Prince - Sign 'O' the Times. A Review

The year: 1987. The album: Sign 'o' the Times. The artist: Prince. Long before he got a bit sidetracked and made the media for changing his name to TAFKAP, The Symbol or simply The Artist, Prince got fame and praise for what he does best, making music. After the commercial success of Purple Rain and Parade, he released Sign 'o' the Times, a double album that became his masterpiece and arguably one of the best albums of the eighties.

Prince had already shown his musical genius and flirted with funk, soul, jazz and many other styles, but on this album explored his musical preferences even more. From the steaming funk of the title-track to the jazzy Adore, the whole album is a 16 song journey that never ceases to amaze, inspire or simply makes you want to move.

One of the highlights of the album is 'If I was Your Girlfriend', a very high pitched song with the unforgettable line 'If I was your girlfriend, would you run to me if somebody hit you, even if that somebody was me''. If lyrics would be a painting, this one would definitely be a Dali. Sex, religion and relationships have always been big issues in Prince's works (they even inspired Tipper Gore to come up with the 'Explicit Lyrics' sticker on Cd's) and this album is not different. Besides the fast-paced songs, there is also room for some of his better ballads, 'Forever In My Life' and 'The Ballad of Dorothy Parker'. Sheena Easton gets a chance to shine in 'U Got The Look', a steaming duet about male-female relationships.

Although being very funky, the title-track shows Prince's concern with the state of the world. Drugs, natural disasters, apparently we weren't doing that well even back then. Luckily there's still hope, and for some spiritual help, there's always 'The Cross'. It's not all that bad, and the negativity makes place for some delightful childish naivety in the incredibly addictive 'Starfish and coffee', or the 'get your feet moving' poppy 'Play in the sunshine'. The album also contains a live track, the brass section laden 'Gonna be a beautiful night'. Prince never tried to hide his love for the ladies and makes his intentions very clear in 'It' and 'Hot Thing', 2 songs that definitely deserve the aforementioned 'Explicit Lyrics' sticker and are the perfect soundtrack for some late night bedroom activities.

When listening to the album now, it is incredibly how it stood the test of time. We're almost 25 years after release and a lot of the songs still sound modern, both musically as lyrical. Whether you're a Prince fan or not, it's pretty hard not to recognize his talent while going through this album, which will undoubtedly still get recognition by many generations to come.

http://www.amazon.com/Sign-O-Times-Prince/dp/B000002LBM
http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1100142/a/Sign+O'+The+Times.htm
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/Sign-O-the-Times/Prince/e/075992557726
http://www.rhapsody.com/prince/sign-o-the-times
http://www.last.fm/music/Prince/Sign+O'+The+Times