1999 Super Deluxe

This 5 cd and 1 dvd set of the 1999 material from the Prince Estate is worth every penny. The album itself has never sounded better, and the first couple of CDs help you compile all of the B-sides and 12 inch versions that deejays and collectors lost their minds over back in the day. Prince was skillful at editing and extending his songs for these types of releases. There are two CDs of "vault" material, and when taken as a whole you get to see doodles and unfinished songs that would re-emerge later in his career in various forms. They are not polished, so don't expect a slick addition to your library, but they are interesting. Several of these tracks ended up in finalized versions for Graffiti Bridge and some just disappeared into the ether. They all sound like this era. There is a live CD and then a live DVD from Detroit and Houston stops of the 1999 tour. Both are amazing time capsules of Prince on the rise and on the way to his Purple Reign. Amazing to see and hear how tightly formed his show was in the early 80s. My only gripe is they omitted the Time's opening set, and we also don't get a document of Vanity 6 opening up either (they weren't on every date). But hey, you get the master class in how to rock and party like it's 1999.Prince is one of those artists that feel so timeless. 1999 is him playing around with pop, jazz, and most importantly some serious funk. The songs feel more long form than at any other part of his career - true jam sessions that linger and go in brave directions. To me nothing could ever match how inspiring that first side is with the triple punch of 1999, Little Red Corvette, and Delirious. And to hear them remastered finally is a blessing. Thank you for releasing this one.

Totally worth the wait & money spent...a lot of care and love went into this, it totally shows, down to the last detail, from the remastering to the mirrored slipcase to the eye labels on each disc, indicative of the original vinyl (speaking of that, those who complained that the album in the vinyl set is not gatefold like the CD is...the original album was not a gatefold either)...hearing the album in full in the new set was as fresh and exciting as when I first heard it way back in 1982/1983...having the single versions, 12"s and Bsides present & remastered too is essential, the 2 concerts on the 1999 tour is great to have as well, you feel the excitement & energy, a thrill to see and hear, like you are there among the Prince faithful...but the clincher is the 2 discs of Vault tracks, amazing stuff...from full length versions like the 8-minute "Delirious" to a tour rehearsal medley to original versions of later-released tunes like "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got" & bside "Feel U Up" (prefer these versions) to tossed off gems like "Money Don't Grow On Trees", "Bold Generation", "Purple Music", the rocking powerpop "Teacher Teacher", tons more...and the booklet is amazing with great essays by my friend David Fricke from Rolling Stone, Duff McKagen from Guns N Roses and a MN historian, pics, handwritten lyrics, and notes on each of the vault tracks...truly a stellar job by all...yes many said a couple of Vault tracks are missing...perhaps they will come out in the future, but this 5CD/DVD really sets a standard...makes the (still well done) "Purple Rain" set puny by comparison...licking my chops on what could be next...but this thing is my pick for best boxset of 2019 by far...bravo!!

The pictures of this box set do not do it justice, it is hard to understand the beauty of this package until you are actually holding it in your hand. It goes without saying; the music is phenomenal.One note about the live video performance: I was one of the lucky ones who got to see Prince on his first tour opening for Rick James, then later again on his Controversy tour. Prince was an even more dynamic, provocative performer in the years leading up to Purple Rain (in my opinion), and the video performance of his 1982 Houston TX show included with this set captures that energy, as I remember it, better than any other concert footage I've seen of Prince since. The video quality is not what we have come to expect by today's standards (definitely not Hi-Def), but it is not awful and it captures the magic of Prince in his early days of fame beautifully.It is no wonder this box set is nearly sold out. If by chance it is still available, get it. You will want to have it.

Yow! What a superb box set is. Just what I’ve been waiting for! And so much to savor. The trick is a little bit at a time. My recipe for this batch of purple music is to explore it in a series of steps so as not to get overwhelmed. start by watching the live dvd first to get warmed up. Then backtrack to the two “from the vault” cds 3 and 4. Treat each as a separate Prince album that you’ve never heard before and will knock your socks off. Stick with this pair of disks for several listenings until you’re ready to move thru the remixes etc on disk 2. Then relish the new remaster of the original and now complete “1999” studio album that makes disk one. Finish off with the live Detroit show, disk 5.As one who was there for the SF “Controversy” and “1999” Oakland stops, this “1999” deluxe set is an absolute must!

Bought tons of things off Amazon and never left a review. It's 12:30am and I must be up to work in the morning by 8am. Can't stop listening to this. It's been a looong time since I purchased a cd collection with sooo much amazing music, granted I purchased the original album back in '83, this sounds better than my 30 year old cd. Enjoy having the different edits and b-sides along with vault tracks like possessed, purple music, rearrange, bold generation. I feel like a kid Christmas day listening to this. Been a long time since I felt this way. This was worth every penny. Hope they continue working through Princes music catalog remastering and releasing related unreleased vault tracks!!!

Prince to the super extreme. Great album. Great purchase. 2 thumbs-up

When this 1999 Super Deluxe Edition box-set originally came out, I ran into a little bit of a money problem and cancelled my order. Not long after that, all copies of the collection disappeared from Amazon and the market place prices sky rocketed to awful levels. Talk about instant regret. It took me sometime but Amazon actually found stock and I finally managed to get my hands on one without breaking the bank.Prince's 1999 was originally released in 1982. The album was released through Warner Bros and was produced by Prince himself. Though there are vocals and the odd bit of instrumentation from the likes of Dez Dickerson and Lisa Coleman, the majority of the instruments on the record were performance by Prince himself. The sound of the album is very similar to the albums Dirty Mind and Controversy with the guitar driven funk and the odd synth pop track. The production was never the best and it showed on songs like Little Red Corvette with was recorded too hot, causing weird audio artifacts etc. It was an album that needed a lot of love.The 1999 Super Deluxe Edition box-set contains five CDs and a single DVD. The first disc contains the original album, superbly remastered and a lot nicer sounding than the original (and very dated) CD. The second contains a number of b-sides and promo mixes. The third and fourth disc contains an impressive amount of vault material. The fifth disc features a live performance from the 1999 tour, recorded in Detroit on November 30th, 1982. The sixth and final disc is a DVD featuring an old VHS quality performance, a full concert from the same tour. It's a multi-cam show from Houston Summit on December 29th, 1982. All the discs are housed in a thick miniature double gatefold sleeve, all of which come together in a nice hard back slip case.As mentioned above, the new remastering of 1999 sounds fantastic. Gone is that awkward muddiness that plagues a lot of Prince's 80s albums on CD and in comes a beautifully clear sharp sounding album. It's a huge improvement on the original and it's well worth replacing that tired old CD with the new one. Unfortunately, nothing could be done to improve Little Red Corvette but it at least sounds better. The extra material is the icing on the cake. I'm not fond of the second disc but it's not for the lack of quality. The vault material is utterly fantastic. There's a lot of great funk material that's not quite up to the standard of the 1999 album but more than worthy of a fun compilation album. The live album is really nice to have. It's a true warts and all audio recording. Prince's band sound very tight and extremely energetic. The DVD isn't the best quality but it's got some pretty decent audio and is still very fun to watch.The 1999 Super Deluxe Edition box isn't quite as impressive as the Sign O' The Times one, but it's pretty great in its own right and a huge improvement on the god awful Purple Rain remaster. It's just a shame that the box-set has been out of stock and super expensive for so long. I'm so glad I caught amazing re-stocked when I did. If you ever have a chance to buy this (for a reasonable price), I couldn't recommend it more.

Cofanetto Deluxe per super appassionati di Prince: contiene inediti del periodo, lati B dei singoli , un concerto audio e uno in DVD. L'album 1999 , uscito nel lontano 1982, precede Purple Rain ed è uno dei tanti capolavori del grande Artista scomparso purtroppo nel 2016; per chi non lo conosce va benissimo la versione standard rimasterizzata. E' sicuramente tra i miei preferiti nella sua sterminata discografia. STRACONSIGLIATO.

Album génialissime, les inédits valent le détour également!En revanche : mauvais point sur la livraison : emballé dans le même colis qu'un sac de croquettes de 12 kilos, boitier du coffret Deluxe enfoncé... :-(

Excelente recopilación de una época mítica en la carrera de Prince. Lástima que se hayan quedado dos temas inéditos fuera, debido al contenido sexual de las letras.Ineludible para los amantes del genio de Minneapolis.