Sign “O” the Times (album)
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| Sign 'O' the Times | ||
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| Double album by Prince | ||
| Released | March 30, 1987 | |
| Recorded | Home studio, Minneapolis and Sunset Sound, 1982–1986 | |
| Genre | Pop, Rock, Funk, Soul | |
| Length | 80:06 | |
| Label | Paisley Park | |
| Producer(s) | Prince | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Prince chronology | ||
| Parade (1986) |
Sign 'O' the Times (1987) |
Lovesexy (1988) |
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Sign 'O' the Times is Prince's 1987 follow-up to Parade and his first "solo" album since splitting with The Revolution; the symbol between the quotes is a peace sign. The double album was a synthesis of three projects from 1986, including some work with The Revolution. The bulk of the tracks originate from the final Revolution project known as Dream Factory and a later solo project called Camille. These projects, along with some other songs merged into a 22-track, 3-LP opus called Crystal Ball. Prince's record company, Warner Bros. Records, balked at the idea of a 3-LP album considering the lukewarm performance of Parade and Under the Cherry Moon and forced Prince to trim the album down. The result was Sign 'O' the Times, which quickly became widely regarded as Prince's crowning achievement amongst fans and critics alike. It was ranked 8 in Spin's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005" In 2003, the album was ranked number 93 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Two of the album's songs were first recorded back in 1982: "Strange Relationship" and "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man". Prince did additional work on both for their placement on the Dream Factory project and involved Wendy and Lisa on the former. When the project was cancelled, "Strange Relationship" was further updated for Camille. The remaining tracks were recorded between March and December, 1986. The surviving Camille tracks feature a playful speeded vocal. "U Got the Look" was also recorded in this manner, though it was not intended for the Camille album.
The double album is Prince's most diverse album to date, featuring a wide array of musical styles — rock, pop, soul and funk. Much of the songwriting is of high quality: indeed the album yielded 3 top-ten hits, the most from a Prince album since Purple Rain. The subjects range of the depressing state of the world in the title track, party funk in "Housequake", sexual lust in "It" and spiritual enlightenment in "The Cross". It also showcases Prince's first live song released on an album: "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night" (though it was heavily overdubbed in the studio). Though selling modestly, somewhat akin to Parade, Sign 'O' the Times was almost universally applauded by critics (Rolling Stone gave the album 5 out of 5 stars and it made its list of the ten best albums of 1987 in its end of the year issue.) and has since been overwhelmingly considered Prince's finest album and a standard of comparison for all of his albums to follow.
Contents |
[edit] Charts
| Chart (1987) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 6 |
| U.S. Billboard R&B Albums | 4 |
| UK Albums Chart | 4 |
[edit] Album credits
- "Starfish and Coffee" (lyrics co-written by Susannah Melvoin)
- "Slow Love" (lyrics co-written by Carol Davis)
- "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night": (music co-written by Doctor Fink and Eric Leeds)
- All remaining music and lyrics written by Prince
- Susannah Melvoin: Backing vocals on "Sign 'O' the Times" & "Starfish and Coffee"
- Eric Leeds: All saxophone
- Atlanta Bliss: All trumpet
- Sheena Easton: Co-lead vocals on "U Got the Look"
- Sheila E.: Drums and percussion on "U Got the Look", performs a rap and drums on "It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night"
- Clare Fischer: Strings arranged on "Slow Love"
- Wendy Melvoin: Guitar and backing vocals on "Slow Love"; tamborine & congas on "Strange Relationship"
- Lisa Coleman: Backing vocals on "Slow Love"; sitar & wooden flute on "Strange Relationship"
- Party voices on "Housequake": Gilbert Davison, Todd Hermann, Coke Johnson, Brad Marsh, Mike Soltys, Susan Rogers "and the Penguin"
- "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night": Recorded live in Paris by Prince and the Revolution; co-lead vocals by Susannah Melvoin and Jill Jones; percussion and "Transmississippirap" by Sheila E; lead guitar by Miko Weaver; backing vocals by Greg Brooks, Wally Safford, Jerome Benton "& 6000 wonderful Parisians"
- All other instruments and voices: Prince
[edit] Track listing
[edit] Disc one
- "Sign 'O' the Times" – 5:02
- "Play in the Sunshine" – 5:05
- "Housequake" – 4:38
- "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker" – 4:04
- "It" – 5:10
- "Starfish And Coffee" – 2:51
- "Slow Love" – 4:18
- "Hot Thing" – 5:39
- "Forever in My Life" – 3:38
[edit] Disc two
- "U Got the Look" – 3:58
- "If I Was Your Girlfriend" – 4:54
- "Strange Relationship" – 4:04
- "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" – 6:31
- "The Cross" – 4:46
- "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night" – 8:59
- "Adore" – 6:29
[edit] Singles and Hot 100 chart placings
- "Sign 'O' the Times" (#3 U.S., #1 R&B, #8 UK)
- "Sign 'O' the Times"
- "La, La, La, He, He, Hee"
- "If I Was Your Girlfriend" (#67 U.S., #12 R&B, #13 UK)
- "If I Was Your Girlfriend"
- "Shockadelica"
- "U Got the Look" (#2 U.S., #11 R&B, #11 UK)
- "U Got the Look"
- "Housequake"
- "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" (#10 U.S., #14 R&B, #29 UK)
- "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man"
- "Hot Thing" (#63 US, #14 R&B)
[edit] External links
- Sign 'O' the Times lyrics
