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.

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.

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

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?

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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).

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!

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.

Genius.

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.

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.

A belter of an album. Thoroughly enjoyed.

A classic. One of the best

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

2nd fav after ATWIAD

I forgot how good this album is!

hot thing!!

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

Am a latecomer to Prince but really enjoyed this album!

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

Top class

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.

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.

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.)

“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

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

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.

This is just horrible.

De este disco de Prince puedo decir que siempre quedo confundido. No de mala manera, pero tiene tantos géneros, sonidos distintos, tonos o moods, etc., que no lo entiendo. Quiero bailarlo, pero no es del todo bailable. Parece festivo de repente y otras veces, no. A veces te encuentras con pistas tan largas (esa joya "It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night") y otras más breves. De cualquier forma, Prince era genial y casi que cualquier pista —así en aislado— me emociona. De aquí, quiero mucho "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker", "It", "Hot Thing" y "U Got The Look". La canción que da título al álbum también es un rolón. 9/10

Still very fresh und mit vielen Dingen, die immer noch neu zu entdecken sind.

Well this easy! My all time favourite album. The best Prince lp, probably the best lp by anyone ever. Eclectic and covers everything good about Prince: pop, disco, rap, rock, blues, ballads, sex, politics, social awareness, live concert, quirkiness. An absolute masterpiece.

Good album prefer the later stuff. Spotify good links

Classic. Not one bad track.

Before this album, I didn't think of myself as a Prince fan, but I have to admit that every song on this album is a catchy thrill. These might not be the songs he's known for, but that doesn't really matter; the songs come together to make a full and complete experience that will make you want to listen again and again.

Perfect as expected

So many different styles and still only a small sliver of his genius. Wow.

One of my favorites of all time!

Nearly flawless album. Politics, bombastic catchy jams, and plenty of funk. Incredible, timeless album.

An absolutely great album. Some really well known songs but the other lesser known songs are great too

Is this one of my favourite Prince albums? Hard to say, but with tracks like Starfish & Coffee, If I Was Your Girlfriend & The Cross, it’s right up there.

This album has some weird tracks on it and runs a bit long, but it’s Prince. You gotta love it. 9/10

Fun! Prince! 9

Mega-Classic. 5/5

Stone cold classic

His most ambitious album and one of his best

Genius

80-е в лучшем виде

Artist so nice we get him twice. And this is a double album, so technically we're talking three Prince albums in a row. I was worried at first, but damn this one pulled through. I know I said in my last review that he can sometimes be too quirky for his own good, but not here. It's the unique Prince spirit that makes these songs so addicting. Lots of '80s sounds that you could hear all across the musical landscape, but Prince doing it all his way elevates things. I'd only heard a few big hits from this one, but so much of it sticks immediately. Yeah it's long, and could be condensed a little, but the expanse doesn't bother me here, as I loved plenty of tracks from both halves of the album. I might just have to give this the five-star treatment. I previously thought 1999 was my favorite Prince album; I'll have to reassess when we get that on the list (maybe tomorrow?). Favorite tracks: So many, but Starfish and Coffee, Hot thing, I Could Never Take the Place, Sign O the Times, Adore. Album art: Lot going on here, and for what? It's maybe the biggest flaw this album has, which is saying a lot. The absence of a title on the cover, and instead featuring the words "two disc set" on some releases makes me nauseous. Is this a parade float or something? I do like the ominous photo of Prince, like something a spy would take of a target on microfilm. I just can't say this is a memorable cover; the strength of 1999's cover (and Purple Rain's) by contrast makes this even more unfortunate for me. 5/5

This is an album that I didn't appreciate in the 80s, but wow now I get the hype. what a solid pop record. it's trite to say, but every modern pop producer owes a debt to what Prince put together for this album.

Maybe too long of an album but I was g and driving to it!

The groove really takes over, I don't think I could listen without moving my head. U got the look is an easy favourite. I could never take the place of your man and it's gonna be a beautiful night make me wish I could have gone to a Prince party. What a fun vibe. Adore is so good, lemme light a candle and get a snuggle on.

Loved it. Fun, flirty, funky. What a talent.

Absolute bop Favourite songs: Hot thing, it's gonna be a beautiful night

Loved it

A symbol!!!

I had never heard any of these songs but liked most of them!

I am a not a fan of Prince, I am aware of and liked his songs/videos that were heavily played on MTV: (1982): 1999, LITTLE RED CORVETTE (1984): WHEN DOVES CRY, LET'S GO CRAZY, PURPLE RAIN (1985): RASPBERRY BERET (1987): SIGN O' THE TIMES, U GOT THE LOOK and of course, Sinéad O'Connor's version of NOTHING COMPARES 2 U in 1990. I also did see the film PURPLE RAIN when it was first in the movie theater. After listening to SIGN O’ THE TIMES, while I enjoyed the music, it is not the type of music that I listen to. I can recognize Prince’s genius and ability to get people movin’ and groovin’, I believe that’s the reason why I rated Prince and SIGN O’ THE TIMES a little higher than I normally would, even though it just ain’t my thang. In 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, I see that Prince two prior albums included: 1999 (1982) and PURPLE RAIN (1984) Rate Artist: PRINCE (4.5) Rate Album (Year): SIGN O’ THE TIMES (1987 Original) (4.5) Rate Album (Year): SIGN O’ THE TIMES (2020 Super Deluxe (8CD + 1DVD) Edition) (5)

Fantastic! Some of Prince's best work can be found on here, especially with those last three tracks. Not all of the songs may be of the same quality, but this package is too much fun to not check out at least once or twice. Favorites: "Sign O' The Times", "Starfish And Coffee", "Slow Love", All of Side D.

Classic Prince album, perfect, not much else too say

Peak Prince

Maybe his greatest work

Fantastic album.

Sign 'O' the Times, U got the look, Strange Relationship, The cross.... un bon 5 étoiles bien mérité Quel artiste

He was a genius and my favourite artist ! It’s got to be my first 5*

The only artist to get the funk out of a drum machine!

a genius gives us a sprawling pop/funk masterpiece, rammed with hits, and hooks, and funky jams

Brilliant combination of different genres like pop soul and rock as well as many jazz elements. Two highlights for me is the exquisite drumming and princes always fabulous scat singing as well as his charming falsetto and youthful vigor and energy. My favourite tracks were hot thing,adore,slow love,sign of the times and housequake. But honestly the whole album was incredible and Prince always keeps me listening and entertained. My fav so far, I’d give it a 9.3 out of 10 as I didn’t love every track but still pretty good lol 👍

I bought this album through one of those Columbia House offers, where you get however many tapes for a penny. I bought it mainly because I loved Purple Rain. I had no idea what this was going to be. And very lucky for me, I really loved this one. I think the only song on the radio was 'You Got the Look'. (At least, on rural NC radio). But Jesus, these songs - Housequake, Play in the Sunshine, I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man. If Was Your Girlfriend??? Do you know what that song means to a 13-year-old kid in the rural South in 1987? Well I'm just saying it's a perspective on sex that you do not get anywhere else. And then to have a track like The Cross at the end... definitely the best Christian-themed song ever written? Aside from maybe O Holy Night, but that's a whole different conversation. Anyway. Another sentimental favorite here.

Enjoyed this way more than I expected. I'd only listened to popular bits of his before but will definitely listen more in future.

What an album! Housequake alone would justify five stars. Shut up, already, damn.

His name might be prince but it should be king

Prince’s masterpiece

Goddamn Prince was good. This is a superb album, obviously.

I already love Prince even though I'm only partially familiar with his large catalog of work. Most times when I hear another Prince track, even if I don't necessarily love that particular song in that particular moment, I'm consistently blown away by his ridiculous array of multi-faceted talents. If all he did was to have a music career based solely on his guitar work, it would've still been memorable. Add the rest of everything he could do, and then I realize how super-rare he was. This is a great album. Cuts across and weaves in quite a few styles and genres. It's so well written, superbly mixed and produced, incredibly performed, and, wow, just a whole lot of fun and interest throughout. I had not sat through a whole listen of the album before. Glad I did. And I'll do it again.

God damn Prince is so good

Prince really could not do wrong. Everything he did worked. What a master.

"1999" and "Purple Rain" notwithstanding, this is the greatest Prince album. Not only that but this is definitely in my top 5 albums by anyone of all time, I'd give it 10 stars if I could.

Incredible

Listened to the 2020 Remaster of this Album. Great Prince sound!

16th June 2022 Listened throughout the day while working in the office. Went to see Billie Eilish with Jen in the evening at the O2 which was great! Not a lot to say about Prince other than he’s just the master.

Absolutely genius. One of the best albums ever, by one of the best artists ever.

For when you want get it on music that you can dance, groove and jam after

The answer to the question ‘Can Prince really do it all?’ is answered with a resounding yes. This album shows Prince at his best across several genres including, soul, funk, pop, hip hop, and even moments that sound like alternative rock. Despite this albums 80 minute running time, it never feels taxing on the listener and is a testament to Prince’s ability to capture and audience.

quite good

A candidate for the best album of the 80's. Instead of writing out superfluous praise, I want to list some of my favorite moments from the album. - The moment Prince sings "It's silly no? When a rocket ship explodes.." on the title track gives me goosebumps - Prince describing being seduced by Dorothy Parker - The opening of "Starfish and Coffee" - The tasteful brass flourishes on "Slow Love" - The canned synths on "Hot Thing" is pure sex - The duet with Sheena Easton on "U Got the Look" is hilarious, especially the "Let's get to rammin'" line - When the kick drum comes in on "The Cross"

Only half the album was available on Spotify, but I'm sure the missing ones are as great as the others on the album.

That was the quickest 80 minutes of my life. Usually a double album tends to drag. But this just barrels through a barrage of different genres until it's finished. Which is disappointing because I don't want it to end. Then I remember that I can start all over again. This is the best double album I've heard. Sorry White Album. Sorry Physical Graffiti. Sorry Frampton. (Only kidding there. That album begins to pall by song 3) The teeny-tiny genius truly came from another planet. How can you get so much variety from a solo songwriter. Oh. Yes. He invents a new persona. Camille is breathtaking. So is this album. Sometimes Spotify gets out right. After the last strains of "Adore" faded, I was greeted by Strawberry Letter 23, the Brothers Johnson version. This is one of my favourite songs and definitely fits the vibe.

An incredible album start to finish. Prince mixes loads of genres from pop, funk, jazz, soul, r&b. The performances, the song writing, the instruments. Prince has it all. This album is just further proof to why he is one of the best artists of all time. And arguably one of the biggest influences in Pop history.

Guess I'm a Prince fan. Listened to it twice and watched the concert film. The drum machine tracks are almost abrasively filtered, but they work really well in these songs and create an addictive pocket with the wide variety of synths and instruments utilized. Whether it's the evocative bass of the title track or the hair rock guitar in U Got the Look. Then the second half has a live band feel that's reminiscent of Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense with infectious horn lines and workout video energy. And Prince's voice of course, which soulfully inflects standard funk mantras like Hot Thing and funny surreal stories like Starfish and Coffee. The Cross is also a great song.