Publication: Playboy [US]
Date: July 1987
Section: Vol. 34
Page Number(S): 18
Length: 117 Words
Title: "Sign 'O' The Times: Record Reviews"
Written By: Nelson George

Sign 'O' the Times (Paisley Park) is a sprawling, unfocused, ambitious attempt by Prince to get back to the supersuperstar status he carned with the film and the record Purple Rain. And it works. In this 16-song double album, the man from Minneapolis displays more ,musical ideas (and more ability to execute them) than most pop stars have in a lifetime. While several cuts suggest the experimental work of the post-Purple Rain epoch, Prince stresses lyrical and musical straightforwardness here.

Prince was stung by harsh criticism of his past two albums and his film Under the Cherry Moon. Instsead of backing down, he has challenged his audience with his best music since 1999.