Reviews (page 9 of 13)
I liked it to some degree, but the musical genre is not really for me.
Not a very good recording which makes the album flat and boring.
Pretty much all Prince is great Prince, and this is like twice the Prince. It’s like two Princes but the music is significantly better.
I wanted to like this, but it just felt tedious by the end.
Really good when it's good but too long and kinda outstays its welcome. I enjoyed myself, but I wasn't sorry when it ended.
I enjoyed listening to this album because the beat is very catchy. I also like the style of music.
The cover looks really messy. "U Got Look" was good. I liked the drums, the singing voice was interesting. But I thought the lyrics were good. "If I Was Your Girlfriend" had an interesting start. I find it unnatural that his voice sounds like a girl's voice. I did think the lyrics were good. I would recommend this album.
I know we’re supposed to be in awe of Prince and he does have swagger and cool funk arrangements but somehow it didn’t resonate with me. Perhaps it’s the drums which are of their time and detracting from the whole. A guilty 3.
Pretty good. Some of the grooves are really well played and funky. 3.5/5 Might listen again
p567. 1987. 3 stars. As with all double albums, it's self indulgent, flabby and packed with filler - no-one needs a 9 minute live track. Bit of a shame really, because when it's good it's brilliant. A bit of judicious editing and this would be an easy 5.
I was pretty excited to listen to this one as I’ve never heard sat down and listened to it from beginning to end. To be honest even though there’s some masterful playing on here, a lot of the funk stuff just wasn’t for me Favorite tracks were title track, play in the sunshine and I could never take the place of your man.
Ok
Music interesting. Lyrics not that much.
80s as hell and longer than I had the tolerance for, but not a bad listen by any means.
Fine
I like most songs here, but I can't say I love any of them. Prince is a good vocalist, and the production is great. But the songs are too empty and drawn out. It also doesn't justify its length. I would've preferred to have less but more dense and less monotonous songs.
Recht typischer Prince Sound. Für mich keines seiner Highlights. 3/5
Eh... not bad, but I don't really see what the hype is about. I'd probably have a different opinion if I'd heard it in the 80's and had feelings of nostalgia for it. 3/5
Many listens through and I still don't feel like I have fully sussed this one out. Might need to keep going back to it, as I think it might end up a 4... Double albums are tough to fully digest.
Never listened to a whole album by him. There’s some good stuff on here without doubt but being a double there’s some things that are definitely filler. Wide range of styles explored which makes it interesting. Definitely worth a listen
I need to spend more time with the Prince catelog.
Funk, soul, and pop - Pretty long album - Some songs are pretty good, but some are just average
Not my style. Some good songs. Best track: It's gonna be a beautiful night
Prince isn't really my thing but I didn't mind the length of this one.
this is a lot of prince at once but it's without a doubt the best double album we've had in this exercise so far
A serviceable Prince album. For a double album, not too draggy. A few weird ramblers but also a few really fun grooves. 2.5
heard before 3/5
Middling Prince album
So sexy
Prince
High energy record. Lots of cool baselines and guitar parts. I think based on this album, a Prince concert would be a lot of fun.
I go super back and forth on this. Its Prince and he is really good and songs like It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night just hit really well. I also think his sexy songs are just great. The ones that fall short are the ones where he is talking about things outside of sex, which is awful to say because he is allowed to talk about other things, but he just doesn't do it as well. I hate giving Prince a 3 because some of the songs are definitely 5's but some just seem almost amateur. Sorry Prince, but this was not my favorite of yours.
The Prince-album which changes everything. Prince started with this to become a mega rock star.
Still sounds progressive today. Political, funky, and innovative.
Fun to listen to, some creepy lyrics though, less hits than Purple rain which I got a while ago
It’s good. And after having listened three times in a row, I can also say that there are some memorable bangers on here, but I still struggle with remembering them all and telling them apart. Opening track, Housequake, Starfish and Coffee and The Cross stand out
Strong start, there were some great songs I added to my playlist such as "Housequake" and "Play in the Sunshine", I lost interest tho when it transitioned into the more mellow and slow songs. Prince has an amazing and iconic voice that carry those songs tho, so even though I got a bit bored I appreciated his voice all through the rest of the album.
I just can't stand Prince's voice. Grating to me, but not bad music.
Prince seems to love taking a million ideas that fuse funk, pop, r&b, soul, rock, and a tad of psychedelia into a long album. A long album that says the world sucks, so let’s dance and fuck. Danceable, silly, groovy, catchy, conscious, sexy…though I prefer the fun tracks to the sex jams, which makes this so-so for me. He has an interesting blend of arrangements - some very sparse outside of vocals and rhythm, while others are busier and more elaborate, some feeling like a party. It started off with a few strong tracks and then just kinda coasted ok-to-boring with a few other good tracks sprinkled in. I was very surprised that he mentioned ham at least twice in this album. This project so far has made me realize that I respect Prince’s talent and vision, but the music just doesn’t quite do it for me. If he leaned into and sustained some more of his weirder musical fringes, I’d dig him more I suspect.
Ah, Prince... without a doubt a musical genius, an exceptional multi-instrumentalist and guitar virtuoso, a top-notch composer, arranger and singer, and unquestionably one of the (arguably THE) iconic pop stars of the 1980s and beyond. And yet I find myself having trouble getting into his music. I could easily name probably a dozen (maybe more) songs of his that I consider absolute timeless masterpieces and that I have been playing in heavy rotation for decades now. However, when it comes to his albums, it's a different story for me. With the notable exception of Purple Rain (which truly is an all-killer-no-filler disc), I have yet to discover a Prince record that I enjoy listening to from beginning to end. Lots of people put SotT in that same tier, or have it ranked even higher. It's widely considered his crowning musical achievement. Some even see it as the best (double) album of the 80s. Somehow, I just don't hear it. There are some amazing tracks (I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man is the highlight for me), but to my ears there's also a bunch of filler. Like so many other double albums, in my view this one would have benefited from some editing and would have been a stronger album as a single record.
some fun moments but overall meh
great
Not my favorite Prince album, but good nonetheless.
Diverse and high-concept, with a few bangers that feel innovative even now (If I Was Your Girlfriend). Also a famous use of the Linn drum. I feel I'll never quite fully get it without having lived through the 80s
pretty good. little hard to get over the dated drum sound, but a few songs grabbed me
Favorite tracks were The Ballad of Dorothy Parker and Adore.
You probably had to be there to get it, but not bad.
This was what I expected from Prince. It was fine to listen to, but I wouldn't go out of my way to ever purposely listen to it again. Prince is just a weird cat and that is reflected in the music.
I like that this album addresses the issues of the time. However, it's not my favorite album. It doesn't hook in the way the others do.
disco pop no acaba de ser mucho mi estilo
A tough album for me to rate. On one hand, I have an immense respect for Prince's musical and songwriting ability. And I did enjoy a few of the songs a lot. But his style does not click with me at all. I find it decent at best, and just overall not my thing. I think I would have like the album more if it was just the second record - I didn't like anything at all from the A & B sides. Top tracks: U Got That Look, The Cross, It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night
The drum machine sounds really bad here. Prince's output really seems to lose steam around this point in his discography. Sign 'O' The Times appears to rely on a "chill vibe" with its artificial percussion, prominent bass/synth lines, and nods to the outdated disco genre – but the percussion ends up being annoying and repetitive rather than smooth. In fact, the biggest problem with this record is that, despite every instrument technically being played well, the ear-catching compositional elements are missing entirely. That is, there are pretty much no melodies I enjoyed. In the entire album. On any instrument. This made it pretty tough to enjoy most tracks. They're difficult to sing or hum along to, and rely more on showmanship and flourishy vocal/synth lines rather than anything simple, concrete, and infectious. The track Starfish and Coffee is a major exception to these complaints, having a good melody and legitimately fun, groovy backing instrumental. Slow Love is also notable for its soft, lilting guitar work, nice backing vocals, and use of a real acoustic drum kit. The title track/album opener is the best instance of a song sounding fairly good despite all the problems mentioned above, probably because of Prince's good vocal delivery. His voice doesn't go weirdly off the rails like some of the more questionable tracks (Housequake, It, U Got the Look), but instead is smooth, steady, and to the point. Props. 3/5 Key tracks: Sign 'O' the Times, Starfish and Coffee, Slow Love, Adore
Purple Rain is one of my all-time favorite albums. This follow-up was a great disappointment.
Nothing good, nothing bad, prince has probably got better stuff to look forward to
Ja versteh ich, aber fühl ich zu wenig
Good album? Yes. 100 Greatest of all time? Hard pass. Mot even the best Prince album
3.5 - it was good, but I didn't enjoy it IN MY SOUL which was disappointing :( Stand out tracks: - Sign O' The Times 5/5 - one of my favourite songs of all time, absolutely beautiful - Strange Relationship 4/5
I won’t even begin to try to understand the comparisons to Purple Rain, it’s not even in the same stratosphere. I struggled with this one, I’ll give it the round up to a 3, just for benefit of the doubt that I am missing something but I don’t get it. 2.5/5
Man, maybe I’m just not cool enough or don’t have enough soul to love this…not my favorite prince work. The song I prob liked the most was I could never take the place of your man which is prob the most generic pop. I’m ashamed of myself.
Another familiar album of which I've never done a listen through. I'm beginning to think that music TV's might've done me a major disservice between late 80's and early 90's. I know several songs off the album, few enough to be quite fed up with them. Titular track doesn't sound what I remember it sounding like, I'm assuming the blame on the video for that. I was expecting a lot more funk and bluesy rock bits, but it was mostly simple pop music. Most of the musically interesting stuff for me was happening with the vocals, not the guitar or groovy basslines etc. which was the expectation. I'm not sure if I'm disappointed or not, since it sort of fulfilled the expectations I had based on the video tracks. I wanted the rest of the album to be more ambitious music, filled with funk and soul, but sadly it was not.
Found myself pretty bored through the first five or six songs, but then a few leaned in a different direction like I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man and I enjoyed those.
Helt ok, men inte helt min kopp te. 5/10
Not his best
3.5/5 Some fun little ditties on here. I was torn on 3-4 stars but ultimately there's a fair amount of filler/miss tracks for me - a common affliction for double albums. Reading the wiki for this albums prince was planning on releasing this as a triple album(!) until the studio stepped in.
Soft Prince album, not my style
A few great songs, a lot of filler and inconsistent production quality throughout. Love the artist but not so much this particular overall lengthy double album.
It’s fun and weird, but not everything works. There’s a George Clinton vibe in some spots, but it’s more scattered. You can tell there’s a lot of creativity here, even if it feels like too much at times.
It's Prince, it's obviously good, but stylistically not my cup of tea. 3/5
This is for sure a unique album by an extremely creative artist. However it’s a bit hit or miss for me.
Prince is Prince really - some serious funk, some hella weird lyrics and overall a disjointed feel across the album
Good
Interesting use of vocal harmonies, w 80s synth drums. Lots of instruments. Overall not styles I seek out, but can't deny the talent, creativity, and how this album captures and defined 80s sound. Didn't hear any single song i wanted to hear again immediately tho.
Funky and the classic Prince sound. Probably not one I’d listen to often but I appreciate it for what it is!
Some good things - mostly not for me.
Some good moments throughout, but ultimately not my prefered style, and I think it is too long and sprawling, with too many ups and downs. 3.5 stars
3 estrelas
Big album, which teased and ultimately promised me more than it delivered. Lots of different genres provide influence here, and there's diversity in terms of tempo and overall vibes. I did like the funk sound on tracks like Housequake. The chilled out ballad Slow Love works for me and my favorite track on the second half was probably The Cross. Some of the lyrical themes are a bit dated (eg, Hot Thing). Maybe at nearly 90 minutes long it's just too dense to absorb quickly, but I'm left wanting more.
Was pretty mediocre. If it were another artist I'd probably give it a 2.
Much prefer this to 1999 - more poppy/hip hoppy less funk and slap bass. Only managed one and a half listens as its another effin double album so this is only my initial view (although I doubt I will listen again to form a more fuller view). The over reliance on drum machines dates it and makes it feel disposable. A few zingers - Sign of the Times, U Got the Look and I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man but quite a lot of filler.
It’s prince so it’s solid, but nothing really grabbing me.
A lot of the drum beats and synth noises are too processed-sounding. Not too unsimilar from some 80s's MJ. Slow Love is a pretty good song with nice sax. If I Was Your Girlfriend was weird. I Could Take The Place of Your Man is a pleasant almost alt rock song that doesn't fit the rest of the album's vibe. The Cross is a quite good song, as is It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night which has a recognizable part at 3:50 and nice instrumentation. R&B/soul/funk/rock album. Started off slow but ended strong. Pretty good.
Favorite Track: Housequake
Groovy, funky but no real bangers (for me).
Pretty good. Creative. Imaginative.
Solid.
Out of the three Prince albums this is the best on the list, which is not saying a whole lot. He has some good songs here, but a lot our just overkill on the sex language.
I only ever listened to 1999, Purple Rain, Around the World in a Day, the Batman soundtrack. While those are outstanding, this was just meh. Three just because it's Prince.
I always struggle with Prince, I think he is / was an amazing musician, but I didn't always like his style, a lot of 80s synth is not my thing. As a guitar player and icon I think he is truly one of the all time greats. Stand out track: - Play in the sunshine - The ballad of Dorothy Parker - Slow love - Hot thing - Adore
Way more honkey tonk than I expected?! So good though
A lot, That is probably my takeaway from this album. Lots of ideas and different styles, some I liked, others not so much. While I probably wont listen to the whole album again I'm definitely listening a couple of songs again. I really enjoyed the title track and "The ballad of Dorothy Parker". Personally I love the use of the 80's sounding drums and synths. Especially because they are accompanied by great sounding bass and guitar. Also a big fan of all the instrumental breakdowns.
Decent
This is...a lot. Highlights: "Sign o' the Times" (cool burbling percussion, somewhat dated lyrics), "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker" (fonky), "U Got the Look" (the voice manipulation is cheesy but it's a bop musically), "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" (catchy power pop) Notable: "Housequake" (um...what‽), "Slow Love" (almost a doowop sound to it)
Good, transitional album from Prince.
Incredibly disappointing. There's no way this is the best Prince record. Yes, every single one of you is wrong.
I didn’t need this much
I have a feeling I'm starting to glean what Prince might be all about. I'm not quite there yet, but I can guess why people are all over this.
I was not previously familiar with this album. I have a lot of respect and appreciation for Prince's immense talent. He can literally do it all. This album seems pretty typical of Prince's material - upbeat and poppy and eclectic. It has some strong songs on here, others seem more dated. As someone who likes but doesn't love Prince, a double album is a bit much to get through, but the material itself is good. I would definitely listen to Prince again, but I might choose a different album over this one.
Prince wrote some great singles, but his album always bore me. The 90s Soul/Funk period never caught me so while I always wanted to enjoy Prince, when I would try I would get turned off by his synth-drum machine tracks. When he goes full funk like Strange Relationship he's a joy to listen to. Obviously Sign O' The Times, You Got the Look, and If I Was Your Girlfriend are the easily recognizable hits from the album but I'd rather not have to invest an hour and 20 minutes to hear some of his 'decent' singles. 3.5/5
This was suprisingly all over the place. Some tracks were mediocre and forgettable, while others were excellent ("Slow Love" was a highlight). This was my first time listening to Prince and I honestly expected better.
From Wikipedia, interesting to learn that: 1. This is regarded as his best album, above Purple Rain, 2. it was originally supposed to be a triple-disk but Prince was forced to reduce it to a double album. It definitely has that 80's sound, which I think is largely because of the synth drums. None of the songs caught my attention.
While I'm not a Prince expert, this album is sort of just a reminder that not only did he write a lot of great songs. He just wrote a lot of songs. Period. And that maybe the quantity is partially the reason there is so much quality. The Wiki said this was his first album without the Revolution, and while he might have appreciated the nimbleness of making songs this way, it does feel stripped down in a half-realized way.
I did not expect to dislike this as much as I did. I had some idea Prince's excellence dropped off in the late 80s/early 90s, if only because my mom had none of his albums after Purple Rain, but I didn't know how badly. I don't know if 1987 was just a bad year for music, but this sounded SO dated, vacillating between tinny beats that seem to be aiming for that 'Let's Go Crazy' vibe but failing to meet that mark, or Isley Bros style soul grooves that can't come near Prince's early output, e.g. 'I Wanna Be Your Lover.' I did enjoy one song I'd never heard (Ballad of Dorothy Parker), and still enjoyed If I Was Your Girlfriend and U Got the Look - but this mostly made me sad that Prince is now slightly less of a legend in my eyes.
Was alright. A couple of stand out songs but didn’t think it was something to write home about overall
I like Prince more than I did prior to starting this project. He was clearly a talented songwriter, musician and singer. But I still don't LOVE his music. It's just not my thing. And 2 albums is a LOT of Prince when you're not a big fan. 3.5, but I can't bring myself to round up.
prince geðveikur
Strange and I can‘t put my finger on what I like about that and what not
The hooks, the voices, the funky beats. It's all here. I can see the talent. I think the songs sound great. I just don't want to listen to them. Maybe there's something wrong with me. It feels like Prince managed to influence the kind of pop music I find the least appealing. I've tried prince over and over again and every time I leave wondering how such catchy and original songs leave me so bored.
this is good prince album. a little overly long for me, and there are moments that are lackluster (i thought one song sounded like a car commercial, lol), but i love housequake and sign o the times. and the way he does a bass line. lets go.
R&B, funky pop I guess is how I’d describe this album. Not too bad, but nothing really stood out.
Never been a big fan of Prince
Some greats songs and some not done great
1/11/24 I appreciate Prince as an artist, i just found it little bit boring.
Good
What started off as promising, the lyrics and groove of the opener being cool and interesting, descended into too long an album filled with pretty average material. Might get better with multiple listens but the sterile production is hard to listen to for an extended period of time.
🎧If Prince had consolidated this down to one LP it probably would have rivaled Purple Rain in quality. It’s got some great tunes! Starfish And Coffee, U Got The Look—great slow builds on both I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man and The Cross. But then there’s also a lot of filler. Title tracks seems to suggest in one line that weed is a gateway drug to heroin?
Sign ‘O’ The Times is a brilliant song, but the rest of this album is very forgettable 3/5
Not my favorite by Prince but still very good
Pop rock, funk, R&B. Ni fu ni fa.
A very slow-burn of an album. Pretty decent if you're focusing on it but I tended to get distracted throughout. I think a few more listens would bump it up. 6/10
Prince is always a good time but this isn’t my fav of his albums.
Hatte ich schon
Obviously very popular, but not my favorite music
I thought Prince would have made a more interesting album than what is on Sign 'O' The Times, but I guess not. I either found the music boring, or so boring that it became annoying. There were some funky beats, but honestly nothing is particularly interesting. I don't care for Prince's vocals much on this album. I think there also needed to be more iconic Prince guitar shredding. Mediocre.
This is a 3 out of respect to Purple Rain
Cons: (1) This is not just a double album, but a “guess what kind of song I can make? all of them” double album; (2) this is Prince just past his prime; (3) too much messing around with cool new toys in the studio and not enough of a central theme (4) Prince rapping. Pros: the worst music by Prince is better than the best music made by your dork-ass favorite band. Fuck you. This is a fucking Prince album.
this was okay?? i looove a lot of prince tunes but this album was quite long with not enough memorable songs to me personally (considering i was listening to this for the first time). as a massive 80s fan though i didn’t hate how any of this sounded - it just started to all blend together and a lot of the songs were long af. definitely need another go with some of these songs tho. “i can never take the place of your man” was the most stand out to me !! catchy as
Sign of the Times (political commentary over a pop song) House quake (dance song) U Got the Look (very 80s) If I was Your Girlfriend I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man (80s pop) Adore
A bit to 80s for me to really love.
Noiosetto, mi aspettavo molto meglio
It all sounds pretty good but I'm not a fan of 80s sounding music.
3.5☆/5 10.07.2024
I'll never deny that Prince was a huge talent but I've never been more than ambivalent about him. My impression of this album was that it was self-indulgent, bloated and for the most part, meh. OK at best.
Funky but not as strong as some of the other Prince hits
Great pop rock album. Would die happy if I never get to listen to it again
Prince is right up there for me, by that I mean right up there with a lot of other well respected artists that I just don't get. I'll admit that he has released more than a handful of songs that I do actually like, but fuck me, this lad released 1000's of songs so there were always going to be a few I liked. This album was fairly boring to me - simple drum beats, rhythmic chanting, nothing special....
Poorly mixed, otherwise solid prince album despite none of the major hits Favourite track - It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night
song I knew plus new ones. Prince never fails.
Solid album. First time listening to a Prince album the whole way through, I dig it. His fans are a bit unhinged though. Saw one comment on YouTube that described this album as so ahead of time it would be worshipped religiously in 2134 on a track that follows the same formula as a thousand other Soul songs from the '60s. Good, but not "ahead of time" in 1987. 6 / 10
Not a Prince fan but this album grew on me especially the second disc,as usual I think a lot of the album is about sex and he seems to be singing even squeakier at times. Don't think I will revisit the whole album again but maybe a few of the tracks will get a replay.
Prince again. He always sounds like his music is made for sex, but set in the 80s/90s.
A calm and correct Rock album by Prince. It was agreable to listen through the piece.
Это уже второй его "большой" альбом, и по всей видимости я должен признать: это не совсем мой артист. Лучшая песня - If I Was Your Girlfriend.
Masse bra synth, men fortsatt ikkje innertier
A couple great songs.
Very interesting album. I don't think I connected with it just yet so I'll give it a few listens more. I definitely like the songs on disc 2 more than disc 1.
With the First couple songs I wasn’t sure why prince was so popular to begin with. But album 2 and even the B side of 1 it got better. Still very 80s and housequake might be the worst song ever
Bien
Good funky 80s music. Prince is good.
Very chill, mellow, and relaxing album.
Funky tunes, overly sexually driven lyrics. The less poppy tunes were better
Not my favorite Prince album, but still fun and funky
Good, not great. A mixed bag - doesn't include any of the major hits, but damn, the man could sing.
had some nice funky elements but after a while it gets a bit old and nothing really stands out
I hated the first two song but the rest ranged from good to meh
Skivan är all over the place. Det gör att man både njuter och lider. Cross var riktigt bra. Annars är soundet sådär, mindre bra när det är tungt syntljud. Men överlag är jag nog mer nöjd än förra skivan.
Till skillnad från Purple Rain tycker jag inte att denna hade några ordentliga hits som stack ut. Sen är ju Prince lite kul att lyssna på eftersom det är så varierat och han är så originell. Men summa summarum tycker jag inte att det här är jättespännande och på det så blir det lite väl mycket 80-tal på det synthigt dåliga sättet. Svag trea (efter endast en genomlyssning förvisso).
I enjoyed most of this album (probably more disc 2 than 1) but I don’t particularly like the songs with the voice change effect. These aren’t the “hits” I remember as much but still some solid tracks.
This was a fun 80's album. A lot of Prince songs I haven't heard before. I think the only thing holding this album back is a single or two. None of the songs really standout from the rest of them.
I've always been on the fence with Prince. I recognize he is one of the great musical geniuses of the late 20th century and I truly enjoy many of his albums and songs, but I find some of his material difficult listens, sometimes edging on self-indulgent, boring and bland. It's not to say, Sign 'O' The Times isn't a good album, it's got some nice stuff on here, but maybe there's too much material to fully highlight the quality. I didn't find anything earth-shatteringly brilliant or essential on Sign, in my opinion he's released better records. I like it, but I don't love it...next.
His name kind of says it all for me and maybe a hot take but he's certainly not an album artist... not to say there aren't great songs in his catalog and on this album but for me he's a notch below the greats and although this album has some funk, soul, psychedelic pop, electro, and rock, his voice doesn't shine nearly as much and the instrumentals don't always align just right. He's an incredible artist but this isn't a incredible album
Quality
Enjoyed this, although against other things in Prince's catalog, it feels like more of the same, but without quite as much magic.
I like the artist formerly known, but this was a bit of a slog if I'm being honest.
20241608 Sign "O" the Times 3/5 Coming back to this challenge two years after I started it, the first album I get is this well acclaimed album by Prince. I’m not much into his music, but I’m well informed of his impact on the industry during the 80’s, and this album is considered by many as his best. However, as it has happened to me before with other well-known last century "masterpieces", I’m not impressed with its songs, and the style and sound production is not for me. Regardless, there are a few songs that I have saved for a future listen. The variety of styles Prince is capable of playing is one of the highlights of the album, with pseudo “hip-hop” on Housequake, Gospel on The Cross, or Rock on U Got the Look, to name a few. Every song with a touch of Funk and an incredible groove, with the incredible range of Prince’s voice as the cherry on top of the positives of this album. On the other hand, the aged production is a low, with clear examples as the difference in volume between different songs (not sure if a problem of Spotify), or the lack of clarity on the mixing of the instruments. I feel like this is a “me” problem, as my ears are used to 21st-century production, but it makes for a poor listening experience. Other problem is that, besides some of my highlights and the difference on styles, most of the songs sound flat and boring. Probably because I didn’t experience it the time, but the album doesn’t sound (in my opinion) as revolutionary or groundbreaking as I was told. Perhaps working alone, without the influence or advice of other people, was the problem. Favourite songs: Sign "☮︎" the Times, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, Strange Relationship Least favourite songs: It, Starfish and Coffee
Starfish and Coffee is a banger. I enjoy Prince, with how much I loved him aesthetically I wish I enjoyed his music more.
I can't really tell if I like Prince or not. It's very 80s pop, but done pretty well. It's almost nauseating at times with overproduced drums and synths, but then there are some magical solos sprinkled throughout that rock pretty hard. The lyrics are pretty thirsty, particularly in It and If I Was Your Girlfriend. I think my favorite was Play In The Sunshine, up until it plays Shave and a Haircut. So maybe U Got The Look is my favorite here? I'm sure there is more Prince on this list, at least Purple Rain, so I'm hoping to like that more.
It’s not bad
Look, Would I myself a Prince fan? Yes of course. Did I enjoy this album? No not quite. Took a bit of effort to really slog through it, I did really like Slow Love and The Cross though.
Prince's first solo endeavor. Immediately noticeable were the electronic drums featured throughout, almost sounding like a futuristic version of rock for the time. The album as a whole was a bit too up-and-down energy-wise for me, though. It just never maintains a high level, alternating between classic Prince horndog ballads and outright forgettable tracks. It almost feels directionless. I had heard that this album was one of Prince's more critically acclaimed coming into my first listen and I couldn't help but leave a bit disappointed. I can't deny that the album as a whole is produced well, which keeps my rating of it afloat.
2024-08-05...
More like a 2.5. Always great beats from Prince but the album didn’t do much for me.
Prince albums can usually be divided into two categories: where Prince is On One, and when he is not. When he's on, he's the greatest pansexual imp to ever pick up a musical instrument. But unfortunately, he was often led astray by leading the life of a medieval king, flitting between being obsessed with Jesus or getting all the pussy in the world. This album is the exception: it's both On and Off, sometimes in the same song. I don't know why the academic opinion is that this is Prince's best one, and after listening again, I still don't. The musicianship is insane but large chunks of this seem juiceless to me. I don't know. At least it's not that weird concept album about ancient Egyptian genetic memories solving racism
I liked this alright as a casual Prince fan and I can see diehards loving it.
Jim Coffell ski bus
Loved this album back in my ski bus days. Jim Coffell ski bus and my Sony Walkman
Very funk, it’s DIFFERENT that’s for sure Not any bangers that I liked, but I’ll give a 3*** for artistic creativity
I don't like Prince
Clearly fallen from his peak but still decent
This is a long ass album. Not necessarily long in a bloated way. Thought it was okay, not my kind of music. There’s some variety in there. I had checked out after 40 minutes. Standouts: Housequake, The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, If I Was Your Girlfriend, and Strange Relationship.
Hab disc1 angehört, am Anfang war ich so meh, aber nachdem ich mich drauf eingelassen hab wars ganz nice. Aber ich mag Prince Stimme nicht so und werde glaub ich kein Fan
#290. It's right. 3/5: decent
Classic Prince - a few sensational songs diluted with some average and a couple poor ones. Favourite: The Ballad of Dorothy Parker. Least favourite: Housequake.
You know how I feel about Prince
The title track is of course superb and the rest of the album bumps along well enough in mix of funk, rock and pop. But can't say I was overwhelmed
We all know he's done better
It’s Prince so you know it’s going to be reasonable. Can’t imagine revisiting it though.
I’ve been much of a Prince fan and this album doesn’t really change my mind. That digital snare drum (or however they produce that sound) is ever present and is not pleasant to my ears. I appreciate Prince as an artist but this album is just not for me.
Epah, eu não desgostei, as minhas músicas favoritas foram: play in the sunshine, hot thing e it, dou um 6 a este álbum.
as much as I like Prince, nobody needs a double album (Unless its Nelly's Sweat/Suit duh). honestly its fine, but its missing that Prince flair. solidly average.
Ok first off I like Prince. Maybe I just didn’t listen to this album correctly because it felt too long and not as engaging as some of his other albums.
I’ll never stan him as much as my mom does
Still better than anything Elvis Costello has ever made.
I'm not sure I will ever fully understand Prince. There are sections of this that cause me anxiety by sounding like kids let loose in a room full of instruments. Very production heavy. There was a song or 2 that seemed a little more stripped down that I liked a little more. Like The Cross
Not my favorite Prince album. But even bad Prince album is still pretty good
I was excited when this came up as I kind of lost track of Prince albums after Paisely Park for some reason, despite loving him. It's fair to say I found this underwhelming. Starts with Title track, which is cool. Next track was straight up pointless. Track 3 - \"Housequake\" - sounded like a jokey song from an animated film that doesn't quite work. Would have sat well in Shark Tales. Tracks 4-9 are OK. Defintely average by Prince standards. All a bit like AI being asked to do Prince - especially \"Hot Thing\" which shows there's a fine line between the genius of the effortlessly sexy \"Cream\" and a creepy piece of crap. U Got The Look - great pop song. Sounds dropped in from a height by record execs. Back to the AI songs after that for a while including a live track that was pretty dull. (\"I Would Never Take the Place of Your Man\" is fun) Ends with the sprawling, soulful \"Adore\" which sounds like it's going for a place on \"What's Going on\". It's one of the stronger tracks on the album, and a decent finale. But I don't feel like I've just listened to a Prince album. I shouldn't feel this bored.
He's just trying to have sex with you, and succeeding.
Soulful, smooth and sweet, but not all that interesting.
Kinda mellow, nothing especially memorable but still nice to listen to. Quite background
Ain't shabby m8
3/5 - again, I get it, but it’s still not my thing
fav - the ballad of dorothy parker
Aight, not as good as his others
Womp womp.
There's a lot of variety here and some good songs, but I would have enjoyed this album more if it was half as long.
Try as I might, I've never really found a way to be a true Prince fan, although he/they has had my respect for a long time. I can see why this is considered one of his best albums, and it certainly has a pretty wide-ranging selection of his distinctive styling. Perhaps almost *too* wide-ranging, as it sounds like this was kind of weird grab-bag of Revolution-involved compositions and some weird "Camille" alter-ego concept album. But still a good Prince sampling. That said, I'm a bit disappointed that the 1001-albums project included a double-album, as this seems like a bit of an imposition, but I can at least thank Warner Bros for resisting Prince's desire to make it a triple album. And it seems fair to give Prince 3 slots in the collection (although I'm sure some would want even more).
I may be burned at the stake but I just don't think Prince is for me.. or maybe this is one of his "lesser" albums...
Not the biggest fan of this one, much prefer Purple Rain. Sign O the Times is a great song though.
Don't think I'm a Prince fan
Du er ikke i tvivl om at der en grund til at Prince er et navn man kender og mange holder af. Personligt syntes jeg der var for mange numre som ikke sagde mig noget, men momentvis var der noget guf imellem. Jeg skal ikke afvise at høre mere Prince i fremtiden.
Ret så liderligt. Og jeg kan faktisk godt lide det. Hvis det skal være fløde lyd, så må det gerne være Prince.
I like Prince a lot but I think I’m more of a fan of his hits than his entire albums. High 3
It’s Prince so it’s great. Every song can be a minute shorter and I wouldn’t hate that.
Prince formerly formerly formerly. Kann man man hören, aber Fan werde ich nicht.
I love Prince, I think he is incredibly talented. He has written some absolute pop classics, he may be a top 5 guitarist of all time and he is cool as fuck. But sometimes I just can't get enthused. Maybe is the innate 80's feel, the overly long album with an absence of quality control I don't know. Would this be a better album if an editor has chopped it down to 40 mins? Definitely. Did anything really stand out? No
Love prince’s early work. Not a huge fan of this, but definitely dont hate it.
When I was a kid my parents banned me from listening to Prince because they felt he was too pornographic. Little did I know the Little Red Corvette was not a car. Obviously I didn’t listen to a lot of him off radio play. Now that I am old enough (I didn’t tell my parents …) I was amused by this album. You can hear a lot of Sly Stone and JB’s-era James Brown I there. His musicality is exceptional with a favorite track being Ballad of Dorothy Parker. On disc 2, U Got the Look and It’s Going to be A Beautiful Night were key tracks. Unfortunately, a lot of this album sounds like the 1989 Batman Soundtrack, which as a film did not hold up well. But you have to appreciate Prince made sure you got your money worth. I could listen to this one again!
I am today years old when I learned that U Got the Look was a Prince song officially. I knew Prince and Sheena Easton were connected but I thought it was a Sheena song that Prince was involved in and not the other way around. Regardless, that song is a banger and is the standout track on this album. I'm not a huge Prince fan, I'm into some of the hits but didn't really invest in Prince or his "artist formerly know as" persona. Anyway, this is a totally fine album and a decent listen but not a classic. I did notice he was 90s R&B before it became the dominant music force in the 90s. Plus he had a little funk that came from George Clinton.
Estando en la cima de su carrera tras el aclamado "Purple Rain" y la psicodelia mística de "Around the World in a Day" y "Parade", Prince se embarcó en esta grabación estilísticamente extensa, caótica, intrépida y ecléctica. En ella encontramos su afamado electro-funk, el soul suave marca de la casa y, por supuesto, el pop psicodélico de sus útlimos trabajos. Pero también hard rock, gospel, blues e incluso folk. Me gustan bastante "Hot Thing", sobre todo el arranque, y "U Got the Look" en el más puro estilo Prince. También "If I Was Your Girlfriend", "Strange Relationship" y el hard rock de "The Cross". Canciones en las que Prince nos habla de un mundo en descomposición golpeado por las drogas o el SIDA, y en el que sólo vislumbra esperanza a través de Dios, del amor o, curiosamente, de simplemente pasarlo bien. El signo de los tiempos de aquellos finales de los 80.
80s synth music elevated by Prince's unique weirdness.
Far from Prince's best, and I must say this really doesn't feel like it needs to be a double album, it makes it way more bloated than it should be. But I do admire a lot of the experimentation on this album.
Not bad, clearly early Prince. Raw.
liked it but couldn’t get through it
It's a great album in that's it's by Prince. Although, best track, in my opinion, is "Sign 'O' The Times" which is about the only song worth listening to repeatedly.
Not all that bad. Have a little fun.
Contemporary R&B, pop rock. Wasn't really into this album to be honest. Like it has all the makings of a great album, I mean it's Prince. He's an amazing vocalist. The talent of the musicians is on clear display, and the production is top notch. But still it felt kinda hollow to me. Definitely didn't help that it's as long as it is. I will admit I wasn't actively listening the entire time, hard to set aside time for the whole album and really pay attention. I didn't dislike it by any means. I thought it was good. Just not as good as everyone else seems to think. Just feel like I missed something, so I hate that I can't change a rating. I should revisit, doesn't feel fair. Light 3.5/5
B- Sign "O" The Times 3 Play In The Sunshine 3 Housequake 3 The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker 3 It 3 Starfish And Coffee 3 Slow Love 3 Hot Thing 3 Forever In My Life 3 U Got The Look 3 If I Was Your Girlfriend 3 Strange Relationship 3 I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man 3 The Cross 3 It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night 3 Adore 3 Prince is kind of growing on me
Loved Starfish and Coffee, the rest of the album was meh. 2.5 rounding up to 3, perhaps influenced by how much I’ve disliked the other albums this week.
Didn’t get to it today. Rating it from my vague memory when it came out that it was fine, but way too long, not worthy of a double album. Will listen this weekend and text any added comments or revised score.
Meh alright
3.5/5: A Promising but Disjointed Effort from the Purple One Prince's latest offering in the list had all the makings of a masterpiece, but ultimately falls short of its lofty expectations. The album's standout track, "Sign O' the Times", is an undeniable banger that showcases the artist's signature blend of funk, rock, and R&B. However, the rest of the album struggles to live up to the standard set by this exceptional cut. While individual tracks exhibit flashes of brilliance, the album as a whole feels disjointed and lacking in cohesion. It's as if Prince's eclectic style, which has always been a hallmark of his genius, has given way to a scattershot approach that prevents the album from truly gelling. Despite its inconsistencies, the album still boasts moments of brilliance, and die-hard Prince fans will undoubtedly find plenty to appreciate. However, for those expecting a cohesive, start-to-finish masterpiece, this album may come as a slight disappointment.
Me abrurrió un poco, me faltaron dos o tres temas.
I was excited to get a Prince album since I have always enjoyed his hits but have never gotten around to doing a deeper listen of his catalogue. On first listen I was pretty let down because I wasn't jiving with it very well and none of the tracks were any of his songs I know and love. Something told me to give it another listen the next day though and I definitely liked it a lot more on second listen. I suspect this will continue to grow on me with subsequent listenings.
At first I thought it was an ok album, but the more I listened to it the better it got. My favourite song is "It's gonna be a beautiful night". Other than that though, I don't know I'll probably continue to listen to this album from time to time, just to see if my opinion changes.
- Some strong tracks ("Slow Love" and "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man" in particular), but combined with a lot that felt like generic Prince fair. Better than many artists? Sure. But standard stuff for Prince. - Not sure how I feel about "The Cross." Evocative, but not sure if it is being sincere or not with regard to the religious undertones. - People like this more than "Purple Rain"? Wtf?
I wanted to love this album. I love purple rain and had heard that this was a great album. I thought second disc was far superior to the first and thus it jumped a star. I appreciate what he does, just not a huge fan of the genre
Didn’t think there was much new from Prince on this album other than Housequake (best song on the album.) I like the idea of If I Was Your Girlfriend. It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night is weird, catchy, and brought me right back to the castle scene in WoOz. Somehow the album didn’t run too long. Don’t remember it from ‘87 and we were listening to Prince at the time. Don’t know anyone that owned the vinyl back then so it wasn’t one of his bigger albums. Maybe made the 1001 long album list? (2.7*s)
The only song that really stood out to me was "The Cross" which I liked a lot. The rest was pretty typical and this album is way too long. There's a lot of filler and a lot of squeaking. I get that this double disc set was attempting to showcase all of his variety but I just couldn't get into a bunch of it.
Good, but Prince has better albums in Purple Rain and Controversy that reach better heights and don't drag on so long.
I'm supposed to like Prince more than I do. Nothing other than the wonderful long live song "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night" took my attention. Wasn't a bad listen because of the talent, but not my style of rock. Very long as a double album. Maybe one day I'll come to appreciate this more than Purple Rain, but not at this time.
Wanted to give this one more star, I really did. Some of the material on here is pure Prince gold (title track, I Could Never…, Adore), but I am a little more of a fan of his synthier side. As insane and underrated as his guitar playing truly is!
Good to listen to this album and hard not to have a dance. There are some great party tracks e.g 'Its going to be a beautiful night'. I also liked ' I could never take the place of your man' and Sign O' the times. The ballad of Dorothy Parker had a a weird haunting vibe that I'd like to hear again.
Prince is great, this isn't. It was good, but just not special compared to some of his other work.
Some good songs, but it felt like most was filler. There's also some cheesy sounds.
Exactly what you’d expect from Prince. Some great stuff, some that grates on my senses.
Charismatic Prince
I wanted to like this album more. While it sounded great and there were some great tracks, I feel overall it didn't grab me as much as say '1999'. The length was also very demanding.
Aunque creo que no es para mí, encuentro los aspectos positivos, creo que está bien. Pero demasiado largo jesus. 3'5, no sé si tirarlo para arriba o para abajo. Hmmmm... Para abajo lo siento.
Saw this movie in a park a while back, I wonder are all the manipulative abusive lyrics a character he’s doing or actually… him lol I was vibin though
it's OK, a bit too mellow for me?
Funk joy to be had, but you have to pick it out from a fair stack of tracks, many of which bogged this project down for me. The character based vocals took away what for me is normally one of Princes greatest strengths. Two and a half. Fave track: The Cross
Big double album here. Some really good stuff on it, but I preferred Purple Rain for its cohesiveness.
I've never listened to this guy. But I can hear the depth of creativity put into the layers of sound he has created here.. Plus the lyrics are poetic. I just don't have any funk in my soul. I'll give him 3 stars for his uniqueness.
There's some good ideas and experiments, and lyrically Prince is a great story teller, but a lot of it falls flat without leaving much impression.
Very princey enjoyable pop funk
Mixed bag - some great tracks, some terrible ones ('Housequake') and a fair bit of everything in between
I wasn't in the mood for a double-album, but at an hour runtime, wasn't excessively long. Overall, it was okay, lots of pop funk, but nothing to make me want to revisit in future. What was going on with "Housequake"? I thought WTF? Is that Eric Cartman singing? Then by the end of the track, I was bopping along. Not sure how to process this.
The drum machine songs are quite repetitive and kinda annoying, but the tunes with the live band are absolutely killer. Really would have worked better as two separate albums as opposed to a double LP.
There are only a handful of Prince songs I ever liked, Sign of The Times is one of them. Sadly, it's the only track I like on this album, the rest of it comes across like a petulant child stampkmg their feet in a tantrum, demanding everyone needs to understand his music, rather than enjoy it. All a tad dated 80s vibe.
I liked this album more than other prince records I've listened to, but I still am not a fan. I dislike how sexual a lot of his lyrics are, it's borderline gross.
It's good, but not nearly as good as other Prince stuff. At least for my taste.
A fantastic example of 80s singer-songwriter pop. Whilst definitely not to my tastes, I can certainly enjoy the more energetic, synth-based tracks, and can tolerate the more generic ones. I am quite averse to the slower “love songs” with questionable lyrics. A tad long, but still really quite enjoyable, with some songs standing out as ones to listen to again.
I've never been much of a Prince fan. I always felt like Michael Jackson was the more consistent great pop performer, and I've never liked how Prince treated anyone within his sphere. He seemed like an egomaniacal prick, but this is probably the most listenable of his works, even if it is ridiculously long. I enjoyed 3 of the songs, but only one of them was a single. Not really into the rest of it.
Heard of Prince but never really listened. Quite a nice vibe right away, slightly pessimistic lyrics but that’s my kind of thing in a dark way. So far am enjoying. A high 3.
Not bad but overrated as an artist in my opinion
I've never been a particular fan of Prince, and I've never playing this record before. On first listen, I was quite pleasantly surprised. However, as the album proceeds, I think there are some weaker tracks there - in fact, the last track 'Adore' is really pretty awful. Overall, this might have been a stronger album has a bit stricter quality control been applied.
Mixed feelings, some brilliant tracks, some fillers, and the variation in songs is less thrilling than the 1999 albums I had before in listing. Think guy was more brilliant than nearly every musician who ever lived but still only 3 stars,.
Good music, not great music. Favourite track: If I Was Your Girlfriend.
Gotta be in the right mood for it. When I was it hit but when I wasn’t unlistenable.
Not the best Prince, but Prince nonetheless
I respect prince's talent and output more than actually enjoy the songs themselves. Maybe would change with some more familiarity though.
I have this album and like it without ever listening to it carefully, bouncing off the surface happily. Sign and Look are absolute stunners, mind.
2,7
Bombastic and elaborate, never a dull moment. Have to give an extra star for presentation.
I was very split on this - I loved the more narrative/lyric driven songs, but really didn’t like the more dance/club songs. I am curious to listen to more of his music, though, since I know he’s such a legend and I know very little about his style.
I liked this album straight through! I found it much better than the other Prince album I have listened to (1999). It lacked the hits that album had but was better throughout.
Disc 2 was better than disc 1 for me
Did Prince invent Bedroom Soul? Listen... I get it. There is no other artist in popular music who has a more singular style than Prince. Its so singular that I find myself needing to re-tune my ear to it any time I listen to his albums. And Sign 'O' The Times is a good album. To me its more mature in content and style than his other records but I'm not blown away by the tunes... there's no I Would Die 4 U and no 7 here but as an album its fine. 10/10 album art
Mal wieder "objektiv nicht schlecht, aber nicht meins". War froh als es rum war und hab's auch nicht komplett durchgehört.
funky
Good album a little slow paced in some areas for my taste
Not bad. Didn’t wow me.
Wasn't thrilled with it at first but it did pick up a little bit before halfway. 3/5
Is he a genius? Yes Is this album a little self-indulgent? Also yes
This album isn’t bad, but not the best we’ve heard from Prince on this list. Nothing on here I dislike, but it’s not one I’m going to revisit as a while often.
Wish I could’ve experienced this in the 80s
First album on this list. We'll see how it goes. Pretty neat Album, first song was good.
aiight
High energy, intense musicality but too synthetic for me
yeah, this was rather mid – not unpleasant to listen to but nothing memorable either. some songs (hello, housequake) were straight up bad. would give it 2.5 and hope there are better albums by Prince on this list
Liked this more than I expected. A varied mixture of sounds and perhaps a touch too long but there were some songs I really enjoyed and will spend more time with.
Not as interesting as I would have hoped. Some songs are repetitive with its hook or musical chords that left me wonting. Other songs demonstrated Prince’s vocal prowess; mixing high notes and low notes which was great. Other than that, lyrics felt rather vapid especially ones pertaining to sex and relationships. Songs that offered an introspective insight into the social and political landscape of the 1980s were more engaging.
I guess I just don't like Prince that much, he is clearly an exceptional talent, but it has the kind of 80's corny to it sometimes that I don't vibe with, and how come he never wails since he is one of the greatest ever guitarists?
Great musician 3 stars
Prince Sign O' The Times 63.35 "Sign ""O"" The Times(34)" Play In The Sunshine(34) Housequake(8) The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker(55) It(34) Starfish And Cof Hot Thing(89) Forever In My Life(21) U Got The Look(89) If I Was Your Girlfriend(55) Strange Relationship(21) I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man(89) The Cross(55) It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night(13) Adore(21)
Genre: Pop Instruments: 2/5 Modern Translation: 2/5 Dance Potential: 3/5 Listening Location: During work Heard it before: No Favourite Song: Housequake and The Cross Made me feel: This was a long album but I enjoyed the upbeat vibes. Found Prince's voice octave too high in some songs but otherwise appreciated his talent - haven't listened to him much before.
I hate 80s music and this is so much of it sorry . Gets better in the second half
boy he really went on and on huh
I like Prince. But not this particular album. Great guitar playing, some songs I grooved to, and lots of songs failed to connect with.
It was pretty good. Don't know which I like more between this and purple rain. Still not my favorite genre. Rating: 3.3
Three or four really good songs keep this from being a 2. But it’s barely a 3. Definitely not his best work on my opinion.