So...we all know the story (if not, someone will fill you in)...and yes a 3 LP album would've been quite adventagous...but we have heard many of the songs/outtakes (Dreamfactory, Sign O the Times, Unrealsed songs, orignal versions of released material....and i think it's safe to assume songs from the black album and lovesexy would've showed up)..


but here's my question, do you think the orignal crystal ball would've been enjoyable all the way thru? and (since one does not mean the other) do you think it would've been a commercial success?






AND...do we have a tracklist somewhere of what was originally intended to be on the album?

Here's the original "Crystal Ball" tracklist...

side 1:
01. Rebirth Of The Flesh
01. Play In The Sunshine
03. Housequake
04. The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker

side 2:
05. It
06. Starfish And Coffee
07. Slow Love
08. Hot Thing

side 3:
09. Crystal Ball
10. If I Was Your Girlfriend
11. Rockhard In A Funky Place

side 4:
12. The Ball
13. Joy In Repetition
14. Strange Relationship
15. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man

side 5:
16. Shockadelica
17. Good Love
18. Forever In My Life
19. Sign O' The Times

side 6:
20. The Cross
21. Adore
22. It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night

.

BorisFishpaw said:

thanks

Yes thanks for that

Hmmm...I might have to put that together and see what it'd sound like start to finish...

there are a few songs I have never heard...but I love the others...I'm sure it would have been a commercial success...I bought the "Crystal Ball" that was released.

Sure i do

BorisFishpaw said:

WOW!

It would have knocked sgt peppers off the top shelf of most coveted albums for most fans critics
[Edited 3/28/08 21:08pm]

Actually, I think that had Crystal Ball been released instead of Sign O' The Times
it probably wouldn't have got the critical acclaim it did. It would've almost
certainly been seen as over long and over indulgent (criticisms that even the
paired down Sign O' The Times got to a certain extent). Also, the expense of a
triple album would've meant that it probably wouldn't have sold nearly as well
either. So from a commercial and critical point of view it was certainly the right
thing to do. However, from a purely artistic point of view it would've been
great to get a triple album's worth of material. Though I must admit that I think
some of the sequencing decisions made for Sign O' The Times are much better
than Crystal Ball.

What was the tracklisting for Dream Factory?

Blimey! A genuinely interesting thread that hasn't been jacked by the GD'ers or the Hippies!..... yet.

Thank you for the original track listings, I hadn't realised what was destined for the original Crystal Ball.

I agree with what BorisFishPaw said

I've always had trouble believing that "The Ball" would have ever been officially released. It is an early version of "Eye No" (Lovesexy) but man, what a mess! It is interesting to listen to, but interesting in a train-wreck sort of way...

MattyJam said:

There were several tracklists made for Dream Factory. It's worth bearing in
mind that the album was still in development when it was abandoned, so had
it actually been released it would have almost certainly changed even further.
Here's the final version made before the album was shelved...

side 1:
01. Visions
02. Dream Factory
03. Train
04. The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker
05. It
side 2:
06. Strange Relationship
07. Starfish And Coffee
08. Slow Love
09. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
side 3:
10. Sign O' The Times
11. A Place In Heaven
12. Crystal Ball
side 4:
13. The Cross
14. Last Heart
15. Witness 4 The Prosecution
16. Movie Star
17. All My Dreams

.
[Edited 3/29/08 5:12am]

BorisFishpaw said:

I think it would have been bigger for two big reasons.

1. The quality of the music is undeniable, and the inclusion of Crystal Ball, Joy in Repetion, Rock Hard in a Funky Place, would just take it over the top!

2. It would have been a harder album, some of the criticism being layed at the time for Prince by the record buying fans was that he was gettting too artsy, so it would have snaged botht he fans and the critics big time.
such a shame that Shockadelica was relegated to B-side status it realy needed to be somewhere in the general publics face.
[Edited 3/29/08 9:27am]

BorisFishpaw said:

I'm with you on this, although (prepare for blasphemy..) I'm not especially happy with the Sign 'O' The Times sequence either. It looks like Prince played around with the sequence A LOT... but there would have come a point where he realised, enough... time to make a decision.

It would be interesting to know if Prince was ever truly happy with it.


This is just for fun, but I would have done it like this:

Sign O' The Times
Play In The Sunshine
Housequake
The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker

It
Starfish And Coffee
Movie Star
Hot Thing

Crystal Ball
If I Was Your Girlfriend
Rockhard In A Funky Place

Joy In Repetition
Strange Relationship
I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
Adore

ThomasBjj said:

I like The Ball much better than Eye No. I love all the sounds and voices in the background...and its nastier than Eye No. More of a party song imo. I would LOVE to hear it in a crystal clear version...but we know that will never happen.

As for the Crystal Ball being a critical success? I don't think it would've initally. Like Sign it would've taken time for people to appreciate. But over time I think it would've become his crowning achievment, much as Sign has. As for commercially, I have a feeling it would'nt have done all that well. Being a hardcore fan I would've been in heaven, but there is no way any casual fan would've wanted (or paid for) this much Prince on one album.

BorisFishpaw said:

Now THIS, my friends, would've been Prince's definitive artistic statement. His true masterpiece.

I orgasm at the thought of All My Dreams, Movie Star, Dream Factory and Crystal Ball on the same album....

imagine if he remastered these songs and released crystal factory: with a retrospective tour dvd using film from the SOTT/Livesexy/Parade tour spliced with behind the tour footage...




he'd make SO much money...

behind the scenes = tour bus/aiport/make-up room footage

The more I think about this, the better it sounds. Agree that ball is a bit of a mess. But i'm going to sort it out on Itunes and then get my headphones on.

I always felt "The Ball" sounded like a bad demo rather than a finished track. "Eye no" is superior in every way.

As a hardcore fan, I would love to have seen the whole triple album released, but I think Prince got this one right (be it under pressure from WB) to cut it down.

The sequencing works much better on the final SOTT. The only thing I would change is Slow love for Joy In repetition, and Its gonna be a beautiful night for Crystal Ball.

With the benefit of hindsight, and speaking purely from a fan's eye view
rather than from any commercial standpoint. I'd liked to have seen Prince
release a cut down single disc version of 'Dream Factory' as the swansong
for the Revolution. Missing off the tracks that wound up on Crystal Ball and
using more of the band-oriented tracks from the 'truer' earlier configurations
of 'Dream Factory'.

Then release 'Crystal Ball' in it's 3 disc glory later on, with some sequencing
adjustments. By this time 'U Got The Look' would have been written, so it
could be included. Plus, Prince would've started rehearsing the new tracks
with his new band, so 2 or 3 of the songs could've been re-recorded with the
new line up, more in the form they would be performed live.

'Crystal Ball' would then have been extensively toured worldwide, and twice
as many single could've been released from it... We can all dream.