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.

Better than Purple Rain? I don't think so. There are some very good songs on here, but I felt like it overstayed it's welcome. Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood for it, but my first impression is that it's just OK.

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

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?

There are a couple of stand out tracks here, but as I have found with most of Prince's stuff over the years, it all goes on a bit, much of it aimlessly. I often get the feeling that he had a ton of great ideas but was never quite sure what to do with most of them, resulting in confused albums like this.

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.

Excellent album

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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).

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

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.

Very 1980s production. I definitely wouldn't listen to this again

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!

4/5

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

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.

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.

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

Arguably the best album on this list

The sheer breadth he covers on this album is impressive, but it’s all so Prince. This earns its hefty length unlike many other double albums out there. Very few artists can make a song as good as The Cross. Sad this is the last Prince album I get to review for the list.

People are generally split 50/50 on Prince's greatest work. I fall squarely in this camp. Whereas Purple Rain is a contained, all killer mainstream dream, Sign O' the Times bends the bounds of genre. It's musically inventive, daring, and still a really fucking good time. Its track after track of jaw-dropping virtuosity that cemented him as a peerless composer, especially when you consider a fair number of tracks were spit out at an alarming speed. It may not have his catchiest lyrics, but if that's what you're looking for, go buy a greatest hits album. I'd also argue he rivals Michael as a performer here with how incredible his work in the upper register. Also, it feels almost ancillary given how amazing the music is, but it should be mentioned this album is easily Prince's most successful attempt at being political. It's not complicated, but it never needs to be. The album showcases that his strongest political statements were made via stories of existence and survival, not straight recitations of political statements (I'm lookin at you Welcome 2 America). Androgyny was certainly not a foreign concept in rock/pop, but Prince truly played jump rope with the gender binary, especially on this album. The scrapped Camille tracks offer an interesting dimension to the album and push the boundaries of a gender binary. Prince historically matched the likes of Bowie, but Camille upped the ante. The coolest rockstar artificially pushed his already-falsetto delivery to replicate as much femineity as possible. I'm glad that Third Man Records is planning a release of the remaining recordings, but we are lucky Prince already decided to give us a taste of his alter ego. In short, I can't heap enough praise on this album. A tour de force that perfectly summarizes Prince as an individual. Funny, profane, horny, audacious, and singular. Game, blouses. Rating: 10/10 Favorite Song: Sign O' the Times /If I was Your Girlfriend/Slow Love/ Hot Thing

9.5/10 God he’s good. I still enjoy purple rain better but Jesus he’s in the lab on this one. Favorite Song: adore

Double albums don’t usually hit the mark for me. This one is an exception. Excellent album. Love it from beginning to end. 5/5.

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.

Love Prince. He’s so SEXUAL!

This is Prince going all out. "Housequake" alone is worth atleast one star. I would normally say that 80mins is too long for an album, but it's pretty hard to get bored during this.

Super artistic, playful, and full of personality. Loved how diverse it is. Just a wild ride through themes and sounds.

WOW.

Best album ever, all categories.

Classic

All songs were great. No song felt like I was forced to sit through. The pop elements in this album really shined and made the whole experience really enjoyable.

how can anyone not give prince 5 stars

Very peculiar production.

Honestly, this is my 2nd favorite Prince album. I like Dirty Mind more. But I like this album (just slightly) more than Purple Rain. And I love Purple Rain.

well. guess i didnt have to keep u in suspense for long about what my fave prince album is FHJSFHUJFS so many things i could say ab what is just clearly one of the peaks of Music Generally. whatever caused prince to make his sprawling eclectic album also be one of if not his absolute Purest funk album, it was one of the great benevolent forces of the universe...the record feels infinite not just in the variety of style but just how far down the beats reach in their endless swirl...the Cumulative Effect of this record just pulls me in deeper and deeper the further it goes on, each groove a new flight of spiral stairs. if this is pop music, its certainly highly decompressed...all about the space and the ambiguities and the weird squishy in-between bits that are what Define art for me personally. and all of this aside, theres not a single song on this lengthy tracklist that doesn't deserve to be considered in some sort of all-timer context , in at least a few if not all relevant categories. i cant believe i live on the same planet as the person who wrote i could never take the place of your man. one of the desert island discs to end all others.

So so good.

Just great. Love it. Such an amount of talent, such an idiosyncratic artist. One of the few records of the time I immediately fell in love with.

What can you say about Prince? He was the GOAT. It was great to listen to this album again and appreciate the tracks that I don't know as well--The Cross, the jam at the end of I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man, and a taste of the phenomenon of Prince live with It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night.

What's not to like about this? It's funky, soulful, rocking, danceable, sexy, and super horny. For a double album, I never got bored or antsy. Some standout tracks: Housequake, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, Starfish and Coffee, Slow Love, It, U Got The Look, I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (Prince just jamming on the guitar at the end takes it), The Cross (holy shit what a late album banger, amazing)

Sensational

Prince is one of the few artists capable of producing a double album that merits it's length

Banger

Probably his best album tune for tune.

Heb ik al vaak geluisterd, staat zéker inmijn top10!

When prince died I was just a child. Everyone was losing their mind and I didn't know the man. Someone told me he is like Michael Jackson. I will never forget that. Because he is better than MJ.

so wie ich das album in erinnerig han ischs teils wxtrem geil aber afoch laaang. de song sign o the times findi haaammer. text super dark intrumentierig mega minimalistisch, melodie super synth bass hammer. d glocke d gitarreiwürf suuper. weiss nöd ob wendy oder prince aber shüüsh. play in the sunshine huere herzig findi sehr feelgood. oooh d bridge goht huere ab. mmmh yes premium prince. housequake isch sehr cool aber de prince sött glaub nöd rappe. aber sau funky. dorothy parker no nice, prince horn dawg. it macht wiiter mitem gated reverb shit aber er singt huuere geil git mega gäse. er insano horndawg. ok coole song. magi. starfish and coffe storytelling type prince, hani ebe gern. ui de wuschh vo rechts noch links. noice. slow love wieder insane horny aber schööön super sax bgvs geili druuums. hot thing WIEDER HORNY. aber banger. ui bis etz isch alles eaaasy geil? ui aber s sax wieder yeeeesss huuuere geil hot thing. forever in my life au super minimalistisch aber s funktioniert suuuuper. ich hanen gern. u git the look isch au uuuuhuere geili melodie soo funky catchy aiii yessss. if i was your girlfriend etz nöd min lieblingstrack aber meega herzig er will mit ihre zumne film brüele jö. ui wiso wirds so dark mann? ui und denn HORNY. bro prince. strabge relationship vorallem de synthbass huere cool. i could never take the place of your man isch jo au suuuuper cute. de refrain isch haaaammer. alte the cross hani etz au extreeem geil gfunde. wow. its gonna be a beautiful night easy geil, ischs live? nöd oder? adore isch au insaaane geil die briiiidge. fuuuuck. es isch amel scho extreeem cheesy schmalzig übertriebe horny aber sooo so guet. wenni jede song geil find mueses es füfi sii.

This album us amazing. It has some of princes best songs. Years ago this album made me a hard-core prince fan 4 life.

One of his best, an absolute classic. I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man is one of my all-time favorite songs. The Ballad of Dorothy Parker and If I Was Your Girlfriend are also so brilliant.

Pure excellence

Superb. Track 8-14 is some of Prince's best work. A double album which most deserves it's length. When i purchased this album for the first time in 1987, Some dude named Camille Housequaked all over it

Hard for me to put into words how much I love Prince. Purple Rain is viewed as his best, but I think Sign ‘o The Times was Prince at his finest. One of my favorite albums of all time.

Well. I had this album on vinyl, and vinyl melts when subjected to high heat, so I lost this album when I lost my house. I miss this album, and it sounded great on vinyl. The first track is the weakest, with some cringey lyrics. (Actually, there are a lot of silly lyrics on here, but the first song has the most cringey ones). The rest is pretty fantastic, near perfect. 4.99 stars.

My all time favorite

incredible vibes. production was so strong especially in comparison to the leonard cohen album from yesterday. a fantastic listen, some of this still feels genuinely fresh.

Great production. His jehovah witness shines through a little too much by indicating smoking weed leads to heroin, but I digress. Besides his production and musical ability, the lyrical direction Prince takes is fun. Embarrassed I didn't know the verse from '03 Bonnie and Clyde was from a Prince song. It’s interesting that he used more automated instrumentation on this after breaking up with his band. This review is crap, but this album is amazing

This man is an absolute genius. Everything from production, to instrumentation, to lyrics. Just all stellar, diverse, innovative, and most importantly it's incredibly enjoyable to listen to. Whether you're looking for something meaningful or just a bop to enjoy. It has it all in almost every single song. Can't believe I've never listened to this album before. So good.

Immaculate production, brilliant song writing, just a real joy to listen to. I hadn't listened to this record before which is an absolute shame but I'm thrilled this project gave me a chance to do so.

Bangerz

Great!

even by Prince's eclectic standards, Sign "☮︎" the Times is an absolute smorgasbord. there's plenty of the fun, funky heaters that he's now synonymous with, but also way more sonic detours than on any prior Prince album. he really takes full advantage of the flexibility that the double-LP format allows for. it's hard for me to get into as much detail as I typically do, since the act of listening to so many great songs in so many different styles tends to scramble my brain a bit. while this is becoming one of my favorite Prince albums, I think I need a little more time with it compared to Dirty Mind or Purple Rain. just rest assured that whether Prince is in sex funk mode, romantic balladeer mode, gender-bending mode (with the Camille songs), or what have you, it's gonna be great. it never ceases to amaze me how many different talents this guy had. truly a musician's musician's musician. the fact that some of these larger-than-life tracks were made totally in isolation is insanely cool. the biggest highlight is easily "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man," an absolute show-stopper that foreshadows the sound of contemporary creatives like Mk.gee. light 9/10.

Damn. This era of music has always been hard for me to get into. It has dated instrumentation and production style that often make it DOA in 2025. Absolute genius savant exploring his artistic nature and styles as the world of music changed. Instead of resting on immense success, he went all in on a double album exploring his brain after abandoning two stalled projects. Absolute artistic fearlessness and commitment to the art. If the music commands it!

the BEST from the BEST

Beautiful work truly an artist

This is what Marvin Gaye could have been, with just a little more sexual healing.

5/5

Such a great album. Prince is a legend!

I find it funny that this was my next album because the album I listened to prior was 1999. However, I am not complaining. This is another great Prince album. I still liked 1999 more, but I still enjoyed this one.

The first song is a masterpiece and then the rest of disc one is good. However, this album reaches masterpiece status on the second disc.