Sign 'O' The Times

Huh. That wasn't what I expected. It was startlingly mediocre. Boring, even. Nothing stood out to me as particularly groundbreaking, exciting, or exceptional. I was glad to be done with it and sad to be glad. So much of Prince's catalog is phenominal. This album just doesn't have any of those songs, I guess.

Prince didn't have good albums, only few good songs.

I feel like this is prince's last truly great album. Kind of like his "songs in the key of life." His last big supernova before becoming a neutron star. Like he's trying to get everything out, throwing in the kitchen sink while he's at it (even a live track). I'm kind of a sucker for sprawling, all over the place, wooden rollercoaster type albums with all kinds of twists and turns from track to track. Love him playing different characters with different voices. Love the Linn drum sound. Love the playfulness and range of emotions. Love Prince. Listened to the super deluxe edition.

My only prior knowledge of Prince is loving the song Purple Rain but trying and failing several times to get into the album of the same name. I was quite excited when this popped up. After a couple of songs I thought there'd been some kind of mistake. The first track was ok, but the second poor. The third, Housequake, was abysmal. I checked the album on wiki to see what was going on and I'm astonished that it's cited as his best work. Really? The music sounds so dated, unlike a good chunk of other 80s stuff that survived the times. The poor drum synthasiser definitely doesn't help proceedings. Got half way through the album and had to stop. Honestly let down. Why was Prince so popular?

An absolute masterpiece, probably Prince's greatest record. A solo collection from the his most fertile period at the height of his powers. Funky, fresh, profane, reflective, funny, sad, profound, silly. Not really a dud track on this, probably the last of the great, true double albums. Cannot recommend too highly.

Look no further if you want to see why Prince is such an acclaimed icon and music star. Although not as popular as Purple Rain, and with less recognizable hits, this album is Prince at his most talented. He sings mostly in the upper register, and you can truly hear his range as a vocalist shine through. On top of that, he did a lot of the instrumentation and sampling himself and it’s just impressive to see this project done by mostly one mind. I had never heard this album before, and I couldn’t stop listening after my first time through. Partly because it was so fun, but also because this album flourishes with every new listen. The songs are jams from top to bottom, and there is legitimately not a bad song. Some songs are minimal on instrumentation with focus mostly on Prince’s lyrics, a lot of which are politically charged and focused on the end days. There are some moments this album can lose focus, and if you don’t focus enough you may have questioned what you just listened to. Nonetheless, it’s a masterpiece from one of the all time greats. Favorite Song: I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man Least Favorite: It

Sexy, soulful, and human. It has a song for many moods, all performed excellently and honestly.

Genre: Contemporary R&B 5/5 Prince’s best album, Sign o’ the Times, is one of those musical archetypes that will be referenced for years to come. A la The White Album, Physical Graffiti, or Sandinista!, Prince’s double album is a mix of styles, flavors, and moods, but all of them combine to make a truly delicious, one-of-a-kind musical stew. In a where-do-I-start kind of way, this album has highlights up and down the tracklist, from the opening title track to Hot Thing to U Got the Look to the incredible live jam, It’s Gonna Be a Beautiful Night. But those not listed make up an entire body of work that even some of the best R&B artists would be happy to call an album. Prince’s songwriting, his singing and his playing, and his sexy attitude throughout the whole project are infectious, timeless, and perfectly Prince. A must listen and a must have in anyone’s musical collection.

Consistently hilarious (“shut up already, damn!”) while showing all manner of musical prowess and staying funky as hell. Both intimate and all-encompassing. Fav track: forever in my life

Got to respect artists who completely commit to their own ideas, do everything their own way. Bjork comes to mind musically but Prince probably went further than anyone with this mindset. But... This is 80% awful, cringe inducing most of the way through. Every decent moment was surrounded by terrible parts that would have been shouted down by anyone else with any creative control. The big Prince hits are decent but this album and his music in general are not for me.

I closed my eyes and thought “hell yes!” when this popped up. One of my favourite Prince albums. It begins with some of Prince’s greatest lyrics in Sign o’ The Times and ends on the highest of notes with the incredible “Adore”. The album is beautiful, sweet, sexy, wild and funky. Most of all it’s great! Honourable mention to the popping Housequake. I’ll give these low score reviewers a line for the road - shut up already, damn!

The thing I love about most Prince songs is that you get the initial groove and you get lulled into an idea of “oh yeah; I see where this is going” and then BLAM! he drops a keyboard or guitar solo on you and introduces the secondary melody and the next part of the song. And you’d think you would learn after 5-6 songs but no you don’t. It’s MF Prince and he is the (insert superlative here).

Over the years, Prince had a lot of great albums, but he also had a lot of bad ones. This was one of his best and that is saying a lot. Lots of variety and emotion makes this a must-listen.

Ah, Prince. An undeniably excellent songwriter, musician, and performer. And yet he is so hit-or-miss with me. Some songs are absolute bangers, and other honestly feel bothersome. Every Prince album feels like this weird mixed bag, and this one is no exception.

People go crazy for Prince.... I must be missing something. This was an okay album, but most of the tracks were just that -- okay. Some of them were quite annoying, like "Hot Thing" and "It." "If I Was Your Girlfriend" felt more like a rambling meme/comedy song than a real track on the album -- and it's horrible. I'm sure more Prince albums will come up in the future, at which point I'll reevaluate. But for now, I'm somewhat unimpressed.

I've never really understood Prince's music, and this hasn't changed that.

In which Prince deploys his generational talent to such an extent that he makes somewhere between four and three-hundred albums in one, which is defined by two more features: the first, that most songs start as genre workout but finish as genre-defining; the second, that he plays everything, including rock god, funkmeister, a talking orgasm, silence, a besotted schoolboy, Jesus, oracle of the apocalypse, and John Lennon rewriting Norweigan Wood with Dorothy Parker in the lead role.

Genius.

he got hit with post nut clarity on forever in my life

Prince really doesn't do it for me. I don't get it at all

Definitely not my favorite Prince album. The quality of songs seems wildly inconsistent and it feels like the album was rushed. So, I'm a bit surprised that this album is a fan favorite. "Your face is jammin', your body's hecka slammin, if love is good, let's get to rammin" LMAO

Oh, more Prince. Looks like this album doesn't even have any of his big hits. Not excited. Some parts of Play In The Sunshine were half decent. How does a song called Housequake come out this lame. Why does Prince sound like a cartoon sidekick? Shouldn't a ballad have, like, nice singing? I would call the police if someone sang Hot Thing at me. I'm giving up before the end. Of the thousand and one albums to listen to before I die, which are supposedly good, I can't imagine enjoying something else less. I award Prince one star and may God have mercy on his soul.

The genius of Prince is that he makes his masterpieces seem effortless. The man was operating on a plane several levels above his contemporaries. I don't *like* every song on this album but that doesn't stop me from recognizing the brilliance. Everyone should listen to this. In addition to classic Prince sound, this album even offers up "conventional rock" with "The Cross."

Started slowly, but really really grew on me. An amazing album in a lot of ways that I don’t quite know how to explain. There is no single. The album feels stronger as a whole rather than on the weight of its best singles.

people often consider prince's 1987 sign o' the times as his first political statement. but the real ones recognize that prince always created political songs; maybe not always as his singles, but don't forget "1999" was absolutely a political song. that being said, i feel this album contains more overt political and social commentary than he had done before. by overt i mean it slaps you in the face. the title song questions how our society runs. we go through many scenarios throughout the song, but the first two lines cover the AIDS epidemic but prince purposefully does not link it with the gay community, unheard of in 1987. after that, we cover the national drug problem, natural disasters, the challenger disaster, the cold war/nuclear arms race. as the lead off track, this song was deliberately used by prince to make a statement. to provide some balance, the following song is "play in the sunshine" to remind listeners to enjoy life despite any hardships. "housequake" doesn't have the credibility it deserves, in my opinion. this song announces a style of music, funk, but prince wants the tempo to be "harder than they did in '66" and "faster than they did in '67," referencing political riots that happened in those respective years. prince was great at the songwriting craft, tying jamming to music and a riot together. protests and music go very well together. "starfish and coffee" doesn't contain a strong statement like other songs do, but it's notable for other reasons. this song details a young classmate of prince's then girlfriend, cynthia rose, who had a vivid imagination. the talk now suggests that cynthia rose may have been autistic, but regardless, the sweet song encourages acceptance and love above all. an artist like prince could be arguably considered as dressing and presenting in a non-binary fashion, or at least toying with the boundaries of gender. "if i was your girlfriend" has prince imagining a world where he is considered someone's girlfriend--a real romantic girlfriend, not a platonic one. prince alternates between a more feminine and masculine voice as he sings this song. sometimes he's more hesitant, sometimes more confident. his song "the cross" combines his belief in god and the social issues he sees. while the world is difficult, he reminds the listener "don't cry, he is coming, don't die without knowing the cross." prince, always ahead of his time, references gentrification ("ghettos to the left of us, flowers to the right"). regardless, prince always treated his fans right. many songs on this double album are his typical speed of love, sex, or religion. "it" references sex, surprising exactly no one, but hey, we can still appreciate prince pretending to be coy. we love prince at his sexiest. and i'd be remiss not to mention the witty lyrics of "strange relationship," especially his opening lines. the sound production on this album stands out, too. multiple songs on this album or parts of the songs were initially recorded incorrectly but prince wanted the distortion to remain. susan rogers was prince's engineer for this album, but even the best sound engineer can get glitches with initial takes due to the equipment or materials. among these "errors" are the opening distorted wedding march in "if i was your girlfriend" but also the entirety of the song, all of "the ballad of dorothy parker," among others. anyway, while i refer to these as errors, these songs became memorable for those reasons! maybe i should've led this review with announcing i'm a big prince fan? i listened to this album in full for the first time in some time and was pleasantly reminded what a solid album this is. i initially suspected maybe i'd land on a 4.5, but this is a full-fledged 5 stars.

Top class

Masterpiece - The Times A great piece of art - Rolling Stone 1000/10

Am a latecomer to Prince but really enjoyed this album!

Fantastic album, really liked it a lot! Prince is an absolute genius.

hot thing!!

I forgot how good this album is!

2nd fav after ATWIAD

Spotify wont let me hear the entire thing still diggin it tho

A classic. One of the best

A belter of an album. Thoroughly enjoyed.

I had high hopes for this record, and several of the songs met or exceeded those expectations, but, ultimately, not even Prince can redeem the double album as a format for me. (…but I did like how he was like “Drummer, do your thing!” on the second track and it was immediately followed by drum machine fills.)

I have a lot of respect for prince and his earlier albums are very good but this kinda sucked. It’s just distilled 80s electronic sounds with Prince’s (excellent) voices behind it. The songs are generic and it goes on forever. Really disappointing for what is supposed to be his best work.

Hmmm. I think it’s a real mixed bag. I bet if this album was shortened it’d be much better. Some songs are great, some are boring and skippable. The lack of the Revolution is pretty clear, there are no real bangers on this

Prince is really hit or miss for me. I love Purple Rain, but I really don’t see why Sign o’ the Times is his other album which is incredibly well regarded. Perhaps it’s because of the absence of The Revolution, but I don’t find Prince as interesting with a stripped bare-bones instrumental backing. The title track is good and there are some other solid songs on the album, but overall it’s not really my cup of tea. I was actually considering rating this album a 2 or even a 1 until “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man”, which is an all-time great Prince song that I totally forgot about.

The album while being a polished and well-produced Prince album failed to have the iconic songs or highs of other efforts.

“Sign ‘O’ the Times” by Prince (1987) At the time of Prince’s tragic and untimely death in 2016, I observed to a friend that I had never heard a song by Prince. He insisted I listen to the song “Purple Rain“, so I did, and I thought it was good, but not great. That’s the extent of my exposure to this great artist. Upon listening to this album (or at least the 10 out of 16 tracks that Spotify would allow me to access), I can say some positive things about Prince. He has a good voice, if lacking in power. Pitch problems on “The Cross“. Wonderful R&B stylings on “Adore”. He is reputed to be a great guitarist, but the only solid demonstration of his guitar work on this album is on the track “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man”, and it’s good, but not great. Acoustic on “The Cross” is out of tune. Drum machine is annoying. It’s more than ironic that he has a photo on the album cover that includes an elaborate drum kit. The best song on the album is the final track, “Adore”. Really nice. Also, and probably not coincidentally, it seems to be the most collaborative song in this collection There’s a lot of mystery about this guy. 3/5

Almost 700 in and this is the first Prince record I got. He left a very big mark on 80s pop music. He was a great innovator and very prolific, so it surprises me it took this long. He was unhappy with his record company because they didn't want to release everything he recorded. I think they were very generous allowing this album to be as long as it is. The man is obviously very musical. However, we have very different taste in music. Favorite song: strange relationship

Not a patch on Purple Rain.

This is just horrible.

I've heard this many times. It's been a while since I've listened to this album. I had forgotten just how great this album is. 80 minutes that covers the gamut of Prince's abilities in performance and songwriting. The fact that the great pop song "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" doesn't appear until the end of Side 3 of the double album gives an indication of how much great music is included on this album. Perhaps Prince's best album. Definitely the best representation of the breadth of his abilities.

I’d heard some of Prince’s songs before this, but I didn’t expect this album to be this amazing. It feels like I found the missing link to most of the r&b I like. Favorite Song: If I Was Your Girlfriend Least Favorite Song: Slow Love

Two double albums in a row and they couldn’t be more different. Loved it!

Opnieuw een 5 sterren album. Prince heeft twee 'gelijkwaardig legendarische albums' (ik hoef niet te zeggen welke de andere is) naar mijn mening. Starfish and Coffee blijft één van mijn favoriete nummers van Prince. Daarnaast zijn er weinig nummers op dit album die niet goed zijn. 5.0

Prince is essential!

Oh my lord unbelievable. Every song was so gucking good

Prince, you’ve done it again. And this time with an album twice as long. Need to listen more but Prince is quickly becoming a favorite artist of all time dang.

Yes

What a run of albums…

own

Epitome of funk. I love Prince. This album makes me so happy.

I listened to Purple Rain Instead bc I aint reading all that, one of the best albums I've heard in a while. So full of life and energy, and unbelievably groovy. Love his voice and vibe. On first listen perfect I think lol Fav songs: Let's Go Crazy, The Beautiful Ones, When Doves Cry, Purple Rain, The Beautiful Ones

Masterpiece. I knew it on first listen.

I won't speak on Prince, the person, because that is a can of worms... but I loved this album front to back and don't even think I can pick a favorite song because they were all excellent.

Wow, this was flippin awesome. I knew some of Prince's hits but never listened to a full album. I'm left wondering what I've been doing with my life.

Loved it. Awkwardly danced around the office whilst listening. Glad I work alone.

Prince is a God. The title track, Hot Thing, and It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night” are top shelf.

I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man is my fave.

Easiest 5/5 ever Pure unadulterated GROOVE and FONK

Absolutely perfect

Prince was One of a Kind. This album is excellent!

Amazing album. What more is there to say.

This album is an absolute masterpiece.

Wow!!! This was phenomenal

This is one of those albums that is able to take so many different musical themes from a period and synthesize them into a something more than the sum of its parts. It's got a heavy funk current, uses a lot of well utilized synth, has soulful vocals, can get poppy, can shred on guitar and keeps a consistent sound while keeping each song fresh with a lot of variety. This is a masterclass of an album and an excellent representation of the period.

5 stars. Love Prince

This may not have been Prince's big commercial success, but it's still fucking Prince. It's political (Sign 'O' The Times), saucy, funky, groovy, and classic purple pop. I didn't know that he had an alter ego named Camille, but it makes perfect sense. I loved that he was always in touch with his feminine side - I believe that's part of the reason why he was such a fantastic lyricist and performer. That and the fact that he was a multi-instrument genius. This album is fire. 5 stars.

Клёвый исполнитель и альбом в целом

Had this on a dubbed cassette when it came out, listened all summer on my generic Walkman while doing farm chores in the sun. And dreamed of a different life.

LOVE!

🫶

Heck yeah

I've been waiting for this album. Great album. None of the major hits that have been overplayed. I prefer disc 2, but the entire album is solid all the way through. Prince was a massive talent.

It's Prince. That it all.

This album should deserve more recognition. Perfect blend of funk/jazz/electronic

Some classic prince. Love strange relationship, I could never take the place of ur man, and slow love

Immense. Honestly, if the app bugged out at this point and it kept giving me this album every day for the next three years, I don't think I'd mind.

i harp a lot about albums being too long, but here's an exceedingly rare example of an 80 minute album that actually earns its length

Muito bom, uma diversidade de ritmos mas mantendo sempre um alto astral.

This is perfection. W e are covering it on the next IGTOV.

Arguably Prince”s best - his white album such is the eclectic mix of styles

One of the best on this list.

A classic prince record. Coolness paired with musical genius results in a huge record.

Who can go from the drug epidemic in black communities to nasty, sexy, funky music followed up with a song about God, topped off by some good ol’ R&B jam sessions? Prince, that’s who! The irony was not lost on me while listening to the first song “Sign ‘O’ the Times” and thinking of his early death due to fentanyl addiction.

r&b, soul, rock, jazz, disco, pop - can find everything in this 5 star album of 80 minutes. Favorite track: Sign o' the times other picks: Jazzy work in "the ballad of dorothy parker", I could never take the place of your man, Cross

Pretty great, ain't it? It's better than I think it is, and I think its great Starfish and Coffee is a top 5 prince track. It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night is a banger. The singles are all great.

Just wonderful. Hadn't heard it inits entirety for years. A masterpiece.

Come on

Gear: Focal Clear (ZMFed) Artwork: 🪅🎸🥁 Mix (2020 Super Deluxe): 🎧😘🤌 Musik: 🎨🎼🤯 Wertung: ☮︎☮︎☮︎☮︎☮︎/5

This is hands down my favorite Prince album and believe me I've done my homework. 2nd favorite is his unreleased Black album but I'm an outlier on that one. What I love most about this one is how sprawling and stylistically diverse this is. He's constantly tinkering with methods of sonic presentation to achieve new aesthetics, reversing snares, dialing in new synth patches, ect. Songwriting-wise, you really feel like you get a broader spectrum of his mind, from the world troubles of Times to childhood classmates of Starfish to religon of the Cross, to romantic love/lust, from stormy to serene. Favorite deep cut is the walloping stomp of Strange Relationship, in all of it's lyrical complexity of exploring a place in a dynamic no one wants to be in but just can't let go of.

Absolutely emphatic album. The length of the record and of some songs but my oh my is it justified after listening . I simply have no words other than it may be arguably his best album to me . Favorite tracks were "The ballad of Dorothy Parker" " Forever in my life" "I could never take the place of your man " and the wonderful " SLow love"

His Royal Purpleness never failed to innovate. Even with drum machines and stripped down tracks he created an album that sounds full and fresh. The cultural relevance of Sign O The Times cannot be denied. One of his best albums, even though the singles weren’t his most popular.

cool

This album is just fantastic front to back. I LOVE Prince. Oozing with creativity, and an iconic drum sound. The production is spot on too, love how a silly little engineering mistake makes The Ballad of Dorothy Parker very eerie and gives it such a unique sound. Prince is a genius, but this isn't even my favorite Prince album on this list

Simultaneously epic and sexy. Very much into this album.

great album great voice and great sound