I think as a pop album Parade is much more interesting, but SOTT is infinitely more edgey and has a wider cross-section of music. But personally I feel 'Mountains' or 'Kiss' are of a much higher quality than anything on SOTT...

I love both these albums all the way thru',

SOTT is my fave of his tho'.

QWell U can't just put 2 songs in front of all the other songs on SOTT.

The only reason u say that is probably because Kiss was a big hit, and Mountains drum track is alot different than anything on SOTT, has a warm feel 2 it. The album was probably the last full fledged use of the Linn Machine in a whole entire album.

SOTT, had new instruments used, hard guitar, and a much more R & B sound 2 it. Different geners of music totally, almost cannot compare them 2 eachother.

Both are wonderful but Sign O The Times gets my vote on this topic.

Good post... Well I'd suggest that Parade IS the most musically intersting ... the main difference being the revolution... bcuz of the wide variety of backgrounds of them all... Sign is mainly prince and its much less diverse, mainly in its use of the same few drums machine which give it and all the outtakes a very similar feel... e.g last heart; good love; crystal ball...
Personally I think Parade is slightly annoying maninly cuz I hate Life can b so nice and Under the Cherry Moon.. and Mountains is just a few beats too slow and not quite funky enuff for me...
but hmmm interesting observation and good point...
kinda sad that his 2 most interestingly musical albums; Parade and Around the World In A Day seem long distant memories and things got even worse after Emacipation.
Oh well.. peaks and troughs? maybe we'll get some amazing stuff soon...
hope hope hope

PARADE PARADE PARADE.
& thats final!

I love em both -- won't pick one over the other -- it used to be parade for me, but i've been listening to Sign non-stop for the last 3 months. and they're worlds apart to try to compare. i just can't get enough of ICNTTPOYM, The Cross, It's Gonna... and ADORE.

i prefer to just lump 82-88 together as my favorite era, though i do love em all.

This is a very hard one for me, I love both of these albums so much. These are the albums that got me HOOKED on Prince. Loved 1999, PR, & ATWIAD...but when Parade came along I was just blown away and then SOTT...I just played the shit out of. I think Parade was so different than anything out there at the time and the sounds on it were and are so refreshing that it is hard to compare it to anything at the time or now. But I guess the same thing can be said about SOTT. The thing I've always loved on Sign is that every song is just killer. There isn't a bad one in the bunch. But of the two...I think I will pick Parade ...just because I think it has not aged one bit where SOTT has just a tad. BUT this is really nit-picking...the only reason I say SOTT has aged is because of U Got The Look. That song sounds SO 80's...especially with Sheena Easton singing on it. Now for Parade...each and every song sounds as fresh, creative, and funky as the day I heard it (even CT's Parade)...if not more so now than ever.

Natasha said:

Ditto

SOTT by a mile.

as much as sott is the tops...Parade always my favorite by far ...and to think when i first got it i thought it was horrible,embarrassing,and stupid and wondered why i wasted money on it.

paisleypark4 said:

You are so right. They're both like comparing night and day. Yet, personally I agree with TRON; 'SOTT by a mile'...I love Parade as well. But SOTT, is an album that is more suited to my particular taste...

Besides...

Adore...Nuff said,

Blue Prince
Times...times
[This message was edited Mon Oct 28 19:11:49 PST 2002 by TheBluePrince]

WatchThemFall said:

Pop isn't the final frontier.


"Kiss" always sounded out of place within the Parade album to me.

Supernova said:

it did not! !

Christopher said:

Supernova said:

omg ... evil!

PARADE is the better of the two as far as I'm concerned. I think Prince accomplished more with one LP than he did with two on SOTT... PARADE manages to be more concise and ultimately more far-reaching than SOTT. And, truthfully, "It" and "Wonderful Night" just annoy the piss out of me.

I think a big reason for PARADE's success has to be my girls Lisa & Wendy. Some of those arrangements are just phenominal!

Jason

They're both great albums, but I love Parade.That's my all time favorite album by him.

Sign O The Times in a Blow Out&I'm glad Prince got the Flower Power out of His System.

I love both those album but I will have to go with Parade on this one. With the exception of Kiss, I think the songs on Parade are consistant and they all work perfectly together. Not to mention that it'll always hold a special place in my heart because it was the first Prince album I ever got.

I think Sign o The Times is the best album by a mile, gr8 mixture of songs. Slow LOve is gr8 2 get down 2 it with.

Cant choose. I guess parade is a better album, as its just one disc / record and it flows much better (plus it has Kiss, Mountains & Sometimes it snows..). However the collection of songs on disc 2 of SOTT is faultless. The best run of songs on any prince album ever.

They should definitely re-issue / re-master SOTT on one CD, perhaps editing Beautiful night or It slightly so that all the songs can fit on the one disc. The sound on the current CD is crap, and its such a pain having to change discs.

These two albums represent the most creative period of P's career, and I think that the Crystal Ball project should have been one dedicated to this period rather than various other unreleased songs. The quality of unreleased songs from this period is unbelievable.

The continuous flow of magnificent music on Parade makes it a real masteriece. The way the music fits so perfectly together makes it a joy to listen to as a whole - much like Lovesexy.

However, I'd say that Sign is a better album as it covers so many different styles and yet remains cohesive throughout,

I agree that SOTT in particular is in desperate need of remastering and that the Parade - Sign - Lovesexy period was Prince's best yet.

Supernova said:

2 paraphrase u...da horror.


smack it up.
[This message was edited Tue Oct 29 8:02:23 PST 2002 by PlastikLuvAffair]

No way to compare the two. Both albums are electric in their own ways. Both are *** for sure!

PlastikLuvAffair said:

CrozzaUK said:

that second problem is easy to fix. make yourself a single disk version by including the single edit of the title song from the hits 1 or the very best of..i've tried it. fits perfectly, if u don't mind an early fade for SOTT.
by the way, my opinion is that the parade album is probably prince's most unique album ever. he really had something special on that one, never sounded like it before or after. the problem is it is too short on great material! had parade been a double (think of outtakes: alexa de paris, love or money, sexual suicide) parade would be an all-time classic album from the man. as is, i could never pick it over sign o' the times, which , along with the 'prince' album (2nd one), has spawned more classic prince songs than any other. aside from 'kiss', 'girls & boys' and 'sometimes it snows...', parade is a mere curiosity compared to SOTT. just count the classix: sign, , icould never..., if i was..., the cross, housequake, u got the look, strange relationship, ballad of dorothy...& c., & c., & c.!!!
let's do the math, people! how high can u count?!!

SOTT for me (just!) but if Parade had been a double disc with the second disc containing all of Prince's versions of the Family and Jill jones songs, it would have blown SOTT away IMO.

easily.

Parade has ATMOSPHERE, ATMOSPHERE!!!

This is a tough one. Parade is a very tight and cohesive album, wonderfully energetic. The album sounds very "clean". I really enjoyed it alot.

However, theres so much to sink your teeth into in Sign O The Times that I often find myself pulling that one out more often.

Whereas Parade is more like a fleeting moment of excitement and enthusiasm, SOTT is a bit grander and grounded by some amazing balads like Adore, and anthems like The Cross.