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Track Listings
| 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 |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
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. Here, individual instruments don't blend together as much as they compete in a funky showdown which allows tracks like "Automatic", "DMSR" 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. --John Milward
Product Description
Cd > Popular Music > RockCD > POPULAR MUSIC > ROCK
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
In my opinion '1999' will always remain Prince's best album.
I mean don't get me wrong, 'Sign 'O' The Times' is a masterpiece, but it can't match '1999' it terms of sheer brilliance, and it is only Prince's 1987 album that contains as many outstanding tracks as this record.
Containing 11 tracks (basically an average albums worth of material) Prince manages to sustain a 70 minute running time by extended the majority of the tracks into impressive funk-jams filled with grinding keyboard-lines and interspersed with some of Prince's blistering rhythm guitar work.
Prince's previous album (Controversy) was the blueprint for the 'Minneapolis sound', here is where you can find the full effect. Deep bass, multi-layered keyboard-lines and synthesisers replacing common horns; this was his royal badness at the top of his game, and it's hard to believe at times that every single instrument you hear on the album comes from him.
It's hard to pick the most impressive tracks when near-every track is a standout, but the the title track still generates the kind of excitement you can only get from listening to a Prince song. Utilising a brilliant rhythm track due to the imaginative drum-programming the title cut is an excellent party anthem that (like most of the album) packs a terrific punch.
The other two singles from the album ('Little Red Corvette' and 'Delirious') are equally as impressive. 'LRC' opens with a simple yet beautfiful synthline and leads into what is still, probably, Prince's greatest pop song. 'Delirious' is a lovely little, rockabilly tinged track with, quite possibly, the catchiest keyboard hook ever.
After the commercial dominance of the opening 3 songs you go into darker territory with 'Let's Pretend We're Married'; a relentless, pumping track with pulsing synthesisers that runs at an incredible pace.
Quite a shocker the song is...particularly the last 3 minutes.
More impressive then any of the previous songs though is 'D.M.S.R', that's Dance,Music,Sex,Romance for the non-Prince fanatics out there, an outstanding track which uses another excellent synth hook and a funky rhythm guitar lick to great effect, u don't so much as hear the funk u FEEL it.
Equally as impressive is 'Automatic' - a phenomenal synth-pop-rock number that contains some wonderful keyboard work throughout its 9 minute+ duration.
The masterpiece of the album though is probably 'Something In The Water (does not compute).
Containing what is still Prince's best drum programming ever, the track is curiously a ballad that is funky, it is an incredibly thoughtful piece and the emotions Prince goes through in the song are fascinating.
I won't dwell on all the songs, (i'd be here all day heaping praise) but it would be a crime not to mention 'Lady Cab Driver'.
The second pure-funk song on the album, the song contains some excellent guitar work towards the end of the track and an incredible chicken-scratch guitar lick.
The song concludes with a quite wonderful synth-versus-guitar battle.
Even the tracks I haven't mentioned are superb, and I urge anyone to buy this album. As a Prince fan it's a absolute neccessity, and still remains one of the greatest albums ever.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
While hits such as the title track and "Little Red Corvette" are what attracts people to buy this album, it has many other great songs as well. The anthemic "Free" builds nicely to a lighter-waving finalle, and the extended funk track "Lady Cab Driver" is excellent. My personal favourite however, is the quirky "Something In The Water (Does Not Compute)", thanks to it's strange atonal backing and impassioned vocals. Throughout the vocals are very powerful, and the music very interesting, even if you're wary of the synthesised 80s sound. An excellent album.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
1999 was the first Prince album I ever listened to. Back when I was around 11 years old I made a tape to listen to in the car whilst on holiday. On one side was Madonna's True Blue, the other was Prince's 1999. As I had only 45 minutes to play with some hasty editing had to be done: Automatic was shortened to about 3 and a half minutes; Lady Cab Driver was fortuitously edited to just before the moment when Prince repays his willing chauffeur (I'm not sure my parents would have approved!); I think Free may have been culled and Warner Bros UK helpfully decided not to even include DMSR on the original British CD release!
One week and around 10 hearings later, I, my parents and my brothers had become Prince fans. Over the course of the next five years I went out and bought just about everything there was to own for a Prince devotee.
So what was on the album that would influence just about every album I have brought ever since?
The title track is a classic even if familiarity has seen its shine wane a little. Thankfully the full-length album version is played seldomly enough for the final three minutes to be fresh.
Little Red Corvette was a catchy rock song about cars (I liked cars a lot, that appealed to me) until I became a few years older and realised what a Pocket full of horses / Trojan and some of them used, meant and then Little Red Corvette became a dirty catchy rock song (I liked dirty a lot, it appealed to me even more...)
Delirious featured the cutest catchiest high pitch synth melody and pacey beat which hooked me from the first listen. Again it seemed to be about cars, which I liked even more!
Let's Pretend We're Married seemed to be an innocent, but catchy, song about playing Mummies and Daddies. Thankfully the road noise whilst being driven on holiday drowned out Prince's wish list near the end of the song.
Then to be honest not much of the album appealed to me back then, with the exception of my personally edited Lady Cab Driver, which was yet another song about cars - fantastic!
Many years and countless playings later the album still ranks as one of my favourites.
The first five tracks, with the welcome addition of the fantastic DMSR rank amongst the best opening sequences to an album ever. Automatic, at 9 minutes is still too long for me but, is an interesting synth workout where Prince shows that he, at the time, was on the cutting edge of what was possible with the equipment of 1982. And with advancing age, one has learnt to appreciate the wonderful Something in the Water (Does Not Compute), the anthemic Free and the gloriously camp, tongue in cheek album finale International Lover. Even All the Critics Love U In New York appears to have improved with age.
This isn't my favourite Prince album - it is somewhere in the top five - but it will always have a special place in my heart as I can safely say that my life would not have been the same had I not heard it all those years ago.
One week and around 10 hearings later, I, my parents and my brothers had become Prince fans. Over the course of the next five years I went out and bought just about everything there was to own for a Prince devotee.
So what was on the album that would influence just about every album I have brought ever since?
The title track is a classic even if familiarity has seen its shine wane a little. Thankfully the full-length album version is played seldomly enough for the final three minutes to be fresh.
Little Red Corvette was a catchy rock song about cars (I liked cars a lot, that appealed to me) until I became a few years older and realised what a Pocket full of horses / Trojan and some of them used, meant and then Little Red Corvette became a dirty catchy rock song (I liked dirty a lot, it appealed to me even more...)
Delirious featured the cutest catchiest high pitch synth melody and pacey beat which hooked me from the first listen. Again it seemed to be about cars, which I liked even more!
Let's Pretend We're Married seemed to be an innocent, but catchy, song about playing Mummies and Daddies. Thankfully the road noise whilst being driven on holiday drowned out Prince's wish list near the end of the song.
Then to be honest not much of the album appealed to me back then, with the exception of my personally edited Lady Cab Driver, which was yet another song about cars - fantastic!
Many years and countless playings later the album still ranks as one of my favourites.
The first five tracks, with the welcome addition of the fantastic DMSR rank amongst the best opening sequences to an album ever. Automatic, at 9 minutes is still too long for me but, is an interesting synth workout where Prince shows that he, at the time, was on the cutting edge of what was possible with the equipment of 1982. And with advancing age, one has learnt to appreciate the wonderful Something in the Water (Does Not Compute), the anthemic Free and the gloriously camp, tongue in cheek album finale International Lover. Even All the Critics Love U In New York appears to have improved with age.
This isn't my favourite Prince album - it is somewhere in the top five - but it will always have a special place in my heart as I can safely say that my life would not have been the same had I not heard it all those years ago.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1999
Prince is very famous, so no introduction is necessary. 1999 was his semi-prophetic album pre-dating Purple Rain, boasting three of his best tracks (which are, coincidentally, the... Read more
Published on 26 Dec 2009 by Jasper Wong
Album Review for 1999
This album is very exciting to listen to with mostly the same genre through out. The genres consist of pop, rock and funk. Read more
Published on 16 April 2009 by bob
Prince's most overrated album
For many fans, "1999" is Prince's best album to date. I've been a huge fan since 1984 but I've never really liked this album. Read more
Published on 24 Feb 2009 by Peter Lee
Full House
All killer no filler! Nice to have D.M.S.R. restored to the CD version (why was it removed in the first place*? Read more
Published on 15 Feb 2009 by A. Fuller
Tour de Force
The first three tracks form an electrifying sequence: from the pulsating 1999 through the rocking Little Red Corvette and into the hypnotic Delirious. Read more
Published on 6 Nov 2008 by Pieter
Let Prince take you on a rollercoaster ride down from 1982 all the way...
1. 1999. 10/10
2. Little Red Corvette. 10/10
3. Delirious. 10/10
4. Let's Pretend We're Married. 9/10
5. D.M.S.R. 10/10
6. Automatic. 8/10
7. Read more
2. Little Red Corvette. 10/10
3. Delirious. 10/10
4. Let's Pretend We're Married. 9/10
5. D.M.S.R. 10/10
6. Automatic. 8/10
7. Read more
Published on 29 July 2008 by Ronnie
Amazingly Brilliant!
1. 1999. 10/10
2. Little Red Corvette. 10/10
3. Delirious. 10/10
4. Let's Pretend We're Married. 8/10
5. D.M.S.R. 9/10
6. Automatic. 7/10
7. Read more
2. Little Red Corvette. 10/10
3. Delirious. 10/10
4. Let's Pretend We're Married. 8/10
5. D.M.S.R. 9/10
6. Automatic. 7/10
7. Read more
Published on 28 July 2008
Cars?
What? These songs are about cars? All these years I thought he was talking about...
Published on 26 Feb 2005
TRULY OUTSTANDING
The first three tracks form an electrifying sequence: from the pulsating 1999 through the rocking Little Red Corvette and into the hypnotic Delirious. Read more
Published on 7 Jan 2003 by Pieter
Take your seats aboard the seduction 747
This is a very good album, definately better than Prince's previous 4. However I've never been a big fan of the song 1999. Read more
Published on 18 Sep 2002 by "newpower"
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