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Prince's Sign O' The Times is the best double album ever made

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Every song is a jam.

First you've got the titular track Sign O the Times which is powerful and still relevant today.

You've got Housequake. Which is a total banger.

You've got Ballad of Dorothy Parker.

It is one of the sexiest songs I've ever heard. It want IT too, Prince!

Then you've got a song like Starfish and Coffee celebrating being unique and different. Butterscotch clouds, a tangerine, a side order of ham.

He switches it up with Slow Love which is a total slow dance booty grabber.

Hot Thing is equally as hot.

If I Was Your Girlfriend is a fantastic song and shows Prince's versatility as a writer and artist. Just listen to the lyrics.

The Cross is an emotional plea and spiritual ode in an album that unmercilessly pays tribute to sexuality and love, showing that in Prince's mind, sex and God are two and the same.

The album closes with Adore, easily one of the best album closers I've ever heard.

And those are just some of the more famous songs on this record. The rest is equally as good.

Usually double albums are highly flawed and the material feels scattered. White Album feels schizophrenic as each Beatle adds their own style and flare to the album, making an LP that doesn't sound the most consistent. All Eyez On Me feels like filler half the time, and Life After Death could have used some trimming as well.

But Sign O The Times is the first double album I've heard where I don't want to skip a single track the more I listen to it.

To make matters even better, Prince did a live concert in Europe and it's the best fucking recorded live concert film I've ever seen. It is a required viewing. A lot of the videos linked in this post are from it.

The GOAT.

ImifIZf.gif
 
Sign O' The Times is brilliant, no doubt, but despite your reservations the The White album is actually the greatest double album of all time and forever. True fact.

TheBeatles68LP.jpg


If it's too "inconsistent" for you, then this will have to do:

Frampton_Comes_Alive.jpg
 

Gouty

Bloodborne is shit
Not in a world where the White Album, Quadrophenia and Songs In The Key of Life exist.
 
If you cannot do more than post a picture, then don't post at all.

I like watching your fast evolution from "Prince, meh" to "omg Prince is the GOAT"

It hasn't been fast at all. It's been nearly two months of listening to almost nothing but Prince. I still haven't listened to the new Radiohead yet.
 

Lemaitre

Banned
Damn someone already posted Blonde on Blonde. But yeah, one of the greatest. And yes to London Calling. Yes yes yes!

Also agree with All Eyez on Me being up there too.
 
It's his best album and he's indisputably amazing. That says it all.

I'm still not settled on it being his best album yet. Dirty Mind, 1999, Purple Rain, and LoveSexy are so good.

I still haven't finished his 80's stuff. I'll probably be done listening to and analyzing those by July though. Then it's time for his 90's stuff.
 

phanphare

Banned
love sign o the times but I've gotta give it to

The_Lamb_Lies_Down_on_Broadway.jpg


also I love the beatles, trust me I love me some beatles, but the white album is bloated imo

I'm still not settled on it being his best album yet. Dirty Mind, 1999, Purple Rain, and LoveSexy are so good.

I still haven't finished his 80's stuff. I'll probably be done listening to and analyzing those by July though. Then it's time for his 90's stuff.

honestly prince's stuff with the npg in the 90's is my favorite studio stuff from him
 

Gouty

Bloodborne is shit
I'd also take Bruce Springsteen's The River and Wilco's Being There over Sign.

Sign is better than The Wall, Stadium Arcadium and Mellon Collie though.
 

dlemarc

Member
Not in a world where Songs in the Key of Life exists. It's a great album, but I'm a much bigger fan of the second disc than the first.
 

megalowho

Member
Personally, and as a fellow Prince fan.. I can't put Sign O' The Times above Songs In The Key of Life when ranking double albums.

Songs_in_the_key_of_life.jpg


Similar albums in many ways - multi instrumentalist R&B savants making a cumulative, expansive work after a string of hit records. But the trip Stevie takes the listener on feels deeper and more vital than Prince showing off his ability to span genres with ease and make a post-Revolution mission statement with aplomb (and some excess).

Even after countless spins, just putting the needle on and hearing the opening of Love's in Need of Love Today stops me dead in my tracks. A powerful, playful, political and soulful cultural touchstone that transcends the common pitfalls of double albums. It's up there with the best, regardless of running time.

Adore is definitely one of the best closers on any record though.
 
Personally, and as a fellow Prince fan.. I can't put Sign O' The Times above Songs In The Key of Life when ranking double albums.

Songs_in_the_key_of_life.jpg


Similar albums in many ways - multi instrumentalist R&B savants making a cumulative, expansive work after a string of hit records. But the trip Stevie takes the listener on feels deeper and more vital than Prince showing off his ability to span genres with ease and make a post-Revolution mission statement with aplomb (and some excess).

Even after countless spins, just putting the needle on and hearing the opening of Love's in Need of Love Today stops me dead in my tracks. A powerful, playful, political and soulful cultural touchstone that transcends the common pitfalls of double albums. It's up there with the best, regardless of running time.

Adore is definitely one of the best closers on any record though.

It definitely isn't as good as Songs in the Key of Life. It's one album I think it's not remotely touching posted in this thread, and I completely forgot about it.

Stevie made magic.

But, I would settle on it being damn close.
 
Every song is a jam.

First you've got the titular track Sign O the Times which is powerful and still relevant today.

You've got Housequake. Which is a total banger.

You've got Ballad of Dorothy Parker.

It is one of the sexiest songs I've ever heard. It want IT too, Prince!

Then you've got a song like Starfish and Coffee celebrating being unique and different. Butterscotch clouds, a tangerine, a side order of ham.

He switches it up with Slow Love which is a total slow dance booty grabber.

Hot Thing is equally as hot.

If I Was Your Girlfriend is a fantastic song and shows Prince's versatility as a writer and artist. Just listen to the lyrics.

The Cross is an emotional plea and spiritual ode in an album that unmercilessly pays tribute to sexuality and love, showing that in Prince's mind, sex and God are two and the same.

The album closes with Adore, easily one of the best album closers I've ever heard.

And those are just some of the more famous songs on this record. The rest is equally as good.

Usually double albums are highly flawed and the material feels scattered. White Album feels schizophrenic as each Beatle adds their own style and flare to the album, making an LP that doesn't sound the most consistent. All Eyez On Me feels like filler half the time, and Life After Death could have used some trimming as well.

But Sign O The Times is the first double album I've heard where I don't want to skip a single track the more I listen to it.

To make matters even better, Prince did a live concert in Europe and it's the best fucking recorded live concert film I've ever seen. It is a required viewing. A lot of the videos linked in this post are from it.

The GOAT.

ImifIZf.gif

You should've seen him perform these songs live. It was amazing.
 
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