Prince - Sign O the Times
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CD Details
Artist: PrinceBrand: PAISLEY PARK
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 1990-10-25
Music Label: Warner Bros / Wea
Product features:
- VERY GOOD COND CLEAN W/LINER NOTES
Music CD 1
- Sign 'O' The Times
- Play In The Sunshine
- Housequake
- Ballad Of Dorothy Parker
- It
- Starfish and Coffee
- Slow Love
- Hot Thing
- Forever In My Life
- U Got The Look
- If I Was Your Girlfriend
- Strange Relationship
- I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
- The Cross
- It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night
- Adore
Music reviews of Sign O the Times
Music Review: Prince Returns to a More Classic Minneapolis Sound
Rating: 4 Stars
Despite a very successful decade of music in both critical and commercial success, Prince was facing a crossroads in his career from a commercial standpoint. Following the enormous success of the landmark album and movie, "Purple Rain", Prince would have less successful results from a sales standpoint with the follow-ups of 1985's "Around the World in a Day" and 1986's "Parade. In fact, "Parade" served as the soundtrack from Prince's second movie "Under the Cherry Moon" - which would prove to be a critical as well as a commercial direction. Prince is the type of artist that always does things his own way, and despite some of these pitfalls Prince would press on. His 1987 double-album, "Sign 'O' the Times" would help re-establish Prince and the "Minneapolis Sound" again and continue his amazing success that had started earlier in the decade.
The "Minneapolis Sound" contained a mixture of Funk, Pop, R&B, and Rock. Prince was largely responsible for being a contributing architect to this sound movement. Following the success of "Purple Rain", the follow-up albums would go in a completely different direction. "Around the World in a Day" would abandon the Rock-infused style of "Purple Rain" in favor of a psychedelic sound. This sound might have disappointed some of the expanded fan base that Prince acquired during the success of "Purple Rain", but it would add a whole new element to both Prince's music and the "Minneapolis Sound". On "Parade", Prince would continue to explore the psychedelic element as well as focus around a Funk element. The one new element he would add on "Parade" was a "European influence". This would be because "Parade" served as a soundtrack for "Under the Cherry Moon" which would take place in France. With "Sign o' the Times", Prince would move away from the psychedelic and European sounds from his previous two albums. For the most part, "Sign 'O' the Times" marks a return to a more classic "Minneapolis Sound" with the exception of two songs which have more of a Rap influence - something new in the "Minneapolis Sound".
"Sign 'O' the Times" is also considered the first "solo" album in several years as it is not branded "Prince and the Revolution". This was around the time that Prince disbanded the Revolution, however many of the tracks are derived from a project he was working on with the Revolution - therefore many of the tracks still have various band members of the Revolution involved.
The two songs that demonstrate the "Rap" influence are "Housequake" and "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night". While I didn't care for the mix of Funk and Rap on "Housequake", I did like what Prince did with "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night". "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night" is probably one of the hidden gems of this collection. It has more of a "show performance" (reminding me of how Prince influenced Morris Day and the Time) feel to it. It contains terrific instrumentation as it features Sheila E., Jill Jones, Susannah Melvoin, and members fo the Revolution. In a lot of ways, despite the involvement of the Revolution, it sounds a lot like a blueprint for what Prince would do with his latter band - "The New Power Generation" during the 1990s.
"It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night" is a great example of how Prince tends to be at his best when he brings in co-vocalists (in this case Melvoin and Jones) - something that has been a staple of his career. "U Got the Look" is another terrific example of Prince in a duet. In this case, he brings Sheena Easton to share the lead vocals. "U Got the Look" also has a terrific mix of Rock and Funk.
"I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" has more of a pop-feel but it is one of the best tracks on this collection. It is the instrumental in the second-half of the song highlighted by Prince's guitar that really shines - it even features some bluesy sounds. Prince's bluesy guitar work also shines on "The Cross". "The Cross" is the album's strongest track and while it didn't get radio airplay, it has become a favorite. On this song, Prince once again tackles the subject of religion. In addition to the guitar work, it also features some military style drums that really adds to the way the song builds to a crescendo.
The "Minneapolis Sound" proves to be alive and well on tracks "Strange Relationship" and "Play in the Sunshine" - both demonstrating a strong R&B and Funk sound. Both songs are also two hidden gems in the Prince catalog of music. "Strange Relationship" features the use of the Sitar played by Revolution member Lisa Coleman. The lead vocal is credited to "Camille" - Prince' s alter-ego during the era. "Play in the Sunshine" has more of a faster tempo to it and a more of a pop-friendly sound to it.
Prince also demonstrates he can go to a more classic R&B sound. This is demonstrated on tracks "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker" and "Slow Love". These are not the album's strongest tracks, but not bad ones either.
The title track "Sign 'O' the Times" demonstrates that Prince can still write socio-political commentary (going back to his "Controversy" days). That is also a very good track. While this song uses a drum machine, it works effectively. I particularly like the instrumental at the end of this song - often eliminated on commercial radio.
The liner notes contain the lyrics and musician credits to the songs on this collection. It is also worth noting that Prince would release a concert-film with the same title that features many of the songs on this album live. Watching that concert-film will also help give an appreciation for this collection. While this album doesn't return Prince to the landmark status he established on "Purple Rain", he still delivers a very powerful collection of music. Overall, this is still highly recommended.
Description of Sign O the Times
Japanese SHM paper sleeve pressing. The SHM-CD [Super High Material CD] format features enhanced audio quality through the use of a special polycarbonate plastic. Using a process developed by JVC and Universal Music Japan discovered through the joint companies' research into LCD display manufacturing* SHM-CDs feature improved transparency on the data side of the disc* allowing for more accurate reading of CD data by the CD player laser head. SHM-CD format CDs are fully compatible with standard CD players. 2009.It begins with the insistent drip-drop of a sequencer and ends with some old school R&B. In between, the artist who was still calling himself Prince unfurls an encyclopedia of moods, genres, and grooves. Widely heralded as a groundbreaker in 1987, when it was released, some of the music in oh-so-'80s synths sounds a bit dated. Yet this two-CD set is clearly the sound of a performer at the height of his power. On songs like the title track, "If I Was Your Girlfriend," and the thunderous "The Cross," Prince proves why the hype was justified. --Amy Linden
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