A sprawling double album that shows the full range of Prince's genius, from stark social commentary to ecstatic funk and tender soul. Often cited as his masterpiece. Dense, generous and rewarding. Not the first record to reach for, but well worth reaching for.
On vinyl: Many '80s records have had strong reissue programmes — check for a recently mastered version.
Background
Sign o' the Times was released in 1987 as a double album, assembled from material originally intended for several separate, ultimately abandoned projects, reflecting an extraordinarily prolific period in Prince's career. The album moves across an unusually wide stylistic range even by Prince's own eclectic standards, addressing social issues, romance and spirituality within the same sprawling sequence.
Sound
The title track opens the album with a stark, minimal arrangement built around a drum machine and a lyric addressing AIDS, drug addiction, natural disaster and social unrest with unusual directness for a Prince single. 'If I Was Your Girlfriend' explores gender and intimacy with characteristic boldness, Prince's vocal pitched up to sound distinctly different from his natural register, while 'U Got the Look', a duet with Sheena Easton, offers one of the album's most straightforwardly commercial, radio-friendly moments.
Range
'Adore' closes the album with one of Prince's most extended, gospel-and-soul-influenced love songs, showcasing the vocal and arrangement range that runs across the whole record. The album's sheer stylistic breadth — funk, psychedelia, gospel, minimalist electro, straightforward pop — reflects Prince absorbing an entire career's worth of interests into a single, sprawling statement.
Legacy
Sign o' the Times is widely regarded as one of Prince's greatest and most ambitious achievements, frequently cited by critics as his creative peak, its combination of social commentary, personal songwriting and genre-spanning musical ambition representing the fullest expression of his artistic range. It remains a high point not just of Prince's catalogue but of 1980s popular music more broadly.
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We don't reproduce full tracklists — only the songs from this record we've featured in our best-of lists.
More from Prince — where to go next
If you have Sign o' the Times, these are the Prince records worth reaching for next.
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1
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5
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