Sign o' the Times Review

He broke up the band, scrapped a triple album, cannibalised two other unreleased projects and made this largely by himself, and the result is the widest single statement in his catalogue. The title track is a drum machine, a bass line and a list of things going wrong in the world, delivered almost without emotion, which makes it hit far harder than shouting would. If I Was Your Girlfriend is sung in a sped up alter ego voice and asks a question about intimacy that pop had not thought to ask.

The Ballad of Dorothy Parker is a mix accident, recorded with the top end missing, and he kept it because the murk was better. Adore is a straight soul ballad performed with total conviction. U Got the Look is a hit, Housequake is a party, and It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night is a live band at full stretch. Eighty minutes and the only real complaint is that nobody could sustain this twice.