Both albums are regarded as the most influental work done by Prince.

Which album do you like better and why?

For me this is easy, i will say 1999

1999 was a groundbreaking album by Prince.it was the first time

all elements clicked and Princce defined his musical style.

1999 album was the first high profile album to have Linn lm1 as a time keeper.

1999 made unprecedent impact in the evolution of dance music.

Prince displayed such a diversity imploying styles he never did before or after like Cold Wave (Something In The Water Does Not Compute) ,Techno,Electro funk,synth pop,early House.

1999 had one of the first rock songs that was featuring a drum machine (Little Red Corvette)

His singing was perfect,melodies rich and memorable,everything was on point.

Sign O The Times while it did bring some new things to the table like more social and political awareness by Prince had some songs that i can't stand (Starfish And Coffie,Play In The Sunshine )

it was not as consistant and well defined as 1999.it seemed like 1987 album was more of a compilation of what Prince can do,not a tight cohesive unit.

And with giving more and more and more space for Leeds to solo it was less space for Prince to do his thing.

I feel like starting with 1987 up to 1989 Prince's career can be described as 1 big sax solo,

and DEluxe release proves that.

LoveGalore said:

Very tough question. They're opposite sides of different coins. So, I think there is a similar vibe between Controversy, 1999, and Purple Rain, and then ATWIAD, Parade, and SOTT. In my mind, he had perfected that cold crispy funk with Purple Rain. And he had perfected the whimsical, warm, highbrow stuff with SOTT. So in that sense, I feel like SOTT is a more effective expression of a given vibe. The end of multiple eras. It's a stellar body of work. I probably prefer the unreleased stuff of this era for sure. But the era also feels quite sad to me as well. Lots of break up songs, lots of songs about complex feelings. But 1999's songs are probably more fun. More primal. He's out for blood on 1999, whereas SOTT has a depressing, licking-your-wounds vibe. I guess it depends on what mood I'm in, but more often than not I would probably say 1999 is the better album.

It's interesting but i find 1999 to be warm analog production while Sign O The Times sounds cold sterile and distant .

I much prefer 1999 to SOTT. As a few other members here have stated I also felt a bit underwhelmed upon first listening to SOTT. It just didn't feel like it was musically adding anything new to what I thought Prince was capable of. Yes, there are some outstanding songs on it such as the title track, Housequake, The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker, Starfish And Coffee and Forever In My Life but the rest of them felt somewhat like filler to me. I was tired of listening to It after the third time I played it. 1999 showcased what Prince was capable of and gave us music like no one else out there was doing.

I prefer 1999.I think it is the best album that Prince ever made.Bold,edgy and badass,it is Prince at his absolute best.

It's onions and peaches. No comparison.

-

Worse !

It's like comparing flying cars with burning worms,

or

owls reading poetry with walking blue roses,

or

singing politicians with hair extensions,

or

Trump with Biden.

No, worse,

comparing Prince with Napoleon... although, they both had the same hight, like both albums are double albums, so that's about it really.

...no what I mean.

-

1999 is my favorite album of all time so that one.

'1999' got my full attention.

'Sign "O" The Times' got the rest of my being.

You hate Starfish & Coffee and Play in the Sunshine? hmm.

I do agree that one has a mostly consistent sound while the other is more about demonstrating his range, but they're very hard to compare for that very reason.

Man, I have to say, almost every thread you start is about how good Prince was in 1982 and 1983, from songwriting to guitar solos to production, and how much you think he sucked outside of that timeframe, it must be hard to only be a fan of such a small phase.

[Edited 10/27/20 4:42am]

jaawwnn said:

You hate Starfish & Coffee and Play in the Sunshine? hmm.

I do agree that one has a mostly consistent sound while the other is more about demonstrating his range, but they're very hard to compare for that very reason.

Man, I have to say, almost every thread you start is about how good Prince was in 1982 and 1983, from songwriting to guitar solos to production, and how much you think he sucked outside of that timeframe, it must be hard to only be a fan of such a small phase.

[Edited 10/27/20 4:42am]

Haha thank u for noticing me in the sea of topics .what u wrote is only partialy true.

I enjoyed all the aspects of Prince career but at that time frame he was the best,

but latter in career he was better at other things(guitar playing? ) and i do think that 2001

Prince at least for a brief moment was on the same plane as the 1999 Prince

thebanishedone said:

jaawwnn said:

You hate Starfish & Coffee and Play in the Sunshine? hmm.

I do agree that one has a mostly consistent sound while the other is more about demonstrating his range, but they're very hard to compare for that very reason.

Man, I have to say, almost every thread you start is about how good Prince was in 1982 and 1983, from songwriting to guitar solos to production, and how much you think he sucked outside of that timeframe, it must be hard to only be a fan of such a small phase.

[Edited 10/27/20 4:42am]

Haha thank u for noticing me in the sea of topics .what u wrote is only partialy true.

I enjoyed all the aspects of Prince career but at that time frame he was the best,

but latter in career he was better at other things(guitar playing? ) and i do think that 2001

Prince at least for a brief moment was on the same plane as the 1999 Prince

I admire the specifics! I don't study his live guitar playing like you do so i'll take your word for it, how about some of the amazing playing he's doing on Small Club though?

jaawwnn said:

thebanishedone said:

Haha thank u for noticing me in the sea of topics .what u wrote is only partialy true.

I enjoyed all the aspects of Prince career but at that time frame he was the best,

but latter in career he was better at other things(guitar playing? ) and i do think that 2001

Prince at least for a brief moment was on the same plane as the 1999 Prince

I admire the specifics! I don't study his live guitar playing like you do so i'll take your word for it, how about some of the amazing playing he's doing on Small Club though?

Small Club is amazing,but he have lots of great moments.Small Club is having cult status because it was one of the first bootlegs with pristine sound quality

1999 for sure.

If I combine both albums, here is how the songs rank (including ranking among my all-time favorite Prince songs):

[2] "Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)"
[3] "1999"
[9] "All the Critics Love U in New York"
[11] "The Cross"
[15] "Automatic"
[24] "Sign o' the Times"
[29] "Starfish and Coffee"
[32] "D.M.S.R."
[34] "Delirious"
[36] "Strange Relationship"
[62] "Forever in My Life"
[71] "Play in the Sunshine"
[72] "Let's Pretend We're Married"
[89] "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man"
[100] "Free"
[110] "Lady Cab Driver"
[174] "U Got the Look"
[209] "Little Red Corvette"
[214] "It"
[236] "Housequake"
[246] "Hot Thing"
[274] "International Lover"
[278] "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker"
[303] "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night"
[430] "If I Was Your Girlfriend"
[542] "Adore"
[600] "Slow Love"

RODSERLING said:

There are clunkers such as Automatic, Delirious and International Lover in 1999. The only clunker in SOTT is Slow Love. So SOTT wins over 1999.

those songs are cluncers 2 u?

RODSERLING said:

RODSERLING said:

There are clunkers such as Automatic, Delirious and International Lover in 1999. The only clunker in SOTT is Slow Love. So SOTT wins over 1999.

Agreed.

Moonbeam said:

1999 for sure.

If I combine both albums, here is how the songs rank (including ranking among my all-time favorite Prince songs):

[2] "Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)"
[3] "1999"
[9] "All the Critics Love U in New York"
[11] "The Cross"
[15] "Automatic"
[24] "Sign o' the Times"
[29] "Starfish and Coffee"
[32] "D.M.S.R."
[34] "Delirious"
[36] "Strange Relationship"
[62] "Forever in My Life"
[71] "Play in the Sunshine"
[72] "Let's Pretend We're Married"
[89] "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man"
[100] "Free"
[110] "Lady Cab Driver"
[174] "U Got the Look"
[209] "Little Red Corvette"
[214] "It"
[236] "Housequake"
[246] "Hot Thing"
[274] "International Lover"
[278] "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker"
[303] "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night"
[430] "If I Was Your Girlfriend"
[542] "Adore"
[600] "Slow Love"

Wait... you keep a ranked list of every Prince song? I thought I was obsessive, but that's taking it to a new level. If you're like most people, don't your tastes change over time... and surely there are songs that are so close in your estimation that you constantly go back and forth on which should be above the other... which means this list would need to be constantly updated and recalculated... doesn't that drive you insane?

lurker316 said:

Moonbeam said:

1999 for sure.

If I combine both albums, here is how the songs rank (including ranking among my all-time favorite Prince songs):

[2] "Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)"
[3] "1999"
[9] "All the Critics Love U in New York"
[11] "The Cross"
[15] "Automatic"
[24] "Sign o' the Times"
[29] "Starfish and Coffee"
[32] "D.M.S.R."
[34] "Delirious"
[36] "Strange Relationship"
[62] "Forever in My Life"
[71] "Play in the Sunshine"
[72] "Let's Pretend We're Married"
[89] "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man"
[100] "Free"
[110] "Lady Cab Driver"
[174] "U Got the Look"
[209] "Little Red Corvette"
[214] "It"
[236] "Housequake"
[246] "Hot Thing"
[274] "International Lover"
[278] "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker"
[303] "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night"
[430] "If I Was Your Girlfriend"
[542] "Adore"
[600] "Slow Love"

Wait... you keep a ranked list of every Prince song? I thought I was obsessive, but that's taking it to a new level. If you're like most people, don't your tastes change over time... and surely there are songs that are so close in your estimation that you constantly go back and forth on which should be above the other... which means this list would need to be constantly updated and recalculated... doesn't that drive you insane?

Yeah, I just ranked them last month after SOTT deluxe had been released. My opinions definitely change over time, but I have written some software that helps me manage my lists and it takes into account changing opinions over time.

SoulAlive said:

RODSERLING said:

There are clunkers such as Automatic, Delirious and International Lover in 1999.
The only clunker in SOTT is Slow Love.
So SOTT wins over 1999.

there are NO clunkers on 1999.Every song on there is superb.

there are at least three songs on SOTT that I’m not crazy about.

No contest for me.

I mean, literally, there's no contest between these two.

They're both 5 star, balls-to-the-wall-fantastic records, masterpieces in their own right....

Each one is setting out to achieve very different things, and each achieves them.

Luckily I can listen to them both, in regular form, in 'total-immersion-Super-Deluxe' form....

Happy days.

RODSERLING said:

SoulAlive said:

RODSERLING said:

There are clunkers on 1999.

No,there aren’t.

"Critics" meanders, "Delirious" has annoying squeaky synth, and "Free"....

.

You're seriously including "Free" in your sweeping assessment there?... "Free"? The double-wrapped limburger of 80s Prince ballads?... srsly, "Free"?

[Edited 10/28/20 17:43pm]

I'm with SoulAlive. There are no clunkers on 1999. Every single other Prince album has at least one song worse than the "worst" song on 1999, IMO, and in most cases there are several. So if 1999 has clunkers[/i], every other Prince album has more.

SOTT is my all time favorite Prince album closely followed by 1999 as my second favorite album. Both are masterpieces. And That Says What?

WhisperingDandelions said: