darkroman said:

Awesome project! This was exceptional at the time and the first ecomm initiative of it's kind. Even then Prince was breaking boundaries. Remember at this time SSL wasn't widely used. Most people were afraid to put their credit card into a web page. Most people didn't even have an email address or even the internet!!! The proposition was to get 100,000 pre-orders and then the project would be manufactured. The packaging is awesome and the lyric website was a nice digital addition. The extra t-shirt in the package was also a nice surprise. Most people never had issues with the delivery service and I've only ever recently heard of such issues on this forum - 18 years later!

^^^^

This is real talk- gotta give props where props are due. Prince took heat (and still does) for all of the dumping and oversaturation of his product on the marketplace in the '90s but today, especially in hip hop, it's commonplace. One example that comes to mind is Future in terms of how many mixtapes and albums he's put out this year alone.

Yes, for all of the miscues and roll-out problems that Crystal Ball had, Prince was ahead of the curve by a few years in terms of figuring out how to distribute his stuff directly to his fans by minimizing the "middle man" and maximizing profit. He went independent and figured out how to do it correctly and in a way that makes money years before the rest of the industry caught on.

Feeling i get listening to CB the song is equal to feeling i have listening... for example Alphabet St...which is a good think.

[Edited 11/9/15 11:46am]

I wish he'd come out with a project like this every 2-3 years. Add rehearsals or soundchecks if needed, but albums of outtakes are what most of us crave.

Bob Dylan has done a great job with his bootleg series. The Beatles have found ways to come out with outtakes and The Monkees have set the gold standard for finding tracks and releasing them. I would love to see Prince do a series of Crystal Ball/outtake CDs, perhaps with themes.

Songs Prince has written for other artists

Demos of released songs

only tracks from certain years (1984, etc.)

Those sorts of things would be great. Crystal Ball is a flawed album but to complain about 3 disks of outtakes is like complaining that the water at an oasis isn't the exact temperature you'd prefer! Drink it up!

Crystal Ball the song is almost a classic but as like most of his career, it is too indulgent- cut the first 1 minute 30 and last 1 minute 30- it would be amazing.

As a loooooong time Prince fan since the 80s, it seems that quantity over quality is a real issue. There is no denying the mans talent and skill and chops at what he does but to me it always seemed as he needed someone to say to him- go away and work on that track some more, take off the 5th bass part/keyboard/goat bell as sometimes less is more.

I would love to see Prince work with a producer who could stand up to him and help him get what is needed to produce the undoubted masterpieces that are in there somewhere- a Rick Ruben or someone of that ilk.

Could you imagine what the result could be if Prince decided to go to someone with the ability to channel the inner genius that he has and mould it to what it could be?

Prince- pick up the phone and have a conversation and beg with who I think could get the genius out of him- David Bowie.

Madness or Genious- a very fine line between soup and stew

camilleisastar said:

Crystal Ball the song is almost a classic but as like most of his career, it is too indulgent- cut the first 1 minute 30 and last 1 minute 30- it would be amazing.

As a loooooong time Prince fan since the 80s, it seems that quantity over quality is a real issue. There is no denying the mans talent and skill and chops at what he does but to me it always seemed as he needed someone to say to him- go away and work on that track some more, take off the 5th bass part/keyboard/goat bell as sometimes less is more.

I would love to see Prince work with a producer who could stand up to him and help him get what is needed to produce the undoubted masterpieces that are in there somewhere- a Rick Ruben or someone of that ilk.

Could you imagine what the result could be if Prince decided to go to someone with the ability to channel the inner genius that he has and mould it to what it could be?

Prince- pick up the phone and have a conversation and beg with who I think could get the genius out of him- David Bowie.

Madness or Genious- a very fine line between soup and stew

I love Crystal Ball the way it builds at the beginning and unwinds at the end.

If David Bowie would produce a Prince album that would create something interesting and perhaps bring out the best in Prince.

Crystal Ball the song is the one of the best things he's ever done imo. I wouldn't cut a thing...it's perfect the way it is.

I love the set as well...I still listen to it on a reg basis. The remixes are the only tracks I skip, and even those are not bad. Da bang is fierce.

Hate hate hate the sequence. Otherwise, I appreciate that some unreleased stuff came out. I think "Crucial" on this set?

[Edited 12/6/15 8:44am]

It's better than a kick in the tits, but it could have (and should have) been so much better. I avoided all the mail order problems that some had by buying it in HMV. I later managed to get the 5 disc version on ebay for a good price too.

I dig about 1 CD's worth of it (not counting The Truth, which I view as separate)

I re-read the liner notes the other day and cringed. Worst liner notes I've ever read, IMO.

it's the CD collection 2010 was waitin' fo' !!!

About the song, let us not forget how much it owes to Clare Fischer.

I tried to listen to the version without the orchestra, and frankly, I couldn't make it to the end.
What Clare achieved there is breathtaking.

Off topic, but same goes with Parade, which is held in high esteem amongst us all.

The highlights for me are "What's my Name", which is pure paranoid Genius,
"Hide The Bone", oh yeah oh yeah, and of course "Days Of Wild".

But it lacks artistic direction, the sequencing is atrocious, you just don't mix eras as they did,
what "Good Love" has to do with "Cloreen Bacon Skin" or "Strays Of The World" ?
Even thematically, it doesn't make any sense.

So yay for the outtakes even if by then we had most of them on bootlegs,
but it is a strange collection, a bit of the 85-86 golden era, a bit of the WB Wars,
a bit of useless remixes.

But "The Truth" alone makes it worth it.

[Edited 11/11/15 15:55pm]

What's My Name is great, So Dark is great too but i miss the guitars of the original version.

Would have been better if the songs were in chronological order of when they were recorded. I like the 86/87 era stuff the most.

But 'The Truth' album alone would have made it worth the purchase.

some great songs on there. the song Crystal Ball is genius. you can tell he updated the mix that he should have left alone. great to hear Morris play drums. don't know why he edited Good Love which is another great song. The Truth and Kamasutra CD's were awful. It was messed up back in 1998 when people who pre-ordered the CD months in advance got theirs in the mail a year after it was in retail stores. I think they paid a higher price for it too

[Edited 11/11/15 21:34pm]

"Hide the Bone" is my shit That song is ridiculously funky! So glad that it appears on this set.

I remember when i first got into Prince (and first started realising just how much unreleased/vault music there was) it was when i was listening to this in work. It lead me into looking for more hidden treasures.

Its a bit uneven, but the highs are truly spectacular. For me Crystal Ball, Dream Factory, Last Heart Movie Star etc were all worth the price of admission alone. Its a bit obvious to say so, but all of the pre-90s stuff on here rocks. I also really enjoy Hide the Bone (reminds me of Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel for some reason!)

One of my gripes is some of the meddling he did with his older vault material. The original "Sexual Suicide" is a really funky jam, but on here it suffered from some very obvious updating of vocals/editing of the song/added stuff, and it sounded a bit neutered as a result. Good Love & Crucial too.

Not much love for Make Yo' Mama Happy here it seems, but I really like it. Immediately sounded like good 80s Prince to me - tight funky horns, great musicianship, outrageous bass.

As a whole piece though, i think the Crystal Ball sums up Prince as good as anything he released. His highs and his lows... his undisputed genius juxtaposed with his uncanny ability to frustrate and torment his loyal fan base.

The Truth is something i'll have to revisit. I really loved the title track, but never really dug in and gave the whole album a thorough listen. Along with One Nite Alone, its some material i'm not as familiar with. Seeing as i'm hoping to go see the Piano/Microphone tour I think i'll brush up on these, as I think its a good chance he'll play some less familiar stuff

[Edited 11/12/15 4:14am]

RodeoSchro said:

I dig about 1 CD's worth of it (not counting The Truth, which I view as separate)

I re-read the liner notes the other day and cringed. Worst liner notes I've ever read, IMO.

There was a version without the booklet

SoulAlive said:

"Hide the Bone" is my shit That song is ridiculously funky! So glad that it appears on this set.

Imagine THIS on Arsenio.

Man, I don't kow who really fucked it up during the WB Wars, but there was some blockbuster to make out of TGE, if only there had been more inteligent teasers, and if Prince had toned his ego down a bit.

Ultimately, I think it's all this Skipper's growing paranoia (Slave) that turned off the masses.

But we gained a cult.

Glad it was released, despite the utter fiasco of ordering it online & then seeing it in the store with booklet. As with any number of later Prince albums, there are hits & misses, although here, it seems almost frustratingly deliberate, as it could have been so easily avoided.

There are some fun, funky & curious tracks on this release. I remember first hearing Acknowledge Me on Soul Train & was glad to finally have a clean studio cut. Hide The Bone is playful, if Prince of 1994 were still Prince of 1992, 2morrow might have wound up on The Beautiful Experience instead of half a dozen remixes of the same song.

Interactive was great to hear away from that CD-ROM, Good Love is a track I constantly come back to even now, She Gave Her Angels was a highlight of that Muppets episode & Make Your Mama Happy showed Prince could honor Sly without covering his songs as he would endlessly for years to come....

Favorite tracks on each disc - I've deleted the crap or the stuff I think he should have left off because it was covered on an earlier release:

1. "Crystal Ball"* - 10:28 (recorded 1986)
2. "Dream Factory"* - 3:07 (recorded 1985)
3. "Acknowledge Me"* - 5:27 (recorded 1993)
4. "Ripopgodazippa" - 4:39 (recorded 1993)
5. "Hide the Bone" - 5:04 (recorded 1993)
6. "2morrow" - 4:14 (recorded 1995)
7. "Movie Star"* - 4:26 (recorded 1986)

Disc Two

1. "Interactive" - 3:04 (recorded 1993)
2. "Da Bang" - 3:20 (recorded 1995)
3. "Calhoun Square"* - 4:47 (recorded 1993)
4. "What's My Name" - 3:04 (recorded 1993)
5. "Crucial"* - 5:06 (recorded 1986)
6. "An Honest Man"* - 1:13 (recorded 1985)
7. "Sexual Suicide"* - 3:40 (recorded 1985)
8. "Cloreen Baconskin" - 15:37 (recorded 1983)
9. "Good Love"† - 4:55 (recorded 1986)
10. "Strays of the World" - 5:07 (recorded 1993)

Disc Three

1. "Days of Wild" (Live)* - 9:20 (recorded 1995)
2. "Last Heart"* - 3:01 (recorded 1986)
3. "Poom Poom" - 4:32 (recorded 1996)
4. "She Gave Her Angels" - 3:53 (recorded 1996)
5. "18 & Over"* - 5:40 (recorded 1994)
6. "The Ride" (Live)* - 5:14 (recorded 1995)
7. "Make Your Mama Happy" - 4:01 (recorded 1986)
8. "Goodbye" - 4:35 (recorded 1995)

I won't bother with The Truth or Kamasutra - I consider them separate.

You left behind So Dark, really?

Love Sign and Get Loose too?

So Dark appears as Dark on Come, as does a version of Loose that works just fine for me, given what could have appeared in its place.

Love Sign was already available on 1-800 New Funk. I didn't need to hear it again.

couldve been better..as great as it is

Not a lot of love for "Calhoun Square" around here it seems. I'm honestly surpirsed.

Pentacle said:

Most of it is great, including the remixes.

The Truth: the only tracks you really need are the last two.

lies

bonatoc said:

But it lacks artistic direction, the sequencing is atrocious, you just don't mix eras as they did,
what "Good Love" has to do with "Cloreen Bacon Skin" or "Strays Of The World" ?
Even thematically, it doesn't make any sense.

That's exactly what I mean. Not only is it not chronological, it isn't telling a story or following some sort of sonic territory.

Even though I was disappointed by the amount of 90's remixes and songs I already had in one form or another, officially or through boots, I soon realized back then that I was listening to it every day and I ended up having a ball (no pun intended) with it for months and months.

Conceptually it was disappointing because it's not what we wanted or expected. But in the end there's a lot of really cool music on it and the weakest tracks are likely to grow on you if you take the time to listen to the album as a whole. I also find the sequencing incredibly efficient despite the fact that the 80's and 90's songs are very different in sound. In the end the whole collection is really funky, so if you're in it for the funk, it delivers.

It's a pretty unique album in P's discography, and maybe not what an ideal collection of outtakes should have been, but as far as I'm concerned it works really well as a whole. It also shows that P was really frustrated about not having released lots of songs and mixes from the Comùe/TGE era, and how fond he was with those sessions (and time proved him right since said sessions have become cult classic favorites among fans).

Hit or miss. Haphazard mish mash. I made a one cd version for myself and sold my 4 cd version. Too much crap like "Poom Poom" and "Tell Me How You Wanna Be Done"