{{{"Sign O' the Times"
Part '80s musical retrospective, part angry social document and all booty-thumping housequake, Prince's 1987 classic stands as pop's last great double album.}}}

By Bomani Jones

March 11, 2002 | Little in the world of music is more self-indulgent than the double album. To create one implies an artist has twice as much to say as the majority of performers, what they have to say must be said right then and there and little of it can be understood outside the context of a massive amount of other material. Most double albums -- at least the great ones -- are bound by nothing except their own far-reaching scopes. The subject matter, range of musical styles and grooves on the LP seem to fit together only because nearly everything else under the sun is there too. Such examples aren't hard to think of -- "The Beatles" (aka the White Album), "Exile on Main Street," "Songs in the Key of Life" (perhaps the most thematically consistent double album of them all).

And then came Prince, as grand and in love with his own talent as any performer in memory. His first double album, "1999," was a smashing success, a cultural landmark that showed how genius could turn vulgarity into erotica, weirdness into eccentricity, and synthesizers into orchestral weapons. Most striking is the fact that as brilliant as that album was, its most significant achievement was that it laid the groundwork for "Purple Rain." (Songs on that later album such as "I Would Die 4 U" and "Computer Blue" are simply refinements of the styles introduced on "1999.")

In typical purple fashion, the little man sped past us and made two albums for which the world was not fully prepared: "Around the World in a Day" and "Parade." Maybe, if he'd chosen to take us around the world in a week instead of a day, the dizzying psychedelic follow-up to "Purple Rain" could have been digested more easily. And maybe, if "Under the Cherry Moon" hadn't been such a bad movie, the world could have appreciated "Parade" beyond the hit song "Kiss." But when he gave the world time to breathe and catch up, there was a glorious reward for our hard work.

That reward was 1987's "Sign O' the Times," the last great double LP and Prince's artistic peak. Sure, "1999" and "Purple Rain" were pop-culture milestones that introduced the masses to the Wonderful World that was Minneapolis and started their own respective crazes, but "Sign O' the Times" was Jamie Starr at his creative and technical best. With this masterwork, Prince combined the styles that had confused casual listeners on "Around the World in a Day" and "Parade," bringing both works together in one deep but totally navigable sea of brilliance.

Many Prince-o-philes recognize "Sign O' the Times" as the beginning of the end for popular acceptance of his music, but to say that is to see the glass half-empty. "Sign O' the Times" was one of those albums that made people realize how much potential music had in the dreary artistic landscape of the '80s; all the more amazing was the fact that it was all written, performed and recorded by one man.

After three albums with his band, the Revolution, "Sign O' the Times" brought Prince back to the one-man shows that made him famous, but it was much different, in scheme and concept, from "Dirty Mind" and "1999." It was originally titled "The Crystal Ball," a title that would resurface on a collection of outtakes released a decade later, but no psychic could have predicted what was on this album. It has nothing as shocking as "Sister," as vulgar as "Jack U Off" or as explicit as "Head." This was a more mature and refined Prince than the one most had grown accustomed to. Those early albums had no songs as brilliantly crafted as "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker," as soulful as "Adore" or as intelligent as "If I Was Your Girlfriend."

The latter stumped the world with a question that may never be answerable: "If I was your one and only friend, would you run to me if somebody hurt you, even if that somebody was me?" To this day, I still can't tell you. I can see the psychosexual genius of the lyric, a juxtaposition of the roles of friend and lover (commonly misunderstood as homosexual) that comes to an electrifying crescendo that demonstrates the lyric "We don't need to make love to have an orgasm." Apparently not.

For every element of brilliance that jumps in the listener's face -- the unreal guitar solo and bridge on "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" or the undeniable groove of "Housequake" -- there were dozens of wrinkles to be discovered with each additional spin of the record. To listen to "Forever in My Life" numerous times is to become fascinated with the staggering of the second verse, a vocal arrangement that cements the emotion in its lovestruck lyrics in reiterative fashion. In spite of its poppy beat, the love/hate vibe on "Strange Relationship" is so vividly disturbing that it begs closer attention. And though little thought is necessary to explicate "Starfish and Coffee," listening to the transition into and out of that song makes you reflect how mind-blowing it is that what sounds like a White Album leftover fits so snugly in the middle of Prince's '80s oeuvre.

Indeed, this album is something of an '80s retrospective, all on its own. The sonic landscape drips of big hair: Synthesizers and drum machines are the primary vehicles on many of the songs. Careful observation shows, however, that the album is as much a time machine as anything else. "Adore," Prince's greatest love song, is reminiscent of the soul records His Badness was into while recording the album. What better describes love than hyperbolic exaggerations ("If God one day struck me blind, your beauty I'd still see") tempered with realistic limits ("You could burn up my clothes, smash up my ride -- well, maybe not the ride")? The power chords of "The Cross" were neither like hair bands or the speed metal of the '80s, nor were they reminders of the decade that passed before. This was more a precursor to Pearl Jam than an echo of Poison, with a Christian message that Creed keeps trying to get right. "Slow Love" goes both ways in the time continuum, its jazzy vibe going back decades from 1987 but leaping forward into the neoclassical soul that so many artists hope to achieve now.

But in case anyone listening in 1987 forgot what time it was, the title track says it all in so many ways. With lyrics pulled straight from the headlines, it gave listeners their first glimpse into the political psyche of Prince. There were elements of commentary on previous albums ("Free" from "1999," "Annie Christian" from "Controversy" and a few others), but nothing in his previous seven albums had been as directly political and sharply insightful as the song "Sign O' the Times." In less than four minutes, he tackles gangs, crack, NASA, AIDS, child murder and heroin, leaving two minutes for an instrumental exhibition. But in that initial four minutes came a demand for change, a demand for a revolution in the kind of concern that we have for each other and ourselves. Simultaneously, he flipped music upside down with that and 15 other brilliant tracks.

Like any double album worth the name, "Sign O' the Times" sprawls all over the place, leaving little territory uncovered and proving who was the preeminent artistic force of pop music in the '80s. For the first time since "Purple Rain," Prince gave listeners just as much as they could handle, nothing more and nothing less. What resulted was his last hurrah of sorts and a void now 15 years in the making: a hole created by the fact that there has been no similar album from anyone since. No artist has been ambitious or successful enough to hit every mark in the course of two discs since "Sign O' the Times." Many came close -- 2Pac's "All Eyez on Me," most notably -- but none could cover so much ground without spreading themselves a little too thinly.

Perhaps the one identifiable weakness of the album is what makes it so damn special: the title. Sign O' what times? The relevance of the subject matter, even on the songs that are not about the ageless topics of love and sex, has not waned. Little of the music sounds dated. Perhaps the ambiguity of that definite article in the title is as brilliant as the rest of the LP, which has a specificity that will remain applicable long after the Challenger explosion referenced in Prince's lyrics is forgotten. "Sign O' the Times" is the sign of anytime, a landmark achievement from another era that continues to show us how much one man can accomplish alone in a recording studio.

About the writer
Bomani Jones is a writer in Southern California.

http://www.salon.com/ent/...index.html

SOTT rules!
*****

1st!

Ahhhhh... I loved reading that article...I'm now moving SOTT up from #2 on my list to #1...

But that'll change next week...










...and here comes the edit statement...
[This message was edited Mon Mar 11 8:14:50 PST 2002 by wellbeyond]

Yeyuss.

wow... actually, I think non of us die-hard Prince freaks could have said that better.

Oh my Goodness, I could not have said it better myself. Whoever wrote that article knows what he or she is talking about. As I'm reading it I'm singing the songs being mentioned and reaffirming to myself why I've always thought this is Prince's best work (before and since). My three favorite Prince songs of all time are: (the order of which changes frequently) 1. "Adore" 2. "If I Was Your Girlfriend" 3. "Forever In my Life". And what do you know, they're all from the same album. Go figure. No, go buy it if you don't already have it. If you do have it...I don't really have to tell you...I know you're headed for the cassette (or CD) case right now, aren't you?

Glad somebody outhere appreciates "Forever In My Life."
I sung that 2 my girl in a packed town centre bar on valentines day.
i then asked her 2 marry me..
she cried..said yes!
the place erupted...my life was made.

God bless u, P!
never stop writing that funky stuff.

i prefer Dream Factory but SOTT is still The HouseQuake of em all...

A great and considered article - if only everyone heard the music this way. That piece pretty much sums up how anyone who loves music should feel.

That was very nice reading indeed. Yes, it sums up pretty well.
"no songs as brilliantly crafted as "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker," as soulful as "Adore" or as intelligent as "If I Was Your Girlfriend.""

i almost named my first born NATE(if it's a boy), alas, i had theb most beautiful girl in the world.....

Bravo!! Super write up!!

SOTT is still my #2.....
subject to change at my discretion!!

Life Sexy u all

Let's send this woman flowers!!
Prince should hire her!

That was beautiful!
I remember how chaotic the album sounded to me on first listen, especially the way the songs at some points seemed to flow together, especially Play in the Sunshine and Housequake.
That was the era when Prince was so far ahead of everyone else he seemed like an alien.
No one before or since has matched Sign...but I fully expect Prince to rise to the challenge.

no doubt in my mind that this album (and prince's body of work in general) will be increasingly appreciated as time goes by...

the genius exhibited on this record is unparalleled in my listening experience, and the incredible thing is that some of the best material has never been officially released

"Rebirth of the Flesh" and "Crystal Ball" : somebody help me digest that stuff...

in fact, come to think of it, if we ever need another reason to hate warner brothers (unlikely, i know), we might remember that they forced prince to trim his original 3 record set to 2

my brain is jackin' all over the place

The opposite of NATO is SignOThe Times!!!

ANOTHERLOVER said:

Cool man!!!
That was also my wedding song!

Most upsetting and accurate is the fact that Prince will never again reach those artistic heights.

kellyannemcclure said:

How could you possibly say that your accurate?
Have you seen the future??
and if so, please send me some winning lottery numbers. lol

kellyannemcclure said:

- Maybe....but can you give me a name of an artist that had masterpieces his entire life? Do you think Hendrix would still be innovative today if he was alive? I dont know about any.
Anyway, I am happy that Prince is at least trying his best to put the music in the first place, writing some real good songs
I agree that Prince never reached the artistic heights of SOTT....not even with Lovesexy. SOTT is my fave P album ever.

great article - prince doesn't get alot of respect from the US media anymore and this article is ahappy exception - written by a true music fan to boot.

Every album has songs I like, but there isn't a mediocre track on Sign O' the Times. It is every facet of Prince at his most powerful, whether it's love, sex, funk, spirituality, melody, you name it. But can you imagine what he's capable of creating? We have no idea what's next. I'd love to hear something along the lines of Ronnie Talk to Russia aimed at Dubya!

loolam said:

I AM QUOTING THE ARTICLE. ASS.

kellyannemcclure said:

Most reassuring is the fact that he doesn't have to...his music is still going strong whether it matches SOTT or not...

kellyannemcclure said:

You are??...lol...Where exactly does the writer say that it's "upsetting" to them that Prince will never again reach those artistic peaks??..In fact, where exactly does the writer say that Prince will "never" again do something as brilliant as SOTT??...

An "artistic peak" only means it's an artistic peak so far...but I gotta hand it to ya, you somehow managed to squeeze out a drop of negativity from an overwhelmingly positive and complimentary article on Prince...lol...cudos.

wellbeyond said:

Thank you Wellbeyond!!
It seems someone here does not understand what quoting an article actually means. The funny thing is, that if Kellyanne's comment simply said that ..he MAY never reach those artistic heights again, instead if a definitive "will", then I wouldn't have even replied.

So Kellyanne, what you actually did was take the authors words completely out of context. Sure I agree SOTT was his creative peak, but where does it say anything about him getting back there?

BTW, in case your planning on quoting future articles make sure you use these "", and remember to use exact words.

Never reach the pinnacle that was SOTT creatively or musically? Hmmm, that's still an opinion thing, but Gold Experience and Rainbow Children come pretty damn close! And certainly, Prince is at the peak of his performing power right now. His live shows now are the best ever. Plus, Xenophobia already sounds like his most intriguing and original work (perhaps). Other than 86-88, this is the most exciting time to be a Prince fan. His artistic vision is burning on all cylinders.

Sign O' The Times is killer. Parade is only centimeters behind!!!! I'm gonna send this article to all my friends who have criticized me for liking Prince

Sign O'times still is his greatest record in my opinion.Its were everey Princely persona met perfectly and the ensuing result ....Perfection.The greatest Album of the last 20 years.