Fretplay.com Prince CD reviews Prince guitar tabs Prince CD reviews Prince tabs 1999


Prince - 1999 Audio CD

A fair review of the Prince "1999" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Prince reviews here, or go back to the Prince tabs.

Prince Band: Prince
Title: 1999
Rating:
Release Date: 1990-10-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: 1999 2: Little Red Corvette 3: Delirious 4: Let's Pretend We're Married 5: D.M.S.R. 6: Automatic 7: Something in the Water (Does Not Compute) 8: Free 9: Lady Cab Driver 10: All the Critics Love U in New York 11: International Lover

DANCE MUSIC SEX ROMANCE
2 OF HIS BEST SONGS,IF NOT THE BEST TWO ARE HERE BUT THERE'S MORE. THE SONG SUMS UP PRINCE AND THIS CD. "DELIROUS' AND 'LET'S PRETEND WE'RE MARRIED" ,"AUTOMATIC" HAS THE DIRTY SEX DWARF MAKING SIMPLE CATCH SYNTH ROCK-POP. "LPWM" WAS A B-SIDE FOR LEGGY GRANDMA TINA TURNER.
AFTER THE FOREPLAY AND ROMANCE AND SEX WE GET ENVIROMENTALLY AWARE WITH "SOMETHING IN THE WATER" AND THEN POLITICALLY CORRECT WITH "FREE".
"LADY CAB DRIVER" IS A FUNKY JAM AND LYRICS MARRYING SEX AND CARS SIMILAR TO "LITTLE RED CORVETTE" BUT THAT'S WHERE THE COMPARISON ENDS. ALBUM ENDS WITH TWO THROWAWAYS . A GROOVY SONG CALLED "ALL THE CRITICS" AND ANOTHER SONG ABOUT SEX "INTERBATIONAL LOVER". ALL I CAN COMPLAIN ABOUT IS THE LACK OF SLOW SONGS OR BALLADS .
SONICALLY PORINCE JAMS HAVE MORE MELDIES THAN THE AVERAGE ALBUM. THIS IS THE ALBUM THAT WOKE JANET JACKSON TO THE MINNEAPOLIC SOUND SHE WOULD USE ON CONTROL AND WE KNOW HOW THAT WENT.
A BONUS IS THE SENSUAL. SULTRY JILL JONES MOANING LIKE SHE'S FLOODING THE STUDIO AND PHYSICALLY EXPLODING ALL OVER THE PLACE. IF IT WAS A MOVIE YOU'D NEED A MASK. LOL.


Prince's '80s Masterpiece
It may be cliche to call Prince a musical genius, but it's absolutely true. Although Purple Rain gets all the attention, 1999 is an equally superb record. On this LP, he blends funk, rock, and electronica, creating an original (and often imitated) sound. The album kicks off with the three superb singles: the paranoid embellishments of the title track, the lascivious, metaphorical "Little Red Corvette," a slice of pop perfection, and the aptly-titled "Delirious. " Besides these well-known songs, "Something in the Water" predicts "The Beautiful Ones" with Prince's chilling shrieks of loneliness, "Let's Pretend We're Married" is as lewd (and addictive) as it got in 1982, and "Lady Cab Driver" is as classic as it is shocking. Every track is a masterpiece musically, vocally, and lyrically. 5 Stars.


1999's gone, but "1999" isn't going anywhere
With those doors unlocked, he presented his first real work of genius. In 1982, "Thriller" burst through doors that Prince had been trying to unlock. Some songs stand above others--the titular apocalypse romp, for one, or "D. M. S. R. ," the ultimate party track. The best of the bunch is the divinely salacious "Little Red Corvette," which, for the last time, is not about a car, but which is one of the best songs of the decade. Most of the songs are just damn good funk ditties that are danceable and brilliant. The anti-war piece, "Free," is a little heavy-handed, and that brings things down a little--but then "Lady Cab Driver" is a resurrection of Lazarean proportions. The album never loses any momentum--and for a funk record composed of six- to nine-minute songs occupying 70 minutes, that's something special. As is the artist behind it all: with "1999," he proved he could write brilliantly-constructed songs that would get a dead man dancing, but also that he could make those songs socially relevant. He's even interesting when he veers off into surrealistic Dickian abstraction ("Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)"). How many funk/dance/pop artists could you say that about? .


The Place Where Your Horses Run Free
What a difference from today when you can play all 10 tracks on the CD without switching or changing the record, but back then I never heard the songs on side 2--and never played the second disc on the double-LP, not ever, didn't see any point to changing up from the first 2 tracks. For some reason when I woke this morning I had this tune in my head and couldn't rest till I traipsed down to the basement and found the old LP. Why did artists make such long LPs, why not just collect a few perfect tracks? And thus it wasn't until today that I would up hearing "International Lover" and "Free" and the other songs (some of them not so great) on the "second disc" of the double LP--well, that dates me, but I expect at this time in Prince's career most of his fans are those who, like me, remember the 1980s as if they were yesterday and a time when 1999 seemed a zillion light years away, and when Wendy and Lisa puzzled us with their odd, superior androgyny like a pair of aloof Claude Cahuns, always nodding to the same beat, thrusting out their chins in unison, ten tons of hairspray making them look sort of feminine.

That's not to say that today's Prince fans love what used to be sides one and two, tbree and four with equal fervor, how could they? They won't even remember the exquisitely perverse take on "Little Red Corvette" that Sandra Bernhard gave in her concert film "Without You I'm Nothing," her unsuccessful attempt to divert 80s energy into 90s irony.

Vanity's on this CD too, which I did not realize in the 1980s, but that's because I never heard "Free," in which her vocals ring out loud and clear. That's not such a good thing.


Prince's Best Early Album
It's raw, real funk-rock that knows no bounds. There's not much that hasn't already been said about Prince's "1999" - It's some of his best work, from the era when he wasn't so deep into his religion and wasn't afraid to offend someone. I would call "1999" Prince's best album, except that I'm also partial to the collaboration with Wendy & Lisa in his later Paisley Park releases.

This is an album that is meant to be played straight through. No shuffling. No listening to individual tracks. Start at the beginning and play it through to the end. It's a brilliant work of art that everyone should check out if they like rock or funk. .


You can see a complete list of all Prince discography, or go back to the Prince tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

Search guitar tabs

#ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
[ Search tabs | Guitar tabs | Bass tabs |
Easy guitar tabs | Guitar solo tabs |
Acoustic guitar tabs | Guitar chords |
How to read guitar tabs ]
Forum topics
Music forums
- Bands and artists - Songwriting and lyrics - Tablature talk - Promote your band
Instrument forums
- Guitar basics - Gear & accessories - Bass guitar
Community
- The pit - Site Feedback - Reviews
[ User survey | About us | Privacy statement ]