1999 is the fifth
album by
Prince, released on October 27, 1982. It was his first top ten album on the
Billboard 200 charts in the United States (peaking at number 9) and became the fifth best-selling album of 1983.
1999 was Prince's breakthrough album, but his next album
Purple Rain would become his most successful.
1999 is also Prince's longest single CD, clocking in at 70 and a half minutes.
It was also the first album to feature the
Revolution, although the band's moniker is written in reverse on the front cover.
According to the
Rolling Stone Album Guide, "
1999 may be Prince's most influential album: Its synth-and-drum machine-heavy arrangements codified the
Minneapolis sound that loomed over mid-'80s R&B and pop, not to mention the next two decades' worth of electro, house, and techno." In 2003, the
TV network VH1 placed
1999 forty-ninth in its list of the greatest albums of all time. The album was also part of
Slant Magazine's list "The 50 Most Essential Pop Albums", and was inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2003, the album was ranked number 163 on
Rolling Stone magazine's list of
the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Comments