Sign o' the Times

Certain Songs #1655: Prince – “Sign ‘O’ The Times”

October 13, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Sign ‘O’ The Times
Year: 1987

. . .

It is, of course, a sucker’s game to choose Prince’s best album: some folks like the new wave feel and the fucksongs of Dirty Mind, others the dance dance revolution of 1999 or the rock ‘n’ roll of Purple Rain. And hell, I prefer the psychedelic baroque soul of Parade and the gloss of The Gold Experience.

But then again, there’s Sign ‘O’ The Times, his 1987 double album, which may or may not be the best Prince album, but is absolutely the most Prince album, covering everything he did well: hard funk, swirling pop, glossy ballads, and even added gospel indie rock to his canon in the form of “The Cross.”

Certain Songs #521: Prince – “The Cross”

April 29, 2016 by Jim Connelly

Album: Sign o’ the Times
Year: 1987

I realize that nearly every one of the previous Prince songs I’ve written about were all huge iconic songs, so here’s a (relatively) deep cut for all y’all.

Coming out of nowhere to open side four of Sign o’ the Times, “The Cross” is probably my favorite Prince song, despite (or because!) The fact that it’s one of his most overtly religious from the get-go, as over a whisper-quiet acoustic guitar, Prince sings:

Certain Songs #520: Prince – “I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man”

April 28, 2016 by Jim Connelly

Album: Sign o’ the Times
Year: 1987

While 1999 broke him into the mainstream and Purple Rain was his biggest record, if there is a consensus “Greatest Prince Album,” it’s 1987’s Sign o’ The Times.

Not only did it feature aspects of everything that he’d done before, it added some new wrinkles to boot. It also spawned three massive singles and was also rapturously received by the critics. And nearly 30 years later, it sounds as much of a tour de force as ever.