i dunno. i just call it one of "the typicals" now.

It's NOT in the top 5 for me.....not even close....

But, then again, I love Parade, Lovesexy and Around the World in a Day

It's good to hear someone ask that question. Although I like all the songs on the CD's, most of them are just average or worse. And it definitely isn't an album I would get a non-fan to listen. Good, but not the best.

It gave me the best first impression of any Prince album, which is why it was my favorite for awhile, but after awhile I realized stuff like 1999 and Parade was more consistent, and just overall better. Add to that the fact that most of SOTT's material is trumped by itself in the SOTT movie, and it doesn't seem like THAT great of an album.

Still love it, though. ;D

Well I DO think it's his best and I think alot of it has to do with the breath and pacing of the content.

It may not have the best individual songs (to you anyway. Alot of the songs are still some of my favorites (Forever in My Life, Housequake, ICNTTPOYM, Starfish etc.)) but the vibe it creates and the distances it takes you is what makes it the best album. From the stripped down simplicity of IT to the pshycedelic Starfish to the old-school funky Housequake etc.

Plus it reminds me of the concert movie and a particularly good time in my life to be a Prince fan.

So WHEN many of us discovered it is probably the key.

I know I don't catch on too quickly, but what the funk is ICNTTPOYM?

God I'm stupid. Yeah I like also.

I prefer 1999 or Crystal Ball but SOTT is cool
Strange Relationship is my favorite song

I like it better as an album than 1999. The songs are consistently good. But they don't reach the peaks of his best songs--1999, LRC, DMSR. The most praised song is If I Was Your Girlfriend, which isn't very interesting musically, only conceptually.

But then I think some songs on 1999 go on too long. Not a big fan of Free or All the Critics. Sign is good all the way through, and it's not too goofy (TRC anyone?)

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Sign O The Times is Prince's most COMPLETE album and that is why it is his best. It just flows. Purple Rain, for all it's greatness, is more of a collection of wonderful singles than it is a cohesive album. What is the theme of Purple Rain...there isn't one because the damn thing is all over the map. Sign O The Times, though, is diverse and different and displays multiple styles but there seems to be a string tying all of the songs together. By starting with a bleak, death-filled title track and ending with a heartfelt, devotional love song (stopping along the way to cover aspects of life such as sex, relationships, and religion) the album seems to come full circle. Life sucks, people die BUT there is love that keeps us together.

Purple Rain is great but a gifted artist could duplicate it. As Prince filtered Hendrix in Let's Go Crazy, some talented (and I stress that) artist could create a reasonable fascimile of it. Look at how many times songs from PR have been remade. But Sign O The Times...noone but Prince would even try. Some artists could do some of the songs (hell even that New Kid of the Blockhead Jordan Knight remade ICNTPOYM) but noone could do ALL of it. Noone could play as many styles and do it convincingly. It is absolute art but I loved the fact that, unlike Lovesexy, it was art AND it was commercial. Three Top 10 hits from an album a year after Under The Cherry Moon almost torpedoed his career. Impossible...yet he did it. Because it was that damn good.

I really feel like every artist has one masterwork in them, a project where they reached deep into their sould and created something so personal but yet completely universal so everyone can complete relate. Purple Rain was great, 1999 was great; Sign O the Times was the masterpiece.

Sign O' The Times is an excellent album. Live its even better! 1999 is far better though as a complete album.

Although "purple rain" and "1999" have no fillers, the strong singles on SOTT outweighs the few fillers it has, making it a fan favourite.

because it is - what fillers? if you play the album back to back - how can you say fillers....

The hell if I know?

Because it is.

1p1p1i3 said:

Damn, that is the worst username I've ever seen.

PS Anyone read the 33 1/3 book on it - I recommend it as a good (but short!) read about the album. Can't remember the author though, and can't be arsed to go upstairs and look, sorry!

To jack a few lines from the review on allmusic.com:

Apocalyptic imagery of drugs, bombs, empty sex, abandoned babies and mothers, and AIDS pop up again and again, yet he balances the despair with hope, whether it's God, love, or just having a good time. In its own roundabout way, Sign 'o' the Times is the sound of the late '80s — it's the sound of the good times collapsing and how all that doubt and fear can be ignored if you just dance those problems away.

That's why I love this album. It is the late 80's to me.

I was a fan when 1999 came out. But SOTT established him as my favourite artist of all time. Mainly because it displayed how truly diverse his music can be.

Emancipation and The Gold Experience are Prince's best two albums. *waits for gunfire to erupt*

The reason why sign o the times is considered his best is because it covers nearly every style that prince is good at: funk, poppy psychedelia, quasi-fusion/jazz funk, hard rock, soul etc.. Purple Rain is his best album song for song, but the best songs from SOTT rival anything on Purple Rain and Sign O' The Times is more far-ranging and eclectic.

Sign O' The Times pales only in comparison to dream factory or crystal ball, which I think could've been as good or better. If he had bothered include such gems as Witness 4 The Prosecution, Joy In Repetition and Rebirth of The Flesh I don't think there would be any ambiguity about it.

That being said though I think it's kinda pointless to quibble about the statement an artist COULD have made versus the statement they did make, and adding six or seven tracks might have made to long or less coherent.

Axchi696 said:

I like its diversity, its production, the statements, the looseness, the guitar, his voice, and the SONGS. Its the album that all his brilliance is brought into a cohesive set of digestable tunes...but none of them ever fly off into self-indulgence. Its THE Prince album I reach for when I don't know what I want to listen to.
I love Purple Rain & 1999 too...but they don't quite reach the brillance of SOTT for me. I guess its the diversity of the songs is the biggest reason why,

jacktheimprovident said:

I have to agree with this one too...I like Dream Factory more than any of them...those dropped songs kick some serious butt.

PurpleKnight said:

Purple Rain is too long.

Take me with u is awful.

For example.....

I think it showed an "older" side of Prince (he wore glasses for crying out loud!). Lyrically, it's pretty impressive; musically, it's pretty eclectic and versatile. I used to consider SOTT Prince's crowning achievement. I mean, I'd never heard of Dorothy Parker before this album (I was 14 when it came out). I felt so impressed with his smarts ('An ass like that AND he's heard of the Algonquin Round Table!?') but now... I think SOTT is a fine album. I think SOTT is a wonderful ablum. I really, really like that album. But 1999 was/is his best.