Prince 1999 CD

Live Recording

Personnel: Prince (vocals, various instruments); Dez (vocals, guitar); Lisa Coleman, Wendy Melvoin, J.J. (vocals).
Recorded at Sunset Sound & Uptown, Los Angeles, California.
With Dirty Mind, Prince had established a wild fusion of funk, rock, new wave, and soul that signaled he was an original, maverick talent, but it failed to win him a large audience. After delivering the sound-alike album, Controversy, Prince revamped his sound and delivered the double album 1999. Where his earlier albums had been a fusion of organic and electronic sounds, 1999 was constructed almost entirely on synthesizers by Prince himself. Naturally, the effect was slightly more mechanical and robotic than his previous work and strongly recalled the electro-funk experiments of several underground funk and hip-hop artists at the time. Prince had also constructed an album dominated by computer funk, but he didn't simply rely on the extended instrumental grooves to carry the album -- he didn't have to when his songwriting was improving by leaps and bounds. The first side of the record contained all of the hit singles, and, unsurprisingly, they were the ones that contained the least amount of electronics. "1999" parties to the apocalypse with a P-Funk groove much tighter than anything George Clinton ever did, "Little Red Corvette" is pure pop, and "Delirious" takes rockabilly riffs into the computer age. After that opening salvo, all the rules go out the window -- "Let's Pretend We're Married" is a salacious extended lust letter, "Free" is an elegiac anthem, "All the Critics Love U in New York" is a vicious attack at hipsters, and "Lady Cab Driver," with its notorious bridge, is the culmination of all of his sexual fantasies. Sure, Prince stretches out a bit too much over the course of 1999, but the result is a stunning display of raw talent, not wallowing indulgence. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
With the release of this seminal double-album, Prince evolves from the minimalist synth-pop that powered such discs as DIRTY MIND and CONTROVERSY into the pop genius that defined such quirky masterpieces as PURPLE RAIN and SIGN OF THE TIMES. Were it only for the hits--the loopy bounce of "Delirious," the moody slide of "Little Red Corvette," and the irresistible title track (only Prince could have written the ultimate dance song for the turn of the millennium 18 years before the fact)--1999 would be essential. These tracks are as perfect as they are familiar from incessant radio play.
The rest of 1999 holds up to the radio hits. Loose, nasty grooves like "D.M.S.R." and "Automatic" are interspersed with the propulsive shuffle of "Let's Pretend We're Married" and the soulful, psychedelic pulse of "Something In The Water." This is not average dance music. Prince's hybrid of rich, trippy atmospherics, '80s synth-y keyboard sounds, lush, asymmetrical harmonies, elements of rock guitar, soulful singing, and strong songwriting--all rolled together with beats--weaves dark, sexual energy into ebullient boogie anthems. 1999 is one of the definitive pop music documents of the '80s.

Rolling Stone (4/11/02, p.106) - Ranked #14 in Rolling Stone's "50 Coolest Records" - "...Rubbery synth-funk odes to dance, music, sex and romance..."
Rolling Stone (November 1989) - Ranked #16 in Rolling Stone's "100 Best Albums Of The Eighties" survey.
CMJ (1/5/04, p.12) - Ranked #5 in CMJ's "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1983".