Publication: The San Diego Union-Tribune [US]
Date: August 19, 1990
Section: Entertainment; Ed. 1,2
Page Number(S): E-6
Length: 755 Words
Title: "Graffiti' Has Prince's Stylish Mark, But It's Not New"
Written By: George Varga

Prince, "Graffiti Bridge" (Paisley Park) ***

Perhaps more than any of his musical contemporaries, Prince is caught between his desire to sustain mass commercial success and his need to follow his artistic muse wherever it takes him. The roller-coasterlike quality of his recording career (mega-hits such as "Purple Rain" and "1999" followed by flops such as "Around the World in a Day" and "Parade," followed by more hits and more flops) attests to his divided loyalties.

On "Graffiti Bridge," due in stores Tuesday, the Purple Wonder of pop generally favors sleek, dance-oriented tracks, gritty funk songs, neo-psychedelic mood pieces and hard-rocking rap numbers -- many with obvious hit-single potential -- over truly daring material or radical deviations. The result, while aurally impressive, is more a summation of his musical past than an indication of his future. different styles without making a cohesive statement, "Graffiti Bridge" holds together reasonably well. And, compared to his monochromatic comeback hit of last year, "Batman," "Graffiti Bridge" offers a considerably richer aural palette to enjoy, even if its 17 songs might have better been reduced to a dozen.

Nevertheless, "Graffiti Bridge" sounds terrific -- sharp, crisp, full-bodied and filled with rich textures that make this perhaps Prince's best-produced album to date.

But while it is undeniably entertaining to hear him smoothly incorporate the latest rap and hip-hop elements into his music, "Graffiti Bridge" lacks the singular vision and sense of major accomplishment that made Prince's 1984 "Purple Rain" film sound track an instant classic.

Moreover, while "Purple Rain" stood as a powerful work on its own, several of the songs on "Grafitti Bridge" ("We Can Funk," "Joy in Repetition," "Tick Tick Bang,") sound incomplete without the film they were written to provide musical accompaniment for, which isn't due to hit theaters until November.

That's no crime, certainly, but it is a disappointment considering Prince's obvious potential to accomplish more. Then again, compared to the mostly forgettable material on "Parade -- Music from Under the Cherry Moon,' " these songs are more arresting.

Witness "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got," an infectious, mid-tempo song with a buoyant beat that recalls "Little Red Corvette" in tone and construction; and "Release It," a galvanizing hard-funk workout that is one of five songs featuring Morris Day, Jerome Benton and other members of the Time, who co-star with Prince in "Graffiti Bridge."

Equally appealing is "Thieves in the Temple," the album's atmospheric first single; "Shake," a beat-happy, retro-hully-gully number that's likely to inspire a new dance craze; and "New Power Generation," a soon-to-be funk/rock anthem that boldly posits itself as a brash manifesto for youth power and a dismissal of old, tired ways. dancing and more. But Prince is still unable or unwilling to make clear-cut distinctions between the secular and the scared, the holy and the profane, rendering many of his messages muddled at best.

"359" finds him experimenting with the traditional 12-bar blues form, which he updates with interesting, although not entirely successful, results. More arresting is "The Latest Fashion," which combines a grinding funk riff with a snaking soprano saxophone line and tricky meter changes that suggest Prince has been studying the quirky harmolodic compositional approach of progressive jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman.

"Still Would Stand All Time" is an ambitious ballad with moody orchestrations and sophisticated vocal layerings that builds to a gradual crescendo. The title track, which has already been likened by some misguided observers to the epic "Purple Rain," is in fact a surprisingly conventional power ballad that seems overblown in both purpose and length.

In the final analysis, the greatest triumphs on "Graffiti Bridge" are under the surface of the songs -- subtle twists, unexpected modulations, intriguing instrumental juxtapositions and novel harmonies employed in a manner that falls squarely between being mainstream and idiosyncratic, pop-sure and adventurous.

It is precisely these touches that give even the album's most overt songs their appeal, while making one long for Prince to allow his creative juices to flow unhindered by commercial considerations. And it is these touches that ultimately make "Graffiti Bridge" most notable for pointing to the best Prince album of all -- the one he's yet to make.