Raze said:

Fair enough.

lspear76 said:

I hate his vocals on "it", aswell as pretty much everything else to do with that track.

thesexofit said:

I think these fanatics here are reacting in an unhealthy way.
You gave your reasons for not loving the album. I found them interesting enough, but i think of the album with it's weak points and I find it fascinatingly good.

Wish I could side with you, because you're making sense whereas the others are a little too much

But I just love the sign o' the times album. Hmmmm...

Honestly, "It" really is a stinker. And while "It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night" is great, it's 9 minutes of overdubbed live stuff taking up space that another 1 or 2 songs could done better things with. (Crystal Ball. or Rebirth Of The Flesh and Joy In Repetition.)


Other than that, it's perfection. The writing. The performance. The production.

Raze said:

"its gonna be a beautiful night" is overdubbed? I know "purple rain" is (well the strings, which still annoy me, but hey.....), I hate it when they overdub live performances. Its cheating.

"Crucial" woulda sounded great on "sign of the times". That was from that era wasn't it? Thats a cool song.

It is a great album. It's very enjoyable. I love all the song on the album.

Make up your own Ballad Dorothy

Sdldawn said:

HOT THING ...BaD ShiT

you crazy!!!!!

thesexofit said:

AAAAARGGGGGHHHHH !!!!

Don't you touch these two pieces of art !

The Cross is just plain perfect so is Adore. Everything is great on these tunes : production, instrumentation, voices, arrangements, compositions, emotion. Pure perfection.

Hot Thing is so hot, u can´t touch it!!!
Adore , maybe his best song ever!!!
Sign of the times, really genius!!
housequake, absolutly funky!!
it,perfect!!

Sorry,but i think it´s his best album. But tastes are differences.

I absolutely LOVE "IT" and "Hot Thing". SOTT and 1999 are my favorite albums. I couldn't choose between them, but if I was forced to, I'd go with SOTT. Reason is 1999 had some sort of dark theme about it and even though I loved it, I sometimes didn't quite feel right loving it. lol

I can't say enough about Sign, it's deeper with more great songs than any album, besides maybe Thriller (say what you want about MJ, but that album was full of hits). "Adore" is the most shared song on several torrent sites, "Strange Relationship" has always seemed to me like Prince speaking to us fans and I loved that song since the first spin. I still sing "Hot Thing" in my head when I see a hot woman/girl. "It" is so raw and cool, it's otherworldly. I guess I had problems with "Slow Love" for a long time, but now I can't imagine it not being on the album, as I love the horns. "Sign Of The Times" still sounds fresh and new, "U Got The Look" holds it's own in any rock anthem set, "It's Gonna Be A Beuatiful Night" was awesome live, by the way I lived in Germany when this tour was there and saw Sign in Frankfurt. It was a sit down concert and the best concert of my life!

Oh, and my DJ name in the US Military club circuit in the late 80's and 90's was Housequake DJ. I played Ramstein AB and dozens of other NCO and Officer's clubs as Housequake.

Well, whatever the intentions of this poster, I love any chance to talk about this master work from the master himself.

Oh, by the way, Future Baby Mama sounds like a song that could have been on SOTT, with less background vox (which I do like) and possibly some horns. In fact, I bet he performs FBM with horns live.
[Edited 6/28/07 3:07am]

Sdldawn said:

I like the groove of this song,but I think the lyrics are kinda cliche ("baby U dance so good...hot thing....baby,I knew you would").Prince is a better songwriter than that!

Ive noticed that you MUST like 'SOTT' around here, but it seems VERY un-COOL if you actually say you think 'Purple Rain' is Prince's best! (ntohing to do with what my faves are, by the way, just an observation) MANY sheep

MarcelJ said:

Maybe if there was a 3rd disc and then a 4th of unreleased outtakes it could be tacked on as a lackluster hidden track to the 4th, but other than that, I think you're really trying too hard to make this rather blase' tune something more than it is.

That said, I have never been a fan of It or Hot Thing, either. But part of the sprawl and tossing it all against the wall to see what sticks is what makes Sign o The Times,like Exile on Main Street, London Calling, The White Album and Songs In The Key Life, such a brilliant work.

I'd also be let down if It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night had been replaced with Crucial or anything else. Sure it's got overdubs, but the piece as a whole is one of my favorite Prince cuts.
[Edited 6/28/07 5:28am]

bonedaddy said:

Really? I actually tend to hold that policy, too. I'm so strict. Seriously, though, when it comes to "Prince", whenever I notice comedians only parody "Prince" from the "Purple Rain Era" or musicians do "Prince Covers" of songs of his, if it is from the "Purple Rain Era" album/soundtrack, I assume that they are lame and haven't been up on their "UTCM/Parade Era" and/or "Sign "O" The Times/Crystal Ball/The Black Album Era" dosages of bibliography (If that is that is the correct word to use).

thesexofit said:

Lawd Child Some of my all time favs from Prince are there.
Play in the Sunshine, Housequake, It ... i could lick the cd itself.

FarrahMoan said:

I see that, but as a fan, I know Purple Rain is an amazing piece of work, and I also know that if it was a commercial bomb, it would be considered his finest album ever, by his fans

Great album...poor weak sound

This album NEEDS remastering.

The drums sound weak and feeble.
IGBABN is a waste of disc space though. Boring and repetitive

bonedaddy said:

"AND", you know what, you're probably right!

Sign 'O' The Times is like The White Album.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

No kidding - And the ear wax has hindered the ability to hear too.

SOTT is a masterpiece.

What I would complain about the album is:

The CD-version sounds very flat to me in comparism to what I heard laying on the floor with my headphones on by turning every vinyl record of SOTT back in the days.
I haven't heard the CDs for years. Sounds dull and boring & lifeless.
It needs to be mixed (or re-recorded, eh Prince?)

(maybe that could explain it..??)

sorry 4 my germish)

icke4presidant said:

You are so right. I never knew if it was only my album or the batch it was from. SOTT sounds horrible. Not musically of course. For some reason, Disc 1 seems slightly, but only slighly, better.

bonedaddy said:

This is typical of any band with lots of albums who became huge. The harcore fans can't acknowledge the most commercially successful album as one of the best because it puts them into the same group as the casual fans, and thusthey lose their cred as a higher level fan.

I'm not saying Purple Rain or SOTT is better one way or the other. But, people not willing to say PR is the best is completely predictable. That said, I'm sure many people genuinely think it's not his best, as there are lots of other great albums to choose from.

BT11 said:

yep, and both are good and bad in many ways.

Pellwormer said:

no it need to be remastered NOT RE-RECORDED. That doesn't happen.

icke4presidant said:

Now this I agree with, just hope they don't over compress it when they do it.

MarcelJ said:

I agree 100%.

I would love peter mew(bowie remasters), steve hoffman or bob ludwig(stones remasters) to do it
[Edited 6/28/07 12:55pm]

what do you guys think of the Foefur remasters of Sign, Parade, 1999, PR, ATWIAD, Black and Lovesexy? I think they sound fantastic...and if this guy can do it, I dont see why Prince cant