News

Prince Estate and Warner Records Announce Seriously Expanded Sign O' the Times Double Album++++

Michael Fremer  |  Jun 25, 2020

(Photo: © The Prince Estate | Photographer: Jeff Katz)
The Prince Estate in partnership with Warner Records announced today an expanded reissue of Prince's "epochal" Sign O' the Times double LP including a "Super Deluxe" edition featuring 8 CDs+DVD or 13 LPs+DVD. Also a 3 CD/4 LP 180g Deluxe Edition and a remastered 2 CD/2 LP peach vinyl edition for those fans trying to moderate their Prince intake.

The Super Deluxe edition includes all officially released 1987 Prince audio plus 45 previously unreleased studio songs recorded between May 1979 and July 1987 plus a complete audio performance from the June 20, 1987 stop on the Sign O' The Times Tour at Stadium Galgenwaard in Utrecht, The Netherlands. The Super Deluxe set's DVD contains the complete previously unreleased New Year's Eve benefit concert at Paisley Park on December 31st, 1987, which was Prince's final performance of the Sing O' The Times Tour stage show and his only collaboration with Miles Davis.

But wait! Theres' more!: As a companion collector piece, fans have the opportunity to order a numbered 7” singles boxed set, strictly limited to 1,987 units, and manufactured by Third Man Pressing in Detroit. Containing remastered audio for all four official 7” singles released in 1987, as well as the two official Warner Records promo singles, the set contains a brand new 7” single comprising two versions of the previously unreleased track “Witness 4 The Prosecution”. The set is available to order now, exclusively via the official Prince Store and Third Man Records Store, and is expected to ship on or before August 14.

COMMENTS
brednjam1's picture
Submitted by brednjam1 on Thu, 2020-06-25 17:07

Hi Mr. Fremer,

Will these vinyl releases be AAA? Do you know if the last Kevin Gray master was AAA?

Thanks!

Michael Fremer's picture
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Fri, 2020-06-26 07:10
Cut by Bernie Grundman...the original LP was AAA. Not sure about other stuff...
Antz's picture
Submitted by Antz on Mon, 2020-06-29 17:32

According to an interview with Michael Howe (https://www.superdeluxeedition.com/interview/prince-archivist-michael-ho...)
the mastering was done on a flat 24/192 digital transfer of the tapes.

brednjam1's picture
Submitted by brednjam1 on Thu, 2020-06-25 17:07

Hi Mr. Fremer,

Will these vinyl releases be AAA? Do you know if the last Kevin Gray master was AAA?

Thanks!

MalachiLui's picture
Submitted by MalachiLui on Thu, 2020-06-25 19:15

'1999' box wasn't AAA, as assembling a cutting master for the bonus material is risky and the tapes overall probably aren't in amazing shape, it's well known that there's water damage on some of the stuff in his vault, he didn't take care of it that well. i'm sure this 'sign o the times' set will follow suit, although the digital mastering on the '1999' box is excellent. i have the kevin gray cut 'sign o the times' and while it doesn't sound AAA to me, it's still quite good.

brednjam1's picture
Submitted by brednjam1 on Thu, 2020-06-25 19:17

Thanks Was this album even recorded on analog equipment?

MalachiLui's picture
Submitted by MalachiLui on Thu, 2020-06-25 19:31

prince recorded analog for a while, he adopted digital technologies but didn't instantly switch everything over. in the 80s, digital recording technologies required A LOT of engineers to operate and for the most part he only wanted one engineer in the studio with him, meaning that analog tape worked better then.

Michael Fremer's picture
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Fri, 2020-06-26 07:11
Bonus material not.
Anton D's picture
Submitted by Anton D on Fri, 2020-06-26 22:27

I just don’t think I’d do justice to listening to all 13 LPs.

It would be more of an “I own it” set rather than an “I play it” set.

We will see how the unreleased tracks trickle out.

MalachiLui's picture
Submitted by MalachiLui on Sun, 2020-06-28 22:21

i'm on the fence about this, cuz i want the set for collectability and the bonus tracks, but when i streamed the 1999 box, i just made a playlist of the 8 actually GREAT unreleased songs on there and ignored the rest, i can't do that on vinyl. i might just get the CD for this one...

Glotz's picture
Submitted by Glotz on Mon, 2020-06-29 15:25

And SOT is my favorite Prince album by far. I think I may get the abridged version, given the mastering will be fantastic. But imagine I would appreciate the full set streaming rather than owning & possessing the physical product.

In general, I straight up do not care about AAA recordings, and if AAA isn't a deal breaker for MF, it should not be one for any one else in here (or those that doesn't own state of the art playback gear).

If it's been treated with loving care by an industry professional, and Fremer tells me it sounds great- it is great. The only thing readers should worry about after that is "How do I get it?".

my new username's picture
Submitted by my new username on Mon, 2020-06-29 18:19

... the new 2-LP version if it's appreciably better than the original. And at $35 it would have to be. But in typical fashion, there's not so much as even a claim as to why "remastered" should be better here. I'm way past weary of assuming 180g is an automatic qualifier of better. As in, years beyond. Music label marketing departments continue to be staffed with do-ers, not thinkers. Don't get me started.

I also noticed the DVD releases here ... so was the original release only captured as SD video, not film? More's the pity, as this quasi-concert depiction obviously had a fair bit of budget $$ allotted to it at the time. It's still the version of Sign 'O the Times I recommend to newcomers. The audio-only copies are a nice souvenir to the visual experience: I first experienced it from VHS through a mono TV and was blown away.

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