Yes I'm going to go there. Too soon? Never!

Which one do you think is better?

I'm going 1999 SDE but you could guess that by me starting this thread that everyone will likely, probably justifiably, ignore.

I just like the vault tracks better on 1999 SDE. Considering I like the Sign Album better than 1999, that was surprising to me.

[Edited 9/28/20 5:18am]

1999 is my favorite Prince album, and I love the SDE package they put together for it. However, I do think that SOTT is probably his best album. I haven't gotten mine in yet, although I have been streaming the tracks and listening with headphones of course, so I can't fully comment on it, but the sheer magnitude of it will probably give it the edge for me. But it'll probably be pretty close.

Artwork: SOTT hands down. Both the original album, as well as what they did with the SDE. SOTT has the information booklet in a size you can actually read!

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Completeness: Missing stuff on both sides. However, even though there's a few "weird" mixes on either SDE, 1999 has stuff missing that's *not* on other releases, so SOTT wins again.

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Sound quality: close... but it feels like SOTT has again improved the standard, as 1999 did over Purple Rain. So, yes, SOTT

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Song quality: matter of taste. 1999 is more focused on one style, SOTT is a universe in and of itself almost.

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Overall: SOTT, for me.

I love the Sign o' the Times super deluxe, but it's clearly 1999 for me. Even with far fewer songs, the 1999 super deluxe actually has more songs I really love. I've been updating my list of favorite Prince songs, and comparing the 2 yields the following:

Vault songs I rate 10/10:

1999: 3
Sign o' the Times: 0

Vault songs I rate 9.5+:

1999: 6
Sign o' the Times: 4

Vault songs I rate 9+:

1999: 11
Sign o' the Times: 9

Vault songs I rate 8.5+:

1999: 15
Sign o' the Times: 14

Vault songs I rate 8+:

1999: 18
Sign o' the Times: 18

I haven't counted some songs that are more or less the same as previously released songs or duplicates, such as the full length "Delirious", the 1999 tour demo, the 7" edit of "Crystal Ball", etc., but I think the story would still be the same.

I LOVE the Sign o' the Times super deluxe. But the 1999 super deluxe is my favorite music release ever by quite some distance.

1999 is my favorite Prince album,so of course,I absolutely love the 1999 SDE.

but I think the SOTT SDE is the best box set in terms of packaging and content.They did an incredible job.The live DVD is exceptional.

Judged purely on the vault tracks, I found 1999 SDE much more compelling than SoTT. Just personal preference. The SoTT SDE dvd is great though.

I feel that SOTT:SDE should have started around $100. I really do. $150+ for the CD/DVD package is a bit high IMO.

1999:SDE was around $60 which seemed very reasonable!

Content: they're both amazing.

I finally opened my "1999" SDE last month after purchasing it last November. At this point, some of it is still new to me. Sorry, but I love both deluxes...(even the PR deluxe vault tracks too).

Oh man...1999 is a fantastic set. I am still discovering parts but, Sign is must too monstrous. The vault material is just killer and the remaster itself sounds so good, Sign all the way.

Best thing to say however, is that the Estate have two very stellar releases under their belt.

SOTT, hands-down!

I bought it specifically for Cosmic Day and Adonis and Bathsheba, but I only listened to either of those twice this weekend despite playing everything pretty much constantly from Thursday night onwards... there is just SO MUCH new-to-me that I love, and I'm still digesting everything.

I tried to create a list of my "highlights" and really I just ended up reposting the entire Vault tracklist minus about 6 or 7 I'm just "meh" on, and two of those were just picking a favorite version (Version 2, for both).

[Edited 9/28/20 20:00pm]