Prince's Sign O' The Times - DISCUSS!!!

[freedom]

http://www.thedawnexperience.co.uk/images/sott.jpg Originally intended as a triple album project (called Crystal Ball), this release overflowed with a breathtaking range that revealed an ever evolving maturity, depth and sophistication in his songwriting and musicianship.
The social commentry on AIDS, forces of nature and man-made disasters, gun crime. Moments of pure genius (The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker, If I Was Your Girlfriend, etc)
High funk and scorching ballads. Pure pop. Pure sex. Rock n' Roll. Spirituality... it's all there in the mix.

The album was far better received in Europe (where he concentrated his touring efforts) than in the USA (where his popularity was starting to slide) and helped propel him to godlike status in the eyes of many Europeans where he seemingly can do no wrong.

Vote for you favourite SOTT track in our poll (we know it's an an almost impossible task ;)) and tell us your thoughts and experiences on what this album means to you.

[The One]

I remember hearing songs (other than the title track) from this album being reviewed on Radio 1 (yes... they used to play Prince regularly back then) a week before it got released... the DJ was in awe of the songs and I could not wait to get my hands on a copy. On the release day I had to cue up outside HMV's (how times have changed...) to be one of the 1st ones to get a copy of the double vinyl. Rushed home, placed it on the deck and put the needle on the record. I must've played it about 10 times non-stop. To this day it remains in my top 5 Prince albums.

It's a shame the tour never made it to the UK. We had to settle for the concert film instead. Hands up who remembers seeing it at the Dominion theatre and the fans were cheering and clapping at the screen. Strange but thrilling at the same time..

It was a time when you could walk down the length of Camden High St. market and every store and boutique was pumping out the album on their stereos (followed by bootleg copies of the Black album!!!!).

Ahhhh.... those were the days...:)

[lovesexy]

i'll never 4get this album, it was the very 1st album i listened 2, it was my brothers.
I was 9 years old and i remember i could never take the place of your man came on the radio, and i just fell in love with the song, and from that day i was hooked!, i'm now nearly 29 and i've never stopped loving him, people thought that when i was older i wouldn't be as obsessed but that isn't the case!!
my only regret is that i haven't managed 2 see him live yet, but hopefully one day my dream will cum thru :bye:

[rsal]

I've been been spending my Spring celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Sign—probably my favorite album of all time. If I could only listen to one album for the rest of my life, I'd choose Sign 'O' the Times. In fact, I just paid homage to the Purple One's masterpiece on a music site I write for:

http://stuckbetweenstations.org/2007/05/10/prince_sign

Would love to hear from fellow Prince fans about my full-length take on Sign. And hope all you UK folk enjoy the show later this summer—should be brilliant.

[erniem]

If I remember right the UK concert was plled for Blenhiem Palace is Oxfordshire, had good tix as well, but hey such is life.

Too many tracks I love on this Album.

Adore got my vote though

[mpharris]

If I remember right the UK concert was plled for Blenhiem Palace is Oxfordshire, had good tix as well, but hey such is life.

Too many tracks I love on this Album.

Adore got my vote though

No, the Blenheim show was Diamonds & Pearls era, the SOTT gig would have been at Wembley Stadium.

(I voted for Forever In My Life)

[markpollittmcr]

My favourite album of all time never stop playing it ...Even named my first child Nate , just havent told my husband the reason yet .:)

[Savage]

No, the Blenheim show was Diamonds & Pearls era, the SOTT gig would have been at Wembley Stadium.

(I voted for Forever In My Life)

I've still got my tickets for this. Gutted when it was CANCELLED but glad they sent the tickets back when they refunded us!

It was supposed to be a big event with a fun fair and circus I think? I know Color me bad were supposed to be supporting him. Glad that bit never happened!:eek:

[PaisleyGirl]

I didn't listen to this album for a long time because I had it on cassette, then I got it on CD and it all came flooding back how good, no great, it was. Such a diverse mix of songs. I voted for Adore. I just love that song.

I also had tickets for the Blenheim concert, it is only a few miles from where I live. I was totally gutted when it was cancelled

[unique]

I've still got my tickets for this. Gutted when it was CANCELLED but glad they sent the tickets back when they refunded us!

It was supposed to be a big event with a fun fair and circus I think? I know Color me bad were supposed to be supporting him. Glad that bit never happened!:eek:

i was going to be working at that show. i was supposed to be working backstage security at glastonbury (i think) and then a few of us were to go to london and take the tourbus to the airport to pick up prince, take him to the show, do personal security for him backstage during the show, and take him right back to the airport in the bus as soon as the show ended. and i was actuallly going to be paid to do that, and it was pretty good money. the guy i worked for knew the boss of the security company and arranged all this for me. so imagine how gutted i was when it was cancelled, being paid to look after prince!

[lovealotbare]

OMG I was just recollecting the first time i heard SOTT, today (with out knowing about this thread)

I actually was too young to go to the gig and although I was mad on the single releases, from listening to the radio, I didn't buy LPs back then. yes i was that young......I wasn't even able to see it at the cinema!
:censored:
and so the first time i heard the full album... i actually watched it on a video.. and i was awestruck....I'd only seen a few videos on TOTPs (we were poor....no mtv 4 me )
I was actually dating a guy who was mad on prince and i mean almost wished he was him..:cloud9: ??
He was trying to ask me if i thought prince was disgusting and what did i think of his videos? (he had mentioned prince to another couple of girls who said he was a disgusting imp...? hmmmmm)

well i'd only seen When doves cry and Kss and You got the look and Alphabet st on TOTPs and i thought....no why should i think he was disgusting? I just didn't think there were any issues, although I must say I'm not easily shocked....
At that time i had never seen him live and i didn't know about the whole sexual magnetism that he has.......
Until I watched that SOTT video and i was blown away....My brain made connections to nerve endings of my body that i never knew i had! :shocking:
I knew then i had to see this guy live...and that didn't just mean on the stage......!

Cat blew me away too and Sheila, I was so agog! :jawdrop:
My favorite track at that time was
I Can Never Take the Place of Ur Man...... the break in it still strums my chords today!!!!!
I think it was the way it was all set up in the show.... the act and performance....there was a story and u could taste the sexual energy between Cat n Prince... :laugh: well i could in my mind!!!

I also loved Adore, and Slow love but that may be biased, as they were played and quoted by the same guy who originally showed me the video....and the rest !!

But ....... Starfish and Coffee became one of MY anthems.....a song for me, along with Play in the Sunshine,
I travelled a very traumatic road for a While and these songs carried me along my way! (amongst many more of his worships tracks)
Many princes songs do that for all of us I know, but these as well as Uptown (I know :offtopic:sorry!) really became my anthems when i was alone.

Its a hard choice........Its probably my fav album....i have three copies, 2 on cd!!!! Musically and lyrically its fabulous and flawless, exciting and pleasing on every level to me, there is not one track i don't like :notworthy:.

Fav song from SOTT, if i had to choose.....today......
:)Play in the sunshine!
there done.
Why? because it has a little bit of everything...... love, sexiness spirituality , funk, ballad, girly chimes leading to masculine bass drums to get ready for the big bad HQ!
I love the way they compliment each other too...like two subtle sides of a me!

I love listening to the gig and imagine what it must have been like!
I think he owes us a gig of SOTT!!! and Blenhiem... that was definitely much later as i had tickets and had planned my picnic and everything... and i'd already watched that SOTT video...Unless the SOTT was also booked for Blenhiem?
I thought SOTT was booked for the Wembly stadium.?

well take care purple fiendsnfriends,
Play in the sunshine......:)

[Wlcm2thdwn]

I remember I had to sneak out of the house to go to see SOTT, it was playng in the movies back then, I never had any idea it would become the classic that it is now. I loved it then and I love it now!:)

[RUHep2TheJive]

I haven't seen SOTT yet :mad:
But I love the album, it's great. I think that Housequake, at the moment, is my favorite song from it.

I think after I save up some money, I'll buy the movie off of the internet or something.:)

[joyinrepatition]

This was the ultimate album for prince, it was 1987 we were all awaiting the next edition . When it came it was relentles song after song , which took us to new heights .. ! All this resulting in 1 of the best albums in the last 30 years in my opinion listen then listen again Enjoy:cool:

[joyinrepatition]

Yes SoTT Was to be in Wembley Arena !! I also had tickets back in the day, didn't get tickets all i got was an apology letter. Shame we missed 1 of the best gigs, Hense SOTT the film documentary footage from Prince's european tour of 1987.

[The One]

Prince
Sign 'O' the Times
by Eric Henderson (http://javascript<b></b>:noSpam('eric','slantmagazine.com'))
Posted: August 19, 2007


http://www.slantmagazine.com/images/common/m.gifost of Prince's double albums (and the triples and the quadruples) make even his staunchest fans occasionally want to shriek, "Shut up, already! Damn!" The extended bouts of foreplay that made perfect sense during Prince's heyday of sexual conquests clearly lapsed into a more tiresome form of purgatorial pilgrimage as he cocooned himself into The Artist. And it's not even like we needed hours upon hours of thrust and grind to grasp his tantric endurance. He used to make it so much easier to take him at his lascivious word. After all, didn't his first major critical breakthrough come, contrary to his boasts that he wanted to "Do It All Night," via the 30 scant minutes of Dirty Mind?

So while Emancipation made one nostalgic for slavery, and Crystal Ball's gleaming high points had to fight their way through the cloudy haze of the Carmen Electra years, Sign 'O' the Times is an almost too convenient double-disc blowout of sweat, funk, and raw, concentrated talent. I say too convenient because of how easy it has apparently proven for so many to use the album as some sort of last chapter on Prince: The Good Years (or, more to the point, Prince and The Revolution Years, since the album's penultimate jam "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night" was the band's last), absolving themselves from tackling the landmine-strewn but still rewarding aftermath. Anyone who refuses the playful self-awareness of the Love Symbol album, the expulsively dark majesty of Come, or the gorgeous (self-)loathing of "I Hate U"—or, for that matter, refuses to dance to his pre-rock pre-history including "Just As Long As We're Together," an atmospheric disco odyssey worthy of The Loft's heyday—has probably never contemplated a strange relationship, much less ventured beyond the missionary position.

For an 80-minute album that sounds, paradoxically, as tight and focused as anything Prince has released, Sign 'O' the Times was born from a number of stalled projects and should have, by all rights, sounded like a bloated set of B-sides. (Not that a collection of his unreleased material from this project wouldn't still be a monster classic. Had he managed to find a platform for the technoid funk of "Data Bank" and "The Line," that alone would've presaged the electronica boom of the 1990s.) In fact, when the project went by the temp title Crystal Ball (a title he would later reuse in the 1990s to collect, among other things, some of the tracks that didn't make Sign 'O' the Times), it actually did stretch to as many as six LP sides. A number of tracks were culled from prospective releases Dream Factory (itself a multi-disc) and Camille, an entire album featuring Prince singing with that pitched-up voice made famous in "Erotic City"; think Parliament's Sir Nose wearing a white lace garter belt. While nearly every track involved in the creation of Sign 'O' the Times has seen the light of day (or at least the darker corners of file-sharing hideouts), and some would've been highlights in any context ("Joy In Repetition" springs to mind—repeatedly), Prince managed to whittle his mountains of material into something like a statement.

Better than that even. If the album's title track-cum-opening salvo reduces Prince's mission down to a few headlines that apparently happened to catch his eye the day he went in to record, the remainder finds him writing the Encyclopedia Shockedelica. It's a manifesto that would require an entire monograph to unpack (Michaelangelo Matos's monograph for Continuum's 33 1/3 series, to be exact). Among the bullet points are the leftover rah-rah of "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" (written as early as 1982), the itchy funk inferno of "Housequake," the club afterglow of "U Got the Look" (I've been dodging ugly lights ever since), and the indescribable oddity that is "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker," which, to the best of my understanding, is about how men seldom make passes at girls with loose asses.

But the album's through line can be found in the juxtaposition of two songs and the resolution to be found in a third. 1999 (http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=389) fired a warning shot that made the refrain from "Let's Go Crazy" ("I'm excited and I don't know why/Maybe it's 'cause we're all going to die") inevitable, but Sign 'O' the Times practically opens the seventh seal, bringing down upon Prince's signature Minneapolis sound an apocalyptic housequake. In retrospect, it's easy to see why the critics cottoned so enthusiastically to the album—it reversed his slip into the no-traction psychedelia of Around the World In a Day and Parade. No song makes that more painfully clear than "It." "I think about it baby all the time," howls Prince in the song's rigid opening moments. Although he's not talking about Pennywise the Clown, the intensity in his vocals and the spare, horror-show synth stabs that rip into an otherwise unadorned, snare-heavy rhythm track suggest something worse. In "It," Prince confronts the possibility that his sex life that has been so good to him previously is now in danger of becoming his worst, most all-consuming enemy. Somewhere, Trent Reznor's drawing board was receiving the first drafts of a pretty hate machine.

In the wake of this career-altering discovery, Prince emerges with a newfound clarity. As a result, the gender-neutrality that was at the start of his career played for cheek gets a total overhaul, resulting in what is likely the best and most provocative single in Prince's entire career. "If I Was Your Girlfriend" is familiar in that it's a sex opus told in the second person, but many of the gender reference points for the song's narrator are missing or contradicted. Is this the song of a hetero male wishing he were a woman so that he could achieve intimacy with another woman while her guard is down? Would that make him a lesbian? Is it instead the song of a homo male pining for an unavailable hetero male? Is that why so much of this fantasy involves otherwise pedestrian domestic chores like cooking and dressing up, mundane indulgences just out of reach? Complicating matters is the fact that "If I Was Your Girlfriend" is one of the songs on Sign 'O' the Times in which Prince sings as Camille, ostensibly a woman. The androgynous vertigo of the lyrics are complemented by half-speed clap samples, steamy, growling synthesizer chords somewhere in the next room and a bassline so filtered it's practically treble. Musically speaking, the track is buck nekkid.

These two poles—the tormented, out-of-control heterosexuality of "It" and the delirious, woozy every-other-sexuality of "If I Was Your Girlfriend—are settled in the album's enraptured (emphatically heterosexual) coda "Adore," a slow jam that radiates the confidence of a man who dared to question his sexuality. A man who pondered and solved the romantic equation and also showed his work. Who is man enough to admit he would rather you don't smash up his ride but, that said, will beg for love in as high a falsetto as he can muster? No chorus, no verse, "Adore" is no more and no less than an escalating testament to a newfound understanding of romantic bliss. Sign 'O' the Times begins a fragmented mess, sifting through the wreckage of a shuttle explosion and the AIDS crisis, but it ends with a singular baptismal flourish.

http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=1175

[newpowersoul2]

sott still got the unused ticket which was gonna b my 1st concert when i was 14 had 2 wait till next year but it was worth the wait

[joyinrepatition]

I had tickets 2 well nearly....the fact that we missed the best concert ever doesn't bother us in the slightest.. :wallbash: (not) still Lovesexy 88 was fantastic!.. never to B forgotten :rock:

[PaddyfromEndorphinmachine]

SOTT came out just before i got into Prince sadly.... i can only imagine the joy of listening to it as the latest album for the first time and basking in its brilliance.

I have to admit to being one of "those" people whose favourate album is PR, but as a hardcore fan and a musician i think it was deffinately his best collective work. True ecelcticism is something so rare in albums these days and indeed i think Prince lost it to a lesser extent in the 90s.... thats why for me 3121 and Planet Earth were a breath of fresh air as all of a sudden there were all sorts of flavours going on again!

What exciting times they were, and truly one of the cornerstones of his genius.

Paddy

[CynthiaRose64]

I couldn't possibly choose a favourite track from this album, it is one of my most favourite albums of all time.

Love the quirky songs, Starfish & Coffee, and the Balad of Dorothy Parker, but sign o' the times, If I was your girlfriend, The Cross, Adore, Hot Thing and forever in my life, I could go on, just quality

Excellence throughout :cool:

[joyinrepatition]

"Dito"....Excellence throughout...
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc1/Joyinrepatition/gfyt.jpg

[BirdOfParadise]

I really don't have a favorite. All the songs on this album are very nice. :)

[Adore-able]

This had to be one of my favorites of all time. When it first came out, I would never get tired of listening to it. I love every track. It's still a good choice today, I think.-Adore-able

[Ms.Goodnight]

This album is PERFECT! But 2 me it's NOT his masterpiece. Emancipation is 4 its immense variety...in it, Prince has songs of the 80's sound, rap, techno, swing,...everything! NOW that is the album that truly show Prince's incredible mastery!

[swanny]

Remember buying this in Our Price at lunch on the day of release. Our Price were playing it over the shops sound system (remember those days when a new Prince release got played in the shop) and the track was IT and I thought that sounded good. Needless to say the album stayed on my walkman for months.

[CynthiaRose64]

Swanny, I'm glad that SOTT stayed on your Walkman for so long, when was it released 1987? I've still got it on my Walkman and my walkman phone together with Emancipation, 1999, Prince, Dirty Mind, Come, The chocolate Invasion, The Slaughterhouse, The Truth, the Black Album and I could just go on and name all the rest of his albums, but they are all there, it's great to hear them all on a regular basis. I was just listening to Come and Dirty Mind this morning. That's why I love going to the gym, it's Walkman heaven!!!

[swanny]

1987 indeed. I went throught two tapes, they just wore out due to repeated play.

Great days :)

[joyinrepatition]

1987 indeed. I went throught two tapes, they just wore out due to repeated play.

Great days :)
yeah!...same here the writing would wear off and you wouldn't know which side was which,not that it mattered tho...:cool:
Hey!... they played Lolita in my local TKMax yesterday....oops Prince gonna take them to court now!...me and my big mouth :rolleyes:

[Shy1105]

I've only just downloaded this album:shocking:...

[swanny]

^ not sure whether to tell you off for ignoring Prince's greatest album or be envious that you have it all still to look forward too. :)

[HotAirBalloon]

^ not sure whether to tell you off for ignoring Prince's greatest album or be envious that you have it all still to look forward too. :)

The greatest? Well the album is fantastic but Prince has done greater records through-out the time. But I guess I can agree with you that I can't ignore such a wonderful LP.

[Shy1105]

^ not sure whether to tell you off for ignoring Prince's greatest album or be envious that you have it all still to look forward too. :)

Lol. Ignore is bit strong; I've heard it a few times on vinyl.. but yeah:group:


On an unrelated note, are other people a bit grossed out by some of the smilies?

[thepurpleexperience]

just love the hippy outlook on this trak care free and happy

[Shy1105]

just love the hippy outlook on this trak care free and happyWhat song?

[HotAirBalloon]

I will dance my ass to Hot Thing all night if I have to. It's a tight song. :)

[Funk]

yeah!...same here the writing would wear off and you wouldn't know which side was which,not that it mattered tho...:cool:
Hey!... they played Lolita in my local TKMax yesterday....oops Prince gonna take them to court now!...me and my big mouth :rolleyes:

OMG, I remember the words wearing off my Sign O the Times, and the same for Lovesexy and PR. We were in TKMaxx a week or so back, and they played Controversy. just as we were paying, naturally I had to stop and wait for it to end. What a sad fcuker...:rolleyes::cool::)

[Shy1105]

OMG, I remember the words wearing off my Sign O the Times, and the same for Lovesexy and PR. We were in TKMaxx a week or so back, and they played Controversy. just as we were paying, naturally I had to stop and wait for it to end. What a sad fcuker...:rolleyes::cool::)

LOL. That is an awesomely epic song. To the signature changer I go..

[joyinrepatition]

OMG, I remember the words wearing off my Sign O the Times, and the same for Lovesexy and PR. We were in TKMaxx a week or so back, and they played Controversy. just as we were paying, naturally I had to stop and wait for it to end. What a sad fcuker...:rolleyes::cool::)

you and me both my friend....all we want is the recognition as a fan we deserve....:cool:

[swanny]

OMG, I remember the words wearing off my Sign O the Times, and the same for Lovesexy and PR. We were in TKMaxx a week or so back, and they played Controversy. just as we were paying, naturally I had to stop and wait for it to end. What a sad fcuker...:rolleyes::cool::)


Great little story mate. I would have stayed in the shop too. How sad. lol

[joyinrepatition]

I will dance my ass to Hot Thing all night if I have to. It's a tight song. :)
yeah!...like in that circlely suit we all wished we could wear.....:blush2:

[unique]

i skipped school to buy this LP on the day of release. it's still one of my favourites. it's too hard to pick a favourite song, it changes over the years

dorothy parker and strange relationship are cool, and sign o the times somehow hasn't dated musically or lyrically. the whole album is kinda timeless like songs in the key of life or the white album

[HotAirBalloon]

i skipped school to buy this lp

Worth it, right?! :D

[scragglehead]

Chose "I Could Never Take The Play Of Your Man" just for the joy it brings me and for the audacity of the one-man-jam in the song. Used to be an album that I was sick to death of playing, but returning to it much much more recently.