AUGUST U-
21
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Inn
MINNEAPOLIS - There is
the po er of faith - in
one elfand in higher power.
There is the power of greed
and corruption. There i the
never-ending power struggle
between good and bad, and
simply being human. And
there is the power of music.
GRAFFITI BRIDGE cap­
ture' the es cnce of these con­
flict through rnu ic ure to be
thi summer' most sizzling
release. Produced, arranged
and composed by Prince thi
brilliant 17- ong collection i
a moving musical story and
roc oper at once a only he
could create. Performing on
the oundtrack ith Prince are
the Time, Tevin Campbell,
Mavis Stapl�s alld George
Clinton,
"The album and the film are
two epar te orks, in two
. different mcdi urns, com-
plementin and upporting
each other," s y Arnold .
Stiefel. one of tbe producers
of the film. "The more I Ii -
(en to the music's lyrics, the
more I realize just how unique
this is. In many ways,
Prince's' groundbrea ing
strategy for scoring resulted
in his creating a musical
equivalent of the film. The
songs stand on their own as a
story and as an album."
Stiefel's partner, Randy
Phillips. says he a over­
whelmed when be heard the
album. "The first time I heard
tbe music, I wa completely
knoc ed out by how powerful
thi record is. I feel it's the
mo t moving and most impor­
tant piece of work Prince has
ever created" y Pbillip.
Jumping efforUe Iy from
hauntingly beautiful ballad
to electrifying pop and siz­
zling roc 'n� roll, Prince
reveals an entirely different
dimen ion to his innovative
recording career. He's never
sounded so angry a on the
emotionally charged first
single. "Thieves 111 Th�
Temple, " or on the delta blues
strip-tea e of "The Qu�stioll of
U, with it almost cia ical
waltz ending.
The garage band rawness of
tbe TIME cuts present a
dramatic to the more
spiritually sophi ucated songs
by The Kid. The funk of
"Relea. c It" is exaggerated
when placed between the up­
beat, positive pop emotions
expressed in "Can't Stop This
Feeling I Got" and the
hard fun y, rock anthem feel
of "New Power Generation. "
"The re son Prince is here
i that he offer another
world." says bandmaster Levi
Seacer, Jr., ho collaborates
with Prince on three ongs on
the oundtr c . "There' the
everyday thing e go
through in, li fe and then
there the world be offers.
Hi world is a lot of fun.
He tell you that you're
unique. but you got to dig
down deep to find out what it
is that makes you unique.
Then you cultivate it. Prince
is tbe perfect example of that."
Seacer ' . description also
works to de cribe the way
Prince composed an intricate
web of char cters on
GRAFFITI BRIDGE hose
personalitie come through
and uni te as the ongs move
the toryLine along. Spiritual­
ly acre ting images unfold as
- the ongs' I yrics move I ike an
emotional ch eleon
throughout the album, forever
changing but always de icting
the darker shades of duction
to the brighte t s a�e of
love.
Altbough the prolific artist
b wri uen numero song
for a vast array of si�ers and
b repeatedly proven his gift
for creating distinctive char­
acter through bis mu ic,
GRAFFITI BRIDGE i, the
fir t opp rtunity to sample
botb elements in one package.
'Is the TIME what Prince
would sound like if h were a
7-piece R&B/'unk b nd? I
"Melody Cool" how he would
. sound as a female gospel
singer? Also Ie tured in the
set is tbe match-up the funk
world has been waiting for -
. .
Prince and George Clinton!
Li e two scientist. they
came up with a cure for that
disease know a U FU KY
on "We call Funk." Sure to be
the'90 "Knee Deep" with its
coarse "I'm testin' po itive 4
the fun. I'll gladly pee in
. nybody's cup ... "
"The me sage behind
GRAFFITI BRIDGE seems
to be a combination of '60s
optimism and'90 darkness,"
according to the film's co­
producer Craig Rice. "The
mu ic reflects the ttitude th t
t'll be a lot beuer if we all get
ogether and i s' wbile
ccognizmg . th t Ii i much
more difficult than that.
�RA FFITI BRIDGE i a fan­
a y - it ' P rablc about
ope."
Prince' 17- oog
GRAFFITI BRIDGE is set
for an August 2] t release on
Pai Icy Par /Warne Bro.
Records. The motion P cture
, is tentatively scheduled for a
rail relea e.
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