Prince Sign 'O' The Times CD

Out-of-print in the US. 2 CD set. Warner. 1987.

Personnel: Prince (vocals, various instruments); Lisa Coleman (vocals, sitar, wooden flute, keyboards); Sheila E. (vocals, percussion); Susannah, Jill Jones, Sheena Eastson, Camille (vocals); Wendy Melvoin (guitar, percussion, background vocals); Mico Weaver (guitar); Eric Leeds (saxophone); Atlanta Bliss (trumpet); Greg Brooks, Wally Safford, Jerome Benton, Gilbert D., Coke J., Todd H., Susan R., Mike S., Brad M., The Penguin (background vocals).
Engineers: Susan Rogers, Coke Johnson, Prince.
Principally recorded at Paisley Park, Minneapolis, Minnesota and Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, California.
Composer: Prince.
Personnel: Prince (vocals, guitar, keyboards, drums, background vocals); Sheena Easton (vocals, background vocals); Camille (vocals); Wendy Melvoin (guitar, background vocals); Mico Weaver (guitar); Lisa Coleman (sitar, flute, background vocals); Eric Leeds (saxophone); Atlanta Bliss (trumpet); Sheila E. (drums, percussion); Jill Jones, Gregg Brooks, Susannah, Jerome Benton, Susanna Hoffs (background vocals).
Recording information: Dierks Studio Mobile Trucks; Paisley Park Studios, Minneapolis, MN; Paris, France [live]; Sunset Sound Studios, Los Angeles, CA.
Photographer: Jeff Katz.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Penguin; Revolution; Mike Scheidt.
Arranger: Prince.
Fearless, eclectic, and defiantly messy, Prince's Sign 'O' the Times falls into the tradition of tremendous, chaotic double albums like The Beatles, Exile on Main St., and London Calling -- albums that are fantastic because of their overreach, their great sprawl. Prince shows nearly all of his cards here, from bare-bones electro-funk and smooth soul to pseudo-psychedelic pop and crunching hard rock, touching on gospel, blues, and folk along the way. This was the first album Prince recorded without the Revolution since 1982's 1999 (the band does appear on the in-concert rave-up, "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night"), and he sounds liberated, diving into territory merely suggested on Around the World in a Day and Parade. While the music overflows with generous spirit, these are among the most cryptic, insular songs he's ever written. Many songs are left over from the aborted triple album Crystal Ball and the abandoned Camille project, a Prince alter ego personified by scarily sped-up tapes on "If I Was Your Girlfriend," the most disarming and bleak psycho-sexual song Prince ever wrote, as well as the equally chilling "Strange Relationship." These fraying relationships echo in the social chaos Prince writes about throughout the album. Apocalyptic imagery of drugs, bombs, empty sex, abandoned babies and mothers, and AIDS pop up again and again, yet he balances the despair with hope, whether it's God, love, or just having a good time. In its own roundabout way, Sign 'O' the Times is the sound of the late '80s -- it's the sound of the good times collapsing and how all that doubt and fear can be ignored if you just dance those problems away. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
After an adventurous run through fields of Beatlesque psychedelia, Prince seemed ready to get back to the task of creating the epic that both his audience and adoring critics had been demanding since PURPLE RAIN. Originally put together as a three-LP opus titled CRYSTAL BALL (but pared down pre-release by the picky artist), SIGN O' THE TIMES wasn't exactly the historic merger of rock and R&B that the world had been expecting. Instead, it played like an ultimate mix-tape of Prince-ly styles--from grinding, house music-inspired funk ("Housequake") to idiosyncratic pieces of irresistibly sweet pop fare ("Starfish And Coffee"). Yet, the man's singular outlook could constantly be identified; and as varied as the music got, that outlook worked as a uniting factor.
Abandoning the Revolution and returning to the one-man-band ethic made the overall sound of SIGN O' THE TIMES far more spare than recent efforts. Various members did make rRolling Stone - Ranked #74 in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Albums Of The Eighties" survey. (Nov. 89)
Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.118) - Ranked #93 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" - "...One of the great albums of the Eighties..."
Q (10/01, p.70) - Ranked #22 in Q's "Best 50 Albums of Q's Lifetime"
Q - 5 Stars - Indispensible
NME (Magazine) (9/25/93, p.18) - Ranked #4 among The 50 Greatest Albums Of The '80s - "...God's own pervdwarf at the peak of his prolific, unimpeachable creative powers..."
NME (Magazine) (10/2/93, p.29) - Ranked #16 in NME's list of the 'Greatest Albums Of All Time.'