Sign 'O' The Times.

Lyrics:

Disc 1:
1. Sign 'O' the Times
2. Play in the Sunshine
3. Housequake
4. The Ballad of Dorothy Parker
5. It
6. Starfish and Coffee
7. Slow Love
8. Hot Thing
9. Forever in My Life
Disc 2:
1. U Got the Look
2. If I Was Your Girlfriend
3. Strange Relationship
4. I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man
5. The Cross
6. It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night
7. Adore
All Songs

Album notes:

Prince steps away from the "Party all night" attitude of albums such as "1999" and "Purple Rain" and becomes a mature man looking at the world with critical eyes. Of course there's sex, party and fun on this record as well but it seems more muted than on the previous albums.
This is a double album and therefore the music is very varied, he has found room for some new things here that are quite unlike anything he has done before. And i mean that in the most positive way possible
There are smoe very beautiful slow ballads like "Slow Love" and "Adore", Up-tempo pop in "Play In The Sunshine" and "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man", there is also rock, gospel, sweet pop, etc. and "Housequake" is just so funky you wouldn't believe it.
The title track "Sign 'O' The Times" is a minimalistic piece that questions the direction the world is taking. AIDS is starting to show its ugly face, gang wars are breaking out and drugs are becoming ever more popular. Prince is utterly worried where it all might end. A critic once said something like "I would like to know what was in the papers the day he wrote this. Whatever it was it must have been shocking".
"Sign 'O' The Times" is one of Prince's very best albums. It has got a full array of different styles, it is beautifully put together, it is long, and yet, you'll just never grow tired of it. Buy it.

Band notes:

This album sees a return to "Produced, Arranged, Composed and Performed by Prince. But we all know that is not the entire story.
There are guest appearances of many of the old "Revolution" members. Eric Leeds and Atlanta Bliss provide some horns. Matt Fink, Sheila E., Susannah Melvoin, Wendy and Lisa also appeared on some of the tracks and the female voice on "U Got The Look" is Sheena Easton.
"It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night" is based on a live performance from the "Parade" tour by "The Revolution" in Paris.

Chart notes:

The fans were not in agreement with the critics on this album and it sold fairly poor. It reached no.6 on the Pop-charts and no.4 on the R&B-charts. His worst sales since "Controversy".
Four singles were released, "Sign 'O' The Times" coming first in time as well as in sales. "Sign 'O' The Times" reached the third spot on the Pop-chart but managed to hold on to the first spot on the R&B-chart for three weeks making it one of his 5 best singles up until this point in time.
The next sigle "If I Was Your Girlfriend" reached only no.67 on the Pop-chart and no.12 on the R&B-chart. "U Got The Look" did a lot better peaking at no.2 on the Pop-chart and no.11 on the R&B-chart. "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man" reached no.10 on the Pop-chart and no.14 on the R&B-chart. Its B-side reached no.63 on the Pop-chart and no.14 on the R&B-chart making it the first B-side to reach the charts.