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Sign 'O' the Times
 
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Sign 'O' the Times [CD]

Prince | Format: Audio CD
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
Price: £5.90 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
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Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this with Purple Rain ~ Prince Audio CD £5.11

Sign 'O' the Times + Purple Rain
Price For Both: £11.01

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  • This item: Sign 'O' the Times ~ Prince Audio CD

    In stock but may require up to 2 additional days to deliver.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

  • Purple Rain ~ Prince Audio CD

    In stock but may require up to 2 additional days to deliver.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

Product details

  • Audio CD (30 Mar 1987)
  • Number of Discs: 2
  • Format: CD
  • Label: Warner
  • ASIN: B000002LBM
  • Other Editions: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,725 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

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Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s

Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Samples
Song Title Time Price
Listen  1. Sign 'O' The Times [Explicit] 4:56£0.89
Listen  2. Play In The Sunshine [Explicit] 5:05£0.69
Listen  3. Housequake [Explicit] 4:42£0.69
Listen  4. The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker [Explicit] 3:55£0.69
Listen  5. It [Explicit] 5:09£0.69
Listen  6. Starfish And Coffee [Explicit] 2:50£0.69
Listen  7. Slow Love [Explicit] 4:22£0.69
Listen  8. Hot Thing [Explicit] 5:40£0.89
Listen  9. Forever In My Life [Explicit] 3:30£0.69
Listen10. U Got The Look [Explicit] 3:47£0.89
Listen11. If I Was Your Girlfriend [Explicit] 5:01£0.69
Listen12. Strange Relationship [Explicit] 4:01£0.69
Listen13. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man [Explicit] 3:40£0.89
Listen14. The Cross [Explicit] 4:45£0.69
Listen15. It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night [Explicit] 9:01£0.69
Listen16. Adore [Explicit] 6:31£0.69

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

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 encyclopaedia 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 double- length 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

Product Description

CLASSIC DOUBLE ALBUM
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Sign O The Times 13 Mar 2006
Format:Audio CD
Sign O' The Times is often praised for being Prince's most eclectic album but this is not strictly the case. In fact, if there is one consistent trait in Prince's work it is his eclecticism. What makes Sign O' The Times so great is that unlike much of his output, there is some genuine emotional expression on some of the tracks. Unlike most other song writers, Prince rarely gives anything away or allows himself to appear truly vulnerable. As a result,despite some outstanding musicianship and truly inventive composing, much of his back catalog fails to resonate on a deeper level. Sign O' The Times actually finds Prince writing about his relationships and his own place in the world and is truly richer for it.

When writing songs for this album, Prince was going through both good and bad times with Susannah Melvoin, a woman with whom he appeared to be truly in love. This relationship directly influenced two of the album's strongest, songs; "Forever In My Life" and "If I was Your Girlfriend." "Forever In My Life" finds Prince coming to terms with the idea of settling down and sharing his life with Susannah. "If I was Your Girlfriend" finds Prince admitting to feeling jealous of the close relationship Susannah shared with her sister. Lyrically "Girlfriend" is probably Prince's crowning acheivement.

The title track is a wonderfully simple and understated funk/rock number in which Prince addresses topical issues such as drugs, AIDS and the "Star Wars" program. In "The Cross" he continues to reflect upon the state of the world and shares his beleif that there is light at the end of the tunnel if one can "bear the cross." Other highlights include the dancefloor classic, "Housequake," the bluesy "Strange Relationship" and the poptastic "I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man" - which features one of the man's most outstanding guitar solo's.

It has been said many times that Sign O' The Times would have made a fantastic single album but those that take the time to truly listen will discover a truly fantastic double album. Every track has a unique charm and even the less obvious ones are growers. To take anything away would be a mistake and by today's standards it's really not that long an album (16 tracks in all). My advice is ignore the naysayers, forget the quantity and enjoy the depth.

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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
As 1987 approached, Prince, the singer/songwriter/producer/musician who had hit the big-time with 'Purple Rain' in 1984, was entering a period of unrivalled creativity in the history of music. After disbanding his band The Revolution, he recorded an entire triple album entitled 'Crystal Ball', among other projects, but his record company refused to release it.

So he went back into the studio and recorded this, including the title-track which was written and recorded in one day. As a double-album, it may not have met with the commercial success of some of his previous or subsequent albums, but it received the sort of critical praise that is reserved for only the truly great pieces of modern musical work.

He leaps from genre to genre with ease, from the prototype rap of 'Housequake' to the classic ballad 'Slow Love' and the sumptuous, gender-bending 'If I Was You Girlfriend' or the classic rock of 'The Cross' - whatever you want, it's here.

Some of the music may sound a tad dated, but the quality shines through from beginning to end. If you were looking for proof of this man's musical genius, look no further - if God made music, this is what he would make.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Seminal album from the Minneapolis maestro; the title track's sparse funk and the plaintive soul of 'If I was your girlfriend' form a counterpoint to the more raucous 'U Got the Look' and 'Starfish and Coffee'. This CD sees Prince at the height of his powers and apart from the spirited 'Lovesexy' he would never produce something so consistently different and consistently impressive again. If you only own one Prince/Symbol/Artist Formerly Known as album, make it this one.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
MOZART WITH DA FUNK
Man Prince the dude is a GOD.From 80 to 91 this guy was simply a genius.Yeah the guy is a tad eccentric but to put it bluntly if you're this talented,making music this... Read more
Published 6 months ago by mister joe
I Wouldn't Change A Thing
If I could only have one album for the rest of my life it would be Sign O The Times.

When i first bought and listened to this album in 1987 I wasn't sure, but with every... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Jimmy Starr
Sign O The Times
He was influenced by a wide variety of musical artists from Joni Mitchell to James Brown. He was a brilliant musician and he churned out music which had a unique magic to it. Read more
Published 10 months ago by A. Martin
Fantastic but don't download from Amazon Store!
Well there's not a lot to be said about this albm that hasn't been said already. Well apart from don't download it from the Amazon Store as they've swapped the album version of I... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Banjo
Sprawling wonder
If you only buy one Prince album, get this one. Prince was really on form when he put this together. Read more
Published on 16 Mar 2010 by Dave Gilmour's cat
Didn't really do anything for me
I'm not a Prince fan. I have a 2CD Best Of with an additional disc of B-Sides. Which is way more than I have any use for. A single CD Best Of is all I really need from Prince. Read more
Published on 29 April 2009 by BS on parade
Massively overrated!
I have always been a fan of Prince but had yet to catch up with this album. I decided to take the plunge and boy was it a disappointment - this album is massively overrated! Read more
Published on 4 April 2009 by Kamakiriad
Wildly inconsistent, so classic Prince
"Classic" is the word most often used to describe this album. Granted, it is one of the five Prince albums you really should own or at least hear, but it is also a massively... Read more
Published on 24 Feb 2009 by Peter Lee
A work of a genius
This is one of my favourites in all categories. I don't see myself as a fan Prince's music and I actually don't own any of his other recordings, but this one is really special. Read more
Published on 5 Jan 2009 by muxamed
5 star quality!
Disc 1:
1. Sign "O" the Times. 10/10
2. Play In the Sunshine. 9/10
3. Housequake. 10/10
4. The Ballad of Dorothy Parker. 8/10
5. It. 10/10
6. Read more
Published on 5 July 2008 by Ronnie
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