Sign O The Times.

Why is this Princfe's Best album ever?

Is it Because it has the best song, "If I was your Girlfriend" on it?

This is Princes best album, no doubt.

The Best album.


Love,
Butterscotch

I like SOTT a lot, but I don't think it's his best.
Maybe it's considered the best by many because it is the end result of all his experimenting with new music sounds and styles in the mid 80s. It had a new sound to it that hasn't aged, and if you listen to the lyrics to the song SOTT they are still very acurate today.
[Edited 12/16/09 11:22am]

like you say its a great album , i think my favourite track is strange relatonship.

Whichever album YOU like best is Prince's best album ever. For you, anyway, and that's all that matters.

Others might have a different opinion. But that's their business.

I doubt you'll get a consensus on this. Personally I'd put 1999, Lovesexy, Parade and (possibly) The Black Album above it.

I think the reason SOTT falls short for me is side 4. The first three sides are immaculate, and not just as a collection of perfect moments. Collectively they present such a convincing argument for Prince the genius auteur that most are willing to overlook the, quite brilliant, but unfocussed fourth side. 'It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night' just doesn't fit on that album. Just imagine if side 4 had been The Ball/Joy In Repetition/The Cross/Adore. Now that could have been Prince's best album ever. From what little I've heard I reckon pretty much any two out-takes from this era would've improved the album in place of '...Beautiful Night'.

SOTT was a cross roads album to me, for Prince
Most of it was supposed to be either the Dream Factory Crystal Ball or Camille album

It works as a collage album, just like the cover picture which is a mix of Parade tour, Sheila E(3rd album outfits) and new stuff

Best albums above SOTT for me are Around the World in a Day 1999 Purple Rain Dirty Mind

Firstly, what the what?
borderline copyright infringement?

I go back and forth between SOTT and Parade as to the "best" Prince albums.
there's just so many good songs on this album.

those who think so, including most critics site it because of its SPRAWL (diverse sonic landscape). not MY fave but its up there

For me it is because there are so many diffrent colors on this album. There is alot of imagination and thought into these songs....they are sparse and desolate in places, but fill the room in the mind for thought and deliverance. There is alot going on like "Play In The Sunshine"..then you get "Ballad Of Dorthy Parker" which is rich on lyrics and clean on over production. Both work because they were both experimental and to this day nothing sounds like both of them. That beat on Ballad Of Dorthy Parker took alot of transitioning and chances taken on being conventional...and alot of this album shows that. Breaking all the rules left and right...the mistake made on Forever In My Life's background vocals turned out to be a classic....Strange Relationships hard thumping and Sitar and congas just fits so well under If I Was Your Girlfriend.

Prnice does not take too many chances like this on album afterwards

ButterscotchPimp said:

It took me so long to realize what you meant by borderline copyright infringement. I feel really slow today.

Efan said:

It's not his best, but it is his most diverse, a bit edgy, and overall well written.

The reason why I feel SOTT is probably the best Prince album is because in reality "Signs" was the last "Prince and the Revolution" album. And Wendy and Lisa "influence" and probably production is strongly felt on this album. Another reason why "Signs" gets so much props in the Prince community is because how weak Lovesexy was and is. Let's be real people, the sound changed drastically onces key memebers of the Revolution was fired. One of the frustration about the Revolution being disbanded is because the Parade tour and the Dream Factory sessions proved that the possibilities of what could've happened musically was endless. The Signs/Lovesexy band were talented I will admit, but Levi, Mico, and Sheila E., just didn't bring the same musical inspiration like Wendy and Lisa.
Peace,
Aaron6ix

perfect album

second best behind Purple Rain, imo.

My top 37 Prince albums,

from best album to worst:

01. Purple Rain (10)
02. Sign "O" The Times (10)
03. 1999 (10)
04. Lovesexy (10)
05. Parade (10)
06. Around The World In A Day (10)
07. The Gold Experience (10)
08. Dirty Mind (10)
09. Controversy (9)
10. Diamonds & Pearls (9)
11. Love Symbol Album (9)
12. Come (9)
13. Black Album (9)
14. The Rainbow Children (9)
15. Graffiti Bridge (8)
16. Prince (8)
17. Crystal Ball (8)
18. Emancipation (8)
19. For You (8)
20. Batman (8)
21. LotusFlower / MPLSound (8)
22. Musicology (7)
23. Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic (7)
24. 3121 (6)
25. The Truth (6)
26. Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic (6)
27. The Vault... Old Friends 4 Sale (6)
28. Chaos & Disorder (6)
29. The Chocolate Invasion (6)
30. Slaughterhouse (6)
31. Planet Earth (5)
32. Newpower Soul (4)
33. ONA Piano (3)
34. N.E.W.S. (2)
35. ONA... Live (2)
36. Indigo Nights (2)
37. Kamasutra (0)


no weak song on Sign O' The Times, and the album covers so many genres.







and.... brilliant cover artwork too.
[Edited 12/16/09 10:21am]
[Edited 12/16/09 10:22am]

I don't think it's his best, but it's way up there. Prince's songwriting is just about at its peak, and Sign o' the Times is arguably the only "let me show you everything in my bag of tricks" album that works well as a whole.

The diversity and scope of this album is amazing. It covers so many genre's but covers them SO well. Also, I am sick of people saying Its Gonna Be a Beautiful Night doesn't belong here...YES it does....I absolutely LOVE the ending of this album, with the Cross...sliding into a great PartAY song...then closing with his best ballad of all time.

BTW, this Parade and Purple Rain are all his best...all 3 are tops imo.

Poplife88 said:

I think SOTT was definitely the end of the "greatness" of the 80's for him. While Lovesexy and Batdance had its moments of greatness, it seems that SOTT is really more the bookend on all that. For me, Batman, GB and D&P were segues into another great prolific and highly creative era of the mid 90's. Peaks and valleys. Also, with "Adore" being on the end of SOTT, and it being such a great end to a great album (you really felt like you'd been taken on a ride by the time SOTT is done and "Adore" finishes), the song itself puts an APPROVED stamp on his music to that point. It's like "DONE. FINISHED. NEXT!" If I never heard another Prince song at that point, it would have been perfect, only because it all wrapped up perfectly by SOTT. I'm sort of glad Dream Factory and Crystal Ball didn't come out as they were intended. SOTT seems more whittled down to the goodies, without any fluff.

So many amazing songs...

It has the unusual quality of sounding like a collection of songs that belong together despite the sometimes huge differences in styles and themes.

Like many 'classic albums' each song makes more sense when played in the sequenced order of the LP. It's thrilling to hear him extend himself and strike gold time and time again...

I'm not a big fan of "Adore." It's not horrible, but it doesn't do much for me at all. And "It" I find to be dull and lifeless, not inspired at all.

Still, I think the album is brilliant. Also, I think every single one of the those songs was (or would have been) improved by adding the Lovesexy band.

It's his best because it his something for everybody, and dosen't feel overproduced to me. Why in the world would anyboday say Lovesexy is his best album??? If anything its the album that alienated him from the USA.

evreed said:

Lovesexy didn't alienate anyone like that, because remember....Batman went onto be a #1 album in many places, including the US, plus it spawned another #1 hit. He really rode that momentum for a while. I don't even think WB would have given him the money to do another money had it not been for the success of Batman. I just don't see Lovesexy alienating anyone. GB did that damage, for sure.

evreed said:

I don't think so. He might have alienated some Midwestern teens (I was a Midwestern teen who wasn't alienated), but I think he started doing that long before Lovesexy. The appearance of cross-dressing on Sign alienated people too.

Not my favorite album (mine is Parade) but it contains great songs with some rare tender and reflecting lyrics. Vocally it is far from the best (his best vocals are on the symbol album in my opinion) and it lacks the electric exitment that Purple Rain and Around the world.. has.

SOTT is just a masterpiece of an album, in my opinion. It's like a journey, and the more you revisit that "path", the more you simply appreciate it's direction.

Adore to me, is beyond compare. It's the greatest song of all time. That's just my opinion.

And then you have songs like If I was Your Girlfriend, U Got the Look, Strange Relationship, I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man... and even It's Gonna be a Beautiful Night. And that's just on the second LP.

Then you have the title track, Play in the Sunshine, Housequake, Forever in My Life... and so much more.

Some of the songs are just GEMS... but the sum of all of the parts just amounts to a complete work of art, and a talent "explosion".

And it's funny because rarely do I pay the entire album from start to finish, but when I think about it... even songs like Starfish and Coffee and IT... you just have to smile and say "That album was the shiznit".

Perfect in so many ways.

ernestsewell said:

I agree. Even tho I love a bunch of his albums after Times...this is the last one that was GREAT...in all caps. After this there was brilliance, but none of them ever reached this kind of height.

It is ALL based on opinion. Nothing more.
I'd argue that there are at least 20 Prince albums that could be considered his best.

you are the one who has deemed it his best album. others haven't. including me. so your question is unanswerable.

Nobody had ever made anything like it before. It was like someone painted something colourful all over the front of your house.

The arrangements are utterly weird but sound completely natural, the songwriting's a total career high, the vocal performances are wonderful and it's got 'If I Was Your Girlfriend' on it.

Best album. Oh yes.

victorludorum said:

I second this emotion.

idk but that SOTT DVD was off the chain