What does it sound like?:
If you are capable of doing anything, why not do everything at once? Sign “☮︎” the Times is Prince’s definitive statement, a double album displaying the full spectrum of his gifts, delving into all aspects of his bizarre imagination and stunningly performed almost entirely by himself. It is a musical embodiment of Prince’s flibbertigibbet personality and may well be the peak of his career.
In 1986/7, you’d think he had nothing to prove. Purple Rain had been an enormous global success, establishing him as a bone fide film star who could also effortlessly fill stadiums. He was a superstar, charisma oozing from his pores, living life exactly as he pleased, mostly writing, performing and recording his own songs. However, the movie Under The Cherry Moon had been a critically panned flop and he’d broken up his band, The Revolution. Some had been with him since the seventies, but they had become unwieldy and unruly with the addition of members of The Time and three so-called Bodyguards. Still, his restless creativity threatened to overwhelm him. A full band double album, Dream Factory, a pseudonymous alter ego project, Camille, and a proposed triple album, Crystal Ball, all reached their final stages. There was also the homage to the jazz fusion Miles Davis of the seventies, Madhouse. However, he couldn’t easily satisfy Larry Waronaker at Warner Brothers, who, with a watchful eye on potential profit, rejected those outlandish ideas. After the dizzy heights of Purple Rain, Around The World In A Day and Parade had diminished returns. Prince needed a product that could sit comfortably at the top of the charts.
Sign “☮︎” the Times is an eclectic smorgasbord of surprises, constantly confounding the listener, never settling. Some songs twist and turn two or three times in the space of a few minutes. The opening crunch of guitar and snap of snare drum of the title track reveals a Prince we haven’t met before, one mired in the gritty reality of drugs and AIDS. But, immediately, we slip through the looking glass into a world of frivolity and unbridled joy in Play In The Sunshine, a track that incorporates schoolyard noises, rockabilly, and guitar heroics, then accelerates into raucous jazz fusion. Housequake is no ordinary floor filler, as the doubled up bass and drum lines are so syncopated, its groove shifts the ground beneath the feet. The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker, “dishwater blond, tall and fine”, could well be a weird update of Norwegian Wood with its will she/won’t she tease and the crucial involvement of a bath. Side Two is reminiscent of The White Album. The song It is a prolonged extrapolation of Why Don’t We Do It In The Road and a reminder that Prince thinks of little else but sex. Starfish & Coffee contains the kind of nursery rhyme chorus The Beatles composed in their sleep and some backward guitar for good measure. In Slow Love, Prince performs a nostalgic fifties torch ballad in full croon, much as McCartney used to revisit Music Hall. Hot Thing is the equivalent of Helter Skelter, except that Prince’s default position is Funk, the subject matter off the top of his head is a sexy young woman and it’s horns that run wild rather than guitars. Forever In My Life is devotedly romantic, sitting quietly and unassuming at the end of a side just as Harrison’s Long, Long, Long does. Side Three is where Sign “☮︎” the Times gets properly carnal, but, unlike five years previously on 1999, he seems much more respectful of the women he desires, genuinely curious and interested in what makes them tick. U Got The Look is full-on horny toad, though, with the previously demure Sheena Easton. Over an intense, throbbing rhythm, they sound equally enthusiastic about “body slamming”. It’s no surprise to learn that Prince thinks girlfriends routinely wash each other’s hair, undress and kiss each other “down there, where it counts” but the real mindboggle in If I Was Your Girlfriend is trying “to imagine what silence looks like”. Strange Relationship seems tame in comparison, bouncing along on P-Funk squelches, its perversions implied rather than openly declared. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man is positively sensible and grown up, Prince turning down an opportunity to take advantage of a vulnerable woman by playing two very different guitar solos over a swinging rock beat, one energetic and excited and the second subdued and bluesy, as though regretting his decision at the end of the evening. Side Four is generally where a double album frays at the edges but Prince starts strongly with The Cross, a devotional response to the title track that explodes into a huge stadium anthem at halfway. Initially, It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night seems out of place, a live crowd-pleaser performed by The Revolution in Paris, Prince in a minor role. However, given the material in his back pocket, it must be a deliberate fond farewell to Bobby Z, Wendy & Lisa and co. The final track, Adore, a rapturous soul ballad, represents Prince’s holy grail, the point at which sex and love transcend into a perfection so beautiful that angels cry.
The keepers of The Vault have a formula. The original album is remastered, the B sides, single edits and extended versions have a disc to themselves, previously unreleased material recorded contemporaneously is polished and sees the light of day, plus there is a live concert of the tour, a DVD and a lush booklet. Bernie Grundman does an outstanding job on the remastering. Of all the Prince albums, the mix of Sign “☮︎” the Times is the most muddy. Now, the clarity is astonishing, particularly on the most complex backing tracks, such as Play In The Sunshine or Starfish And Coffee. Connoisseurs of a Prince vocal ejaculation, his squeals, yelps, gasps and moans, can finally enjoy them in their full glory. It’s like listening to a remix not just a remaster. The B sides and extended versions associated with Sign “☮︎” the Times are amongst Prince’s very best. How Shockadelica failed to make the cut is anyone’s guess. The Long Look version of U Got The Look is even more raunchy and breathless and the seven minute MoQuake of Housequake is guaranteed to put your dancefloor under strain.
There are a grand total of forty-five previously unreleased tracks across three CDs/ six LPs, presented in chronological order. Bear in mind that these are the leftovers having creamed off the best eighteen for the parent album and its B sides and a further fifteen released later during Prince’s lifetime. To begin with, the band capture the innocent sound of a childhood, full of jangly, psychedelic pop with lots of Wendy and Lisa, as if Prince hadn’t quite worked Around The World In A Day out of his system. An early Strange Relationship features a sitar, The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker a full horn section, Nevaeh Ni Ecalp a backward vocal and Teacher Teacher a harpsichord. Love + Sex borrows the riff from Moonage Daydream. Songs like It’s A Wonderful Day, Big Tall Wall and In A Large Room With No Light are whimsical and weightless. Miles Davis paid a visit to the studio, making a tasteful rather than earth-shattering contribution to Can I Play With U?, introducing a number of forays into Jazz Funk, The Revolution sounding remarkably like the future New Power Generation of the nineties. The phat bass version of Witness 4 The Prosecution and That Says What could be outtakes from 1992’s The Love Symbol Album. There are some fascinating, brief musical doodles, a lovely piano only Visions, a solo guitar Colors and two attempts of Place In Heaven with different singers. Prince’s instruction to the band prior to a run through of Power Fantastic (“There are no mistakes this time. This is the fun track”) is delivered in a hushed passive-aggressive tone, eerily reminiscent of Michael Jackson. There’s a tribute to Where’s Wally, a reggae number, an unexpected foray into evangelism, Blanche and Stanley dance to an insatiably funky guitar and the Old Testament meets Greek Mythology in an all-night tryst, represented by Adonis And Bathsheba. The Camille project brought an edge and a much-needed freakiness. Prince had experimented with a pitched-up female voice as far back as Erotic City in 1984. Camille allowed his imagination to run riot, even into the darkest corners of his soul. She’s funky, she’s squelchy, she’s tight and she’s pretty much Prince alone. Rebirth Of The Flesh is here along side a 7″ version of Crystal Ball, but there are a few tracks, such as Jealous Girl, wherein a vengeful Camille cuts her love rival’s face, that were probably better off left in the can. By December 1986, Crystal Ball was taking shape by scattering Camille and Dream Factory tracks amongst newer, meatier numbers like The Cross or I Need A Man. It was a short step thereafter to the final album.
The live concert is from Ultracht, June 1987. Prince appropriated most of Sheila E’s band to join the rump of The Revolution. The sound is light on synthesisers and heavy on guitar and drums, rocking up many of the dancier numbers. It’s an exciting show but, then, it was an exciting European tour. The tickets implored attendees to wear peach and most complied. If I Was Your Girlfriend is especially gripping, losing its wide-eyed inquisitiveness to become a dystopian Freudian nightmare. The real joy is an extended encore, Forever In My Life, transformed into a soulful gospel-fest by outstanding vocals from Boni Boyer. Prince always employed top-class female vocalists but was careful to make sure any male backing could not compete. Alongside the early vocal take in the Vault section, Forever In My Life is the show-case song of the box. The DVD is not the film of Sign “☮︎” the Times released to movie theatres in October but a benefit show at Paisley Park recorded on 31st December 1987, the main draw being an onstage appearance by Miles Davis.
This is a huge limited edition eight CD + DVD or thirteen LP + DVD box that could have been bigger. An extra CD or 2 LPs could have housed those tracks recorded around this time but released later. However, Sign “☮︎” the Times is an album that can carry such a large product. Every disc is full of gems, including the concert recording. Each listen unearths another of Prince’s little secrets. The box also demonstrates Prince’s good judgement. He was quite right, The Revolution was beginning to feel tired. When pushed by his record company, he edited the seventy songs he had available into the finest double album he could. He made all the best choices. Even sandwiching the live thrill of It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night between the rapture of The Cross and the ecstasy of Adore makes perfect sense. His record company was right too. Now that we can all reconstruct those three albums ourselves, we discover that Dream Factory is overhyped by Wendy & Lisa, the Camille LP jaw-dropping but unlikely to have sold well and Crystal Ball simply too long and erratic. Sign “☮︎” the Times trumps them all.
Sign “☮︎” the Times teems with life, displaying one man’s dazzling array of talents as a composer, musician, arranger and singer to a breathtaking degree. It allowed Prince to stride across the Rock landscape as a colossus. Critics spoke of it in awe, likening it to Exile On Main Street, The White Album and Blonde On Blonde. In truth, only Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland can compare. This box is a physical product par excellence, a thing of beauty, the mother lode for Prince fans. The top end of the range is where the investment will reap dividends both in listening pleasure and in financial value over time. The smart money will be on the peach vinyl double LP. The casual observer will be more than content with the remastered two disc edition of one of Rock’s greatest albums.
What does it all *mean*?
The keepers of Prince’s vault have delivered his finest box set yet. It’s unlikely they will ever better it.
Goes well with…
A nice sturdy shelf to display it on.
Release Date:
25/09/2020
Might suit people who like…
Prince Rogers Nelson.
Tiggerlion says
I Need A Man
Black Celebration says
IIRC Sheena and Prince didn’t indulge in “body slamming”.
Prince considered her body to be “heck-a-slammin’ ” – and (if love is good) they should “get 2 rammin'”.
Such a tender love song.
Tiggerlion says
I stand corrected. Your body’s heck-a-slammin’ it is.
Black Celebration says
I have just realised how rude I was just to wade in with that – it was a great review! I love the album and your review means I’m going to invest.
Tiggerlion says
No worries. I’m grateful for any response and your comment demonstrates an impressive depth of knowledge. Plus your usual wit. ‘A tender love song’ made me laugh.
😃
Black Celebration says
👍
Junior Wells says
*Caresses credit card and contemplates*
Far too much to ever listen to a lot but geez Louise there’s some tasty offerings in there including the live show.
I agree SOTT did sound muddy and like Goats Head will have benefitted greatly from as makeover done well.
@Tiggerlion what is the budget offering?
My top 3 tracks from the original release:
The Cross
I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
SOTT
Paul Wad says
Thanks for that @tiggerlion
Really looking forward to my copy arriving, although I’ll probably have to wait a few more days, cos ai ordered it from Amazon Italy. But worth waiting, as it cost £91 delivered, rather than the £150 Amazon UK are charging. They usually fulfil European orders from Fife like the UK ones, so it might turn up tomorrow. As it was such a bargain, it survived the cull of pre-orders I’d placed once I realised how poor I am post-separation (I was particularly looking forward to the Tom Petty – Wildflowers one, but the original CD sounds great and that’s where the best songs will be). There’ll be next to no CD buying for the next 6 years or so, or anything buying for that matter. Unless my solicitor does something to justify the money they’ve taken off me, that is!
It sounds like you had the physical product in your hands, so if it was the CD version how is the sound? The CD version I have is probably the worst sounding CD I own. It sounds like it was taped off the radio, the radio being at the bottom of a bucket of sand at the time.
Black Type says
I ordered from Amazon.it too, Paul…have you had any email updates on shipping yet? A guy on the SDE website said he’d got notification this morning that it’s on its way. I haven’t yet…getting ever-so-slightly twitchy.
And in much more important perspective, really sorry to hear about your separation – sad times.
Paul Wad says
The way she’s been behaving since she moved out I’m getting less sad by the day. I’m hoping that one of her friends, at some point, will ask her to take a look at herself. I’m just concentrating on doing my best for the kids.
I haven’t heard anything from Amazon It as yet, but this is how it’s happened in the past when I’ve order from Amazon in France and Germany. You hear nothing for a few days and then it suddenly turns up…from Fife!
Paul Wad says
@black-type – checked Amazon Italy’s website and they say I can expect to receive it by 6 October, so I guess you will be similar.
Black Type says
Yeah, mine says between the 1st and 5th and the payment is ‘pending’ in my bank account, so it looks like it’s really happening!
Paul Wad says
Ah, just had an email. It’s coming on Tuesday!!!
As long as they do better than Amazon UK did today. I spent my birthday money on a Charlie Parker boxed set, and had been looking forward to it coming all day. I got an email to say it had been delivered and went to the door to see a big A4 size envelope sticking out of the letter box, as flat as a pancake. It felt like there was nothing in it, and with good reason. They’d sent me an empty sodding envelope! It hadn’t split or been tampered with or anything. I got on to the live chat thingy on their website and they arranged to send another one out before I even got as far as speaking to an agent. They’re very trusting, but I guess they make enough money to be. So hopefully I can have a Prince and Bird Tuesday.
fentonsteve says
A couple of years ago I ordered a CD box set that never arrived. The delivery card said “by meter”. The gas and electric meters are inside plastic cabinets mounted on an outside wall of the house, low down behind a very prickly holly bush. I crawled around there twice, got ripped to shreds, but could find no sign of any package.
They sent a replacement.
Months later I got an email from the leccy board asking me to read the meter for a more accurate bill. I had to dig through boxes in the shed to find one of those funny keys to open the meter cabinet. The CDs were inside the locked meter box.
retropath2 says
Amazon frequently cock up. The wife hates real shopping so much that she would probably buy postage stamps on amazon, and you probably can. When they send a wrong item they seem never to want it back. No doubt they write it off against tax. (Ha!)
Black Type says
No email for me yet…#backtotwitchy.
I’ve been reading some real Amazon delivery horror stories on the SDE site. The SOTT set is packaged at source in a cool box with the album’s peace sign logo on, but some people have reported that Amazon in their wisdom have removed that and placed it in a normal Amazon box, and many have arrived damaged/dinted in some way. Let’s hope the Italians have a bit more sense.
Black Type says
Stop the press! Shipped today, arriving Wednesday.
Paul Wad says
Mine arrived this morning! I wasn’t expecting it to be so big, or to come in a custom cardboard box, like the great big expensive books come in. Gonna have to find room to store that now!
Made a right mess of getting the big stickers from the front off the cellophane so I could stick them on a blank page inside the much better than expected book. Ended up tearing them and having to chuck them. You’ll see why that’s a shame when you get yours. I thought it might be tricky, but I had tried cutting around them and had trouble cutting the cellophane with my scissors. Never mind.
Haven’t listened to the CDs yet (I’m watching the DVD), but I will be a tad nervous as I do, because every single disc is coming out scratched. I am being really careful getting them out too, so I suspect they got scratched going in. That’s the big problem when the discs are stored in cardboard slots inside the large book. My Marantz CD player can be very sensitive with marked discs and I have loads that haven’t played properly, whereas they play perfectly on my sons cheap portable. One of them is a very expensive and hard to find disc too (Mickey Mouse Operation by Little People), which is ruddy annoying. I can really do without having to negotiate a return on the Italian Amazon website!
Edit: I have just been really, REALLY, careful getting a disc out and it isn’t marked, so it may well be getting marked on the way out, rather than the way in. So my advice is to take extra care getting them out to avoid them rubbing against the back of the slot as you do. I’m going to store them outside the book, cos there’s the potential for them to get damaged further every time you play them.
DVD’s excellent though, so I’m hoping the sound of the CDs will make up for years of listening to the horrible sounding original ones.
Black Type says
Thanks for the heads-up, Paul. The CD thing is also a common complaint on the SDE page. I also plan to store them separately. I don’t suppose there’s any space between the book and the box to slide a pocket refill in?
Tiggerlion says
If you want my advice, turn the box edge side up, slide a sharp knife (gently) between three sides of the gap between the inner box and the outer cover, thus you can keep the cellophane pretty much intact and still slide the book and discs out. Avoids trying to peel the outer stickers off.
Paul Wad says
Yes, wish I’d done that, but I thought it would be easy to cut round them on the cellophane. I did quite well with the heart, peeling it off, but just past halfway and it separated underneath. Tried from different angles until finally conceding defeat. Back in the pre CD days I always left the cellophane on my albums, so I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me. Actually, I do, I’m a pillock. Discs sound good though, and that’s what I bought it for!
Tiggerlion says
How exciting! I’ve never watched an unboxing on youtube but the tension is unbearable.
Paul Wad says
Now there’s no need for sarcasm!
Tiggerlion says
I wasn’t being sarcastic. I always get distressed at the prospect of scratched discs.
Paul Wad says
Just checked my bank account and it seems they took £107 for it, rather than the £91 that it was priced at when I ordered it. I presume you are expecting it to cost £91 too. Annoyingly I didn’t save any of the original emails with the price on it, so there’s not a great deal I can do. Hope you did.
Black Type says
Mine was priced at 114.48 Euro including delivery etc equates to £105.05. Still a bloody sight better than the UK price!
This was the original cost summary on my email. Are you sure you were calculating in Sterling and not Euro?
“Totale parziale degli articoli: EUR 92,82
Costi di spedizione: EUR 2,58
Totale IVA esclusa: EUR 95,40
IVA: EUR 19,08
Totale Ordine: EUR 114,48”
Paul Wad says
I think I’m sure, but I am known to be wrong! And yes, it was a great price compared to the UK site. I wouldn’t have bought it at the price Amazon UK we’re selling it, as I am skint at the moment. I’d cancelled everything else I’d preordered, but this was such a saving I left it alone.
Black Type says
It’s just arrived…and it’s beautiful! CDs transferred straight into archival pocket refills. Absolutely pristine.
H.P. Saucecraft says
A great review. Which, like your recent op-ed on Goat’s Head Soup, I enjoy more than the album. I am continuously baffled why Prince has always left me completely cold.
Mrbellows says
Sure he could play any instrument himself and that’s why he leaves you and me cold. It’s hard to play everything by yourself and generate warmth.
Junior Wells says
Do you like funk as a genre?
Twang says
I’m not alone!
H.P. Saucecraft says
This is the thing – you say you’re not that keen on Prince and someone (usually Tigger) leaps in with “don’t you like funk?”
My iTunes is sizzling with steaming slabs of fatback funk. I’ve always found His Princeness a little thin-sounding, camp, and too clever to be truly funky. I like my funk sweaty and bootylicious. Like what’s happening in my pants. Eh?
Junior Wells says
Second question have you seen him ? Doubt you’d refer to his funk as thin. Larry Graham has played with him FFS.
H.P. Saucecraft says
Why would I go and see someone whose records do nothing for me? FFS.
Junior Wells says
Am going to the suggestion that his funk is funk lite. Could suggest you listen to some of the live workouts. That box set with Larry Graham for example. But why would you bother for someone whose records you don’t like I guess.
There is a strong and obvious argument that some artists are still worth seeing even if not a huge fan of their records. Different experience, different performances.
Lodestone of Wrongness says
A great review. Which, like your recent op-ed on Goat’s Head Soup, I enjoy more than the album. I am continuously baffled why Prince has always left me completely cold.
H.P. Saucecraft says
*This*⬆️
Chrisf says
Excellent review and one of the releases that I am most excited about this year, it being probably my favourite official Prince album (my actual favourite is the bootleg “Small Club” which I would love for them to release officially – it’s from a similar era but 1988 so probably would have to be on the Lovesexy box).
I have gone with the download – I can live without the DVD and the download gives me the whole set at a more reasonable price and in high resolution. It’s downloaded but not yet transferred to the music server. Looking forward to diving in this weekend.
duco01 says
Hmmm … I think I’ll stick with my original 2LP vinyl set from 1987.
Great review though, Tigger.
Junior Wells says
Had a listen on Spotify, not on Amazon as yet. Sound appreciably clearer even via Spotify. Was a bit disappointed in the sound of the Utrecht show. Drums a bit too upfront, guitar and vocals not enough.
Tiggerlion says
It’s Sheila E on drums, of course, and, at the time, she had a persuasive *way* with Prince.
Tiggerlion says
@duco01, You can buy the double LP on black vinyl (the peach is probably all spoken for). I think you’ll find there is a significant upgrade to the sound compared to 1987.
Moose the Mooche says
Black vinyl… We live in an age of miracles.
H.P. Saucecraft says
“Black vinyl… We live in an age of miracles.”
Afterword t-shirt.
retropath2 says
I’d buy the box set of the review over the record, as others state similarly. More even than the traditional AW love/hate culprits , is there anyone who just thinks he’s ok? Me, I like a couple of his songs, especially when covered by others, but have never really understood the infatuation of many to his scattergun concoctions of styles and statement.
Twang says
He doesn’t interest me at all. I heard a lot of him in the 80s as my mates were fans, but all I remember is someone squeaking over a crashing drum machine in ladies undies. Odd.
Moose the Mooche says
Dude, that was Sir Alistair Burnet.
Matthew Best says
That was a terrific review, which make me very excited for this evening, when I will be able to open my own copy (Amazon are delivering it today).
I am in rather the opposite camp to a few of you – I simply don’t understand serious music aficianados (such as those who read this site) who don’t see that Prince was, regardless of whether you actually like his music or not, objectively more talented than just about anyone else in my lifetime.
Hawkfall says
I love Prince, but I can understand why people don’t like him. I think in some ways he is similar to Frank Zappa, in that both created their own musical worlds, and how much you enjoy visiting these worlds governs how much you like them. I love spending time in both, different though they are.
I just think he’s funny. A friend of mine was also a fan back in the day and we used to always laugh at things like the chuckle in New Position after the phrase “new spunk” or the end of Temptation, or Cat’s rap in Alphabet St. Ah, I could go on, he was just great fun. Now run and tell your mama ’bout that!
Tiggerlion says
Spot on about his sense of fun. There is a playfulness throughout most of his work and a delicious humour.
You might enjoy Wally from this box. Strange the effect a cartoon book can have on a grown man!
H.P. Saucecraft says
He is clearly superhumanly talented. That’s why I’m genuinely baffled by my disinterest (the right word). Nothing he’s ever recorded has made me want to listen to it again. Hearing Wally once is quite enough. Not too much, just enough.
Junior Wells says
Diamonds and Pearls not even that song.
Slug says
He certainly had a sense of humour which was evident in his delight in performance.
I was rather indifferent towards him until my then girlfriend – who adored him – dragged me to see him at the O2 in London during that three week long residency he did in 2007. It remains one of the very best concerts I’ve seen – easily up there with Springsteen in his pomp. It was an in-the-round show and we had secured floor seats near the stage. He did a solo version of the lovely How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore, sat at a piano with his back to us no more than 15 feet away. My ex was beside herself with excitement but she almost passed out completely when, without turning or missing a note, he put a hand behind his back and gave us a merry little wave, and a big grin when he stood up.
Black Type says
I saw two shows at the O2…what a summer that was! The second one had an impromptu guest appearance by Elton John ( who was appalling), and when the main show was finished and way after after the lights came on with most people having left, he just casually walked back onstage with the band and did three more numbers with the lights still on. We had taken a punt on tickets for the Aftershow with no guarantee that he would appear, so
Black Type says
(was rudely cut off there)…so we went into the Indigo with more hope than expectation. An anxious ninety-minute wait was forgotten when he did arrive on stage and proceeded to deliver a phenomenal, quirky, mesmeric performance of deep cuts, covers and endearing reminiscence. The show finished appropriately in time for us to welcome the dawn. An epic experience.
Black Celebration says
That had everything. What an amazing story.
I recall nocturnal Prince tour stories reported in the inkies. The secret aftershow shows and on one occasion asking to be driven around Coventry where he handed out wads of cash to rough sleepers.
Tiggerlion says
This will suit people who like Prince Rogers Nelson.
I share Matthew’s bewilderment as to why people might not like him but some don’t.
Having said that, Sign “☮︎” the Times is one of Prince’s Rock-iest albums. Chaos And Disorder in 1996 and Plectrumelectrum from 2014 are both even more Rock-y and both are excellent but less well known.
Bargepole says
I understand Parade will be the next set, presumably this time next year.
H.P. Saucecraft says
Ooh! I hope there’s an extended Rasberry Beret!
(*ulp*!)
Lodestone of Wrongness says
It’s not that I dislike Prince – as someone wiser than me once said “he leaves me cold”. I’ve tried quite a few times over the years and no doubt will dip in and out of this (through streaming of course) in the coming days but my hopes are not high. My bad..
Moose the Mooche says
Extended or prolapsed?
…
What?
Tiggerlion says
Wrong album. You’ll have to wait for the Around The World In A Day box.
I, for one, am salivating at the prospect of a Parade box.
H.P. Saucecraft says
My mouth remains unmoistened by the prospect of Prince’s box.
dai says
I think Parade is his best album. Great review above. I dutifully bought all his albums in the 80s (and well into the 90s), I rarely play them today.
I bought the double vinyl Sign O The Times on release day, am a little baffled when it is claimed to be a masterwork. Title track is sensational (Best thing he ever did), 5 or 6 other great songs, but pretty erratic and, yes, it already contains filler. I was watching the film the other night and realised for all his undoubted talent he does spread things thin quite a lot, and his voice grates and can prove to be rather annoying to me after a certain time.
i haven’t heard all these outtakes, but any I have heard previously left me distinctly underwhelmed. I did pre-order this but cancelled when I realised it would all be about “stuff” rather than music I would actually listen to.
Diddley Farquar says
I don’t think it would be far off the mark to call him a bit of a singles artist. I am partial to the album Diamonds and Pearls myself. Cream is a doozy.
Vincent says
This is the correct answer. SOTT is great, but like almost every double, would benefit form judicious editing.
Moose the Mooche says
I used to have a box of Parade. Those women will catch their death of cold.
H.P. Saucecraft says
Jumpers for goalposts! My jumper was where I’d stuff my copy of Parade after blushingly paying the Shilling Of Shame up the paper shop, to be pursued by my less courageous (and cheaper) mates to “the fields” where we’d ogle the duo-toned lovelies as they played beach ball or ping pong, having unfeasibly forgotten to dress from the waist up.
retropath2 says
More of a Carnival man myself.
H.P. Saucecraft says
Lot to be said for Carnival. No shame there. But Health & Efficiency? Nah thanks.
retropath2 says
In Smiths today, perusing the music mags for R2R, which, as ever. They didn’t have. But, nudging the Record Collector I spotted a copy of H&E. I was tempted to see how it stands up after all these years, but thought better of it, in case I was seen with it in my hand.
Moose the Mooche says
That last sentence I salute. As you can see.
retropath2 says
I hoped it wouldn’t be spoilt
Tiggerlion says
Wait. Health & Efficiency is a jazz mag??!!
hubert rawlinson says
H and E of course is a ‘jazz’ mag, for self-confessed players of the pink oboe.
Moose the Mooche says
And indeed trombonists.
SteveT says
I was told to read Forum but there were no pictures so that was a waste of time.
Black Type says
My favourite Prince album, regardless of whether it’s his best. Fully collaborative and heavily influenced by The Revolution, particularly W & L, and striking out into really interesting new territory with the orchestration of Clare Fischer. Can’t wait for the Superdeluxe treatment.
SteveT says
That might be the best album review I have ever read. Sign O’ the Times has long been my favourite Prince album and ever since the announcement of this release I have deliberated about ordering it.Not for the content but for the price. I watched the price on a weekly basis like someone watching the Stock Market and it dawned on me earlier this week that it is a limited release and price unlikely to change. I ordered it yesterday and even last night questioned the wisdom of doing so.
I read your review this morning and any residual doubt has been removed. Thanks for the review as it has really whetted my appetite.
H.P. Saucecraft says
Steve, there’s a stretch of river outside my house which I’ll let go for the right offer. Clean, free-running, well-stocked with fish, with uninterrupted views of Lao PDR and Thighland. PM me.
SteveT says
Sounds good. Are the fish the type you can eat or are they radioactive?
H.P. Saucecraft says
No pollution, amazingly. Sandy bottom (I know how much you like those). Also, I’m throwing in a strip of clear blue sky to sweeten the deal. I can’t hang on to this forever, though, Steve, so get in on it!
SteveT says
Just got to wait for the Thai govt to let infidels in.
H.P. Saucecraft says
I recommend giving me the money now to avoid disappointment! Think of the looks of happiness on your loved-ones faces as they gaze at their very own section of one of the world’s greatest rivers!
Tiggerlion says
Thanks, Steve. I’m sure you’ll love it. It’s a thing of beauty.
fatima Xberg says
I might add that the hardcover book in the big box is really good – detailed and informative liner notes, background info on the tracks, and many great pictures (of Prince, the Revolution, and yes: tape boxes. Lots of tape boxes). And they had “professional help with scans from the notebooks”, obviously. Fantastic.
H.P. Saucecraft says
“Professional help with scans from the notebooks” – ooh, we love that.
Tiggerlion says
I’ve grown to love the books in these superdeluxe sets. Largely due to your sterling advocacy, fatima.
Lodestone of Wrongness says
Riggs – only just noticed your “Only Electric Ladyland can compare” comment.
Danny Baker said something the other day along the lines of “Hendrix was a master guitar player but I have never made it all the way through one of his albums”. Baker may well be a caricature of his old self these days but he still knows his music.
H.P. Saucecraft says
“Knows his music”? He clearly doesn’t know his arse from a hole in the wall. Neither do you, though. Know his arse from a hole in the wall. Which is why your neighbours are complaining, probably.
Tiggerlion says
By Jimi, I meant Electric Ladyland specifically. Similarly sprawling and diverse but brilliantly performed, sung and recorded by basically one man (though Jimi left the drums to someone else). Shame on Danny. He should pull his finger out and make a proper effort to listen to a Jimi album. To think he was officially a music journalist once. Cuh!
H.P. Saucecraft says
“Performed, sung and recorded by basically one man …”
WTAF?
Tiggerlion says
There are additional musicians and singers, even the occasional other writer, on both Sign “☮︎” the Times and Electric Ladyland but the vast majority of the work is Prince or Jimi.
H.P. Saucecraft says
You deserve a fact-bot retort, here, but as my strengths are in oh-so-humorous-prose, I’ll leave it to someone more authoritative. You have a point – it was Jimi’s album – but to ignore the slew of participating musicians (and Noel Redding) and the production team is going too far to make it.
Moose the Mooche says
Young Master Winwood’s impressive organ, for example.
MC Escher says
Prince > Hendrix. Mainly because of the voice. And the songs.
deramdaze says
I don’t mind Danny Baker born 1957, cheeky chappie Cockney (he’d like that, being a Millwall fan) that he is, and I always listen to what he might say about pop music.
However, if he recommends I buy it, I don’t, and if he recommends I don’t buy it, I do.
I am definitely loading up on Jimi this weekend. Full albums, from beginning to end.
MC Escher says
Er, good to know, thanks.
Seriously the thin, flat voice does nothing to put you off?
Moose the Mooche says
Prince = Little Richard + Sly Stone x Jimi Hendrix cubed.
salwarpe says
Cubed?
*checks urban dictionary*
OMG!
H.P. Saucecraft says
Prince = Charles Hawtrey + Todd Rungren – Julie Newmar
MC Escher says
Prince times the square root of Tony Orlando plus Dawn equals the logarithm of Gerry Rafferty.
Twang says
I’m going to give it a spin too see if I’m wrong. I had the vinyl but it seems to have moved on. I think I might have given it to someone.
Tiggerlion says
You are making me nervous…
Lodestone of Wrongness says
I know my arse, I know that hole in the wall and I know Jimi’s All Along The Watchtower is the best piece of music ever, ever recorded.
Electric Ladyland is a sprawling mess as is Sign O The Times.
Excuse me now, I need to go to the toilet. Thank god there’s that hole in the wall
Gary says
I thought we agreed that Into The Mystic is the best piece of music ever, ever recorded. You are extraordinarily fickle.
Lodestone of Wrongness says
I’m fickle? What was all that guff you spouted in Rio about “This will last forever” then?
Moose the Mooche says
They’re all the same.
Lodestone of Wrongness says
As what? Cold sick? You’d think I would be it over it by now but oh no back he comes with “fickle”
Moose the Mooche says
I was trying to commiserate with you after Gary cast you aside like just another crispy Kleenex.
Gary says
I did no such thing. I merely pointed out an inconsistency in his personality. He’ll thank me for it when he’s sober.
Moose the Mooche says
Yes, people are always chuffed when you do that.
“You’re a knobhead”
“We value your feedback!”
Junior Wells says
@Twang. This release will sound better. Context important – over morning coffee no. Wine while cooking dinner yes.
Twang says
I just had a lis. Better than I remembered to be fair, but made me want to listen to Funkadelic. Eddie Hazel – now that is a funk lead player.
Moose the Mooche says
EH is worth it for the opening of Funk Dollar Bill alone. He isn’t so much playing that guitar as fighting with it.
Moose the Mooche says
Funky not funk, Major Tom’s a cheeky monkey.
fentonsteve says
I’ve never really understood the comments about the sound of this album. Yes, the original CD suffers, but in the same way many 80s CDs did. Much of the recording was done as overdubs (with, effectively, a better Portastudio).
But has anyone ever heard HMHB’s Back In The DHSS? Now, that’s one awful-sounding recording.
I find Purple Rain actually sounds worse than SOTT, there’s a lot of congested kitchen-sink production and screechy 80s midrange on that and it sets my teeth on edge.
dai says
Think my original vinyl album sounds fine, never heard the CD. Tigger loves all remastering though!
Diddley Farquar says
Agreed, same for me.
Moose the Mooche says
Prince’s UK albums up to and including Lovesexy sounded great, by 80s vinyl standards anyway.
I was annoyed by the Sign sleeve: two consecutive single albums he puts out in gatefolds – nowt wrong with that, no sirree – then he releases a double in a fat single sleeve like some charity shop compo. Awful.
duco01 says
I rather like “a double album in a fat single sleeve”, and have never considered that packaging format as being “like some charity shop compo”. I find it rather neat and functional, in a “London Calling” stylee.
Hell, “Sandinista!” was a TRIPLE album in a VERY fat single sleeve, and that was fine, too. At least I thought it was.
Does any Afterworder have a quadruple vinyl album in a single sleeve? Has one ever been released?
Moose the Mooche says
I just think that a legitimate excuse to go the full Roger Dean on a gatefold sleeve is not to be missed.
After all it affords your listeners not just an accessory for making a Camberwell Carrot, but possibly the more ambitious Peterloo Parsnip.
And if it’s not a gatefold you always take the wrong bloody disc out first – which is worse than, like, being killed. Probably.
Tiggerlion says
I don’t think you can fault the packaging for these boxes.
dai says
Bruce Springsteen and the E St Band – Live at Hammersmith 75
dai says
Slight (typo?) correction, gig is from “Utrecht”. Apparently it runs a bit slow?
Tiggerlion says
My apologies.
salwarpe says
Great review, as always, Tig. Thank you. I love the way you go through the track listing and do a little sketch of each song. It’s possibly my favorite Prince album, (though I have a very soft shot for ATWIAD) so I know them all well, and it’s a pleasure to hear someone else’s summary of each of them – bringing extra colour/dimension to my enjoyment of them.
Prince really was the Mozart of his generation – supremely talented from a young age, challenging relationship with his dad, an amazing ability to turn his hand to all the musical forms of his day with a delightfully playful and light touch, as if creating sugar castles, fondant fancies or soap bubble pyramids. The intention is to wow and amaze and delight in the moment, yet the musical structure underlying it is strong enough for posterity. Some of concerts just seem as absurd and delightful as The Marriage of Figaro must have been in its time.
Oh, and both were total sex maniacs, of course.
Tiggerlion says
It’s difficult to disagree with anything you say. And, thank you!
H.P. Saucecraft says
Yes. It’s just a shame he couldn’t write a good song. At least, one I could remember. Raspberry Beret, perhaps … the chorus … uh ….
Mrbellows says
Well now you’re just being willfully nit picky. Mountains is a great song.
The production I think may be the problem but it’s done now.
H.P. Saucecraft says
You’re kidding, right? Or he is.
Mrbellows says
That’s just what Jesus said, Sir!
salwarpe says
Can you give an example of a good song to compare?
H.P. Saucecraft says
Yes.
salwarpe says
Great! What is it?
H.P. Saucecraft says
It’s … er … ooh … wait a sec. It’s … you know that one that goes der-DER-der-der, der-der, derderderDER! That one!
Moose the Mooche says
You missed out a der.
RUINED it.
salwarpe says
I thought as much.
Nothing compares – to you.
H.P. Saucecraft says
I think it’s by The Lighthouse Family.
salwarpe says
Now we’re getting there. Nothing Prince wrote was as good as something you half remember by The Lighthouse Family.
H.P. Saucecraft says
Thank you, Sal! Great to have you on board!
salwarpe says
I think you misunderstand me – which is quite likely, given the way I express myself.
I was just trying to summarize your position – which by your response I can see you concur with.
It’s not a view I hold myself, but I think you knew that and were just playing with me.
H.P. Saucecraft says
I was toying with your emotions, Sal. Treating them as lightly as I would an illuminated yo-yo without a string, or a pair of deely-boppers from which the sparkly stars have long disappeared. Or one remaining clacker-ball, the other having shattered in a crowded place, causing flesh wounds to the innocent citizenry gathered there. I apologise. Not just to you, but the Mennonite community in general, and Miss Beth specifically, for the imputations I made during that corn-husking hayride. I was not myself! I was in fact Myron Blatwurst, heir to the No-Bleed Blade© Corp. of Michigan. We were young, and full of pep, vim, and moxie. That is my defence, such as it is, and I throw myself on the mercy of the court.
salwarpe says
Now THAT is the way to conclude a thread.
Quality prose.
Junior Wells says
That would be the Alzheimer’s kicking in HP.
yorkio says
Age catches up with all of us in the end.
Moose the Mooche says
Giggleknickers?
My advice is to stop giggling. Nobody ever dribbles during a throaty man-laugh, except your enemies.
Moose the Mooche says
Tipper Gore: “Darling Nikki just has too many notes”
salwarpe says
“…and she made a terrible mess of those coffee beans I gave her”
Moose the Mooche says
Funny, I always thought that line was a reference to stonemasonry. Thought it was rather odd.
What happens earlier in the song is rather unhygienic for a barista.
salwarpe says
Yeah, I hate it when my reading matter gets wet.
Black Celebration says
Oh boy – now you get “2” receive the Prince Hamper! I can’t tell you what’s inside as this this a family blog but it sure as hell ain’t tinned chicken!
Moose the Mooche says
The recent thread on single versions reminds me that I’ve always preferred the 7″ of what we used to refer to at school as Sign CND The Times. Less is more.
Sewer Robot says
Yes. Prince’s Hits 1&2 is just the kind of thing I was thinking of over on that thread. Little Red Corvette always makes me long for crook to appear to drag our hero from the stage looong before it’s over and I miss the clean outs on Kiss and Alphabet Street..
Moose the Mooche says
The LP version of Kiss is shorter than the 7″, non? Cuts straight into Anotherloverholeinyohead, which was Sam Fox’s single of the week in Smash Hits.
Sewer Robot says
Indeedly. And perhaps what appealed to Sam about Prince was that they were both very short..
MC Escher says
My two favourite Prince songs and they’re right next to each to other. In your face, er, Windsor Davies!
Moose the Mooche says
A Never The Twain reference?
Very stylish…
Chrisf says
Prince official Youtube have just posted the full concert of SOTT from New Years Eve 1987……
Tiggerlion says
Smashing!
Kid Dynamite says
this is ridiculously good, isn’t it? Those last forty minutes are insane
Vincent says
Tiggs, you are my favourite music journalist.
Tiggerlion says
☺️
H.P. Saucecraft says
Mine too! Shame you have shit taste.
dai says
It’s all on Spotify btw, one can listen to the demos and rejected songs once or twice as usual and then forget about (most of) them
SteveT says
Mine arrived today.Packaging is really nice. Will give it some air time tomorrow
Tiggerlion says
Don’t dismiss them so quickly, dai.
Have you recreated Dream Factory, Camille and Crystall Ball yet? You’ll need Lovesexy, The Black Album, Graffiti Bridge, Wendy & Lisa’s Eroica, the soundtrack to Bright Lights, Big City, and, of course, the triple CD collection also called Crystal Ball. The latter costs hundreds for a physical product but just thirteen quid for a download.
dai says
I have Crystal Ball or had it. I may have sold it 🙁
fatima Xberg says
The “Crystal Ball” set that was released via the Prince website store as 3, 4 or 5-CD sets) is a compilation of archive tracks. It’s not the album he planned to put out before “Sign O’ The Times” (the track listing of which can be rebuilt with the archive tracks on this box).
Tiggerlion says
Yes. But that globe (it was originally released in a globe) contains material intended for the 1987 Crystal Ball or Dream Factory and not in this box. I’m thinking the full length title track, Crystal Ball, and the alternative Crucial, for example. Then again, most dedicated Prince fans will have all of it already.
dai says
This is the one I had (have), wonder if I can find it? Think 3 CDs were outtakes and the 4th was a new album?
https://www.discogs.com/The-Artist-Formerly-Known-As-Prince-Crystal-Ball/release/447590
I also had the 3 CD Emancipation set and at that time made the decision to stop buying Prince (TAFKAP) product.
Tiggerlion says
That’s it! With The Truth as a bonus album (very good it is too). I snapped up two copies when on holiday in New York for fifty dollars each. Sold one for two hundred and fifty pounds shortly after.
dai says
Bought mine in the US too. Wow!
MC Escher says
Nice tidy profit. That’s what music’s all about let’s face it.
myoldman says
Mine just arrived from amazon through shop and shop. Had to smuggle it in the house. Outer box was pretty battered but the inner cardboard box looks ok. Will have a proper look when I get home. Fingers crossed it’s ok
dai says
This is currently 71 quid on Amazon UK