Fall of 1982 saw the release of not only a career defining single for Prince, but a career defining album as well. 1999 made Prince a star, and it's a delicious slice of funk/pop/electro/r&b that's just too funky for its own good. The title track, "1999", was released in September of '82, followed by the album in October. "1999" is to this day one of Prince's best known songs, and like many of his hits, timeless. Although 1999 offers up far more gems than just the title track. "D.M.S.R", "Delirious", "Let's Pretend We're Married", and the smash hit "Little Red Corvette" are insanely awesome tracks. Setting the stage for the grand Purple Rain album on the way, Prince wowed the MTV generation with this masterpiece- playing most of the instruments himself on many of the tracks. 1999 is one of the most important Prince albums of all time. It's audacious. It's funky. It covers many genres effortlessly. It's surprisingly minimalist and needed no gimmicks- the music speaks for itself. Ranked #215 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of all Time, it's been packing dance floors for decades now and shows no signs of losing its utter coolness. This is hands down one of the greatest albums to come out of the 1980's, and along with Madonna's first album, truly took disco (which was dying) and merged with the British synth pop to create a whole new sound in dance music. 1999 is one hot mess of funk, dance, synthesizers, and stunning commentary on society all rolled up into one big delicious package. It's epic, it's timeless, and it's grand. It's Prince we're talking about here. C'mon.
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