. it's more of a capstone on the 80s.

AaronFantastic said:

Damn, this is not where I wanted this thread to go but so be it! Prince sure as hell didn't lose his soul in concert, especially with his aftershows, but on record something soulful got lost in the mix during the 90s. There, I said it. Damn!

Anji said:

after 95 anyway. sorry, didn't mean to steer you or your thread in another direction. just wanted to add my 2 cents

Do you guys have anything against soul music?soul is not for everyone,especially for those who just like listening to rock.

glowwy said:

i've got nothing against soul at all. love it. i just said that prince's work in the mid/late 90's wasn't very soulful. i think he was trying to hard at it. or trying the wrong way. (Emancipation's stale beates, NPS... , Rave... all over the map).

i find TRC to be very soulful, though. and not in the spiritual sense. i mean with his voice, his instrumentation, his inspiration, he demeanor.

glowwy said:

This thread is about Prince's soul and how successfully he translated his vibe onto record. Did it still feel soulful? My inital thought was that Graffiti Bridge was Prince's most soulful 90's record. It bares witness to his burning spirit, without compromise. Whereas other 90's albums, such as The Gold Experience, were stifled.

Hmmm...that's interesting, guess maybe one day I'll be diving into that one as well...

Starmist7 said:

at last someone who agrees with me!

I like this album too, though I must say not the whole thing. Can you say Tick,Tick,Bang?

RIAA
'nuff said.

Anji said:

You don't get it,the silly rappin guy that I'm talking about is PRINCE!!!

gypsyfire said:

Oh dear!

Freaker said:

90's...hmmm...Graffiti Bridge is flawed, of course, with non-Prince tunes, but if you disregard those, I think I might agree with you.

Come, qua 90's however, is VERY interesting in terms of sheer soulfullness..."Solo" especially...

teller said:

I actually think it's the non-Prince contributions that take Graffiti Bridge to a higher level. As a whole, they are so much more focused than the guest artists on any other 90's Prince record.

Anji said:

A more complete and accurate assessment of the 'Graffiti Bridge' project would be difficult to make without first listening to all the material that did not make the album, including leftovers and demos from the recording sessions. Namely:

'Seven Corners' (4:37)
'The Question Of U'[orchestral version]#1 (2:04)
'Round And Round' (3:45)
'Number One' (3:47)
'Undercover Lover' (1:05)
'Miss Thang' (2:36)
'The Big Pump' (4:24)
'My Pony' (3:52)
'My Summertime Thang' (8:45)
'Tick, Tick, Bang'#2 (2:57)
'New Power Generation' (5:54)

The unreleased 'Corporate World' record by The Time.

All four versions of 'Soul Psychodelicide':
#1(10:54)
#2(8:19)
#3(8:32)
#4(5:51)


All four versions of 'We Can Funk', featuring George Clinton:
#4(6:22)
#5(10:24)
#6(6:43)
#7(7:35)


Some of the earlier demos from 1987-89 also give a facinating insight into the gestation process of 'Graffiti Bridge':

'Melody Cool'[Prince vocal]#1 (2:35)
'The Grand Progression'(4:35)
'Graffiti Bridge'(3:36) (featuring different chorus)
'Elephants And Flowers'(3:37)(featuring different lyrics)
'Still Would Stand All Time' (5:21)(all choruses by Prince, not by The Steeles)

And last but not least, 'Heaven Is Keeping Score', which should have closed the first side of the album.


.

giotto said:

And having listened to those demos and leftovers for the project, what's your assessment G? How well does Graffiti Bridge stand up as an album, in your opinion?

The problem with 'Graffiti Bridge' as an album is just how easily it can be misrepresented by both casual observers and "Prince fans".

Granted, the reception the film got eventually just made matters worse and ended up alienating 99% of the public against the album. In fact, things were not always so dire for the album.I remember reading a 5 star review in the now defunct SELECT magazine when the movie had yet to come out. It basically declared it "a masterpiece" (albeit a flawed one but then, which Prince record is perfect???)Predictably enough, straight after seeing the movie everybody who hadn't reviewed the album immediately rushed to declare it a stinker.

Ironically, the presence of older tracks caused people to get the wrong end of the stick and immediately assumed Prince was running out of material, lol!
In fact, the 'Graffiti Bridge' era was one of Prince's most prolific periods in the recording studio.

I particularly treasure these collection of songs and, like I've already said, nobody's assessment of 'Graffiti Bridge' is complete unless they hear the unreleased demos as well.Some of those demos are a revelation.

I particularly treasure this album, not only because it indeed includes some of Prince's most vintage material ever, but also, because it was the last time Prince put out material engineered by the highly acclaimed Susan Rogers, his former chief sound engineer.

Rogers was largely responsible for the amazing production on landmark albums like 'Around The World In A Day' and 'Sign O' The Times'. 'Graffiti Bridge' heralded the return of that special feel & vibe. Even more reason to give his record the props it deserves, really.


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giotto said:

Most insightful opinion, yet.