I think people were happy Prince returned to a more conventional pop/r&b format after his flirtation with psychedelica and the disaster of Under The Cherry Moon. Sign is an easy album to listen to. And it really doesn't have too many weak/too weird spots. The weirdest track, If I Was Your Girlfriend, is intriguing and makes sense.

I think the title track--Prince singing about drugs, gangs & AIDS--helped the critics write their reviews (how do you review I Wonder U?). I actually think that song is terribly overrated. Not bad, just overrated. Same with Forever in My Life, most people's favorites.

I see Play In the Sunshine as a serious song. Prince is very serious about fun. "All for fun fun for all." "Some way, somehow, I've just got to have fun." Fun is not taken seriously by many overachievers, and I bet Prince has worked too hard on occasion.

Actually, I remember Sign getting some negative reviews.

"There's no good guitar."

"I Want Your Sex is a better Prince song than anything on Prince's last record."

are just a couple quotes I remember.

Like most of his stuff, its alternately brilliant, simple, complicated, fun, & debated.

How old are you? I would say you are not 20+ ?

In 1987 this album was shit hot, it made other musicians look lame, in fact I can barely remember any particular song from 1987 ??

There is a wide variety of sound on here too, form dark sounding Title track, to the funky Housequake, balladic adore, raunchy Hot Thing and melodic forever in my life etc.....it was awesome. But that was 1987, the album is still in my top five and beats anything released after 1990.

Just my opinion

Miles said:

Funny how opinions and tastes vary so much, because I think Dream Factory, Train, and especially the horrid All My Dreams are far worse than anything on the final version of SOTT.

PurpleKnight said:

It's a layered, complex album...give it another listen...
[Edited 2/24/06 15:48pm]

PurpleKnight said:

I've said before that I like the songs the way they were performed in the movie way better then the album version. Especially "Forever In My Life" with Prince playing acoustic guitar along with the drum machine. And Bonnie Boyer's (R.I.P) blazing vocals. I could listen to that all day, But I can't stand the studio version. I still think it's one of his best records though.

Byron said:

You are my hero. Although I do like Dream Factory. Those other two songs would have had my finger on fast forward button of my walkman back in 1987.

I'll tell you what isn't really all that great!

On second thought, never mind!

PK, you are an incorrigible contrarian.

Aerogram said:

Not really. I think Kamasutra blows, Fury is a great song, When Doves Cry and Kiss are amazing singles, Graffiti Bridge is hilariously bad, etc.

Are you gonna use that argument every time I simply think for myself?

It's absolutely fascinating to see some hardcore Prince fans here talk about things like free speech and then turn around and devour anyone who poses a threatening opinion that conflicts with their comfortable consensus.

It's almost like you're not allowed to post unless you're saying the same old things that have been previously approved by the Prince veterans.

"SOTT is his best album ever."
"His 90's run sucked."
"Lovesexy is magical."
"The Revolution was his best band ever."
"Purple Rain isn't the preferred Prince album of real fans."

Etc.

I'm sick of seeing comments like "How old are you?" or "Listen to it again." So lame.

No, I don't have a special story where I bought SOTT the day it came out and then took the day off school to listen to it in my 80's bedroom. So what? Does a great album only appeal to the listeners of its generation?

I mean, such a thing hasn't stopped me from finding albums like Dirty Mind, 1999, and Purple Rain absolutely incredible.

And no, I do not need to listen to it again. I've heard the album ten million times. Not finding it amazing isn't some sort of temporary insanity condition.

You people are unbelievable sometimes.

I've grown to love this album, but when I came to this site, I got lots of hate for not thinking it was one of his greatest. Most of the songs on here really are average, no matter how much you like them. Adore is probably his most overrated song of all time. People who hate his ballads for being too sugary have no right to say that they like Adore, because that is the sweetest of them all, like he's trying waaaay too hard. And I never cared for It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night. And although IIWYGF is a fav of mine, I roll my eyes whenever people act like it shoulda been a commercial hit. Even though I've grown to love the hella out of it, I wouldn't in a million years get a casual fan to listen to it. They wouldn't appreciate it. They'd think he was being gross with IT and IIWYGF and forget the rest of the CD.

Dream Factory is better song for song. And I LOVE All My Dreams. And Train. And all those other mfing songs.
[Edited 2/24/06 17:39pm]

Byron said:

you got a death wish or what?

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

No, I just have taste...lol

How can you dis SOTT? OK..... for just ONE thing..... Prince was the first artist to write about AIDS.

He is always so far ahead of ANYONE with his subject matter as well as his innovations in music in general.

Byron said:

...yep, you have a definite death wish. been nice knowing yuz.

i'ma miss youuuuu....

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Hey, I'm already a hero to Ifsixwuz9 up there...lol

PurpleKnight said:

I nominate this as the "Overused Cliche' O' The Month" when it comes to criticizing Prince songs...it gets used so much that it no longer holds any real intellectual meaning.

To each his own .

BUT, IMHO !!!


This album was the "Prince" moment .

Even with the lame ass filler comments about Hot Thing (which has one of the greatest keyboard hooks ever) ,those songs could kick 90 % of all bullshit released since in the ass.

I read somewhere that this album was the last "true" R&B album .


That says it all !

PurpleKnight said:

Yes and you weren't even around when SOTT came out were you? So just believe me, it was not "safe" material at the time.

It's probably still my favorite Prince album, although I agree that there are some standard songs on it listening to it maybe a year or so after first buying it (I'm a very young fan, you see). "It" is just an average Prince jam (that knocking, repetitive drum loop, in particular, isn't anything to write your Mama about); "Slow Love" is just a skippable nightclub number; "Hot Thing" is good although far from P's best as far as funk goes; "U Got The Look" is an overly poppy, mindless disc-kickoff and "It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night"?.. eh, was never wild about it.

Everything else is just , though. I'm surprised at the lack of love "Play In The Sunshine" gets around here.. the musicianship on that joint is killer.

Kurt Loder said at the time that half the songs on SOTT were "brilliant", while the other half were "merely better than 90% of the stuff you hear on the radio"...

This album is a classic.

OMG I actually agree with PurpleKnight about something!

There's no doubt that SOTT is a great album, and some of the songs are indeed top class (Housequake, If I Was Your Girlfriend, Adore etc). However as "an album" goes, I don't think it compares with the total consistancy of 1999, Lovesexy or even Purple Rain for that matter.

It is his best album.....

I remember being in 9th grade and buying "SOTT" on cassette when it came out in the spring of 1987. I literally wore the cassette out after a few months and bought the CD. I remember being sooo excited that Sheena Easton sang on "U Got The Look" and appeared with him in the video. That song was happenin' back in the day!!

Byron said:

And it's also not something that could really be said about Prince back in 1986. It works today, of course.

Byron said:

It's no worse than dismissive comments like "Listen to it again."

I've said plenty of things about it that are valid.

The album blends several different musical generes which contributes to it being such an interesting and prolific album. Rock, R&B/funk, Pop, Alternative Rock, Dance.....It's really an exciting listen in terms of the musical production not to mention serving up some of Prince's most interesting lyrics (i.e. If I Was Your Girlfriend, Sign O The Times, etc).

PurpleKnight said:

Nothing that was valid to me. You called "Play in the Sunshine" a run of the mill, happy pop song. That's the most inaccurate description for that song you could possibly come up with.

Disqualified!

I think it pales in comparison to Parade.

But it's not as overrated as Lovesexy and Controversy...

PurpleKnight said:

This is way over the top. Who is actually threatened by whose opinion? You don't see me taking away your right to free speech.

If you choose to express an opinion contrary to a strong consensus that is fine but don't expect compliments on your taste or critical judgment.