Prince’s ‘Sign o’ the Times’ Gets A Massive Reissue With 13 LP Or 8CD Set

“I feel that we’re on the brink of something. It is going to be strict and wild and pretty.” — Prince, 1986

More than any other release in his four-decade-long recording career, Prince’s iconic double album Sign O’ The Times captured the artist in a period of complete reinvention.

Primarily recorded between the end of 1985 and beginning of 1987, the era saw the dissolution of his band The Revolution, the end of his engagement to Susannah Melvoin, and the creation (and ultimate abandonment) of the albums Dream Factory, Camille, and Crystal Ball. By the end of that period of transformation, Prince emerged with one of his most urgent and wide-ranging releases to date — an epochal double album that would be hailed as a creative, critical, and commercial triumph.

The Super Deluxe Edition includes all the audio material that Prince officially released in 1987, as well as 45 previously unissued studio songs recorded between May 1979 and July 1987, and a complete live audio performance from the June 20, 1987 stop on the Sign O’ The Times Tour at Stadium Galgenwaard in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Also included is a brand-new DVD containing the complete, previously unreleased New Year’s Eve benefit concert at Paisley Park on December 31, 1987, which was Prince’s final performance of the Sign O’ The Times Tour stage show and his only on-stage collaboration with jazz legend Miles Davis.

The Super Deluxe Edition set also features a 120-page hardcover book containing Prince’s previously unseen handwritten lyrics for many of the songs from the era, including the hits “U Got The Look,” “I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man,” and “Hot Thing,” iconic unseen images from the era taken by Prince’s primary photographer in the mid-1980s to early 90s, Jeff Katz, plus images of archive assets including original analog tape reels and studio tracking sheets.

The Super Deluxe Edition book is completed with brand-new liner notes by Prince’s creative peers and friends Dave Chappelle (in conversation with photographer Mathieu Bitton) and Lenny Kravitz; Prince’s longtime engineer Susan Rogers; Daphne A. Brooks, Professor of African American Studies, American Studies, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Yale University; Minneapolis radio host and author Andrea Swensson, host of the Official Prince Podcast; and Prince scholar and author Duane Tudahl. 

Release date September 25th, 2020

Deluxe Edition 8 CD+ DVD Set

Deluxe Edition 13 LP + DVD Set

Track listing

Remastered Album (LP 1)
  1. Sign O’ The Times
  2. Play In The Sunshine
  3. Housequake
  4. The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker
  5. It
  6. Starfish And Coffee
  7. Slow Love
  8. Hot Thing
  9. Forever In My Life
Remastered Album (LP 2)
  1. U Got The Look
  2. If I Was Your Girlfriend
  3. Strange Relationship
  4. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
  5. The Cross
  6. It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night
  7. Adore
Single Mixes & Edits (LP 3 & LP 4)
  1. Sign O’ The Times (7” single edit)
  2. La, La, La, He, He, Hee (7” single edit)
  3. La, La, La, He, He, Hee (Highly Explosive)
  4. If I Was Your Girlfriend (7” single edit)
  5. Shockadelica (“If I Was Your Girlfriend” B-side)
  6. Shockadelica (12” long version)
  7. U Got the Look (Long Look) (12” edit)
  8. Housequake (7” edit)
  9. Housequake (7 Minutes MoQuake)
  10. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (Fade 7” edit)
  11. Hot Thing (7” single edit)
  12. Hot Thing (Extended Remix)
  13. Hot Thing (Dub Version)
Vault, Part 1 (LP 5 & LP 6)

All tracks previously unreleased

  1. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (1979 version)
  2. Teacher, Teacher (1985 version)
  3. All My Dreams
  4. Can I Play With U? (featuring Miles Davis)
  5. Wonderful Day (original version)
  6. Strange Relationship (original version)
  7. Visions
  8. The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker (with horns)
  9. Witness 4 The Prosecution (version 1)
  10. Power Fantastic (live in studio)
  11. And That Says What?
  12. Love And Sex
  13. A Place In Heaven (Prince vocal)
  14. Colors
  15. Crystal Ball (7” mix)
  16. Big Tall Wall (version 1)
  17. Nevaeh Ni Ecalp A
  18. In A Large Room With No Light
Vault, Part 2 (LP 7 & LP 8)

All tracks previously unreleased

  1. Train
  2. It Ain’t Over ‘Til The Fat Lady Sings
  3. Eggplant (Prince vocal)
  4. Everybody Want What They Don’t Got
  5. Blanche
  6. Soul Psychodelicide
  7. The Ball
  8. Adonis And Bathsheba
  9. Forever In My Life (early vocal studio run-through)
  10. Crucial (alternate lyrics)
  11. The Cocoa Boys
  12. When The Dawn Of The Morning Comes
  13. Witness 4 The Prosecution (version 2)
  14. It Be’s Like That Sometimes
Vault, Part 3 (LP 9 & LP 10)

All tracks previously unreleased

  1. Emotional Pump
  2. Rebirth Of The Flesh (with original outro)
  3. Cosmic Day
  4. Walkin’ In Glory
  5. Wally
  6. I Need A Man
  7. Promise To Be True
  8. Jealous Girl (version 2)
  9. There’s Something I Like About Being Your Fool
  10. Big Tall Wall (version 2)
  11. A Place In Heaven (Lisa vocal)
  12. Wonderful Day (12” mix)
  13. Strange Relationship (1987 Shep Pettibone Club Mix)
Live In Utrecht (LP 11, LP 12 & LP 13)

All tracks previously unreleased

  1. Intro/Sign O’ The Times
  2. Play In The Sunshine
  3. Little Red Corvette
  4. Housequake
  5. Girls & Boys
  6. Slow Love
  7. Take The “A” Train/Pacemaker/I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
  8. Hot Thing
  9. Four (With Sheila E. Drum Solo)
  10. If I Was Your Girlfriend
  11. Let’s Go Crazy
  12. When Doves Cry
  13. Purple Rain
  14. 1999
  15. Forever In My Life
  16. Kiss
  17. The Cross
  18. It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night
Live At Paisley Park – December 31, 1987 (DVD)

All tracks previously unreleased

  1. Sign O’ The Times
  2. Play In The Sunshine
  3. Little Red Corvette
  4. Erotic City
  5. Housequake
  6. Slow Love
  7. Do Me, Baby
  8. Adore
  9. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
  10. What’s Your Name Jam
  11. Let’s Pretend We’re Married
  12. Delirious
  13. Jack U Off
  14. Drum Solo
  15. Twelve
  16. Hot Thing
  17. If I Was Your Girlfriend
  18. Let’s Go Crazy
  19. When Doves Cry
  20. Purple Rain
  21. 1999
  22. U Got The Look
  23. It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night Medley (featuring Miles Davis)

Track listing

Remastered Album (CD 1)
  1. Sign O’ The Times
  2. Play In The Sunshine
  3. Housequake
  4. The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker
  5. It
  6. Starfish And Coffee
  7. Slow Love
  8. Hot Thing
  9. Forever In My Life
Remastered Album (CD 2)
  1. U Got The Look
  2. If I Was Your Girlfriend
  3. Strange Relationship
  4. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
  5. The Cross
  6. It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night
  7. Adore
Single Mixes & Edits (CD 3)
  1. Sign O’ The Times (7” single edit)
  2. La, La, La, He, He, Hee (7” single edit)
  3. La, La, La, He, He, Hee (Highly Explosive)
  4. If I Was Your Girlfriend (7” single edit)
  5. Shockadelica (“If I Was Your Girlfriend” B-side)
  6. Shockadelica (12” long version)
  7. U Got the Look (Long Look) (12” edit)
  8. Housequake (7” edit)
  9. Housequake (7 Minutes MoQuake)
  10. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (Fade 7” edit)
  11. Hot Thing (7” single edit)
  12. Hot Thing (Extended Remix)
  13. Hot Thing (Dub Version)
Vault, Part 1 (CD 4)

All tracks previously unreleased

  1. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (1979 version)
  2. Teacher, Teacher (1985 version)
  3. All My Dreams
  4. Can I Play With U? (featuring Miles Davis)
  5. Wonderful Day (original version)
  6. Strange Relationship (original version)
  7. Visions
  8. The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker (with horns)
  9. Witness 4 The Prosecution (version 1)
  10. Power Fantastic (live in studio)
  11. And That Says What?
  12. Love And Sex
  13. A Place In Heaven (Prince vocal)
  14. Colors
  15. Crystal Ball (7” mix)
  16. Big Tall Wall (version 1)
  17. Nevaeh Ni Ecalp A
  18. In A Large Room With No Light
Vault, Part 2 (CD 5)

All tracks previously unreleased

  1. Train
  2. It Ain’t Over ‘Til The Fat Lady Sings
  3. Eggplant (Prince vocal)
  4. Everybody Want What They Don’t Got
  5. Blanche
  6. Soul Psychodelicide
  7. The Ball
  8. Adonis And Bathsheba
  9. Forever In My Life (early vocal studio run-through)
  10. Crucial (alternate lyrics)
  11. The Cocoa Boys
  12. When The Dawn Of The Morning Comes
  13. Witness 4 The Prosecution (version 2)
  14. It Be’s Like That Sometimes
Vault, Part 3 (CD 6)

All tracks previously unreleased

  1. Emotional Pump
  2. Rebirth Of The Flesh (with original outro)
  3. Cosmic Day
  4. Walkin’ In Glory
  5. Wally
  6. I Need A Man
  7. Promise To Be True
  8. Jealous Girl (version 2)
  9. There’s Something I Like About Being Your Fool
  10. Big Tall Wall (version 2)
  11. A Place In Heaven (Lisa vocal)
  12. Wonderful Day (12” mix)
  13. Strange Relationship (1987 Shep Pettibone Club Mix)
Live In Utrecht (CD 7 & CD 8)

All tracks previously unreleased

  1. Intro/Sign O’ The Times
  2. Play In The Sunshine
  3. Little Red Corvette
  4. Housequake
  5. Girls & Boys
  6. Slow Love
  7. Take The “A” Train/Pacemaker/I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
  8. Hot Thing
  9. Four (With Sheila E. Drum Solo)
  10. If I Was Your Girlfriend
  11. Let’s Go Crazy
  12. When Doves Cry
  13. Purple Rain
  14. 1999
  15. Forever In My Life
  16. Kiss
  17. The Cross
  18. It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night
Live At Paisley Park – December 31, 1987 (DVD)

All tracks previously unreleased

  1. Sign O’ The Times
  2. Play In The Sunshine
  3. Little Red Corvette
  4. Erotic City
  5. Housequake
  6. Slow Love
  7. Do Me, Baby
  8. Adore
  9. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
  10. What’s Your Name Jam
  11. Let’s Pretend We’re Married
  12. Delirious
  13. Jack U Off
  14. Drum Solo
  15. Twelve
  16. Hot Thing
  17. If I Was Your Girlfriend
  18. Let’s Go Crazy
  19. When Doves Cry
  20. Purple Rain
  21. 1999
  22. U Got The Look
  23. It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night Medley (featuring Miles Davis)

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