Prince: Sign O The Times - Live

If you've been waiting for a professional DVD release of this must-have classic, then I recommend purchasing this item. Many fans have resorted to purchasing "hobbyist quality" transfers while waiting for a professional release. Alliance Atlantis is a professional film/broadcast production and distribution company based in Toronto, Canada. Alliance Atlantis' release of this classic provides a basic, professional quality release with sound and video that appear to be every bit as good as the original. While the DVD doesn't feature any sort of extras, it does offer professional quality Dolby 2.0 or Dolby 5.1 mastering. Kudos to Alliance Atlantis for finding the way to bring this grossly overlooked classic into the modern age!

I've owned the VHS version of Sign O The Times for years, so I didn't really expect any surprises. In fact, I was hesitant to purchase this Canadian import since I had no way of knowing how good the quality would be. I've flirted with the idea for months and finally came to a decision after reading the reviews here and on other sites online. First of all, the dvd arrived WEEKS before I expected it. Found the package in my mailbox and quickly loaded the disc into my dvd player. The first thing I saw were vibrant horizontal streaks running the length of my tv screen. ("I knew it was too good to be true.) As I watched with some disappointment, I remembered a conversation I had with a coworker earlier today in which I explained my preference for watching dvds on my laptop because the resolution was so much better (!!!). I immediately set up my laptop and loaded the disc. I wasn't prepared for what I saw. This dvd version of Sign O The Times is simply BEAUTIFUL! The resolution is crystal clear and the colors are vibrant. The audio is pristine; the stereo mix clear and bombastic, the separation supurb! In fact, I plugged in my cheap set of headphones and was amazed at how great this disc sounded. Can't imagine what I'll hear once I get a pair of quality headphones. (Gotta wait til the family leaves before I plug in my external speakers.) While sampling the disc, I was reminded of why I fell in love with this performance when I first experienced it many years ago. The distributors of this Canadian version obviously took great care in transferring SOTT into the dvd format. As you can tell, I'm greatly impressed. I highly recommend the purchase of this disc. I commend Amazon.ca for their excellent service and for allowing me the opportunity to re-experience Prince in what's arguably his finest performance on film.

Who cares how long it took..? Actually I do, and so do plenty of others it seems - it's at sales rank position 73 on 22 June 2005 and apparently still rising! Still, here it is at long last.

On a technical level, the DVD surpasses all expectations. Audio and image are crystal clear which is particularly amazing for something recorded almost 20 years ago now. If you ever had this on tape you will be amazed. As other reviewers have said, the picture quality for You Got The Look is indeed the dreadful exception but you get the promo video for the single, not live footage, plus it is meant to be a "dream sequence" and I think was inferior on the original VHS edition of the movie. The audio for the track is however of the same quality of the rest of the DVD and great to listen to with its extended intro.

As for the live performances of Prince and his entourage, be in no doubt that this is the best you will ever get, and that's pretty near perfect. The arrangements of the songs taken from the album are in many ways better than on the album itself, particularly "Gonna Be A Beautiful Night" which is far more energised than the album version as recorded in Paris, "Hot Thing" with its fantastic extended organ intro, "Forever In My Life" with its wonderful warm up and much improved "gospel" backing, and "I Could Never Take The Place..." which is just Prince at his absolute best. Overall of course there are no duds here at all - I just thought I should mention my favourites.

Be in no doubt - whether you bought this on tape the first time or are diving into Prince's back catalogue to understand what the fuss was all about in the 80's, you really should buy this DVD.