50 great things about Prince's 'Sign O' The Times'

Totally makes sense in a way, I always think of it as a companion to When You Were Mine

If ‘Witness For The Prosecution’ is anything to go by we’re in for a treat...

Totally makes sense in a way, I always think of it as a companion to When You Were Mine

I was about to preorder the deluxe box set this on Amazon, but wtf is up with its price? On the German Amazon it's 153 euros (with taxes) and on the US Amazon it's 160 dollars! The 1999 box set had 5 CDs and 1 DVD and it cost 72 euros on Amazon, and I felt that one was already a bit pricey, but this one has 8 CDs and 1 DVD and it costs twice as much? The price is pretty much the same as if you would buy 9 individual albums separately, which is ridiculous for a box set.

Popmarket.com has it on vinyl for about $250 after you give them your email and phone number (gets you 10% off).

Bullmoose has the CD set for $122, free shipping.

Managed to order it via Amazon Italy, about €100.

Obv postage extra, but often enough it gets supplied from a domestic warehouse

I was stunned by the inflated retail price too. It's mainly ruthless free market dynamics - with each super deluxe set of his key WB albums, they've seen how 1) fans are willing to spend more to get more and 2) how they've underestimated demand each time out, with the vinyl super deluxe sets in particular selling out pretty fast. This set has the most lavish packaging, and even the CD version (which was fairly compact - no pun intended - on the prior two super deluxe editions) is now an LP sized box, with I think a hardcover book. Combined with bigger expectations regarding demand, it makes logical sense, but it's still really high. Bull Moose's $122 price tag for the CD version feels more like the list price I would have expected.

Also, some have pointed out that Paul McCartney has REALLY jacked up the price on his next super deluxe box set for "Flaming Pie." Also lavishly packaged, it's far more expensive with more inconsequential audio and video bonuses when the album is nowhere near the level of "Sign 'O' the Times." Maybe they're expecting a smaller but more devoted (i.e. more willing to spend more) consumer base for that set? Whatever's their target, I ain't a part of it.

Best price I've seen - ImportCDs.com has it for $113.65.

I almost went with ImportCD's but it wound up costing a little more than Bull Moose due to taxes and shipping. (The $122 Bull Moose price includes shipping and they don't collect taxes for my location.) With that in mind, if anyone's looking for the absolute best deal, you should look at the checkout totals first.

1979 I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man - Dirty Mind style all the way!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAegR_IKlyc&feature=emb_logo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAegR_IKlyc

Better than the SOTT version to me...can’t wait for this...

Couldn't disagree more. I hate that Dirty Mind sound; even the actual album sounds like a home demo to me. Love the SOTT version, though.

agree

Imagine having a song that strong and sitting on it for years

"better than the original" is a (graffiti) bridge too far but this is fucking awesome

eheh yeah, it's fun but it sounds like a demo compared to the "original" imo.

TBF the ‘original’ was never one of my faves...bit long and overblown for me...like the economy of the demo...all his demo’s have such a great bounce about them

Clearly he jibed with that aesthetic, for whatever reason. The demo-like quality of "Dirty Mind" and "Controversy" really set the stage for the technicolor leaps he'd make next, though tbf, I always thought "Little Red Corvette" sounded like a demo, too.

Count me among those preferring the Dirty Mind era version.

The SOTT version is interesting because it’s a take on 70s maximalist classic rock, like Frampton Comes Alive or the Eagles or something, and I can’t think of another song where he did that quite so thoroughly. Eh, probably a bullshit take.

Maybe it’s because the original sounds a bit stale now but I love the spontaneity of the demo...the original sounds a bit thought through?...

70s maximalist classic rock, like Frampton Comes Alive or the Eagles

both these acts are pretty mellow and I wouldn't say maximalist at all

the early version is interesting but the SOTT version seems more realized to me

SOTT version to me is his "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" (which sounds good to me, maybe not everyone)

SOTT is an anthem, '79 version is a new wave ditty. Albeit an excellent one.

My take shouldn't be taken seriously, I've always thought ICNTTPOYM was on the lesser side of the SOTT singles.

the original is def far superior, but i respect the opinion of people who think it drags on for too long

*original meaning the version released with sign in 1987

The half-time section on the LP version actually made me like it a bit more than the single version I was used to.

i love the halftime section too, so i'm just picking nits.

I love demo Prince usually, but it's interesting to hear it without the keyboard parts that are the biggest hooks of the song.

(I hate the halftime jam section on the original, although the preceding solo is a classic)

Listening to the SotT live concert version (or at least this edit without the halftime jam) makes the studio version version sound like a ballad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5Px4jY1TVc

the guitar solo on the SOTT is so hot

SOTT version

Love Sheila E. but she always seems too small for her drum set, I can never figure the physics out. The same is true for all Prince stuff from the '80s, tbh. What I see and what I hear the drummer doing never seems to sync up.

Well I guess they are miming in that clip, so it may not quite gel convincingly. But although I love Sheila's percussion work I have never enjoyed her as a drummer on a full kit, which puzzles me.

unearthed version of 'forever in my life,' with an extended vamp at the end and a fleshed-out arrangement. pretty cool, surprisingly bill withers-esque.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B48X95dJQ6A

fabulous

The more or less official Prince podcast has started up again -- collaboration between the Current and the Estate, and they've been doing little minidoc seasons for each new big reissue, and the _SOTT_ era begins today. Advertorial to some sort of degree, but still enjoyable:

https://toppodcast.com/podcast_feeds/prince-official-podcast/

I was about to preorder the deluxe box set this on Amazon, but wtf is up with its price? On the German Amazon it's 153 euros (with taxes) and on the US Amazon it's 160 dollars! The 1999 box set had 5 CDs and 1 DVD and it cost 72 euros on Amazon, and I felt that one was already a bit pricey, but this one has 8 CDs and 1 DVD and it costs twice as much? The price is pretty much the same as if you would buy 9 individual albums separately, which is ridiculous for a box set.

Turns out the box only has 3 CDs worth of previously unreleased studio recordings + a live show divided onto 2 CDs. So the amount of actual unreleased songs is the same as on the 1999 box, yet this one costs twice as much. Definitely feels like a scam.

It has three CDs of other material too. Previously released, sure, but it's still there. I'd prefer if they didnt release remastered albums tbh. 1999 already sounded good. Sott was never meant to sound great as prince didnt care much for that. So I dont imagine it sounding that great regardless. And I'm not sure it should either. Hopefully though the next releases aren't so expensive.

The demos of forever and ICnTTPOYM are interesting but dont see myself playing them that often. He made all the right decisions in what actually made it to stores. That 70s miles Davis-ish ending to ICMTTPOYM is one of the best moments on the album. But for scholars and fans who like comparing versions, it is pretty amazing how many different versions of certain songs there are in the vault. Glad he never released dorothy parker with horns!

I don't think it's a scam, but part of me thinks they are testing the waters to see how much they can charge for this stuff moving forward. Sadly this seemed to fly off the shelves too, so I have to imagine this will be the more likely price point for future sets than the 1999 box price.

I don't have the big box in the budget, so I settled for the three disc version and I'm really annoyed that the third disc for that package is just the singles and extended versions. I've already got the singles from The Hits/The B-Sides and none of the extended mixes have done a lot for me. I would have much rather had one of the vault discs as the bonus here or, better yet, a curated selection from the vault discs and live stuff.

its the shitty book that bumps up the price so much.

I bought the 3-disc version, but the third disc was messed up, and when I took it back to exchange they had no additional copies to replace it with. So I applied the credit toward the Neneh Cherry Raw Like Sushi reissue. Also 3 discs, also late 80's, and a little more fun.

shitty book

Spot on. The track and liner notes SUCK. Just reading the Prince Vault entries for free online will get you far more insight into the music, which is pretty fucking sad. This doesn't even rise to the level of David Fricke's hack liner notes, it's well below that.

Three discs of raw like sushi?!

The book is just a coffee table space filler exercise. No photos of real merit and no essays of real interest (though admittedly the andrea Swanson one looked decent and I've not read the Susan rogers one yet. Think I was just put off by some of the others). Just straightforward liner notes would have been nice.

I stopped listening to it a while ago actually. Oddly it made me fo back to the bootlegs lol

I strongly recommend a live bootleg called wonder boy over this utrecht show, which is ok but feels a bit perfunctory.

Simon Reynolds with an interesting take on the new edition.

http://blissout.blogspot.com/2020/10/cornucopious.html?m=1

His actual review -
https://4columns.org/reynolds-simon/prince

the only reason I can think of that the estate didn't put on the full "Crystal Ball" recording, "Movie Star" and some other cuts of this vintage on this box is because he threw it out will nilly on the 98 record by the same name? I would think that it would be fundamental to include every recording that was germane to Camille, Dream Factory and Crystal Ball projects…