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Trollheart · 03-31-2017, 12:06 PM

Album title: 1999
Artiste: Prince
Genre: Funk/Pop/Rock/New wave
Year: 1999 (nah, kidding: 1982)
Label: Warner Bros
Producer: Prince
Chronological position: Fifth album
Notes:
Album chart position: 9/200 (US) 30/28 (UK) (wtf?? I guess every Prince fan had it by the time he passed)
Singles: “1999”, “Little red Corvette”, “Delirious”, “DMSR”, “Let's pretend we're married”, “Automatic”
Lineup: Prince: Everything (with assistance on vocals from Dez Dickerson, Lisa Coleman, Jill Jones, Vanity and Wendy Malvoin)

Ah, here we go! The one that made Prince, the big breakthrough album which introduced those of us who were saying “Prince who?” to this musical genius. This would kick off a period of about ten years during which Prince would bestride not just the charts but the music scene like a colossus, reinventing himself, and music, setting trends, breaking boundaries, and basically giving the finger to anyone who dared say to him “But you can't do that!” He also managed to have the first video on heavy rotation with MTV, who a few years ago refused to play Michael Jackson's “Billie Jean” because, well, he's black, y'know?

Review begins
Surely everyone knows the title track, and if you don't, to borrow from the Batlord book of wisdom, fuck you, you should. Even I've heard it. Interesting though how it starts with a really slowed down speech sample before it kicks in, and it's also a great example of Prince using his multiple vocal tones, to the point where when I heard this the first time I assumed that was someone else singing the first line. Oh wait: I see they were. First time I see Prince sharing vocals other than that one track with Lisa Coleman. Just as big a hit, “Little red Corvette” is a little more restrained (just a little) but keeps the energy high, and again I can see Warners were falling over themselves to get as many singles off this as they could: six in all. Mind you, it is a double album, but even so, there are only a total of eleven tracks on it, so really only three extra compared to his other efforts. Greedy bastards. Naturally, the album versions of both songs are much longer than the single releases, maybe a little overextended, maybe not. Anyway, yet another single, “Delirious”, kicks back in Prince's love of one of my least favourite genres, rockabilly, but it's decent fun with squeaky keyboards and some nice almost honky-tonk piano.

Amd yet another single. You know guys, sometimes it's a mistake to release too many singles: people may not bother with the album. “Let's pretend we're married” kind of carries on the idea of the melody in the previous track. Not quite as rockabilly, more a new wave edge to it but quite similar I feel. It is very catchy though. Total funk then a la Herbie Hancock with “DMSR”, touches of Janet Jackson in there too, a real party anthem, like much of this album. Let's be honest: even though the title track is ostensibly a warning about nuclear war it's a real dance theme, and most people probably shook their booties down to the ground to it without worrying too much about the political lyric. “Automatic” starts off with the basic beat of “Little red Corvette”, and I don't know if it's something wrong with my Spotify here or what, but the volume seems to drop seriously here. Steamy BDSM lyric for sure, with a funky new-eave melody, and it's actually the longest track on the album at over nine and a half minutes.

Sorry, but by six minutes it's gone on long enough (with not a lot of variation even in that) and we have three more to go? Pointlessly overlong. Can we even get a smokin' guitar solo into that three minutes? No? Boo. Yeah that was quite a trial to get through, I must admit. Bit of Kraftwerkesque whatever-the-fuck-they-play (new wave?) in “Something in the water (does not compute)” and it kind of doesn't, with an Invisible Touch-era Genesis sound (yeah yeah I know this was four years before that album) but at least some powerful vocal histrionics from the Purple One. Doesn't do a lot for me though. At least it's short. Like him. Sorry. Up next is “Free”, which opens with the sound of rain (I think) and footsteps walking quickly, then a simple piano line with a kind of Beatles or even Bread feel to it, possibly a ballad? Well, sort of: more a power anthem for togetherness and equality though. Good song, powerful solo and a great vocal performance from Prince and what sounds like a choir, though none is credited.

More sound effects to open “Lady cab driver”, unsurprisingly the sound of traffic and Prince hailing a cab, then it's a kind of low-key funk but again we're looking at eight minutes, and I must be honest that the longer tracks are beginning to wear on me. I mean, this is eleven tracks totalling seventy minutes. That's a lot. Feels a little jazzy in ways, so no, not one of my favourites, and the sexy noises don't really make me like it anymore. At this point, I feel Prince is in danger of becoming a walking cliche, hence, perhaps, the change of direction for the next album. This, too, could end at the fifth minute easily, but it's dragged gasping and panting on for another three. Seems almost cruel. At least we get a decent guitar solo this time out.

That leaves us with “All the critics love U in New York”, with what I feel is a very Robert Palmer sound to it, again quite low key with spicy keyboards, a spoken vocal for much of it, and pretty boring too for most of it. Ends well though on a great soul ballad for “International lover”, back to the Prince of the first two albums. If only more of it was like this.

Track listing and ratings

1999
Little red Corvette
Delirious
Let's pretend we're married
DMSR
Automatic
Something in the water (does not compute)
Free
Lady cab driver
All the critics love U in New York
International lover

Afterword:

Given how well known this album is, and how successful it was, I'm kind of disappointed. I do find, with the admittedly limited experience I have of Prince to this point, that many of his albums tend to have a lot of filler on them. Even Purple Rain has tracks I don't like, and this, while it has some great stuff on it, suffers from some very weak tracks too. I reckon had he cut it down to a single album and shortened some of the tracks by two or three minutes it could have been a real killer. As it is, it just kind of mugged me but I can make it to the nearest cop shop to report the assault. Shoulda finished me off, Prince!

Rating:

03-31-2017, 12:06 PM	#3251 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Album title: 1999 Artiste: Prince Genre: Funk/Pop/Rock/New wave Year: 1999 (nah, kidding: 1982) Label: Warner Bros Producer: Prince Chronological position: Fifth album Notes: Album chart position: 9/200 (US) 30/28 (UK) (wtf?? I guess every Prince fan had it by the time he passed) Singles: “1999”, “Little red Corvette”, “Delirious”, “DMSR”, “Let's pretend we're married”, “Automatic” Lineup: Prince: Everything (with assistance on vocals from Dez Dickerson, Lisa Coleman, Jill Jones, Vanity and Wendy Malvoin) Ah, here we go! The one that made Prince, the big breakthrough album which introduced those of us who were saying “Prince who?” to this musical genius. This would kick off a period of about ten years during which Prince would bestride not just the charts but the music scene like a colossus, reinventing himself, and music, setting trends, breaking boundaries, and basically giving the finger to anyone who dared say to him “But you can't do that!” He also managed to have the first video on heavy rotation with MTV, who a few years ago refused to play Michael Jackson's “Billie Jean” because, well, he's black, y'know? Review begins Surely everyone knows the title track, and if you don't, to borrow from the Batlord book of wisdom, fuck you, you should. Even I've heard it. Interesting though how it starts with a really slowed down speech sample before it kicks in, and it's also a great example of Prince using his multiple vocal tones, to the point where when I heard this the first time I assumed that was someone else singing the first line. Oh wait: I see they were. First time I see Prince sharing vocals other than that one track with Lisa Coleman. Just as big a hit, “Little red Corvette” is a little more restrained (just a little) but keeps the energy high, and again I can see Warners were falling over themselves to get as many singles off this as they could: six in all. Mind you, it is a double album, but even so, there are only a total of eleven tracks on it, so really only three extra compared to his other efforts. Greedy bastards. Naturally, the album versions of both songs are much longer than the single releases, maybe a little overextended, maybe not. Anyway, yet another single, “Delirious”, kicks back in Prince's love of one of my least favourite genres, rockabilly, but it's decent fun with squeaky keyboards and some nice almost honky-tonk piano. Amd yet another single. You know guys, sometimes it's a mistake to release too many singles: people may not bother with the album. “Let's pretend we're married” kind of carries on the idea of the melody in the previous track. Not quite as rockabilly, more a new wave edge to it but quite similar I feel. It is very catchy though. Total funk then a la Herbie Hancock with “DMSR”, touches of Janet Jackson in there too, a real party anthem, like much of this album. Let's be honest: even though the title track is ostensibly a warning about nuclear war it's a real dance theme, and most people probably shook their booties down to the ground to it without worrying too much about the political lyric. “Automatic” starts off with the basic beat of “Little red Corvette”, and I don't know if it's something wrong with my Spotify here or what, but the volume seems to drop seriously here. Steamy BDSM lyric for sure, with a funky new-eave melody, and it's actually the longest track on the album at over nine and a half minutes. Sorry, but by six minutes it's gone on long enough (with not a lot of variation even in that) and we have three more to go? Pointlessly overlong. Can we even get a smokin' guitar solo into that three minutes? No? Boo. Yeah that was quite a trial to get through, I must admit. Bit of Kraftwerkesque whatever-the-fuck-they-play (new wave?) in “Something in the water (does not compute)” and it kind of doesn't, with an Invisible Touch-era Genesis sound (yeah yeah I know this was four years before that album) but at least some powerful vocal histrionics from the Purple One. Doesn't do a lot for me though. At least it's short. Like him. Sorry. Up next is “Free”, which opens with the sound of rain (I think) and footsteps walking quickly, then a simple piano line with a kind of Beatles or even Bread feel to it, possibly a ballad? Well, sort of: more a power anthem for togetherness and equality though. Good song, powerful solo and a great vocal performance from Prince and what sounds like a choir, though none is credited. More sound effects to open “Lady cab driver”, unsurprisingly the sound of traffic and Prince hailing a cab, then it's a kind of low-key funk but again we're looking at eight minutes, and I must be honest that the longer tracks are beginning to wear on me. I mean, this is eleven tracks totalling seventy minutes. That's a lot. Feels a little jazzy in ways, so no, not one of my favourites, and the sexy noises don't really make me like it anymore. At this point, I feel Prince is in danger of becoming a walking cliche, hence, perhaps, the change of direction for the next album. This, too, could end at the fifth minute easily, but it's dragged gasping and panting on for another three. Seems almost cruel. At least we get a decent guitar solo this time out. That leaves us with “All the critics love U in New York”, with what I feel is a very Robert Palmer sound to it, again quite low key with spicy keyboards, a spoken vocal for much of it, and pretty boring too for most of it. Ends well though on a great soul ballad for “International lover”, back to the Prince of the first two albums. If only more of it was like this. Track listing and ratings 1999 Little red Corvette Delirious Let's pretend we're married DMSR Automatic Something in the water (does not compute) Free Lady cab driver All the critics love U in New York International lover Afterword: Given how well known this album is, and how successful it was, I'm kind of disappointed. I do find, with the admittedly limited experience I have of Prince to this point, that many of his albums tend to have a lot of filler on them. Even Purple Rain has tracks I don't like, and this, while it has some great stuff on it, suffers from some very weak tracks too. I reckon had he cut it down to a single album and shortened some of the tracks by two or three minutes it could have been a real killer. As it is, it just kind of mugged me but I can make it to the nearest cop shop to report the assault. Shoulda finished me off, Prince! Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018