can somebody tell me whats so special about SOTT??
i bought it for £5(which is a bargain for a double cd at a music store) because everybody raved about it.
it does contain one of my favourite songs(i will never take the place of your man).
but i don't like it as much as, say diamonds and pearls or the other albums i have(which is 4).
can somebody just pinpoint exactly why SOTT is classed as his best work??
is it because the subject matter is so risque?? but a lot of his work is.
i dont actually know, can somebody tell me??

i think it was the first time people got a glimpse of how ridiculously prolific and eclectic prince can be. the whole album was such a mish-mosh of styles, and while we got hints of how all over the place he could be, this album really brought it home. there's a book by michelangelo matos about SOTT that you can get from amazon.com - i think he puts the greatness of the album in a really understandable and personal perspective. you should check it out!

When did you buy it? I bought it the day it came out, back in '87, and I had a hard time listening to it. At the time, it was radically different from anything he had done before. That Camille voice was killing me on some tracks. Starfish and Coffee? WTF??

About a week later, I was head over heels in love with it.

icecool2k19 said:

"I will never take the place of your man"? Did you mean "I Could..."
How many times did you listened to that album?
Did you really listened to SOTT?

TheBigBang said:

i bought it the day it came out, and the album smacked me upside the head upon impact. i remember being completely smitten with the first disc, and needing a little time to warm up to the second disc - though hearing all that music at the same sitting for the first time was a truly amazing experience.

SOTT was light years ahead of popular music at the time when it came out!
[Edited 11/9/04 6:25am]

in 1987 the whole album was way ahead of anything playing on the radio at the time. Plus for the most part it was a huge departure from a usual prince album.


it's not so much a great album as it is a great experiment in music. It's more like an abstract painting where as Diamonds and Pearls is more of a paint by numbers.

great songs in all types of music...i loved prince in the 80s but this album made me realize just how special he really was when it came out in march 1987.

listen to the album a couple times, then you'll figure out why folks hold the album in such high regard.

Wow, yet another thread revolting against the government which is Sign O' The Times. The album is a classic from start to finish realize it and stop rejecting it. Give in to the magic and stop asking why? Finally, Shut up already, damn!

It's Prince's best work ever!!!

Lets go back in time...

When SOTT came out, I remember everyone around me, including myself, had a lukewarm reaction to it. A bit later Bad came out and we all had a similar lukewarm reaction... it seemed that Janet's album by Jam&Lewis was better than both (at the time). Sales reflected this.

The standout tracks on first listen were: SOTT, Housequake (simply brilliant and fresh), If I Was Your Girlfriend.

Of moderate interest were: Starfish and Coffee, The Cross...

everything else seemed too barebones and dry to catch...

of course now its quite different... at the time, the movie helped a lot to find the vibe of the songs....

To understand why SOTT is Prince's greatest work you DO NOT have to put it in context of 1987 and the landscape of music back then. You don't have to go back in time to compare it with albums from then, you can compare it to albums that have come out since then and it still is a landmark.

SOTT is simply Prince's best ever because of the fact that he , seemingly effortlessly, touches on damn near every genre of popular music and makes each one his own. Sure, we had heard Prince do every type of music, but "Sign O' the Times" was almost like Prince saying "This is everything that came before me, and here is a glimpse as what is going to come after this.....".

No one (and I mean no one past or present) can have a song like "Housequake" on an album with a song like "i could never take the place of your man" on the same album with a song "Starfish and Coffee" and make it all sound so natural and authentic.This is when people started to be frightened by Prince and started really using the term "genius".
[Edited 11/9/04 9:49am]

Yeah, I agree Diamonds & Pearls is much better

Just listen to SOTT a few times. It takes while to absorb.

icecool2k19 said:

ummm but it in, listen, there you go.....enough said.

kisscamille said:

yes!!!!!

icecool2k19 said:

WHAT! Oh my God!

ADORE
HOT THING
FOREVER IN MY LIFE
STARFISH & COFFEE
BALLAD OF DOROTHY PARKER
I COULD NEVER TAKE THE PLACE OF YOUR MAN

Sorry, I got a little upset. We all have our right to like or dislike an album. breathe, breathe.....

Miguel

housequake...
the ballad of dorthy parker...
if i was your girlfriend...
u got the look...
it....
its gonna be a beautiful night...
strange relationship...
sign o the times...
how much do u need ??? DAMN !

Its okay, you dont have to follow the sheep
cause the shepard said too.
be a brave lamb and find your owm grass.

I like SOTT but its not the end all be all of Prince IMO

Really there are other albums I enjoy much more

but give it another try any way

Strange Relationship and I Could Never Take the Place of Your man
are my favorite songs off the album

Sign O' The Times is tied with Purple Rain as his best in my opinion. The sound quality is much better in PR and song for song it's stronger. However there's more material and more variety on SOTT; in fact I'd say it's perhaps his most eclectic work ever. Sure it's discombobulated and in desperate need of a remaster, but as others have said, prince showcased all his cards there, how he had not only mastered several disparite styles of popular music, but also how he could mix them together and make music that was all-but completely uncategorizable. I think a lot of great artists' careers have their "Purple Rains" and their "Sign O' the Times" ala Revolver vs. The White Album, or Innervisions vs. Songs in the key of life. Every great artist has their tightest most cohesive statement, and their most sprawling mess and for prince SOTT is definitely the latter.

Sign 'O' the Times shows just what Prince is: An artist. Not just an musician/songwriter/entertainer/performer/actor, but an artist overall. The plethora of genres and moods that P ranged with in the album just showed how versatile and, not to mention, ecletic Prince Rogers Nelson really is. It's purculating, amazing, fantastic, joyeous, superb, excellent: All of the above. Giving the album a few listens, along with watching the concert, shows exactly why Sign 'O' the Times is P's best work to date.

Dazza said:

icecool2k19 said:

Eye think U need a new couple of ears!!!
Go on E-bay and Find it!!!

I think the Sign O The Times tape was the last thing I stole from Kmart, back in '87, and I've loved it ever since.

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

IBSTROLLIN said:

Why would you stop stealing from K-Mart?

this is my all time fav. didn't hurt that it was
released when i was graduating HS and I felt that
I was maturing and so was Prince's music. Sounds corny I know.

It was the first album that I wanted everyone to listen to
because I just knew how brilliant it was. It is the ONE album
I tell anyone with a remote interest in Prince to buy.

I also remember that I never heard the song Adore until after
I had the album for a couple of months. I was so taken by the album
that I couldn't give it a complete listen. I would turn the tape over
to hear IT or Hot Thing or whatever. I've never had an album have
that impact on me.

The hell if I know.

I loved SOTT from the moment I heard it in '87.
The album has Adore on it. Nuff said!

Because it was and is fucking brilliant!

It hit me hard when I got it the day it came out in 87 and along with Parade is my favorite Prince album. Its all of the experimental styles he touched upon with ATWIAD and Parade, has some cool-ass funk with the Camille voice, and the party type music of Purple Rain and 1999 and with all this he came up with tunes that were totally different, mature, and, accessible. I love every single song and I think I appreciate it even more now than I did back in the day.

I guess since you just discovered it, it might take awhile to sink in, but please give it a chance. Its one of the reasons why us old schoolers love the guy so much (plus it runs RINGS around D&P...even tho I like that one too).