Prince’s ‘Sign o’ The Times’ Set For Eight-Disc Box Set

Set for release on September 25th is the “Super Deluxe Edition” of Prince's legendary 1987 double album set, Sign o' The Times. The collection, which will now be expanded to an eight CD/DVD and/or 13 LP and DVD set, includes the original album remastered for the very first time, 63 previously unreleased tracks, as well as a previously unissued two-plus hour video concert performance from Prince’s legendary vault. The set will also be available in triple and double set editions.

According to the press release:

The “Super Deluxe Edition” brings fans 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 20th, 1987 stop on the Sign o’ The Times tour at Stadium Galgenwaard in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

In addition, both CD and vinyl sets also boast a brand-new DVD containing 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 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, iconic unseen images from the era taken by Prince’s primary photographer in the mid-1980's to early-'90s, Jeff Katz, plus “images of archive assets including original analog tape reels and studio tracking sheets.”

Prince explained that music should mirror every emotion — but ultimately, always do so with positivity: “I think it should uplift (laughs). There's enough things that bring you down — we don't need to jack up out music that way, too. There's still a way to get anger and even hatred across sometimes in music. But, you have to resolve it. You have to show that it's useless to uphold these ideas.”