Prince – Sign "O" the Times - Limited Mediabook Edition (+ Bonus-BR) (+ Bonus-DVD) [Blu-ray] [1987]

The Sign O the Times concert film showcases the Purple Yoda's musical prowess and incredible skills as a showman. There is a loose plot intended to link the whole thing as a "story", but it really takes a backseat to the performances. Prince's band at the time was cobbled together after the collapse of the Revolution, but they proved to be one of his strongest ensembles. The incredible drumming of Sheila E, the masterful horns by Eric Leeds and Matt Blistan, the skillful guitar work of Mico Weaver and bassist Levi Seacer Jr, the one-two punch on keyboards by Boni Boyer and former Revolutionary Matt "The Doctor" Fink...all of it backs up the amazing guitars and vocals of the main man himself! The choreography by Cat Glover is some of the best in the business at the time, and this was during a period when Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul were all active!The songs themselves are primarily culled from the album of the same name. Widely considered by most Prince fans to be his best work, the songs all translate beautifully to a live setting. Tunes such as "Hot Thing" and "If I Was Your Girlfriend" are dripping with sensuality, while songs like "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" and "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night" raise the roof off. The concluding number, "The Cross" is just an amazing, emotional performance that is made all the more poignant with the passing of Prince in April of 2016.The disc is a region-free one, so you needn't worry that this won't play on your Blu Ray player. The price is good, and the very fact that this saw release in Canada is a major win for US fans as well. The rights to this film are mired in red tape in the US, which is why it hasn't had an official home video release in the States since its initial debut on VHS! Getting a region-free release in Canada means that it is an affordable import for US fans.The overall look of the print is superb overall. The exception is on "U Got the Look", mainly because Prince decided to edit the music video into the film. While the rest of the movie was shot on film, "U Got the Look" was shot on standard video tape. There is a noticeable shift in the quality, but it is fairly unavoidable. For me, this didn't detract enough to ruin the experience, so I'm not deducting anything here.The disc sounds beautiful. I don't have a surround sound setup, but just hearing it from my speakers was amazing enough. I cannot wait to take it to a friend's house with a good system! This is Prince, so you want to hear the tunes as clearly as possible. The team working on this disc made sure that it sounded amazing.Can't recommend this high enough. If you're a longtime fan, this is a crucial part of your collection! Personally, I find this to be his best film, even surpassing "Purple Rain" on the strength of the performances alone. If you are fairly new to Prince's music, then this flick is a great introduction to his body of work, and a chance to see him at the very peak of his skills as a musician and performer.

Okay, it was, a long time ago, on VHS. I've since found a Brazilian DVD of it that's so dark, it's practically unwatchable. So this one was a real find! I actually forgot how good this show was, although of course the experience has been enhanced considerably by the Blu-Ray presentation. Seeing it in 16:9 aspect ratio, plus the sonic improvements inherent in this format made seeing this again a new experience for me. This is a 1987 show in Rotterdam when he was touring his "Sign O' The Times" album, which IMO in its day was as good or better than his previous filmed project, "Purple Rain". All of your favorites from this album aren't represented ("Adore" is an almost unforgiveable omission), but he generally hits the high points. "It" was relegated to a kind of call-and-response thing between the stage and the audience, following the excellent "Forever In My Life", but that was kind of a throw-away track anyway. The only track not from SOTT is a rousing version of "Little Red Corvette" unless you count the jazz vamps performed by a cracking band (like "Take The 'A' Train") during Prince's multiple wardrobe changes. I watched it with my wife, who wasn't very familiar with the album, and never saw the VHS, and her jaw dropped. We can stipulate that Prince was a brilliant performer and songwriter, but to actually witness as close as we will ever come to a live performance (now...) this is as good as it will get until the Estate begins releasing from the Archives. I can see how he injured himself! Performing all of those splits and jumping fearlessly from risers were bound to take a physical toll at some point.... The only real caveats I have about this Blu-Ray are these: 1) Although purported to be "region-free", it would not play in my Samsung Blu-Ray player, even though it played in my PS4 and Sanyo player just fine. 2). "U Got The Look", while not one of my favorites from the album in the first place, is not performed live. It seems as though they inserted the MTV video, and it's in 480p, when the rest of the disc is in 1080p. Not much of a letdown for me, but it was a hit record, so someone might care. Otherwise, this is a truly excellent presentation and a reminder of the supreme gifts of a talented performer we took for granted and threw away in order to pursue lesser music. RIP, Prince Rogers Nelson.

If you are a Prince fan, this was a no brainer. I worn out my vhs copy years ago and was always unhappy with dvd version of Sign, very grainy and muted sound. I was abit apprehensive on this purchase thinking that someone has probably just copied from dvd to blu ray, but was very surprised picture quality was awesome, not up to true blu ray standard but damn it was brilliant to see this concert in its true colours and the sound oh boy it kicks ass.For me it would be very hard to pick a favourite but the stand out has got to be: I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man. Prince jams along forever he gets so caught up in the moment you know its not scripted. Too be honest who ever loves great music be it rock/soul/funk/jazz this deserves to be in your collection.

One of the top concert videos ever. This production rank with the likes of Shine a Light and The Last Waltz from the legendary Scorsese. The visuals and the audio quality of this disc are excellent. I had a copy of this on VHS from the nineties and knew that the lineup and the music were great. Upon Prince's death I began trying to find a digital release of this concert. Due to issues with copyrights and distribution, it was only available in Canada and for a very steep price. When this became available here, I snatched it up and was very surprised at the quality.On a side note, if you are unaware of Prince's prowess on the guitar, this concert will show you not only his showmanship but his mastery of the instrument.