Prince - 1999

Prince's fifth album came right before the lascivious multi-instrumentalist became a huge star with his 1984 film and soundtrack, Purple Rain. But Prince had already proved himself to be the most audacious talent to emerge in the 1980s, and 1999, the bulk of which features Prince on all the instruments, reflects the dance-rock styles that he also brought to the acts he produced, particularly the Time. Prince knows how to run a one-man-band individual instruments don't blend together as much as they compete in a funky showdown which allows tracks like "Automatic," "D.M.S.R.," and "Delirious" to sustain their long playing times. But the album's two enduring hits, "1999" and "Little Red Corvette," outshine the rest, and define the essential roles that rock and funk play in Prince's music. "Little Red Corvette" is a sexy song about a car, which would have been enough to make it a terrific rock song even if it didn't also boast an infectious chorus and a great guitar part. As for "1999," count on it being the dance song of the millennial year. --John Milward Amazon.com essential recording

The beginning of his reign...

At the beginning of Prince's reign as Prince of Pop, we have albums such as this. It was here that he first insisted on breaking ground on every album, and every track. He was one of the pioneers in the 80's, of music as art, and through him and other such artists, the standards were raised.

As with many of Prince's albums, you cannot simply listen to them as good music, but must appreciate the artistry that goes into them. This man is obscenely talented, and this album has some of the most important songs of the 20th Century. August 29, 2008

Prince at his absolute best

Wh many people will point at either Purple Rain or Sign 'o' The Times as his best albu, that title goes to Prince's 5th album, 1999. This album is not only His Royal Badness at his best, but in my opinion, is the greatest album ever made. 1999 put Prince on map and made him a crossover star, with the 3 hit singles "1999", "Little Red Corvette", and "Delirious". But its not just those songs. Others include "Let's Pretend We're Married", "DMSR", "Automatic", and so on. Honestly, this album is perfect from start to finish. I recommend this for any R&B fan or Prince fan or music fan in genertal. Funk at its absolute best. July 9, 2008

Top Ten

This is one of my top ten CD's 1999, Prince shows his power in his music. One of my all time best, great job JCIII. December 7, 2007

A collection that represents the "Minneapolis Sound"

It would not be until his sixth album where Prince struck gold and international superstardom with his 1984 album, "Purple Rain". However before "Purple Rain", Prince was beginning to carve a niche of his own in the music industry. Prince was one of the leading architects in a music movement known as the "Minneapolis Sound". The "Minneapolis Sound" contained a mixture of Funk, Pop, R&B, and Rock. In addition to architecting his sound, Prince was making a name for himself on the albums he released. 1979's self titled sophomore album, "Prince" saw him make a name for himself on the dance floors with the hit single "I Wanna Be Your Lover". 1980 saw his third album take a decisive turn away from commercialism with his album "Dirty Mind" - an album by its title that was infused with many sexually explicit lyrics. In 1981, Prince continued down the path he started with "Dirty Mind" and released "Controversy". "Controversy" continued down the road of the explicit lyrics that started with "Dirty Mind", but now infused politics into the equation. In "Prince", "Dirty Mind", and "Controversy", Prince would continue to develop the "Minneapolis Sound" while making a name for himself. It wouldn't be until his fifth album, "1999" that would really be the breakthrough album for Prince. "1999" would perhaps solidify the "Minneapolis Sound" and set the stage for what he would do in "Purple Rain". While "1999" is a breakthrough album, I would stop short at calling it a "landmark album".

"1999" was originally released as a double album. Prince tends to develop a lot of material and as a result, it hasn't really been a problem for him to release an album every one to two years - or to put out a double album. While "1999" contains only 11 tracks.,5 of the 11 tracks clock in at over 6 minutes long. It is worth noting that while this is a double album, it was released as a single CD. However on certain issues of the CD, one track was omitted - "D.M.S.R". It is a shame that this track was released, because when it comes to the "Minneapolis Sound", this track is at the core of the sound. However some versions of the CD do contain this track.

When looking at the "1999", I almost look at it as a tale of two albums. There is a "Radio Friendly/Commercial" portion (first three songs) and there is a "Less Commercial" (remaining songs) portion. Each of these portions are representative of the "Minneapolis Sound", but it would probably be the "Less Commercial" portion that is more indicative of that sound. Many people are familiar with the the "Radio Friendly" portion with the three hit singles "1999", "Little Red Corvette", and "Delirious" - all of which were Top 10 singles for Prince.

The best track on this collection is "1999". This is a pure masterpiece by Prince for a variety of reasons. For starters, Prince shares co-vocals with his some of his band mates, "The Revolution" - namely Lisa Coleman, Jill Jones, and Dez Dickerson. I've always found Prince to be very strong when he is sharing vocals (i.e. "Take Me With U" with Apollonia Kotero, "U Got the Look" with Sheena Easton, and "Graffiti Bridge" with Mavis Staples are all great examples). The synthesizers on this song that really are showcased on the chords, but there is still enough of a Funk beat. While the melody is top-notch, the multiple vocals by Prince and his group demonstrate pure passion giving this song a three dimensional sound. Dickerson really shines and I'm shocked he didn't end up having a big solo career after leaving the band. Listen to the extended version on the album that was often omitted on the radio - namely the ending that starts with "Party..." and goes to "....Mommy. Why does everybody have a bomb?"

"Delirious" is probably the one song that has the least "Minneapolis Sound" of all of the songs on "1999". I've always considered this an average Prince song as well as an average pop song. Overall, it doesn't have me doing handstands.

The third song that became a hit was "Little Red Corvette". This song has more of a Rock feel to it. It is some of amazing guitar work (It is Dickerson that does the song's guitar solo) that really gives this song the edge. Like "1999", there is an extended version of this song not heard on radio. It is worth noting that Prince builds an analogy of a car and a woman in this song. While the lyrics aren't very explicit here, it does go on the borderline in this song - particularly on the extended verse not heard on radio.

For the "Less Commercial" part of the album - as mentioned, this will have much more of a "Minneapolis Sound" feel. Overall, it is worth noting the lyrics are much more explicit on this part of the album. This isn't to judge what Prince is saying here, but just to make the listener aware. These songs might not be appealing to the Prince fan at first, but they tend to grow on you the more you listen to them.

Prince does mix it up a bit on the "Less Commercial" part of the album. "Automatic" does contain a pretty good guitar solo. "All The Critics Love You in New York" very much is a song that can be played on the dance floors - past or present. "International Lover" has much more of a classic R&B" feel to it. However, the best song on this part of the album is "Free". This song almost has a gospel-like melody to it - and Prince pulls it off perfectly. It might be the one underrated song from this album.

Overall, this album does a good job at representing the "Minneapolis Sound". Prince fans will enjoy this album. Casual fans may not be as happy with this one. September 21, 2007

"I get delerious..."

Okay, first six tracks? Can't be beat. Three funky, eccentric, quirky, full of Prince's personality, and just plain, flat-out astounding. "1999", with its "apocalyptic dance-party" theme; "Little Red Corvette", an all-out funk-rocker with some infamously foul-mouthed lyrics that is nonetheless impossible to sing along to; "Delirious" takes "Little Red Corvette" and adds bits of rockabilly. Then the next three songs totally eschew the traditional extended funk-song formula. They may be enormously long, but all three offer enough weird twists to keep them from getting anywhere near monotonous ("Let's Pretend We're Married"; "D.S.M.R."; "Automatic"), and all three are also strikingly individual. They don't feel like parts of a three-song suite, they actually stand out on their own. After you get past those three is when things start getting just the smallest bit shaky. I've never cared much for "Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)", because I've never liked the squiggly keyboard tone; "All the Critics Love U in New York" is an attempt at irony that goes off on the wrong foot; and "Lady Cab Driver" slogs on with no foreseeable end. The good news is that the two ballads near the close are wonderful; the moving "Free" and the even more emotional "International Lover". Stick around for those. This was Prince's breakthrough album, and while he's done better (Dirty Mind; Purple Rain and Emancipation come to mind), this is in the first class of his albums just the same. September 20, 2007

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