Prince ‎– 1999

Does anyone's skip on Lady Cab Driver? I have a used copy but can't see any scratches that would cause it

Amazon.de has now a bunch for about 100 Euro which is a lot less than what is being asked...just a heads up!

Following on from the rock rhythms and new wave leanings of “Dirty Mind” and “Controversy”, “1999” was the first project in the vast musical sphere of Prince to make a concerted bid to win over both the pop and rock audience and prevail.

Plainly recalling David Bowie’s unrivalled ability to variate his identity in accordance with his latest influences and ideology, Prince’s gender fluidity, extravagant fashion sense and live shows, featuring gasp-inducing exhibitionist spectacles, were expressly compatible with his concepts. For his next course of action, he appreciated the past while anticipating the future musical landscape, scaling down the unrestrained eroticism that had given him the edge over his contemporaries but also damaged his chances of breaking through to the inflexible, narrow-minded and lowbrow mainstream. Upon cultivating the purple-loving image of a lusty guitar hero with substantive sex appeal and more on his mind than merely epicurean matters, Prince was introducing the various principles of his iconic Purple Rain persona. Instead of relying on suspender-clad Lothario antics as a form of expression and shock value, Prince continued to exude sex vicariously through the graphic language of his compositions.

If his previous records dovetailed the innate qualities of one another whilst progressing towards something more commercially viable, then “1999” is the leap into the unknown, deviating from, but mostly distilling and refining what had emerged as his character, essence and sound. That being said, “1999” is not unfettered in its accessibility, nor does it dispense with the funk elements of old. Comprised of two halves, one being largely commercial and the other more unconventional and innovatory, Prince’s antipodal philosophy of sex, social consciousness and spirituality is communicated in an unbroken, congruent manner.

Prince had already made major breakthroughs when he began constructing the seminal record that would see him further establish his sexy signature sound but also raise his profile considerably. At this point his career, devising and loading 11 opuses onto a double album was a natural progression since he had not yet built on his reputation as the foremost pop maestro and failed to challenge anyone’s expectations. Undoubtedly, he could make skilful use of his creative proliferation, but “Controversy” only negligibly consolidated the textural course and brief extent of his antecedent. Endowed the freedom to explore new musical horizons with more advanced recording equipment at his disposal, the logistical nightmare posed by realizing the scope of “1999” meant that Prince had to advance his studio techniques. As opposed to the marginally organic instrumentation of its predecessor, “1999” was largely composed electronically. By stretching out the arrangements, he was able to fully display the extent of his raw talent and musical capacity. Aside from the prominent synthesizer melodies present throughout, Prince incorporated guttural rock choruses and three-part harmonies to further expand his vocal range, delivering high-pitched screams and tender murmurs with equal conviction. Ever the overachiever, he was firing on all cylinders in 1982, being incredibly visionary and adventurous whilst founding what would be recognized as the Minneapolis sound. It has been widely reported that the 1980-1984 imperial phase was possibly the most exorbitantly productive of his entire career, especially if one considers the other projects he was involved during this time. As with most of Prince’s most celebrated body of work, it would leave a lasting imprint on all popular music in perpetuity.

From the eponymous Armageddon-envisioning party anthem, the delicate, melancholic “Free”, alluring allegory “Little Red Corvette”, vital revisionist rocker “Delirious”, frantic digital synthscapes of “Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)”, to elastic, pleasure-minded jams “Automatic” and “International Lover”, the quality, variability and momentum does not incline even once. In all respects, Prince is on dynamic, irreverent and kinetic form, with his constantly halcyon attitude, fluency and veiled sass lending the album a warmth and lightness. On the less taut, salient front, “Dance Music Sex Romance,” extols the virtues of self-confidence and salaciousness, “Lady Cab Driver” rumbles with reverie, and the incisive “All the Critics Love U in New York” takes aim at pretentious hipsters. While mostly confined to the second disc, the sustained, simmering and seductive grooves, all flourishing and tensile arrangements powered by cool electronic propulsions and heightened by sexually explicit lyrics, may be less immediate than the hits, but they are comparably enriching and irresistible.

“1999” is a snapshot in time, capturing Prince directly before he reached the international stage. Tied together with an overarching theme of sexual positivity - reimagining trysts through the use of automobile metaphors, airborne scenarios and in the backseats of cabs – over which Prince would declaim his hedonistic paranoia - partying in the face of oblivion on Earth whilst deliberating the implications of such licentious abandon in the afterlife – the album showcases his many attributes from the outset. From the visibility and assists of his diverse backing band The Revolution and their own adoption of a designated role and uniform, Prince relinquished the outré behaviour in favour of high-octane, choreographed presentations and sharp dance breaks. It was this addition in particular that appealed to the MTV viewership transfixed by his eye-catching garb, playboy persona and dynamism rather than simply his music, which received scant airplay in comparison to the likes of Michael Jackson and Madonna. Though it shares some common threads with its predecessors and establishes several components of subsequent material, “1999” is a thematically continuative, cohesive statement that, in a parallel universe, would be the supreme criterion, but in the case of Prince, this rich and lavishly produced, awe-inspiring masterpiece marked the dawning of a very purple reign.

It's Prince and it's a good record idk what to say. A2 sounds a little distorted/overdriven but whatever.

The Prince Estate so far, has been SERIOUSLY delivering the goods! These Super Deluxe editions of his best albums are over the top fantastic--you get all the alternate/extended mixes, b sides, and best of all VAULT TRACKS.
These mostly unreleased (at least in this quality) are as good as anything that made it onto this album, maybe even better.

The Estate REALLY knows what they are doing and I hope they give all his early albums this exact same treatment. Cannot wait to hear what else is in that Vault...

The Prince Estate so far, has been SERIOUSLY delivering the goods! These Super Deluxe editions of his best albums are over the top fantastic--you get all the alternate/extended mixes, b sides, and best of all VAULT TRACKS.
These mostly unreleased (at least in this quality) are as good as anything that made it onto this album, maybe even better.

The Estate REALLY knows what they are doing and I hope they give all his early albums this exact same treatment. Cannot wait to hear what else is in that Vault...

Everything about this set is awesome. The pressings are clean, the sound is right, the package is top notch.

Prince's royal funk statement, which finds him taking elements of the core Parliament-Funkadelic aesthetic and putting his own spin on them. Even more than that, this sprawling, expressionistic statement had P fusing all of his dance roots with a unique new wave sensibility that was all his own. For me, this breakthrough classic is not only the consummation of Prince's earlier promise, but his legacy in dance music as well. Prince's unique consolidation of new wave, electro-funk and dance elements stretched across the entire spectrum and had everyone going back to their labs to reevaluate their gameplay. "Something In The Water (Does Not Compute)" alone unarguably predated 70% of what is hailed in contemporary black music as avant-garde or "alternative," post-1982. Scratch that--two-thirds of 1999's third side (save "Free"), along with "D.M.S.R." and "Let's Pretend We're Married" lives up to that statement. "Something in the Water," in particular was rhythmically and sonically ahead of the curve,

I never felt the need to upgrade my 1982 original Jacksonville pressing of this classic, as it sounds great. For a not-so-well recorded album that always sounded on the flat and "cold" side, it's still very much full of dynamics.

Great record. Sound quality on all versions sound like all treble rolled off. To make it sound ok you must boost treble drastically. Original LP, CDs, and remasters. This album needs to be remixed.

Both of my discs were pressed with very different vinyl: disc one is almost solid opaque, disc 2 is the usual splattered, translucent affair. Weird!