It wasn't his last great album, but it's a masterpiece not only for Prince, but for music in general. It influenced and impacted countless artists.

One of my favorite albums, it shares the spotlight with Parade, Purple Rain and Dirty Mind.

TKO said:

What an amazing album! I remember buying this album 30 years ago in Puerto Rico from the Navy exchange for $13. I also bought the cassette. I still have that same album and cassette. I bought the album knowing damn well I had no record player on the ship but I had to have it for my collection. I also wanted to see what the inner sleeves look like inside.

A complete masterpiece, but not his last.

Every song is great and it fits, the best of all is Adore.

Prince was in such a difficult heap space when he wrote it.

It came out of the ashes of Dream Factory, Crystal Ball and Camille.

Warner Brother stifled his creativity, he would not 4get.

The funk justified the pop, pazz and jop.

Great music goes on, Prince bought the music 4rth from the muse.

Every song hit its point, said what it meant.

Critics swooned, the detractors boohooed, 4 Camille had his day

Spooky electric had more in store, Camille cried

Prince decided to put them both away until the Black album.

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After that doggerel, there was one more masterpiece left

Lovesexy, a great album, yet not as adventurous sonically as

this and Parade before it.

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I urge all fans who have not heard bootlegs and unreleased jams

he recorded for it to listen to them as well.

[Edited 3/30/17 16:23pm]

SOTT deserves the pedastal people put it on. It's an amazing ride, and my favorite Prince album.

I also don't agree that it was his last great album. It might be the last of a STRING of great albums (Lovesexy is really the end of his unbelievalbe string of masterpieces), but there are great albums and certainly a large number of great songs long after SOTT.

Questlove's statement of "it's his last album that would ever shock us" is almost absurd. He was a decade into his career at that point — when you release ten albums (two of them double albums), do you really expect hardcore fans to be SHOCKED anymore? There were countless surprising and delightful moments on Prince's studio albums that followed SOTT, and I think he did plenty to surprise people between 1987 and 2016. The Black Album cancellation that followed SOTT was shocking, and people geeked out over the bootleg releases of it. And that was just a year after SOTT.

But whatever, SOTT is still untouchable today, and does not sound like a 30 year old album.

Certainly a contender for the best Prince album, and a serious case can be made for it being one of the best albums by anyone. I love how the album seems incredibly cohesive while the album's styles and songs are so varied (especially impressive with the knowledge that it wasn't concieved as a singular project). I listened to the album earlier today and like whenever I take the time to listen to the album from start to finish, I feel like I have been on a journey. The sequencing of the album is perfect. It's an experience.

The album also contrains perhaps my two favourite Prince songs, 'The Ballad of Dorothy Parker', and 'If I was Your Girlfriend'.

It's not his last great album though. That would be 'The Rainbow Children' in my opinion.

It's certainly short-sighted to say that an album released 30 years ago (when the career ended just 1 year ago) was his last great album.

I was in bootcamp when SOTT was out, so once I was done in May, I snapped it up and absorbed all of it. "Beautiful Night" was an instant favorite.

The songs, the b-sides, the movie - just a fun and newly fresh time in his career.

Other great albums, in case y'all forgot: Lovesexy, , The Gold Experience, Come, 3121, Batman...to name a few. I would even add The Rainbow Children sans the preachy parts.

[Edited 3/30/17 19:09pm]

It and It's Gonna be a Beautiful Night are as strong as the rest of the album, i'll fight anyone who says different

His best album project period. I remember Mojo was already playing half of the album on the air in Feb 1987. callers were requesting Hot Thing a month before the album came out. Around March 7th Mojo got fired after a dispute with management. I think if Mojo didn't get fired the album would have been even bigger than it was. So in Detroit the album release was bittersweet because Mojo had a tradition of launching a new Prince project in a grandiose fashion. He even played the first Madhouse album on the air

In my humble opinion, Prince has 4 masterpieces...Dirty Mind, 1999, Purple Rain, SOTT...SOTT is the best. I wont call it his last GREAT album, but the argument could easily be made.

I'm very serious when I say Sign O the Times would likely be my "desert island" pick. I can't think of another album, by anyone, that I would agree is better. There are quite a few GREAT albums, but better than Sign O the Times?

Nobody did it better.

The incredibly diversity of great songs is what make it so great to me. It is not my favorite album of Prince to play from start to finish, but it has more great and very good songs (10s and 9s) than any Prince album. They work so well when placed in all types of play-lists. In contrast, I think the best way to hear the songs of his other 80s masterpieces is to listen to the whole album in one sitting. The songs seem to cohere together to make a whole that is better than it's parts.

So I am a special education teacher and am showing my appreciation for SOTT by playing Starfish and Coffee as my "Song of the Week" in my classroom all week long! I use it as a transition song between activities, so every 15 minutes, I play it. It's perfect...it's just under 3 minutes, it's upbeat, it's kid appropriate, it's Prince! S&C has been my "Song of the Week" numerous times this year.

gandorb said:

The incredibly diversity of great songs is what make it so great to me. It is not my favorite album of Prince to play from start to finish, but it has more great and very good songs (10s and 9s) than any Prince album. They work so well when placed in all types of play-lists. In contrast, I think the best way to hear the songs of his other 80s masterpieces is to listen to the whole album in one sitting. The songs seem to cohere together to make a whole that is better than it's parts.

206Michelle said:

So I am a special education teacher and am showing my appreciation for SOTT by playing Starfish and Coffee as my "Song of the Week" in my classroom all week long! I use it as a transition song between activities, so every 15 minutes, I play it. It's perfect...it's just under 3 minutes, it's upbeat, it's kid appropriate, it's Prince! S&C has been my "Song of the Week" numerous times this year.

That's awesome. You're a super cool teacher

My tribute

.

3rd video in the series. Hope u all love, it is 25 minutes.

TrivialPursuit said:

It's certainly short-sighted to say that an album released 30 years ago (when the career ended just 1 year ago) was his last great album.

I was in bootcamp when SOTT was out, so once I was done in May, I snapped it up and absorbed all of it. "Beautiful Night" was an instant favorite.

The songs, the b-sides, the movie - just a fun and newly fresh time in his career.

Other great albums, in case y'all forgot: Lovesexy, , The Gold Experience, Come, 3121, Batman...to name a few. I would even add The Rainbow Children sans the preachy parts.

[Edited 3/30/17 19:09pm]

'

Thank you. That is the best song on an entire double LP of truly great songs. I am not sure there has ever been an LP that closed stronger than "The Cross" "It's Gonna Be A Beautiful NighT" and "Adore" in the entire history of recorded music. I suspect Prince knew this too...

OMG Harry Styles just announced his first single is titled

"Sign of the Times."

WTF?

A true fans never ducks the 90s. Quest never mentions the 90s.

TrivialPursuit said:

Listening to it right now...

SanDiegoFunkDaddy said:

His best album project period. I remember Mojo was already playing half of the album on the air in Feb 1987. callers were requesting Hot Thing a month before the album came out. Around March 7th Mojo got fired after a dispute with management. I think if Mojo didn't get fired the album would have been even bigger than it was. So in Detroit the album release was bittersweet because Mojo had a tradition of launching a new Prince project in a grandiose fashion. He even played the first Madhouse album on the air

Now that radio is ruled by iHeartMedia, you know damn well that wouldn't happen today A whole album played on the radio?? Ha...good luck!

This what questlove said...

there will be no high like the high music fans felt when Prince was releasing magic every year like it was chewing gum.
he made it look THAT easy. i feel some sort of way about Sign O The Times. I'm one of those spoiled cats that appreciate his output.
but i also cap "the genius period" from 78-88 (and if you REALLY wanna get to the zone, i say 1982-1987 were the core years in the magic 10)--- #SignOTheTimes was essentially a catalog album showing a collection of his range and perfect songwriting, pop craftsmanship. ace musicianship, and just plain weirdo magic. this would mark the last time Prince's music would shock and surprise me. not to be mistaken for "the last time Prince made music i cared about" or "his last good album"---most artists get 2 albums to blow our minds before they start coasting on autopilot. the fact that Prince has 12-14 albums worth of grade A material is a miracle (dont forget his prolific pen game on Sheila E., Vanity/Apollonia 6, The Time/The Family & Jill Jones projects) each album making you "WHOA!" more than the last time. this is Jordan winning 6 rings on The Bulls. This is Curry shooting 8 3pt shots in a row from half court. i can't come up with a more explosive definition of why on its 30th anniversary, Sign O' The Times is just as magic today is it ALWAYS was. if you are in the "what's the big deal?" zone. brush up on your history. songwriting and arranging is a dangerous game. you gotta be effective. hit bullseye. be original. shocking, digestible, and 14 other things i haven't mentioned. if you are a @prince newbie i say start from the top w 78's For You and move forward. or the very end and work backwards. this way you get the full scope of his range. it doesn't get any better than this. Happy 30th Anniversary #SignOTheTimes

[Edited 3/31/17 12:16pm]

I to Starfish and Coffee today. My most favourite piece off the album

Spent the morning listening to the album, and reading all the online analysis-in-hindsight articles.

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This was the album that made me a believer. I listen to it all the way through multiple times a year. But today I really sat and listened, concentrating on it. What an achievement.

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And I listened to the B-sides and extended versions and remixes, too, because I'm that kind of fan.

.

Days like today make me remember that he's no longer here, but man, did he leave us an amazing legacy.

Three decades later, Prince’s Sign O’ The Times keeps showing different sides of itself

http://www.avclub.com/art...sho-252625