Graffiti Bridge

Prince jumped into the \'90s with *Graffiti Bridge*, an ambitious film/soundtrack project modeled after the multimedia triumph of *Purple Rain*. The bright, driving, and gospel-inflected double LP pushed his ‘80s experimentation to new heights. Its guests alone show how far he’d come as a collaborator—he’s joined by Tevin Campbell (“Round and Round”), Mavis Staples (“Melody Cool”), and musicians who later coalesced as The New Power Generation (“Thieves in the Temple”). And while the film was a box office flop, the soundtrack is a commanding reminder of Prince’s powers of seduction—which have never seemed more coy, urgent, or mystical than they do here.

Check out our album review of Artist's Graffiti Bridge (Sdtrk) on Rolling Stone.com.

Prince was shooting for the top of the charts with Graffiti Bridge, and he missed.

The Purple One’s discography rarely dipped below sublime sex-funk. We rank all 37 LPs from his polymathic 80s masterwork Sign O’ The Times to 2003’s saxophone-heavy N.E.W.S.