Prince - 1999 (1982)

Prince’s fifth album. A double record. The first one with The Revolution and the first one where you really hear other voices and the influence of other musicians. Prince also sings falsetto far less often than on previous albums.

Tracklist:

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”

Comments

“1999” 💎

Legendary.

Two thousand zero zero party over Oops, out of time So tonight I’m gonna party ike it’s nineteen ninety nine

“Little Red Corvette” 💎

Ditto.

“Delirious”

Silly little song. Sounds like a throwback to Prince’s solo compositions on his first few albums.

“Let’s Pretend We’re Married”

Probably most notable for Prince skipping the sexual innuendo and just straight up saying “I want to fuck you.”

“D.M.S.R.”

This song slaps. Supposedly it was left off early CDs due to time limits, which is too bad. There definitely are other tunes I’d remove first.

“Automatic”

Long synth pop with lyrics about bondage. Most notable to me is a quick cameo of Prince’s sped up voice that’ll later be used on “If I Were Your Girlfriend.”

“Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)”

Seems like filler but does mark a move toward more electronic songs.

“Free”

A decent power ballad.

“Lady Cab Driver” ⭐️

Funky stripped down little tune. Heavy and low, the only synth is fake horn stabs and the synth solo. The drumming on here is perfect, placed high above the synthetic hand clap that runs through the whole song.

“All the Critics Love U in New York”

Prince just noodling over a drum loop. Feels like a warm up, not a real song. Skippable.

“International Lover”

The falsetto is back for the best ballad on the album.