Ight ya, eye just got done with Sign'O'Times and thought it was a very good album...but a tad bit over rated. Eye only say that cuz most er-body said it was the best.

I still think "Purple Rain" is the best album & I don't understand how nobody thinks that.

It had two classic songs and don't just mean Prince classic, but just str8 up Classics in When Doves Cry & Purple Rain. It has one of Princes best dance songs in Let's Go Crazy. It has one of Princes most beautiful and under-rated songs in The Beautiful Ones. All that on 1 album that is only NINE (I think) tracks. There is only 9 songs and they all are AWSOME!

Since I have joined the org. I have listened to A LOT of Prince on top of what I already was listening to of him and this what I think now.

ALBUMS: #1 Purple Rain #2 Lovesexy #3 Sign'O'Times

SONGS: Darling Nikki, The Beautiful Ones, Purple Rain, Adore, Thieves In The Temple, Do Me Baby, Little Red Corvette, Erotic City, Scandlous

However since I started reading ya's threads and listening to more Prince that I download new songs that I really like a lot are:

Girl, She's Always in My Hair, How Come U Don't Call me Anymore, Another Lonley Christmas, I Hate U, I Love U But I don't Trust U, I Wish U Heaven, When 2 R In Love, Gram Slam, Anna Stesia

After I hear some more, I'm gonna make a list, in order of my top 25 Prince songs. I'm still listenin though.

Thoughts

Peace
the VILLE

It may take awhile to grow on you. It did for me. I don't consider it his very best, but it is right behind 1999 and Lovesexy for me. With more listens, it WILL grow on you. 8)

now all you need is the VHS movie

Exactly right - you need the movie. You can still order from Suncoast or any other video retailer.

And it DOES grow on you!!

The lyrics are simply his best ever, and the music is just perfect.

I remember my sister waking me up 15 years ago when this came out -- she saw it and bought the cassette for me. I was 15 and didn't drive yet, so I had no idea he was putting a new record out. Anyway, it was like midnight and here I was playing the cassette in my Walkman until the early hours of the morning. It was SO GOOD!!

I went through 3 cassettes because they were the long kind - and tapes aren't meant to hold that much, so they're not that strong. Add to that the 2 or 3 CD's I bought of this album!!

But you are right about Purple Rain - it is a close one. I just like SOTT better . . .

Generally, I've noticed the hardcore Prince fans tend to love SOTT over every other Prince album (along with Lovesexy usually getting second place). I think Lovesexy is very overrated, but not a terrible album. And although I think SOTT is a little overrated, I still think you should give it more of a listen.

Purple Rain is an album that generally doesn't get talked about too much here because it's his most played album by radio, and most are sick of it because of its familiarity, not because it's not a good album. If we all remembered how it sounded to us the first, second, third, fourth time (etc.) we heard it we'd realize that the only thing different about it now is its media exposure. Familiarity breeds contempt, and radio can kill ANY music by overplaying it. And I didn't really know what to make of Purple Rain when it was new, because it was so different. I didn't love it till a little later on.

I never listen to it anymore, but I also rarely listen to SOTT. Excellent album, but I wouldn't rate it as his top album. But a lot of fans will tell you there is no better Prince album than SOTT.

I think Sign O The Times is most people's favorit album since it's compiled of 95% absolute killer songs, and still very very diverse.

Albums like 1999 and Purple Rain are very very good, but they have an overall sound. U can hear how those songs fit together. They all have a similar sound to them.

But with Sign it's that strange mix of sounds that makes the album so darn good. It's got a bit of everything on it.

DigitalShogun said:

Well said. For me, it wasn't immediately accessible on all levels, though there were some undeniable killer tracks that I got into on my first listen (the title track being one of them). It seeped in the more I listened. And there's a strange unerlying mood to all the songs on that album that is just amazing. I love listening to it. It's amazing how the songs are so different yet blend in as a whole to form a bigger picture. That's the best way I can put it.

I have hard time saying what is his best because it's art we're talking about here, but Sign O' The Times really ranks up high on my listening list, and I've always loved diverse albums. Most artists at the time (and now, in fact) are content to run the commercial treadmill, but here Prince was doing the opposite after his phenomenal success and not afraid to experiment and consequently put out some truly amazing work. Killer tracks all the way through.

Now I'm waiting for it to be remastered...

People tend to forget 'S.O.T.T.' was what was left after Prince was forced by Warners to do a u-turn on his wish to release the 'Crystal Ball' 3 disc set. I actually would have preferred to have heard 'Crystal Ball' in its original incarnation.

The official release of 'S.O.T.T' sounds like a 'best of' from that period of intense creativity...

I still prefer '1999' and 'Purple Rain' because those records came out as Prince intended them to be heard, not as a by-product of the dictates of a wilfully obtuse record company (even if it was a fine little compromise!)

Definitely a grower...

Still my fave.

Yes, definitely a grower.... When I first got it, I wondered what all the hubbub was about. But keep listening to it. There will be a moment.... when something clicks in your brain and you won't be able to get enough of it.

Happened to me during Play In The Sunshine, a song I previously didn't like. Then all of a sudden, I'm sitting there and I'm blown away. And I have been ever since.

remember, ville is listening in 2002. It sounds dated now. If it makes top 5 now, then its a classic, even with dated "bad" production. Listen to the production of Pink's album and imagine SOTT now, then it would blow away!

DigitalShogun said:

An overall sound doesn't mean an album is inferior to one that doesn't have an overall sound. Personally, I don't think Rave has an overall sound, and it's also diverse. But there are other problems with it that make it less than a great album.

Marvin Gaye's What's Going On had an obvious overall sound and it's very cohesive, it's also the most powerful album he ever made.

Emancipation also had an overall sound - but I don't consider it one of Prince's best albums as a whole, and I don't think most do.

1999 had an overall sound and was very diverse. Think of Delirious, Lady Cab Driver, Something In The Water, Let's Pretend We're Married...extremely diverse songs stylistically.

My point is that I think it has to be taken on a case by case basis, not just whether or not an album has a consistent sound throughout.

Nate said:

Mate, you seem to post the weirdest shit.

Dated? well SOTT NEVER sounded like it was done in 1987, that Pink album sounds exactly like it was done in 2001. Guess which one will sound more dated in eight years? Do I need to say... the mid-90's?

SOTT is an album which hasn't dated (apart from specific references such as the Challenger explosion). The album still sounds as fresh and modern as it did when it came out fifteen years ago. Could the same be said about other releases at that time?

SOTT shows Prince's maturity as a writer and performer. His lyrics are thoughtful and intelligent and his political commentary is heartfelt and trenchant. The musical skill on display is awesome. It is the fulfilment of the promise he had shown with work such as Purple Rain. It isn't overrated - it is the best work Prince has done, and he has been trying to match it ever since.

I don't think SOTT is dated at all actually. But it does need to be remastered, as does all of his albums from his first decade.

Btw, why do I think of that Kool & The Gang song when I see your screen name?

Yeah! it's Over-rated but what was good was his best. What it is about that CD is that
it was another creative expression unexperienced before by everyone and by that
time we didn't know what to expect. Just like now. what could be next from him when
we've heard so many different sounds?
I liked it more then,than not now.
That CD I liked the song lyrics more
That's what keeps me coming back to that one.

My top 3 As a whole CD are
-Parade: it's so different so fresh and fun.
-LoveSexy ( but positivity is soo boring)
-Rainbow Chill-ren: Musically relaxing ( skip Everlasting now "too long")
With Gold a close 2nd ( I hate "shy" and "march")
otherwise thru-n-thru it's fun

SOTT is definitely one of his best, solely for its diversity. It shows every side of Prince and, in my opinion, does it flawlessly. Its serious, fun, sexy, romantic, and rocking all on one album. When it came out I played it constantly. It was the album of 87 for me...it rarely left my cd player (it was the 1st CD I ever bought) or my tape player (my friends now still talk about that summer and my obsession with SOTT, beacuse anytime they were in my car that tape was on). Because of this, it is not the one I play all that much now. I played it to death. Same goes for Purple Rain. Still love both of them, but AM a bit sick of them.

However there are other albums that I DO think are over-rated. One would definitely be 1999, (even tho, this is the one that got me hooked on P). It's fun and funky, but I think its a bit dated. It has not grown with time very well (for me). Another is Dirty Mind...like it, never loved it.

Top 3 for me (at the moment)
1) Parade. I never get sick of this one. It has grown with time so well.

2) The Rainbow Children. Love the whole mood. Very creative, very positive, and very smooth. Who siad they skip Everlasting Now...that is the one that I CRANK...kick butt song. .

3) Lovesexy. For the same reason as TRC. Has also gotten better over time.