I know some fans pre ordered it and were preturbed that there was an intense mix up and some fans never got it but why are some dissapointed in the music? I LOVE Crystal Ball...I think alot of the songs on there are fantastic! Days of Wild, Acknowlege me, Tell me how you want to be done, Ride, 18& Over...there are so many songs that are fun and good....I don't understand the dissapointment.

Take out the remixes and it's great! I wanted all "new old" cuts on it.I'd rather remixes be only on remix albums or singles.
[Edited 5/29/05 9:32am]

I love many of the songs on "Crystal Ball" but I was definately disappointed with the album. Before it came out, there was all the hype about it being an album of unreleased bootlegs. Naturally, I was expecting some "old Prince" tracks from 1980-1984. Instead, most of it was stuff he had made after 1985, the same type of stuff I've been hearing from Prince for years.

The remixes were horrible also. Those should have been left off. "The Truth" album should have been sold separately through 1-800-NEW-FUNK because it increased the price and it was extremely boring. Also, I could have expressed my dissatisfaction with an accoustical album by not buying it.
[Edited 5/29/05 10:00am]

Wow I love the remixes...

For me, it's just the flow of it and the concept around it. When I first the promotional ad for it at Best Buy, I thought he finally released the album he was going to release in 1987 along with some of the Dream Factory and Camille tracks. I was once again wrong because basically all it was a personal collection of unreleased and unheard stuff. It was a little too patchy and it was unorganized, but there are some awesome tracks on here. I really think the Truth disc was just excellent and it should've been released seperate becuase I think that album would've at least sold millions and millions of copies. Bad decisions, I guess!
[Edited 5/29/05 10:34am]

Well, I became a fan around 1999/2000, so When I got Crystal Ball I thought it was great. I missed all the controversy surrounding its botched release. I think a lot of fans were disapointed because they knew that most of the stuff on there wasn't his 'first rate' unreleased stuff (where was Moonbeam Levels, Purple Music, In A Large Room, Wonderful Ass, Extralovable etc??). Also it was meant to be a 'complete retrospective' of his career, but it mainly focused on the 1993-95 period with a couple of 1986-87 tracks and remixes thrown in to make it seem more complete. I think a lot of people were hoping for Revolution/Wendy & Lisa outtakes, but he even went to the trouble of editing out some of their parts on "Crystal Ball" and "Dream Factory" etc.

So I now understand why a lot of fans were disapointed. I on the other hand loved it (and still do of course!) because I didn't know at the time what I was missing out on!!

Now if only he would release Crystal Ball 2!

I know why I was dissapointed with Crystal Ball... it was because I never got mine from 800-NEW FUNK. I made a number of calls and was always told that we'd get it sent to us, but it never showed up. I got a t-shirt instead with no CD in it. About 6 months later, I ended up buying a copy in Best Buy and even then, it didn't come with a booklet. I like the songs, but the service that 800-NEW FUNK provided was sub par. Eventually they stopped answering phones and when they restarted, their standard line was "this is a new company and we are not responsible for the mistakes of the last one"

I eventually contested the amount with my credit card and almost two years later, got a refund. Mostly, the experience sucked. The album is ok.

Personally, I wish he'd do:
a) Crystal Ball 2 with more outtakes or
b) Crystal Ball 2 with the remaining songs that are missing from Dream Factory/Crystal Ball so we can create our own version of Prince's 3CD dream from 1986.

Yep "Days of Wild" aint no joke. That song is one awesome song to nod your head 2.

ive bin listenin 2 cd1 2day - i love rippop

"Hide The Bone" Is a Funky ass joint off that album too.

Krystal666 said:

The disappointment, for me, came not only from the remixes, but from the way Prince chose to edit a few of the unreleased songs that were perfect the way they were. "Crystal Ball" was edited. "Movie Star" was edited. "Dream Factory" was edited. And yeah, I know, you had to have the bootlegs themselves to know this, which I did, so to those who had never heard the songs before "no harm, no foul." I think The Truth was excellent and made up for the overall disappointment on the set.

We didn't need the remixes at all. The best part for me were the Gold outtakes, like Ripopgodazippa and Acknowledge Me. Days of Wild was definitely the jam too.

Ordering Crystal Ball from New Funk. $50.
Buying it at Wherehouse after New Funk failed to deliver it after saying I never ordered it. $35
Watching my one year old shake his diapered butt to Poom Poom. Priceless.

Oh one more.... "LoveSign" is a kick back tune too. U orgers check it out. God this guy is awesome.

paul0478 said:

OMG u people got me started off this album... "Dream Factory" is crazy too...

Crystal Ball contains some of the best music ever made.

It was mish-mashed...

Movie Star just dont sound right with "Tell Me How..."

Dream Factory then Aknowledge Me ...

Good Love .. Strays Of The World...the songs just didnt MATCH....

And another crime..

Days Of Wild then Last Heart
no

It had at least 15 good songs..but too mis-organised.

I don't know. I"m still waiting on my copy from luv4oneanother

I thought it was a great collection.

Krystal666 said:

Apart from the title track being TOO DAMN LONG (22 minutes? WTF?), I like the Crystal Ball. It's a classic.

I can tell that half of the songs were produce between Parade & SOTT.

Are all the songs on there remixed?

POOMPOOMPOOMPOOMPOOMPOOMPOOMPOOMPOOMPOOMPOOMPOOM...Can't stop thinking about your...POOMPOOMPOOMPOOMPOOMPOOMPOOMPOOMPOOM

I think this has something to do with it.
[Edited 5/30/05 21:51pm]

most of the problems was with the Time it took to ship the set. I ordered the thing, never got a confirmation and then it was in stores before it was ever shipped at a cheaper price. I bought it in a store and got it cheaper and cancelled my order. of course they still billed my credit card even though they never shipped it. The actual set is pretty cool. I wasn't expecting remixes and released songs, looking for more of an 80's vault thing, but its still a pretty cool release

I love it and don't have any issues with it.

I really like most of the material. I just wish that:

1. It was organized differently
2. The discs were longer
3. He'd do another one and give us some more damn outtakes!

I like many of the songs,but I do have a few complaints...


***I would have liked more of his early 80s outtakes ("She's Just A Baby"..."Extra Lovable"..."Lisa",etc) and less of his 90s outtakes.

***it's a mess the way many songs are organized

***the remixes were unnecessary

but it's still a fun set to have.I love "Hide The Bone"

sitruk7 said:

Agreed.I didn't like the remixes either.I would have liked for the set to consist entirely of studio versions,the way they were originally recorded.That means no edits,no remixes,no live versions....just the complete studio versions.Alot of fans will disagree,but I prefer the original studio version of "Days Of Wild" instead of the live version that appears on 'Crystal Ball'.

TheBigBang said:

agreed....dont have issue with the quality of the music or the era they came from (and i say this as someone who jonzes for the release of revolution era tracks)...

my only beef was they way the release was mismanaged....

what was that one with the description "waiting for carmen elektra to give clearence for the video"? the song sucked i was like great lol

DavidEye said:

I totally agree! I'd much rather have the studio versions. And if the "Days of Wild" ur talking about is the 6.08 minute version from the boot "Platinum" that is my favorite other than the version from Paisley Park 2/94.

Its one of my favorite albums. Period.

I love Crystal Ball