Sign O' The Times (Super Deluxe)

Sign o' the Times is the ninth studio album from the multi-talented purple Prince. The record was originally released as a double album on March 30th, 1987 and features a number of Prince's finest recordings. The record was originally produced by Prince himself and was released as a joint effort by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album was originally suppose to be an album titled Dream Factory, released under Prince's alter ego Camille. When that album project was scrapped, Prince proceeded to use the music for a triple album titled, Crystal Ball. Unfortunately, this idea fell through and the project was shortened into what is now considered one of the Prince's most memorable albums. With the release (and quick disappearance) of the 1999 deluxe edition, I didn't hesitate to purchase this one. The previously released Purple Rain deluxe had some questionable remastering done and the bonus tracks weren't exactly quality sound. 1999 sadly went out of stock before I could get my paws on it. This was due to the abnormally high price that they generally asked. Unfortunately, I didn't notice the price drop and eventually it disappeared. Only to re-appear as a horrendously expensive collectors item. So, I was glad that I managed to pick this one up on time and I certainly haven't regretted it. I honestly didn't expect this book to be as big and heavy as it was. I was considerably impressed with the overall quality when I took it out of the box. The actual cardboard box it arrived in featured the album logo on it. A nice little touch. The outer case is fairly sturdy and I can't see it being damaged at all. It looks great with lots of bright colours bursting out of the album cover. The book inside with all the discs and pictures etc is also very well put together. The photographs are all nice and clear. The text is a good size and is very easy to read. I would have preferred that the discs were held in small slip cases instead of being slotted into a little pouch. Sometimes this can cause scratches to the discs. But that's just a little gripe and I wouldn't say it takes away from the overall product. According to the sources online, this Sign o' the Times deluxe box-set collects all the available recordings that Prince made in 1987. There's a total of forty five previously unreleased studio recordings and a complete two hour double disc live show recorded on June 20th, 1987 in Utrecht during the albums European tour. The super deluxe edition features eight CDs in total. The original album is on discs one and two. Disc three features album singles and extended 12" renditions. Discs four, five and six features all of the unreleased extras. These three discs themselves are the real gem of the box-set. There's a few duds in there but the majority of the four hours of music is to die for. The live show, The final performance of the Sign o' the Times tour, it's spread over discs seven and eight. It's a New Years Eve benefit concert at Paisley Park. The book features a mass of fantastic photos from Jeff Katz and Prince's archives. There's also a lot of liner notes from the likes of Dave Chappelle, Lenny Kravitz, engineer Susan Rogers and many more. It's an impressive looking beast of a set. All the music in this box-set was remastered by Bernie Grundman. He has clearly put a lot of effort into making sure the that album, all the b-sides, 12" singles, dub mixes etc are all of the highest quality. Until I acquired this box-set, I honestly didn't think Sign 'o the Times needed a remaster. But after hearing what Bernie has done for the album, I am glad they went ahead with it. The music has been given a nice subtle kick up the rear. The guitar has more bite, the bass and drums are clearer with a bit more lower end to them. It gives the music a little extra kick. Of course, the real die hard fan will be concerned about whether the music has been brick walled or not. Thankfully, it has not and not just that, it's considerably nicer on the ears than the original CDs. Gone are the little tape hisses etc found on the original prints. This is about as immaculate as music can get. You'll find this sign copy is a hair louder than the old copy but subtle enough that it makes no real difference. The live album on discs seven and eight is a little quiet than the album itself. I'm not sure if that's down to the recording itself or if it was a choice during the remastering process. The live show is really good. It's a warts and all performance, sounding good and consistent through out. I have been listening to Prince for just over fifteen years now. I'm not what you'd call a die hard fan. I don't know the history, all the information on everything released here. That isn't my thing. But from a purely listening experience, this collection is an easy 10/10. It's beautifully packaged, superbly remastered and all the unreleased goodies are to die for. If you're looking for more '80s Prince to add to your collection, this Sign o' the Times box-set isn't even worth questioning. It's a must buy, end of. Don't question it. You'll love it!

Even as a long-term Prince fan, I admit that I almost balked at the price of this box set... but after hesitating on the Super Deluxe 1999 set (and ending up paying considerably more than it would have originally cost) I bit the bullet and have got to say it is worth every penny. The packaging is superb in itself and the 8CD&1DVD box set is presented as a hardback book (the size of a vinyl) with all the discs packaged in the very back of the book which has a beautiful selection of photos and references the history of what built up into Sign O The Times. Music wise, the first 2 discs are the original 1987 remastered and it sounds absolutely fantastic. The 3rd disc has b-sides, single edits and promo bits but to my ears it is discs 4, 5 and 6 - 3 discs of previously unreleased material from The Vault - amazingly clear (no bootleg quality here) of material that grew during sessions for what would have been 'Dream Factory', 'Camille', 'Crystal Ball' before being omitted from the final 'Sign O The Times' configuration. So good that I've had them playing through my headphones almost non-stop for the last 18 hours. Discs 7 & 8 are audio of a live 1987 Concert from Holland with true soundboard quality. Finally you have a DVD concert from New Year at the end of 1987 - the last concert of the SoT tour ending at Minneapolis. For those of you hesitating at the price - don't. It's worth every penny and an investment. Once it sells out I can imagine this popping up on other sites for near £250-£300 (and then you really will be kicking yourselves). It is a shame that we had to lose an artist of Prince' calibre to get to see this type of release - I cannot imagine it would have ever been released in his lifetime. But it is a truly emotional experience to listen through this whole collection and know that we lived in the in the same moment of time as this musical genius...

Ok, first of all I may be biased because I love almost everything he ever did and love quite a bit of bootlegged material as much as the official releases, but this is quite simply the most exciting Estate release so far. First, the box is awesome and normal vinyl record sized, so it fits nicely in my collection. The book and pictures are great, many of the essays are interesting (barring one that interjected too much opinion instead of facts), and of course, whether you’re an 80’s only kind of ridiculous fan or a whole career enthusiast, it’s hard to argue that SOTT isn’t the most complete awesome representation of Prince, and a must have for any true music fan. Definitely the best of his first decade in the industry. 2nd decade o(+> (the love symbol) gets my vote, 3rd The Rainbow Children, and probably Art Official Age for latter career, but really it’s all worth listening to… So, the original album isn’t flawless, perhaps due to the forced editing to a 2 record set, but that editing brought highlight U Got The Look to the album, so...anyway, album 1 could stand alone as a fantastic album, album 2 definitely needs the anchor of the other album to feel complete, again, probably because of the forced editing down from the original triple record. BUT MAN ALIVE this box is the best dip into the vault yet, it will be hard to out do this, except when they perhaps get to the post-1996 vault stuff, as that stuff has very little in the way of bootlegs, whereas the Purple Rain, 1999 & SOTT reissues have many previously bootlegged things on them. However, even with the previously leaked material, it’s so nice to have quality releases of this stuff! Just wonderful revelations... my only complaint is I’d like to see more album formatted sequencing. One, who wants to have the same song repeated in different form one after another, or tracks that don’t flow well? That’s been a huge damper on any thought of getting the vinyl, at least a digital version can be programmed or playlisted into something enjoyable. Could’ve done all the 7” versions together, all the remixes as a set without running Hot Thing after Hot Thing. Could’ve even saved some space by adding the non-album b-sides to the end of the main album.... oh well, I suppose the chronological order is the simplest way, but again, I’ll be sticking with CDs. Anyway, beautiful set, amazing material, even the mailing box is so fun with its giant peace symbol... A MUST HAVE COLLECTION

Die Lieferung erfolgte prompt am Tag der Veröffentlichung, da ich diese Edition vorbestellt hatte. Als ich das Paket sah, konnte ich kaum glauben, dass sich in diesem großen Karton "nur" 8 CDs und eine DVD befinden sollten. Ausgehend von einer Verwechselung durch amazon mit Vinylplatten war ich mir unsicher, ob ich es öffnen oder zurückschicken sollte. Aber die Neugier war größer, also begann das große Auspacken. Das Produkt, was dabei am Ende zum Vorschein kam. hat einen Umfang von 32 x 32 cm, also tatsächlich den Umfang einer Schallplatte. Doch ist es tatsächlich erstmal das absolut hochwertige Buch, das man zu sehen bekommt. Auf den letzten beiden Seiten des Buches befinden sich sich vorne die DVD und ganz hinten in einer Doppelseite die 8 CDs. Obwohl ich nun seit knapp 2 Wochen im Besitz dieser Ausgabe bin und mir auch schon alles angehört habe, wird es eine große Aufgabe werden, das alles zu verinnerlichen. Denn was Prince hier in den Jahren von 1985 (da begannen die ersten Aufnahmen) bis 1987 abgeliefert hat, ist, um es mit einem Wort zu sagen, magisch. "Sign O`The Times" so wie der Zuhörer die Platte heute als Doppel CD kennt ist ein Konglomerat aus 3 Alben, die Prince produziert hatte, dazu gehörten das nie veröffentlichte "Dream Factory" Album, die ursprüngliche "Crystal Ball" Fassung und ein Album namens "Camille". Dieses zeichnet sich durch eine technisch überarbeitete sehr hohe Stimmlage aus, Prince nannte diesen Tonhöheneffekt Camille. Bestes Beispiel dafür ist das geniale "Cosmic Day", das auch noch, wie fast alle Tracks aus dem Vault, mit einem virtuosen Gitarrensolo aufwarten kann. Wer hätte gedacht, dass ein ohnehin genialer Song wie "Strange Relationship" im Vault noch in einer Sitar Version existierte? Oder das absolut meisterhafte "Blanche", das in den Liner Notes nur als Rumspielerei nach Feierabend bezeichnet wird. Immer her damit und mehr davon. Der Song "Can I Play With U" mit Miles Davis plätschert so unaufgeregt und entspannt vor sich hin, dass es einfach nur Spaß macht, da zuzuhören. Und, und, und... Das Buch ist 120 Seiten stark und bietet neben vielen unbekannten Bildern auch Abschriften der Songs mit handschriftlichen Notizen von Prince inklusive Änderungen. Es ist aus hochwertigem Material und sehr stabil.

Estas ediciones son increíbles. La cantidad de contenido extra tanto visual como auditivo hacen que valga completamente la pena tenerlo en tu colección de Prince.

Play Sign O'the Times alongside some other big LPs with a 1987 release date.. The Joshua Tree, Hysteria, Faith, Whitney, Bete Noire, Cloud Nine, Paid In Full, Bad and BAD; perhaps only The Cure's Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me approaches it in sheer volume of material but Prince beats Smith and company for variety. Serious fans know the original album is possibly Prince's greatest. They also would've heard a lot of the b-sides and remixes, which are interesting at least, and brilliant at best. Of the extra tracks, the best ones appeared in the 1990s on Crystal Ball, but there are still plenty of riches. Get this before it disappears.

I just received the set this afternoon (October 6, 2020). I have not yet listened to the CDs or watched the DVD (I will add more to this review after I have listened and watched) - but I am absolutely overjoyed simply reading the lavish and lovingly-created hardback book that is included in the set. It has loads of magnificent photos that I neve remember seeing before. It also has pages of photos of Prince's hand-written lyrics. It also has several essays and interviews with key people involved in the making of the original album. So often these greatly-anticipated Box Sets can be a bit of a disappointment, but I'd say that this is quite possibly the best Box Set of the many that I own. The set arrived very safely packaged in sturdy cardboard inside a box, all surrounded by those little protective air-bags that Amazon and other shippers use.. I have examined the condition of the set very carefully, both inside and out. I checked each individual disc. Everything is in absolutely pristine condition. The exterior (LP-record size) box containing the Box Set itself has no scratches, marks or dents. I am absolutely delighted everything is in such perfect condition. To all fans of this magnificent and iconic album: if you are able (admittedly this is a very expensive set), please grab this wonderful set before it becomes unavailable or the price shoots up to absurd levels. I hesitated with Prince's other deluxe box sets (1999 and Purple Rain) and I now regret that decision. This set is absolutely magnificent and (I feel) is very worthy even of Prince's own perfectionism and legendary selectiveness when it came to issuing his music.