I've been listening 2 Sign O' The Times for some time. And everytime I listen 2 it, I start to would about the aborted Crystal Ball project and how it could've been if it was released. Alot of people say that it could've been the mammoth statement if it had been released. I still think critics wouldn't have given it a chance because of the filler and the throwaways that album could've had. Plus, how would the album cover look like? What do you think of it?

Dunno. I ain't possessing no blessed gift of being able to foresee the future and I sure as damn hell can't predict no events that didn't happen in the past.

Quadruple negative! Beat that.

I think things turned out for the best.

3LPs is too much - the music is all great, but it works better, as an album, as SOTT.

NouveauDance said:

But it would be kick ass to have a remastered version of SOTT with the tracklisting of Crystal Ball. . .

floralelephants said:

Indeed

I would be very curious to find out of there was any album art for this cancelled album. I'm sure most of the SOTTalbum photos and tourbook stuff was intended for Crystal Ball. Maybe even the font too!

If chrystal ball wasn't released, it would be "dusty"

Hmmm, this is a tough question. I mean SOTT went through many stages of evolution. Personally I think the tracklistings I've seen of what Crystal ball was probably going to look like would've been a better album, but not THAT much better. Camille or Dream Factory wouldn't have been as good, plus the songs that ended up on SOTT seem to, for the most part, be the ones that were at the core of every different sequencing/configuration he thought up and, in my opinion, were the best songs he had to work with. Who knows though, it's kind of like asking what kind of impact Brian Wilson's Smile would have had if he had released in 1967 like he originally intended vs. now long after it's "time" had come. Let's put it this way, i think it's somewhat futile to ponder about the statement an artist COULD have made versus the statement they DID make.

Personally, I prefer a lot of the sequencing decisions made on Sign O The Times.
Though of course from a fan's point of view it would have been great to have
had all the extra material that was on Crystal Ball. I think if Crystal Ball had
been released it would have been viewed as indulgent and full of filler by
critics and the general public alike (even Sign O The Times was to a certain
extent). I think the right decision was made, though I still think he could've
squeezed a few more tracks onto Sign O The Times when he edited down Crystal Ball.

BorisFishpaw said:

Yeah, leaving "Joy In Repetition" on there would have been great.

What about Dream Factory?
[Edited 1/15/05 6:44am]
[Edited 1/15/05 6:48am]

silverchild said:

What about it?