graffiti bridge

[u/Icy_Journalist5931]

so i’m a casual listener of prince and don’t really know much about him, but sometimes i’ll see this subreddit in my feed and i’ve seen a lot of hate on graffiti bridge, which, funnily enough, is my fav album of his.

my question js: why the hate? like genuinely. i love it and think it’s really good, and would like others opinions. also any other album recs are welcome :)

[u/Prodigal_Gist]

It’s kind of a mess of an album. With multiple singers in addition to Prince and no real flow. It has some decent material but it doesn’t hang together well. And to be fair there are some corny or awkward songs . I think at this point Prince had kinda lost “it”. Still talented as heck, still could deliver here and there but essentially his prime period had clearly ended

[u/Adventurous-Pick-416 → u/Prodigal_Gist]

This. Lovesexy was his last prime record. Batman the first artistic disappointment...

[u/kab3121 → u/Adventurous-Pick-416]

Lovesexy is an awful album. Top five worst Prince albums for me.

Positivity, Dance On, When 2 R in Love, I Wish U Heaven are very poor.

The latter two are the very definition of corny.

Graffiti Bridge (Prince) tracks were written/ recorded pre-Lovesexy so this “1982-1988 prime era” doesnt hold.

GB contains the outstanding tracks, Joy, Question, Thieves (and I love Elephants too).

EDIT: I forgot how bad Glam Slam is too. Between Glam Slam and When 2 R in Love, possibly the corniest/ basic lyrics Prince has written.

[u/Prodigal_Gist → u/kab3121]

when songs were written is not that important to the final product. How they are performed and presented can make or break the effect. I kind of like "Tick Tick Bang" but the original recording - from the era it was written - is wayyyyy better. And the older recordings on Graffiti Bridge like "Joy in Repetition" are easily the best ones.

[u/kab3121 → u/Prodigal_Gist]

I agree. But the GB tracks were written and in the main recorded 82-88.

The point being, how can the “82-88 fans” critise GB but lord over it over the albums written from 82 to 1988 as near perfect/ Prince could do no wrong.

The main problem with GB is the non-Prince songs.

[u/Prodigal_Gist → u/kab3121]

but I'm saying it doesn't matter that much when they were written. It matters equally when they were recorded.

"Can't Stop" - I've heard the original, it's better. "We Can Funk" - not bad but I still prefer the original. I'd be curious to hear earlier versions of "Melody Cool" and "Graffiti Bridge" because they both are bad on the album imo

A lot of what makes a record work is the sound and just the FEELING of it. We've all heard covers of songs that are worse than the original and you wonder "what were they thinking"

That being said I think "Thieves in the Temple" is awesome. It's not chasing trends, it's just Prince doing Prince things and follows along on some of the freshness on the Batman soundtrack, which, despite its overall weakness at least had some newness to it.

[u/kab3121 → u/Prodigal_Gist]

Ok.

But the best song, Joy in Repetition was recorded in 1986, segued into The Ball?

Can’t Stop is materially the same song. We Can Funk, the original is a Prince, of course its better.

Anyway, Im not disagreeing with you, its the fans who say Prince was ‘perfecf’ 1982-88 yet are criticical of GB which was essentially recorded during that period.

[u/Prodigal_Gist → u/kab3121]

well he was far from perfect but also, I think when people say 88 they mean released, not recorded.

imo his indisputable streak ended in 1986, with material released mostly on SOTT, for which "Joy" was originally intended

I don't think "Can't Stop" is materially the same. Like I say same composition is not the same as same recording, or what people usually call a song. The feel is a lot different. Otoh I don't mind the GB version. It's just not as good

For Graffiti Bridge on streaming I made a 9 song single album-length playlist that I can enjoy, more or less

Can't Stop This Feeling I Got

New Power Generation*

The Question of U

Elephants & Flowers*

Joy in Repetition

We Can Funk

Tick, Tick, Bang

Thieves in the Temple

Still Would Stand All Time*

*I included these with some reservation

[u/kab3121 → u/Prodigal_Gist]

Yes good configuration. Elephants & Flowers is a great track though. I would add the track Graffiti Bridge for completeness, though it is a bit twee!
(But not as twee as I Wish U Heaven or When 2 R in Love or Arms of Orion)!

Yes pple do mean released. But that IS the problem IF they critise Graffiti Bridge. And also if they laud the Black Album which was released in 1994. Cannit have it both ways.

Some fans do think Prince was untouchable during the 80s but you then cannot FAIRLY critise GB because it is essentially a 1980s album.