I believe I was about 16-17 when this album came out..Junior in High School. I remember I begged my mom to buy it when she got her check. The price was 25.99 @ Sam Goody. I held it for days before I got it. Lets say too that i had no idea about his unreleased tunes or even that he had a vault..I didnt know what bootleg music was at the time.

The first time I opened it..there were 2 Disc 1's so I took it back immediatley and got another one...then they forgot to put the book back in! I WAS MAD!

Anyway disc 1 I felt ok about. I really didnt know WHAT to think about Crystal Ball and Dream Factory..my mind was BLOWN! I never heard music like that before. To say, I was very upset about the next remaining tracks because of their lack to live up to the first two. It sounded like Prince on Random play..I didnt know what I was going to get! I was happy to hear Lovesign because I remember not liking it before but I loved the version on Crystal Ball. My brother said "Movie Star" was dumb and that it was embarassing, but I thought it was ..a bit entertaining...and I did enjoy the dance version of Continental "Tell Me How..." but then I asked myself..."why?? And for what reason?"

Thats when i started to question what IS THIS ALBUM?

Disc II: I HATED Interactive ..back then i didnt like rock music at all so it did nothing for me..I hated all the next tunes until I heard "Crucial" and started to smile again. I let my mom listen to it too and she turned it up!! Honest Man...MEH..i ttrudged throught it...then Sexual Suicide came on...lost my mind again! Cloreen was funny to me but by the 7th minute i skipped it and decided to try it later.

Then it hit me! GOOD LOVE.....LORD HAVE MERCY. I couldnt even get through the second verse without playing it back. I played that song 9 times in a row!!!!! My brother said, "DAMN YOU MUST LOOVE THAT SONG!" Loud at me. That was my Prince moment. i was stunned and appaled at the music I was listening to. it was so outrageously well done that I played that song every night and everyday almost for a damn near two week period. let's just say Strays Of The World got no play after that.

After I got that out my system I got in2 Disc 3 a BIT...Days Of Wild...didnt catch me....still don't ..I dont even know why people like that song so much but Last Heart was great. I was getting tired of hearing tunes I liked and the next one be some mess like Poom Poom..."the fuck?" I said when I heard that track. I vowed to not play that in class ever as well as some others @ the time for my own sake. Man it took me many skips and "ughhhh what is this??"'s before I heard Make Yo Mama Happy. I was pleasantly suprised and got in2 the tune. Then Goodbye ended it all....meh. I thoght my mom would like it but she kinda listened to it..kinda didnt.

I saved the Truth for later..and actually I liked it alot. It was the first acoustic type record I ever listened to at the time and I thought it was innovative for him to me and my knowledge of P at the time.


WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE???
[Edited 4/2/09 16:58pm]

I was around for the original bootleg and was in heaven

let's please not revisit that era.

it was one of the first in a series of events that made me really not want to be a Prince fan.


nice album, horrid event.

errant said:

so glad we were too poor for the internet. Had to wait til it hit the stores so I was spared the drama

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

same here!

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

what, you didn't have a phone? that's how i ordered mine.

I remember just before this album, Prince mentioned on the radio that he had written two songs since the Gold Experience, "Don't Play Me" and "2Morrow"... the Tom Joyner rip of "2Morrow" got heavy play on my walkman.

I also remember "Animal Kingdom" leaking and I had to download it as an mp2 (yes, "2"), and thinking "ummmmm, ok?" - same with the short snipped of Da Bang

It was cool to hear Dream Factory after he teased us with it on that one seque on the Exodus CD - I still would love to visit an alternate world where that got released after Parade.

I thought the Kamasutra CD was good, for about 7 seconds. Good Lord, that was awful.

The song choices on Crystal Ball were suspect. Not sure why "Tell me how u wanna be done" exists in any form. And why was each disc only 45 minutes?? It could've been a two disc set for that. There's about 1000 unreleased songs currently available on bootleg, and he chooses songs that were either already released, or shoddy remixes of already released stuff. He also passed over some real gems, but maybe the plan was to release more volumes (beyond the ill-fated Crystal Ball II).

I remember 1800NewFunk screwing up the order so bad, that it was out in stores before I got mine, and my impatient ass went and bought it, so now have two clear hockey pucks sitting on the shelf (Yay, one with Kamasutra).

The website was cool though - one of his first forays into bloated website nonsense that he thinks grown adults like to wade through.

Disc 2 is still my favorite, it rocks the hardest. If you take all the 95-era stuff on there, you have an awesome "The Gold Experience 2".

"Sexual Suicide" still stands as one of his best songs.

Sorry for the rambling.

billymeade said:

This thread was MMMAAADDEE for rambling go ahead! I want to know everyones experience and thoughts.

the album itself...


could really do without the remixes. none of them are as good as the originals. Good Love is only here because he could get away with it. and Cloreen Baconskin is fun, but it takes up 15 minutes that could have been used more wisely. but then, the disc space overall could have been used more wisley. 49:49 for each disc could have fit on 2 (splitting them between the 2 eras covered), or he could have really made all the pain and suffering associated with its release worthwhile by cramming them full.

umm... what else?

oh, the rest of the songs are pretty great. there aren't really any that i dislike, other than, say, Da Bang and Make Your Mama Happy (and the remixes).

favorites would be Crystal Ball, Dream Factory, Acknowledge Me, Hide The Bone, Interactive, Crucial, What's My Name, Sexual Suicide, Strays Of The World, Days Of Wild, Last Heart, She Gave Her Angels, The Ride, and Good Love, even if it's unnecessary.

it was good getting Kamasutra on CD. and the Truth is lovely.

The War, for ordering it directly from him, was a nice bonus later in the year.

what else?

oh, i used that stupid " love , loves me" shirt as a cumrag for about 5 years. i wonder if i still have it packed away somewhere. i hope not

and like most people, I went ahead and picked it up at a retail store (with better packaging, i might add!) before my copy was shipped to me.

I remember spending a lot of time on hold, and my order being lost, and then getting two CB sets (with Prince's wonderful 'no refunds, not ever, no way' policy. I actually made a nice profit on eBay with one of them, so all is forgiven.

I'm sure I enjoyed the set at the time, I was disappointed with the amount of newer vs older stuff on it, but it was nice to get some of the missing Gold/Come era stuff like Interactive, Acknowledge Me, What's My Name.

An Honest Man is the worst travesty, where the hell is the fantastic piano piece from the beginning of UTCM - That's the 'An Honest Man' I wanted.

paisleypark4 said:

it was a live thing. you almost have to see it. check out the 'love4oneanother' tv special.

NouveauDance said:

or the faster paced one from the rehearsals. i love that one best.

i ordered through 1-800-new-funk and was charged but never received my set. i ended up buying it at retail on release day.

I mean, yeah, technically it was a "Crystal Ball" era.. but I was hoping we were talking about the actual era in which the song was written. That group of songs is nice to have, but he really put some bullshit on it.. He knows full well most of us wasn't lookin for 3/4ths of what is on that set. It was rehashed goods.. It's obvious to which one's the fans wanted (title track, some of the older ones) but it was top heavy on remixes and songs that really didn't flow with the overall theme. Crystal ball (The song) was the icing on the cake, and the majority of the rest was dry cake.


When I think of sets like that, I think of the Anthologies the Beatles put out.. there are TONS of gold on those anthologies, different outtakes, demos, songs that never made it.. Prince really didn't have that in mind, it was more of a gimmick set. I am very glad he put the title track on it, and in the end it was worth it for that track, but let's face it.. he knows what he has in his hands regarding his back catalog, and he screwed the pooch with that set overall.

Many of the songs are badass in retrospect.

Calhoun Square, Bone, Zippa, She Gave Her Angels, Goodbye and more.

I know many die-hards wer elooking for the good infamous good unreleased vault shit but on it's own its really is an underrated release. I hated it back then but wow now!

Goodbye would have been sung at Club Nokia just like Journey To The Center of a tootsie pop...

i'm glad to have all those songs in cd quality. buff could have backed off on the eq though.

stanleylieber said:

1st songs on disk 2 and 3 are frightfully loud when you push play.. scared me!
[Edited 4/2/09 22:53pm]

When prince opened the love4another site I was doing the alternative to military service at red cross, so using my little powerbook duo 210 I was trying to understand when and how the crystal ball could arrive in my hands. The site was slow. My powerbook was more slow than the site. The red cross analogic modem was more than "more slow".
I only remember that a night I send a fax in USA using the powerbook duo modem/fax, crossing finger around the my sister in law's credit card (I hadn't a credit card in '97. I had not a credit in '97 too).
I never know if the fax started or arrived until december when my my sister in law told me somebody take some money from her credit card.
In that age I was ending the alternative to military service, starting a work in a religious office for scanning documents, no internet at all, living like a stateless sleeping in my girlfriend house or in my family living room, near the dog's bed. I could never forget that smell.
Anyway. So, I don't know anything about the crystal ball, I do not connect to the love4oneanother and I do not follow thread in amp.
A day in march I was working at computer when thelephone ring. She was my girlfriend.
- hi, fabrizio, there is a packet for you. They send it to my sister, but there is your name written on it.
- oh, strange, what...
- It is from america
- america
- yes, the place we discovered some times ago
- I remember where america is, I was trying to unders...
- there is written CRYSTAL BALL somewhere
- damn, damn, the cystal ball. It exist!
- Do you want I open it for you?
- dams yes, open it! Open, open!
- please don't pant. it seems an erotic phone call.
- sorry. hormonic.
- anyway, I had alredy opened it. I can not resist to open closed pack.
- good girl. I love you for this too. what it is inside?
- mh... I'd like to explain to you. There is something
- Damn something what!
- A t-shirt
- Uh? I fear I made some english mistakes in the fax. Buying a t-shirt from prince is like take a cd where trussardi is singing some italian arias, it is not..
- wait. there is more.
- more.. what?
- well... something like a ball
- a ball. A t-shirt and a ball. Is there a beach-bucket too?
- Is not a beach-ball stupid. It is a ball... but not a globe.
- a ball but not a globe. an escher kind of object...
- a trasparent ball
- crystal?
- plastic
- ok. crystal and plastic are quite similar
- inside the crystal ball I can see something
- our future? married? sons?
- cds
- oh, thanks god! How many? 3 or 4??
- dunno, I have to open the ball
- break the ball! you know the way
- If you continue to be so hilarious I fear...
- sorry sorry, please, open the ball...
- ok there are some cds, are one over the other one
- how many, 3 or 4?
- there is one cd, called crystal ball
- ...
- another one...
- ...
- another one
- ... this reminds me the One Hundred and One Dalmatians movie, when peggie...
- another one, called "the truth"
- the truth is inside! oh my god, the acustic one! thank you, thank...
- another one!
- uh?
- something called kamasutra. what is this?
- I can explain you this night if you give me a bed in your house...
- I think you can explain this to your mother's dog, goodbye!

And in effect I hear the cds during the night, near the dog's bed, jumping from one song to another and from a year of my life to another one. I can still remember that night, a lot of songs of crystal ball are inside in me, and the truth is one of my favorite album at all.
I hope prince will release another anthological-but-unreleased-pack before my death, 'cause I think I could be happy to hear 'all my dreams', 'strangeways to say I love u' or 'neon telephone' living my day.
There are silly things that could be so important, sometimes I think I could die before listen those songs released. It is not so important, but is it so hard to understand how to be happy and how to make someone else happy, I think.


f.
[Edited 4/3/09 1:06am]
[Edited 4/3/09 1:08am]
[Edited 4/3/09 1:09am]

NouveauDance said:

I remember being really pleased that An Honest Man was on it. And hearing it for the first time thinking it's got a nice intro, waiting for the piano to kick and then nothing. I was pissed off.

The set has some great music on it but I don't like remixes and it's ruined by there inclusion.

I would have preferred the original version of Lovesign, at least then it would have had a much better home.

On the whole the set could have done without

Lovesign remix
SO Dark
Tell Me How You want to be done
The Ride
P Control remix
Lemme see Your body get loose (even though I do think this is the best of the remixes)

Highlights

Crystal Ball
Dream Factory
Acknowledge Me
Movie Star
All of disc 2 (apart from the disapointment of An honest Man)
Days Of Wild
last Heart
She Gave Her Angels
Make Yo Mama Happy
Goodbye
[Edited 4/3/09 2:13am]

What I remember of CB era?!?!?!?

First picture is me with my headphones approaching "Crucial" (my favourite P song) after years of hope for his official release.

Nice, gorgeous, fantastic.... but wait.. it's butchered... what happened to the end... it's missing 2 minutes..... damn...

AND ALL THIS TO MAKE ROOM FOR 16 MINUTES OF "CLOREEN BACONSKIN"?!?!?!?!?!?

That's my first thought when I look at the CB era.

The date was Spetember 23rd, 2003. I had just bought and listened to Speakerboxxx/The Love Below and was so elated at Andre 3000's part of the 2 disc set that instantly became a fan. I could not wait for new music from him- something about his style was familiar....

oh yah! He had swagger like Prince- that guy who I used to like on the radio back in the 90's. I tried downloading some newer stuff from him, curious as to what he was putting out those days. I found a song, Wonderful Ass, that I instantly fell in love with and HAD to own on disc. The low quality mp3 I had was labeled as being from the album "Crystal Ball", so I went down to Rasputin's and bought a copy that day.

To my disappointment, there was no song called Wonderful Ass on Crystal Ball. However, there was an even better song called Good Love which I could not stop playing. I also fell in love with She Gave Her Angels. After that, I became addicted to Animal Kingdom and Don't Play Me. There were tons of other good songs in the set (like Crucial Hide the Bone), but those 4 were my favs.
[Edited 4/3/09 2:54am]

I didn't mind the remixes and such. I think it's a great set but I was appalled at the edits in Crystal Ball, Movie Star and Good Love. That shouldn't have been done especially with CB and Good Love. At least the longer, original version of Good Love is out there on the Bright Lights cd but the other two edits still give us a reason to reach for the boots. And the whole purpose of the set was to take away the need for the boots.

"Crystal Ball," is a great album...From "The Truth," 2 "Goodbye," This cd shows Prince's incredible guitar talent, vocal ability, and sheer fun dance song writing.

The intellectualism is there, yet I always have to give credit for the sweet love song writing that Prince shows with the song, "Crucial."

Great thread, pp4 - I just love reading stories like those found here!! Such great memories (save for those who put up with the love4oneanother mess!)

When "Crystal Ball" came out I was living with a 'casual' Prince fan. There used to be a store here in Mpls called Media Play (I think that was its name) and they stayed open on Mondays until midnight so you could buy Tuesday releases a day early. My roommate and I bought "Crystal Ball" this way.

On the way home, I popped in disc one and we listened. I was so freakin' excited! I mean, aside from P's official releases, I had Jewel Box II, a really, really crappy Camille boot (on cassette no less!), and one dub of a dub of a dub mix of a "Come" test pressing. I didn't know the "Crystal Ball" track list ahead of time, so I thought, here's my chance to hear some of the songs 'others' talked about but I'd never heard ("Wonderful Ass," "Moonbeam Levels,"Electric Intercourse," etc.).

I was really happy with a lot of the songs and quite a few I'd never heard before. I did, however, feel like this was a missed opportunity, particularly the inclusion of:

Love Sign
Tell Me How U Wanna B Done?
P Control
So Dark
Get Loose

Of course "Crystal Ball" wouldn't contain all the songs I was really hoping for ("I Wonder," "Rebirth of the Flesh," "Love, Thy Will Be Done"), but if it hadn't had the remixes listed above, who knows what could have been there in its place. Still, "Crystal Ball" is fun to listen to and, as a matter fact, it was in my CD player up until I bought Lotusflow3r.

jillybean said:

Firstly hadnt heard Lovesign before i brought this album last year and I love that version The P Control remix was in my opinion better than the one ft on The Gold Experience it sounds like that funkier beat took away alot of the cheesyness of the original and improved the rap in some weird way So Dark is far better than Dark from come makes the tune more catchy and more acsessible

...EXPERT LOVER...EVER HAVE A CRYSTAL-BALL..
..mzsexybaby'y..yes i do'

Ppl listen to the bridge at 4:56 in "Crystall Ball" song. A MASTERPIECE!
Makes me cry.

optimus said:

Agree with Lovesign..after I heard the original I liekd the CB version alot more, but I still wondered why it was released two times...as with that horrid version of P Control (never liked that one) and then re-make of Dark...wich in essence sounded better to me...I wonder what other songs he remixed...maybe he should do a lotusflow3r release of remixes.

I thought, P Control, Honest Man, and a few others were just simply the most filler junk i've ever heard.




At least during that era he wasn't so against curse words, we would have had Wonderful Ass or something really nice on there.. now i doubt he'll ever release it..

xlr8r said:

Crystal Ball is not an album but a collection of songs from different eras. Arrange them how you like, disregard the rest.

The Truth is a unique album that deserved more notice.

..i just ordered my crystal ball box set on-line..it was almost $100..hopefully i get it soon..but i do have 2 discs of the dream factory(i know..i know..no asking about where i can get them..)..and i want 2 compare the songs from the 2 different sets..so soon i will b adding more 2 this wonderful post!!
..mzsexybaby<--if i could see the future?..i would!..u want me 2 read ur tarot cards