Sign O’ the Times

Despite having Warner Bros. Records consolidate his vision for the project, the loss of the Revolution for a band, and the criticism and sales of post-Purple Rain releases Around the World in a Day and Parade, Sign ‘O’ The Times still became one of Prince’s – if not his most – critically acclaimed releases, creating his status as way more than a one-time hit and defining the entirety of the 1980s.

SOTT (Stylized as Sign “☮” The Times) was born from 3 uncompleted projects: Dream Factory, Crystal Ball, and Camille. Dream Factory was intended to be the 4th project from Prince & The Revolution, mostly designed and performed by the Revolution unlike previous releases, but their dissolution in 1986 shelved that project. A majority of SOTT – “It”, “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker”, “The Cross”, “Strange Relationship”, “Starfish and Coffee”, “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man”, and “Sign ‘O’ The Times” in various forms were planned for the 2-vinyl demos.

Camille was the Purple One’s side solo project that became his sole focus afterward. Through October 1986 Prince began to record altered vocals to create his feminized persona, and Warner Bros. categorized and prepared the album for a January 1987 release. This project was listed to include “Housequake”, “Strange Relationship”, and “If I Was Your Girlfriend”. Prince then decided to expand on both to create Crystal Ball, an unprecedented three-album compilation, in November. A Majority of the Camille and Dream Factory songs were included, with 7 new tracks; Prince would release a new version of his dreamt-of 3-LP box set under the same title in 1998.

Still under the par of the sales and reception expectation following the massive hit of Purple Rain, Warner Bros. did not want to pay for the project and rejected this version, beginning what would become their strained and acrimonious relationship before Prince’s departure in 1996. Prince added “U Got the Look”, a Camille-sounding radio play, to a 15-song selection from Crystal Ball and completed the 2-LP Sign “☮” The Times in January, which was release on March 30-31, 1987. Coming in at under 80 minutes, what was still a risky length at the time, the album saw stellar sales and reception, being reviewed as “the last classic R&B album prior to hip-hop’s takeover of black music and the final four-sided blockbuster of the vinyl era” in a 2004 Rolling Stone retrospective.

The album was ranked as the best album of the 1980s by international publications such as Germany’s Musikexpress, while The Guardian ranked this album as Prince’s best.

Prince would tour Europe with a Sheila E.-led band, but decided not to extend back to the U.S. and instead released the concert film of the same name to staggered success.