Much like many others, I was somewhat disappointed with the 1998 Crystal Ball release. We all know what it could have been and we know just what a three-CD set of outtakes could have been. That said, I wouldn't be without it.

But the more I think about it, the more I wonder whether or not Prince knew exactly what outtake bootlegs were about at the time and made his three-CD set to fit in.

I mean, every single CD/Vinyl bootleg I bought of studio outtakes in the late 80s/early 90s seemed to have the same criteria; a handful of songs I already had, a handful of songs I'd never heard (which was what made me pay over the odds for the bloody thing in the first place) and a handful of songs I'd already heard but were either extended or remixed.
The sound quality varied throughout the disc and one song crudely jumped to another throughout the album. The artwork was always of the 'recycled' format, the flow of the albums was coarse and didn't work and you always felt that the illicit albums you were buying were missing songs that were well known from that time. Oh yeah, and the only bootlegged full album of note that was completely unreleased was The Black Album.

Hey nonny, nonny! Prince released Crystal Ball in 1998 and all those criteria were included in the collection. Hell, he even added that full, previously unreleased album in the form of The Truth.

So, do you think that Crystal Ball's misgiving's were almost intended? Was Prince taking the piss and deliberately creating a mish-mash in the same vein as those who'd been bootlegging him for years?
I'm well aware that Prince was supposedly keeping the Revolution stuff for Roadhouse Garden, but even so, he could still have created a CD set that consisted purely of genuinely unreleased, original songs that had only been previously heard as poor quality bootlegs (as was advertised).

And what of the haphazard running times of the discs?
After the perfection of the three 60 minute discs of Emancipation, why weren't the three discs of Crystal Ball somehow 'perfected'? It was an almost intentionally perverse act, especially given that the music on the three CDs could easily fit on two.
The whole project came across as a collection of songs that had been clumsily thrown together. Just like every studio bootleg I'd ever heard at that time.

Interesting and valid take on the '98 mishmash collection...maybe it sould be renamed MishMash Ball or Spasmo ball

Haystack said:

jstar69 said:

i vote Happy Fun Ball

jstar69 said:

Crystal Meth, maybe? (as in Methodless)

Oh yeah, and I forgot just how much Prince actually hates bootlegging, so it's not beyond the realms of possibility that he'd purposely create a less than satisfying bootleg.

Interesting take on the CB set. I dunno. I listened to CB at work today and I always enjoy it. It is scatterbrained, but intentionally? Maybe.

Prince did seem to put more effort into packaging and marketing(fiasco that it was) than content.

A CB 2 of odds and sods would be very much welcome, versus another Musicology/3121/Planet Earth mediocrity trifecta.

I feel like the flow of Crystal Ball was solid... better than many of his albums. Every song was a refresher to the flavor that comes before in some unexpected way.

I love Crystal Ball. I'm still waiting for Crystal Ball II.

Of course you love it...we all love it....but the potential was there, and i agree with the original post - sabotage in a clinical yet indirect way - who know maybe a direct jab at the sabotage label - was it around then?

whodknee said:

Haystack said:

Yes, of course. I thought this was a given?

The bad editing was intentional, and it was touted as 'the ultimate bootleg set' at the time of it's (eventual) release.

It was all very tongue in cheek, but not particularly appropriate. People didn't buy bootlegs (and they did buy them 10 years ago, not just download!), the reason is because of the material, we wanted MORE Prince, we weren't hot for the mish-mash of tracks, poor quality editing and mixes of already released tracks.

The funny thing is, these kind of bootlegs were already pretty much a thing of the recent past, by the time CB was out - Thunderball and other companies were putting a lot of effort into their releases, with lavish full-colour booklets, sumptuous artwork and informed liner notes. Oops!

A large part of my reason for loving it is the fact that it's an official bootleg.

One question though? As it is expensive to get hold of and most of us (I assume) aren't the wealthiest of chaps and chapess's alive how come so many of us have heard it? Oh the irony to think that the bootleg has become bootlegged due to its unavailability.

iloveannie said:

I imagine the bulk of us bought it on release.

It's not that expensive, you can pick it up on Amazon for 20 quid (40 bucks).

NouveauDance said:

Amazon currently has it listed from £24.99 to £1353.00. I don't get it

NB: Same postage cost for each though which is nice, although at over a grand I'd expect Prince to deliver it in person.

iloveannie said:

Those crazy sellers!

I love Crystal Ball, but I still think Prince missed the chance to make it a truely great set.

Remixes were a waste of minutes and the set is far too 90's centric. He still seemed afraid to give too much away in it. It feels padded.

If he really wanted to give the bootleg game a slap, he should have released a mirror set of classic bootlegs in perfect condition. He could have killed the circulating classics sales dead in their tracks.

NouveauDance said:

True, but as the album proved, Prince has always been about three years behind the loop when it comes to what's hip, hence why his best stuff has been created when he hasn't given 'the loop' a second thought.

I think this is one of the P releases I play have played the most. Maybe because the Gold/Come era tracks in there are stellar.

SquirrelMeat said:

I think he didn't put Revolution material because of the Roundhouse Garden project or he didn't what to give credit to W&L...

Interesting thread.

Had I come to Crystal Ball 'cold' meaning that I hadn't heard any of the songs on bootleg I would have been thrilled. I mean the title track, Last Heart, Crucial, Calhoun Square, Sexual Suicide, Movie Star it would have been a revelation. Those songs rank with his best work imo.

Nice that they are out there but a lot exist in more complete form on boot (Purple Underground speech anyone?) so for me it's a curates egg not something I go back to that often.

The Truth album however.....

i've always thought CB was deeply flawed but thoroughly enjoyable.

on the one hand, if you enjoy it strictly for what it is, there's a lot of fun stuff on it and as a result, i continue to revisit CB fairly regularly to this day.

on the other hand, if you think about it in terms of what it could have been or what it should have been, the damn thing can appear downright rancid.

soooo...i just enjoy it for what it is, warts and all.