1999
Released October 27, 1982.
The album that put American musician Prince on the map in popular culture came on the heels of the singles 1999 and Little Red Corvette. And it was an album of funky rhythms.
Yet some ignored the hedonistic traits of the album 1999. One may not sense anything wrong with the tunefulness of the music, but 1999 is a fantasy world, a sub-culture that denies the course of living a real life.
The temptation is to entertain the fleshy desires, and this is what we have here in abundance and even what becomes a lifestyle choice. But one can challenge the temptation: as hard as that can be, but if we cooperate with the Spirit of Christ, we can subdue the flesh.
To say Prince brought religion to the mainstream with funk is untrue. Some accommodated the album for things like religious themes and a perspective on “something in the water (does not compute)”. But true religion is far from this album.
It is sentences like “Trying to run from my destruction, you know I didn’t even care…So tonight, I’m gonna party like it is 1999” which make me squirm inside because in the Christian religion judgment day does matter.
While some saw something positive in the album, the funky music also appealed. But am I the only one who does not like this album? The album itself runs down in a depressing descending spiral.
By Peter Veugelaers
Pete's Eclectic Flying Machine 