I have owned the 1999 album/CD for well over a decade and when you listen to the album, it was superior in so many ways to Purple Rain. Solid from top to bottom.

The one song that really stands out is "All the Critics...". It sounds like a precursor of sorts to the minimalist funk sound on WHen Doves Cry, Kiss, and Black Sweat.

Anyone else feeling this song?

"Look out all U hippies...
U ain't as sharp as me...

It ain't about the trippin'...
But the SEXUALITY...

TURN IT UP!"


Ranks right up there among my ALL-TIME favorite Prince sayings...

Take a bath, HIPPIES!!!!

Yeah, that song's weird.

"he's definitely masturbating"

Great song-1 of many faves!

"You can dance if you want to!"

I was listening to the "1999" cd on my commute this am!!


Turn it up!

The "1999" album was the one that got me hooked...so yeah...that song along with the whole album is really awesome!

to "All the critics..." and the whole 1999 album

Obsidian said:

I was also just listening to this song recently. I remember hearing it for the first time when I was around 13. I totally loved it. It is so techno. I wonder how appreciated it would be to people who arent already Prince fans.

"They wont say that your nieve if you play what you believe"

This song is really cool.

it's a preview of the music that was played in clubs some 15 -20 years later..so housey and techno

i love this song and an album!!! 1999 has it all

Lets Pretend were Married
All the Critics
International Lover
Something in the Water
Free

those are my favorite tracks off the album , but i like them all.

That's a cool ass song! That whole album was light years ahead of it's time. He could release that today and it would've been a hit. All the songs on there sound so fresh it's hard to believe they came out 20+ years ago. I could play that album for one of my friends and tell them it came out yesterday and they'd believe me.

It's funny how things change. I recall over a year ago, folks on here, many anyways, weren't feeling the 1999 album at all. I felt alone on the trail of how great this album is. How things change.

OneMoreTimeP said:

I agree totally. It is, by far, P's best album, in my mind. It's definately my favorite of his. I've stated many times on here over the past few years that P was in a "zone" when he cut this. It was like he knew that during this very prolific period of his, 81-84, that he NEEDED to get out of his system as many songs as he could. There is such a confidence on the 1999 album that I never seen again on any of his other work. Not even on Purple Rain. The only cut that has that kind of confidence is When Doves Cry. I would love to hear the completed version of the album that he cut after 1999 but BEFORE Purple Rain. That, my friend, is probably THE ONE.

blackguitaristz said:

I agree. I am not as big on SOTT or Purple Rain, but 1999 was the perfect storm of electrofunk, rock, pop, and soul. If there is an essential Prince album, this is it.

He had mixed all the elements of sex, politics, and charisma together on this one album and it came across as a real album, not necessarily a crossover attempt (not that anything is wrong with that) like Purple Rain.

Something In the Water, Lady Cab Driver, and All the Critics almost weave together to form the foundation for some of the funk experimentation that would follow.

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

Yep. The whole album, including all of the sound effects, like the Pampers baby laugh. The elephant roar. Someone who sounds like their choking (?!) underwater, etc. P obviously had a freedom to do what he wanted to do without giving a fuck of what the media OR his fans thought. It was more about what he wanted to do. That's the major difference between this album and Purple Rain. During the making of 1999, P came across like "Hey, I'm just cutting some tracks that I dig...U know what?....Fuck it, this is going to be my new album." He seemed more concerned about The Time's "What Time Is It?". The only other album that came close to this "Fuck it....I'm just jammin'" type vibe is The Black Album. Which also should have been released in 87-88. With Purple Rain, this was a major deal connected to a major movie. This was highly banked on to break P wide open to a much bigger audience. And it did. But, it put P in a different "place". And it started to effect his music and his decision making. I always felt that P was at his strongest when he felt isolated. "Outside" of what everyone else was doing. More of a loner. Anger. That type of vibe produced 1999. Anger was all over The Black Album. Think it wasn't? Listen to Bob George. Becoming a huge star had to have had an effect on his mindset. And I think it showed in his music. Damn near right away too. ATWIAD never would have come from P in 81-82. The best cuts from that album are the b-sides. That's truer to what P was doing before Purple Rain than anything.

blackguitaristz said:

The Black Album may have charted a different vibe for P. Think about the artsy, fartsy works of ATWIAD, Parade. The sound is great, but it is very much Beatlesque in their format. 1999 was his DNA in its truest form. The experimentation was great and IT WAS HIS.

Definitely the jam!!! Lady Cab Driver/All the critics.... is arguably the best coupling of songs on the album. I like the way they compliment each other.



Though it's a pretty long song I play it over and over again when I listen to 1999. "The reason that you're cool/ is you're from the old school...and they know it!" Classic Prince!!!!

...although the critics in NY ain't been that kind 2 him lately, eh?

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

I've never accepted this comparison too much. He played with a bit of psychedlia on ATWIAD (Paisley Park, Raspberry Beret), and on the first track of Parade, but the Beatles comparisons should stop there IMO.

What we're talking about is the natrual evolution of his music in the 80's, and it was intruiging. I dont think he was ever consciously trying to be this, that or the other, simply making records as he wanted to.

1999 was the record where prince realised he could do whatever the fuck he wanted to as he'd already hinted at it on Dirty Mind and Controversy, and i think he satisfied something in himself with that record, and after that it was a case of "done that....NEXT". You've got to remember Prince was on a learning curve at this point and was changing styles with outfits - they were all him though.

Coming back to the threads point, All The Critics is one of my favourites. I'd kill to get my hands on a remastered version of this track. The squelchy bass line is hypnotic, and his vocal delivery is masterful. I was so delighted when he played this at some of the aftershows a few years back. I have one version in crystal clear soundboard and love it.

CrozzaUK said:

The reason I mention the Beatles vibe is b/c I it music for ATWIAD is great, but it sounds a lot more derivative versus the albums that preceded it.

All the Critics seems to be a song that rarely sees the light of day in live performances. Really hard to figure, since the song doesn't sound that dated.

Great track.

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

All The Critics still sounds fresh, and innovative even - lord only knows how it sounded in 1982. I love the contrast of the frantic beat and his laid back vocal delivery.

Basement Jaxx did a remix of it a few years back which was quite cool - they sped it up a little. I'd flip if i heard this in a club now though. I heard the original Nasty Girl a few weeks back and proceeded to go insane - this would have a more extreme reaction.

one of my favorite tracks by any artist,but only Prince could have made it. the live version a from a few years back is hot,too.

Combine with the 1999 thread.

blackguitaristz said:

You know what could've been the superior move?

Including all the gems that didn't make it to the album...

Purple Music - My fave & the most prolific outtake from that period.
Moonbeam
Baby, You're A Trip(& A 1/2)
Call U
Cho-co-late!
Extra Loveable

What else? I swear I'm missing something.

Harlepolis said:

Hello, babygirl. "A Better Place To Die" and "Extra Loveable" is bangin'. Period. "No Call U" was something that sounded like it was intended for Vanity6. "Purple Music" is cool. "Purple Music" should have been a b-side. WAAAY better than "Horny Toad" . P, I don't believe, will ever release his unreleased material. If for no other reason, cuz he wants it to all stay "underground". Ya'll must remember around 1980, in an interview, P said that he rather have a cult following instead of a mainstream audience that's only there when you're having hits. The Black Album. I don't think P EVER had ANY intention on releasing that album in 87. He wanted a bootleg album on the street cuz he KNEW that would give him back his street cred that he used to have during Contoversy and 1999. Many folks on this site are probably too young to realize this but P's biggest following, hands down, were blacks. Even though more whites started to pop up to his shows on the 1999 tour, largely cuz of Little Red Corvette and MTV, still, P's primary audience, his hardcore following, were blacks. Black radio WORE P out. And I'm talking about them playing Lady Cab and the full album version of Automatic and D.M.S.R. This was standard fare for black radio. Especially out here in L.A. I think after UTCM and the backlash P received from black folks as "selling out" and that he's lost his edge, it bothered him on a personal level. I think that's what The Black Album represented. Hell, it says it all in the title of the album alone.

Revolution said:

The reason that you're cool
Is cuz you're from the OLD SKOOL
And they know it!


In addition to 1999, The Time's "What Time is It?" and Vanity 6's debut album came out around the same time(fall of 1982). The Minneapolis sound at its peak!