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Sign O' The Times
This is the album Prince's hard-core listeners bring up in an argument if their hero is ever threatened. Some feel this is musically the best album he ever put together and it may be. Prince's arrangements consisted of jams that could not be topped by anyone at the time. Instead of going on forever, they caught the listeners attention and left them hanging for more after the closing chord.

Sign O' The Times' two disks were loosely broken down between material that sounded different than what was common at the time and commercial songs. The first disk, was a breakthrough. Prince's songwriting had reached a climax and the material was so great that it was as though he had some type of divine intervention. Tracks such as "The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker" are what Prince will someday be remembered for in the history books. The more commercial disk is immediately catchy with strong hooks. There were several songs that are better known today than they were when they were singles, such as "If I Was Your Girlfriend," "U Got The Look" and the "quiet storm" staple "Adore." It is a wonder that the album did not sell better than it did.

Sign O' The Times was originally planned to be released with three albums and titled Crystal Ball, which is not to be confused with his later released three album package of previously bootlegged material. Warner Brothers, however, was not too excited about this idea. Prince went back to the studio to cut a few new songs, including the title track, and released it as a paired down two album set. Most of the originally planned third disk and outtakes have surfaced officially now. That is a tribute to the quality of the material Prince was writing at the time.

Track Listing

DISK I
  1. Sign O' The Times
  2. Play In The Sunshine
  3. Housequake
  4. The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker
  5. It
  6. Starfish And Coffee
  7. Slow Love
  8. Hot Thing
  9. Forever In My Life
DISK II
  1. U Got The Look
  2. If I Was Your Girlfriend
  3. Strange Relationship
  4. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
  5. The Cross
  6. It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night
  7. Adore

General Data

United States
Release Date March 30, 1987
Cat. Number 25577
Peak Position 6
Status Platinum
Singles Sign O' The Times/ If I Was Your Girlfriend/ U Got the Look/ I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man

Europe
Release Date ?
Cat. Number CD 925 577/ Vinyl WX 88
Peak Position ?
Status ?
Singles Sign O' The Times/ If I Was Your Girlfriend/ U Got The Look/ I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man

Japan
Release Date April 25, 1987
Cat. Number CD: 36P2-2615-2616/ Vinyl: P-6257-8
Peak Position ?
Status ?
Singles Sign O' The Times/ If I Was Your Girlfriend/ U Got The Look/ I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man

Additional Information

Time: 79 Minutes
Musicians:

  • Prince (vocals, various instruments).
  • The Revolution: Lisa Coleman (keyboards, flute, vocals), Matt Fink (keyboards, synthesizers, vocals), Brown Mark (bass, vocals), Wendy Melvoin (guitar, violin, percussion, vocals) and Bobby Z. (percussion).
  • Additional Performers: Jerome Benton (vocals), Atlanta Bliss (trumpet), Greg Brooks (vocals), Gilbert Davidson (vocals), Sheila E. (drums, percussion), Claire Fischer (string arrangement), Todd H. (vocals), Coke Johnson (vocals), Jill Jones (vocals), Eric Leeds (saxophone), Brad M. (vocals), The Penguin (vocals), Mike S. (vocals), Wally Safford (vocals), Susanna (vocals) and Mico Weaver (guitar).
  • Guests: Sheena Easton (vocals).
    Produced By: Prince.
    Engineered By: Coke Johnson, Prince and Susan Rogers.
    Recorded At: Paisley Park, Chanhassen and Sunset Sound and Live, August 25, 1986 at Le Zenith, Paris by Dierks Studio Mobile Trucks.