In the decades that followed, ''Sign o' the Times'' has been regarded by critics as Prince's best album and is often hailed as a
masterpiece. Some critics have also praised it as the best album of the 1980s. In a retrospective review, John McKie of
BBC News cited it as "one of the most acclaimed albums of the second half of the 20th century" and a "masterpiece – encompassing all of [Prince's] musical personas: bedroom balladeer; penitent Christian; one-track-mind loverman; modern-day Basie-style bandleader; whimsical storyteller; meticulous orchestrator, guitar-wielding axeman and pop craftsman."
Simon Price deemed it Prince's best album, According to journalist Kristen Pyszczyk, "critics tend to be pretty evenly divided over Prince’s best album: about half will go for
Purple Rain, and the rest usually vouch for ''Sign o' the Times'', a double album sometimes regarded as Prince's magnum opus." Kenneth Partridge of
Billboard regarded ''Sign o' the Times
as the album that broke the theory of Prince needing the Revolution to "keep him in check" and, like other critics, described the album as a "masterpiece". In a Pitchfork review, George regarded the artistry in Sign o' the Times'' as Prince's peak and that, even though some of the production sounds dated, "the scope of the songs, the musicianship, and overall arrangements are just too glorious to nitpick." He concluded that the restless power of the album saves it from being formulaic or complacent: "All these years later, it’s still a vibrant thing, the product of a great artist at the height of his power." Writing in
The Brooklyn Rail, Grimstad said that ''Sign o' the Times
is "to be included with other double sets that actually cohere (the White Album, The Basement Tapes, Something/Anything?). Proves there is no limit to what [Prince] can do." Keith Harris of Blender called Sign o' the Times'' a "masterpiece" and comments that "never has [Prince's] curiosity about women strayed into so many unpredictable corners", ''Sign o' the Times'' has appeared on publications' lists and polls of the greatest albums. In 1989,
Time Out magazine ranked ''Sign o' the Times
as the greatest album of all time. The album was ranked number 16 on the New Musical Express list of the All Time Top 100 Albums, 3rd in Hot Press'' magazine's list of the 100 Best Albums of All Time, and number 35 on
VH1's 100 Greatest Albums. The album was also placed 8th on
Nieuwe Revu's Top 100 Albums of All Time.
The Times listed ''Sign o' the Times'' as the 29th greatest album of all time. It was voted number 19 in the third edition of
Colin Larkin's
All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000). In 2003, the album was ranked number 93 on
Rolling Stone list of
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, maintaining the rank in the 2012 revision and moving up to number 45 in the 2020 reboot of the list. In 2006,
Q magazine placed the album at number 12 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s". In 2012,
Slant Magazine listed the album at number 11 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s", calling it "Prince's most varied album and his most self-consciously auteurish". The album ranked number 51 among the
Apple Music 100 Best Albums in 2024. The same year,
Paste magazine ranked ''Sign 'o' the Times
number 4 on its list of the greatest albums of all-time. In 2017, Sign o' the Times'' was inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2020, Kirk Johnson queried Prince’s fans via social media which song could be re-recorded by his former band members, and "The Cross" was selected. ==Track listing==