What songs would you keep?

What songs wouldn't you keep?

Which songs from that era that went unreleased or ended up on Crystal Ball/other records should have been included?

IMO its a travesty that gems like Pink Cashmere were left off his main records and ended up elsewhere.

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[Edited 7/24/20 5:53am]

The whole project was a bit of a mess and maybe proof you can't go home again. The movie should have never been green lit. The quite selling of this as a sequal to PR was a mistake. Would have worked better as a "video" album perhaps showcasing the current stable of Paisley Park artist and remove all the dialog.

The first track to remove would be the Title Track is its almost unlistenable. New Power Generation and Pt II are still corny AF and I still dont believe "Bold Generation" was written in 1982.

My Summertime Thang is 10x. better than the Latest Fashion.

I would remove Clinton from We can Funk

Shake! is boring and should swap it out for Jerk Out or Skillet

There fixed!

[Edited 7/24/20 6:23am]

One of the funniest jabs (by a critic) I read about the song "New Power Generation";...."What's new about this generation?..Aren't these guys all in their early 30"s?" ...I thought side one of the soundtrack was sequenced well.

wouldnt change a thing about the album

I really love Graffiti Bridge, but I've never been a fan of the non-Prince tracks...so I would remove those. However, I would add 'Seven Corners' by Ingrid, as I think it would fit quite well. I would also include Prince's version of 'Melody Cool' and 'The Grand Progression'.

I made a separate playlist for the album that removes the non-Prince song. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood to hear Morris Day or the others. The Time songs especially are sometimes jarring when they're juxtaposed against the poetic/ethereal/religious Prince songs.

For the movie . . . there is a "seed" of something there that I can appreciate even though it was not executed well at all.

Quite a few things I would change. Don't make it a Purple Rain sequel. Don't have The Time in it or even have a "rivalry". Make it about one man vs. himself, fighting his own demons. Hire a better actress to play Aura. Film more outdoors (the film feels very claustrophobic, having been filmed at PP).

So The Kid is feeling down, love life is gone and his career hasn't gone anywhere like he thought. He's contemplating suicide but then an angel comes down to steer him in the right path. This is the seed of the idea that I think Prince was going for, but once he shoe-horned in a "Purple Rain 2" it fell apart.

SPYZFAN1 said:

One of the funniest jabs (by a critic) I read about the song "New Power Generation";...."What's new about this generation?..Aren't these guys all in their early 30"s?" ...I thought side one of the soundtrack was sequenced well.

Cool name for a song, but I never really cared for it as a band name.

Even though Release It and Love Machine sonically fit the album, I'd still prefer Grafitti Bridge without them.

hhhhdmt said:

What songs would you keep?

What songs wouldn't you keep?

Which songs from that era that went unreleased or ended up on Crystal Ball/other records should have been included?

IMO its a travesty that gems like Pink Cashmere were left off his main records and ended up elsewhere.

I wouldn't have had the other artists on it. Strange Tales from the Purple Rain was this type of compilation, where the other artists were on the album. But for GB, it seems like filler. Had The Time's songs been on Pandemonium, it would have had more attention on it. Not sure what to do about Mavis, George, or Tevin, and while their songs were fine, the album feels littered.

However, Prince should've never put his name on it as the main artist. If it's a true soundtrack, just list it as the official motion picture soundtrack. Let the songs fall where they may.

For just Prince songs, it's good as is. I'm still 50/50 on "Elephants and Flowers." Same with "Tick Tick Bang." Fite me. As bad as the whole project is, to put a song like "Pink Cashmere" on it would've cheapened the song. Songs like "Joy In Repetition" and "The Question of U" are strong enough to stand in the midst of the muck. But "Pink Cashmere" maybe isn't.

With the movie, Militant noted how there's a whole intro of him singing "Can't Stop" that is this big show number where he goes from his apt down to the street. The arrangement, etc. are fantastic. To have cut that out seems criminal considering the snoozer opening sequence of the movie.

The whole movie isn't a movie. It's a longform video, at best. Let's just call it what it is, not pretend it's something else. It's no more a movie than Diamonds and Pearls Video Collection or 3 Chains O' Gold. Hell, "Partyman" is more of a movie than anything else noted here.

BlueShakooo said:

I like the Graffiti Bridge Album. For me the "Time" tracks work better with the "Pandemonium" songs. So, my GB Playlist is quite simple: 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 Thieves In The Temple (Extended) Still Would Stand All Time Graffiti Bridge New Power Generation (Pt. II) Melody Cool Round And Round

My playlist is somewhat similar but more of a hodgepodge. This has been my mix for GB for as long as I can remember (but my mix is titled Joy in Repetition as its always been the best song on there).

Can't Stop This Feeling

New Power Generation Extended remix

Release It

The Question of U

Elephants and Flowers

We Can Funk '86

Girl o my Dreams

Data Bank '86 (I HATE the Times version of this)

Round and Round

Joy in Repetition

Grand Progression (REALLY wish I had this in better quality)

Moonbeam Levels (curve ball I know but it fits for me)

Thieves in the Temple Extended

Still Would Stand All Time

[Edited 7/24/20 12:23pm]

hhhhdmt said:

What songs would you keep?

What songs wouldn't you keep?

Which songs from that era that went unreleased or ended up on Crystal Ball/other records should have been included?

IMO its a travesty that gems like Pink Cashmere were left off his main records and ended up elsewhere.

I would take prince out of it,Put Jesse Johnson the star

emesem said:

and I still dont believe "Bold Generation" was written in 1982.

[Edited 7/24/20 6:23am]

Why not? And when do you think it's from?

TwiliteKid said:

emesem said:

and I still dont believe "Bold Generation" was written in 1982.

[Edited 7/24/20 6:23am]

Why not? And when do you think it's from?

No idea but it just sounds too "New Jack" to me. 88 or after? I cant think of any other Prince song of the early 80s that sounds like that. Open to be convinced otherwise.

emesem said:

Point One:

Replace 'Still Would Stand All Time' with 'The Grand Progression'

Point Two:

Remove the guest tracks from the album (with the exception of ‘Melody Cool’).

Point Three:

Drop the film entirely. Keep the sets for music videos.

.

Edit: Format issues

[Edited 7/24/20 18:05pm]

Personally I think there is no saving or fixing GB, because the movie it is associated with is or derived from is so broken. There are some great songs of course but as a whole the project is so worthless. If we're rewriting history here, let's scrap the movie entirely so that Prince can work on a better record between Batman and Diamonds and Pearls. Maybe some of the better songs will survive of course.

Funny about people talking about removing the associated artist tracks. I agree although I was personallydisappointed the remaster Purple Rain super delixe didn't include tracks from The Time, Vanity 6 and Dez. I know what you mean though, you could make a pretty solid single-LP album from GB by removing the other artists, and the title track.

I'd still essentially burn the whole project and start again, tbh.

ian said:

1. Graffiti Bridge (with Clare Fisher Strings)
2. Joy in Repetition (Kick Drum Intro)
3. The Question of U
4. Thieves in the Temple
5. We Can Funk
6. New Power Generation
7. Elephants & Flowers
8. Can't Stop This Feeling I Got
9. Tick, Tick, Bang
10. Still Would Stand All Time

I'd remove all/most associate songs and release as a single vinyl.

a side

Joy in Repetition (original long intro with no crowd)

Can't Stop This Feeling I Got (longer earlier mix)

Thieves In The Temple

The Question of U

Elephants & Flowers original lyrics version)

b side

We Can Funk (no GC overdubs)

Tick, Tick Bang

Melody Cool (w/ Mavis Staples)

Still Would Stand All Time (original lyrics version)

New Power Generation

Graffiti Bridge

Round and Round released as solo Tevin Campbell Single

All Time songs on Pandemonium (Latest Fashion vs My Summertime Thing?)

Other sattelite acts songs used as 12"/EP tracks (a la New Power Generation 12")

Personally, I would remove the eurovision-alike song Graffiti Bridge. Maybe release it as a b-side to a Jesse Johnson track a bit later. The album is a bit strange to me. It has many great songs, but it just never works as a whole for me. It has to do with the awful movie, as well as with the awful cover (Parke has done some interesting things, but he can't design an album cover to save his life), but mostly about the weird sequencing and too many songs that just don't work.

Remove every song from the other boring artists nobody cares. Focus on Prince and his music.

I'm sure a lot of fans have a playlist which is 'Graffiti Bridge' without the guest tracks. I think as a fandom we should all adopt the title of ‘Graffiti Abridged’ for such a playlist.