Lately Rolling Stone has been updating many of their reviews. Many of them with 5 star reviews, which are quite rare to that magazine unless you're Mick Jagger or Bob Dylan. So it's quite nice that Prince is getting one finally. It's not as interesting or well thought out as Kurt Loder's old one but here it is anyway.


It begins as a great book would, with the setting. "In France, a skinny man died of a big disease with a little name." In 1987, when Prince's double-album masterpiece Sign 'O' the Times was released, no one had to be told he was talking about AIDS. The title track syrups on, mentioning crack and nuclear bombs -- painting the Eighties as if Revelations had arrived and no one had realized. The direct political address recalls Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," but where Gaye was pleading for change, Prince is mournful, desolate and sadly accepting. But then he's upbeat and dancing, prancing with "Play in the Sunshine," washing away the doomsday reportage with childish glee. If 1999 showed off Prince's funk potential and Purple Rain made him a rock star, then Sign 'O' the Times is his soul assault, with ballads ("Forever in My Life"), midtempos ("I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man") and dance anthems ("Housequake"). After Purple Rain, Prince was moving toward guitar-god status, but here the bass is the star, so sweet it's giving up melodies, so expressive you know it's talking to you in another language, so funky that if you ain't groovin' you might be dead. On "If I Was Your Girlfriend," he ponders aloud, "Would you run to me if somebody hurt you, even if that somebody was me?" -- but, like a true philosopher of love, he never finds the answer and leaves the question for you to run with. Both discs are heavy with songs about hot sex ("Slow Love," "Hot Thing"), but those songs are outweighed by the towering ballads about love and commitment. "Adore" remains one of the greatest love songs of all time and continues to make women weak and wet with its opening promise: "Until the end of time, I'll be there for you." Even in a world so hopeless, Prince seems to say, love can conquer all.

5 star edit
[This message was edited Thu Apr 17 13:55:23 PDT 2003 by TRON]

People who can't see that this is a landmark album are deaf and out of their minds.

TRON said:

With their retrospective reviews of old classic albums they usually give at least 4 stars.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Agreed!! I think that this album has every right to claim itself amongst the greatest musical works of all time...regardless of genre or style.

In my opinion...when talking about which works of Prince's is the best...there's really no discussion needed. There's "Sign 'O' The Times", and then there's everything else!!!

They had no business giving it anything less from jump.

Their reviews, however, are very suspect. Does anyone remember when they gave Graffiti Bridge 4.5 stars after release, and then, 2 years later, gave it a 3-star rating in the encyclopedia? I stopped reading them a long time ago.

That's a great review of this album and certainly gives it due credit. Makes me wanna go watch the movie again tonight.

those bastids owe dirty mind ½ a damn star.

16 years and NO ALBUM,comes close !

If you listen to it now it is just as powerful as it was then.

this album still is my musical Bible

in the end all, it's THE ONE that matters

muleFunk said:

The Rainbow Children album comes really close!!!