The original version had an epic feel to it, especally with the thunderous opening synths and drums and talking about the end of the world. But the remix almost totally lacked that feel, Prince turned it into any old party-tune, over-produced and with guest appearances by friends who were in with him at the time but have quickly been discarded, like the rap with dug e fresh. This serves to take away it's 'timeless classic' feel and make it firmly routed in that particular time.

It's not a terrible tune, though the additional remixes are pretty poor and uninteresting, but the original has a far greater emotional impact. When artists revisit past hits they often seem to miss the point, trying to 'improve' the stripped down feel by over-layering the instruments and balancing out the sound until it feels very flat. Just like Heaven 17 did with the modern remix of 'Temptation'.

And what a wasted opportunity, 1999 could have been Prince's year if he'd have released a killer version.

I listened to it in the record store... twice I think... and then decided not to buy it. Like metalornage said... it missed that feeling that the original has.

I liked how he added this one latin beat part to the new master at the end of it. It just added a little variation. Everything else about the song, and all of those remixes were terrible. Don't waste your money.

rdhull said:

Too late, I've seen it!

For shame!

I was in The Wiz (for those of you that live in NY you know what I'm talking about) which had it for $6.29, anywho I went to get the 1999 New Masters CD, had it in my hand for twenty minutes before I put it back and left the store. It had nothing to do with the money at all. I was going to buy because I'm a big fan, but I just didn't get the vibe that it was going to be worth my money. I don't think that he could take such art as 1999 was to try to re-do it. He done it so perfect the first time. As an artist he gave what he was feeling, seeing, and living at that moment, the creative forces-the moon,stars,sun,universel lined up right. You can't relive that moment twenty-years later. He's grown since 1982 as so much of his fanbase, those that remember 1999 ,the album or those of us who came along after. He's changed, music has changed, people have changed, society has changed. Point, being in my longwinded way, is that we artists work on the spiritual vibe, that little something that gets you to create such a perfect piece of work at the right time. I think he tried too hard to gain creative control that he didn't think about what the outcome would be. He should have just left it alone and moved on, 1999 was created in the moment it was suppose to be created back in 1982. You just can't go back to correct perfection.

THANK U GUYS 4 ALL YOUR REPLIES!!!

I love the 1999 New Master. i like any of prince's remixes as they give u a different flavor/version of each song he's remixing. the beat usually is a bit different, and the way the lyrics are done, sometimes.

Its sucks ass bigtime

IceNine said:

Didn't like TNM much either. What are some of your favorite Prince albums? What got you into the music?