skywalker said:

Sign O' The Times is my favorite album of all time.

Yet, it is interesting, SOTT didn't blow the world away in 1987. Instead, it has grown to become regarded as, arguably, Prince's crowning achievement.

It was highly regarded by critics and nominated for Grammy's, but it wasn't a blockbuster saleswise. It had some monster hit singles, yet a chart "flop" single as well. Some of the most beloved songs from the album weren't even released as singles.

That said, it really showcases all that is great about Prince. Even more so than Purple Rain or 1999, etc.

To say Prince doesn't like it is stupid and uninformed.

I have seen him live dozens of times and, more often than not, he plays material from SOTT.

I think if SOTT had followed ATWIAD the sales would have been far greater. Even tho ATWAIAD alienated a lot of listeners he was still in reach of big sales as SOTT had a far black and pop feel so would have engaged the audience he had til PR. With ATWIAD and then more importantly with PArade he had begun to move into artistry rather than a more commercial feel, which however brilliant artistically SOTT is it possessed huge swathes of accessible material (UGTL etc). By the time of SOTT he was a little too sophisticated for the mainstream. Two albums is a chunk of a career in terms of audience appreciation. Ironically for me as a Prince fan Parade remains my favouriet Prince album

SuperSoulFighter said:

Could this thread in any way be inspired by the other one about the phoney reissue?

Yes, SuperSoulFighter... !!

You have guessed it, right:

this thread was very much inspired by that "phoney" thread:

'Sign 'O The Times' (remastered)

^

to know that SOTT remaster won't happen, made/ makes me so frustrated..

Pressure is Prince's achilles heel. Exactly. Every since the spooky electric/ black album ecstacy incident. He won't release a record unless he feels he has a built in excuse for why it didn't do well.

funksterr said:

Pressure is Prince's achilles heel. Exactly. Every since the spooky electric/ black album ecstacy incident. He won't release a record unless he feels he has a built in excuse for why it didn't do well.

Eh, I've disagreed with many of your statements, but I feel what you've stated here is about as truthful as it gets. At least since he changed his name in the early-90s this seems to have been the case.

Come? TGE? Sabotaged by Warner Bros.! Chaos & Disorder? I state in the liner notes it's a contractual filler! Emancipation? It's tough to sell a 3CD set during times like these! Crystal Ball? It's tough to sell a 5CD set during times like these! Newpower Soul? Wasn't even released under my own name! etc.

thedance said:

6. See, he had huge problems following this SOTT album, with: the (also) very artistically brilliant album Lovesexy, did not sell well - although it was artistically brilliant as well, people were "saturated". And then there after, his career never became the same. People weren't hungry anymore, after the overwhelming string of album releases - especially this release: SOTT.

I think it should be noted that SOTT did not sell well at the time, particularly in the US where it sold less than both ATWIAD and Parade. It did have some hit singles but mainstream just wasn't buy into the the album.

Lovesexy was simply out of touch with what people wanted and it likely had nothing to do with "saturation". Prince would indeed do better commercially just 3 years later when D&P sold as much as SOTT and Lovesexy put together.

Artistic merit never really matched up with albums sales for Prince.

rdhull said:

Did you know that James Brown and Michael Jackson and Prince......

LIES!!!