Sign 'O' the Times by Prince (1987), № 39 in The Lead-In’s 100 greatest albums. Warner Bros. asked Prince for a single LP. He delivered a double, then asked them to make it a triple. They compromised at double. It is still his best record.
Prince in 1986, after canceling the Black Album and dismantling the Revolution, made a 79-minute double LP at Paisley Park. The album many fans consider his masterpiece.
Prince's ninth studio album. A double LP recorded primarily at Paisley Park Studios in late 1986. The album many fans consider his masterpiece, more critically beloved than the commercially-bigger Purple Rain.
By 1986 Prince had completed and abandoned the Black Album (which would not be released until 1994). He had also dismantled the Revolution. The Sign 'O' the Times sessions began in mid-1986 at Sunset Sound and continued at Prince's new Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota when it opened in November 1986.
Prince played most of the instruments himself; Sheila E., Sheena Easton, Susannah Melvoin, and others appeared as guests. The album was originally conceived as a triple LP, then condensed to double.
The album's signature is its musical range: from Sly Stone-influenced funk ('Sign 'O' the Times'), to post-punk pop ('I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man'), to gospel ('The Cross'), to slow soul ballads ('Slow Love'), to extended Latin-funk grooves ('It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night').
The album's 16 tracks include 'Sign 'O' the Times,' 'Play in the Sunshine,' 'Housequake,' 'The Ballad of Dorothy Parker,' 'It,' 'Starfish and Coffee,' 'Slow Love,' 'Hot Thing,' 'Forever in My Life,' 'U Got the Look,' 'If I Was Your Girlfriend,' 'Strange Relationship,' 'I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man,' 'The Cross,' 'It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night,' 'Adore.'
Sign 'O' the Times belongs at number thirty-nine because it is the album many fans consider Prince's true masterpiece, more critically respected than Purple Rain, more focused than the also-double Lovesexy. The album sits in 2026 as the Prince LP that most often appears on critics' lists.
Original 1987 US pressing on Paisley Park (distributed by Warner Bros.), catalog 9 25577-1, a stereo double LP in a double jacket with printed inner sleeves carrying photos, lyrics and credits, plus a Fan Club postcard insert. The original US copies were Allied Record Company pressings, mastered by Bernie Grundman. Shrink-wrapped copies wore a heart-shaped 'Specially-Priced Two Record Set' sticker.
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