I loved this era - I felt Prince was doing what I had come to love about him: going his own way and stretching out to work with other deserving artists (Chaka, GCS, NPG). He was breaking ground on the internet. Those who are old enough to remember will recall that NO ONE else was even tryiong to do what Prince was doing on teh web. As with anything new with no oprecedence, there were some glitches but Prince came out on top and was recognized for being cutting edge in cyberspace.

Letting Kirky J. play produce a lot of the material around this era is probably the 90's equivalent of having Bobby Z. play Drums in the 80's...

I've never rated Kirky J. to this day and stick by it and he is a promininent reason why I think the NewPowerSoul album is kinda.... awful.

'dre

Why yes the wird era! The unpromotional, internet, random songs era! Yes

This was a time where Prince was just doing his thing finally and started his self promotional ways that we know now. It was a good start to be honest.

There were some good songs on NPS but the album itself was very mechanical and non-thought provoking. However that did not matter because Crystal Ball and The Truth had already been released.

I remember seeing the ad in the paper about Crystal Ball FINALLY being released in the stores. I had no idea what "bootleg" really meant as in Prince, however when my mom got it for me for my birthday gift it opened my eyes as that Prince actually had MORE SONGS STASHED AWAY! I never even know Good Love exsisted until this album came out.

I started frantically looking on the net for any other information on more song projets and such; and a friend of mine gave me a book he had called "Prince a Documentary"..it was history from there.


The band..was ok...however they just did not get a chance to play the good music with him during that time...there were no rock numbers during that era, and the r&b tunes he made sounded like anything else on the radio really. I don't think he broke out of it finally until The Rainbow Children.

DreZone said:

In early 1998, Prince (who at the time went by an unpronounceable symbol) released Crystal Ball, a four-disc set containing a three CD compilation album of the same name featuring a much anticipated collection of "previously bootlegged" material, with The Truth, a bonus disc of 12 new acoustic songs. Internet pre-orders included an instrumental album, Kamasutra.

Prince once planned to release a 3-LP album around 1986, also called Crystal Ball. That album was edited down to a 2-LP and renamed Sign o' the Times. Its title track became the title track for this compilation, 10 years later.



Track Title Length Year Recorded
1. "Crystal Ball"* 10:28 1986
2. "Dream Factory"* 3:07 1985
3. "Acknowledge Me"* 5:27 1993
4. "Ripopgodazippa" 4:39 1993
5. "Love Sign" (Shock G's Silky Remix)‡ 3:53 1994
6. "Hide the Bone" 5:04 1993
7. "2morrow" 4:14 1995
8. "So Dark"‡ 5:14 1995
9. "Movie Star"* 4:26 1986
10. "Tell Me How U Wanna B Done"‡ 3:16 1992



Track Title Length Year Recorded
1. "Interactive" 3:04 1993
2. "Da Bang" 3:20 1995
3. "Calhoun Square"* 4:47 1993
4. "What's My Name" 3:04 1993
5. "Crucial"* 5:06 1986
6. "An Honest Man"* 1:13 1985
7. "Sexual Suicide"* 3:40 1985
8. "Cloreen Baconskin" 15:37 1983
9. "Good Love"† 4:55 1988
10. "Strays of the World" 5:07 1993



Track Title Length Year Recorded
1. "Days of Wild" (Live)* 9:20 1995
2. "Last Heart"* 3:01 1986
3. "Poom Poom" 4:32 1995
4. "She Gave Her Angels" 3:53 1996
5. "18 & Over"* 5:40 1994
6. "The Ride" (Live)* 5:14 1995
7. "Get Loose"‡ 3:31 1995
8. "P. Control"‡ 6:00 1995
9. "Make Your Mama Happy" 4:01 1986
10. "Goodbye" 4:35 1991



[Edited 3/11/10 8:24am]

DreZone said:

There's one HUGE difference...Bobby's input was mainly on the stage, doing everything on the drums Prince told him to do. Basically, he had no creative input, and therefore, he took NOTHING away from the music. For all we know, he could've added something good to it, but he wasn't in as far as Kirky was creatively in the studio. Bobby was a very capable drummer and kept the time adequately during his live shows. I don't hear people complaining about his 1979-86 shows being weak, let alone because of the drummer.

So, that analogy is waaayyy off base. Kirk just helped to make everything sooooo bland and boring with his input (save for a few occasions). But Prince obviously liked it cuz he went along with it.

I love this time period-it was like after alot of soul searching and alittle help Prince came out on the other side a new person and I can dig it

alexnvrmnd777 said:

good observation
plus there was a different chemistry relationship between Bobby Z-Prince & Kirk-Prince

OldFriends4Sale said:

Yeah, different time schedules for a start.

All I'm saying is that, Kirky J. was more of a recession more than a progression - I never once said that Bobby was a bad Drummer - but Prince could have easily picked someone better, Sheila E. could have replaced Rivkin long before she did for example.

I never said anything about his shows being weak neither by the way and that alone is "waaayyy off base" as you say...

But I digress... In the New Power Soul aspect of P's career, Prince could have done with someone that was more than a functional and admittingly mediocre Kirky J.

Kirky J. may have had more creative input but it didn't help P's sound, at least THAT much is unanimous.

Bottom line: Kirky J. blows - it's my opinion and I'm sticking to it!

"Goodbye" is from 91 ? i thought it was emancipation outtake. So is the Crystal ball version from 91 or 95?

DreZone said:

Bobby Z was the perfect person, for the time and the band and the image.
Bobby at the beginning said:I knew from the 1st second that this person was worth dedicating my entire career to." -Bobby Z 1976

And outside of Sheila E I don't think any other drummers had that kind of dedication to Prince's vision. Bobby Z was also a part of the 94 East band.
I don't think she could have replaced him long before that, nor should she had: we definately would have missed out on the Glamorous Life & Romance 1600.
As much as I loved seeing Sheila E on the drums, I still prefered her as a frontman. Which is something we end up missing out on during the SOTT/Lovesexy eras -the lack of proteges. Sheila had a fantastic album that 1 upped Romance 1600 and we got nothing(hardly) from it.

"Within the 1st 45seconds I knew he was beyond gifted My 1st impression was that it was genius at work He played the piano like no one I had ever seen It sounded like he had 4 hands; he was just playing chords and filing out more chordal information on the piano than I've ever heard. It was the first time I think I'd seen anyone who could really really compose without trying. He was very mysterious and very quiet. I knew from the 1st second that this person was worth dedicating my entire career to." -Bobby Z 1976

I don't think anyone is saying U should change, because I agree about Kirk J

alright, let's get back 2 NPS

Hmmm. Don't agree with this at all. Listen to an R&B song from 1998. Does it sound like anything from New Power Soul? Specifically, which song sounds like what was on the radio in 1998?

dance4me3121 said:

The disc and the album end with "Goodbye", a ballad originally intended for Emancipation. Sung in falsetto, the song is musically very reminiscent of the other Emancipation ballads.

The set opens with "Crystal Ball". The over 10-minute long number begins with 2-minutes of a lone drum machine and various sound effects before the vocals start. The experimental, suite-like song contains somewhat depressing lyrics and changes musical directions several times — touching on funk, rock, jazz and even classical strings (which were later sampled in "The Future" from the Batman soundtrack). The 1986 track was originally part of the Dream Factory project.

True or False?

The Dawn
The Dawn was to be the first Prince album after Emancipation, but it was shelved in 1997. An acoustic version of the title track can be found on The Truth. Prince had often thought of releasing an album called 'The Dawn' at many points during his career. The earliest known incarnation of 'The Dawn' was from 1986, and seems to have been some kind of musical (an idea that eventually resurfaced as 'Graffiti Bridge'). Another incarnation of 'The Dawn' was assembled around 1994, soon after Prince changed his stage name to an unpronounceable symbol. This time the content was made from tracks that would later surface on Come and The Gold Experience. The last known incarnation of the album was assembled in 1997, this time it came very close to release, and was even advertised on the back of the free cassette single of 'The Holy River' given away at 'Borders' stores in 1997
[Edited 3/15/10 14:35pm]

I really dig this song, but the phrase doesn't match the subject. The title is a bit 2 common, everybody said that "Don't Play Me"

Don't Play Me
Don't play me
I'm over 30 and I don't smoke weed
I put my ass away and the music I play
Ain't the type of stereo U're tryin' 2 feed
Don't play me
Don't play me
I use proper English and I'm straight
I'm in the news again 4 payin' dues my friend
I'm not the ganda U prop in my way
Don't play me

Cuz I've been 2 the mountain top and it ain't what U say
Don't play me

Don't play me
I'm the wrong color and I play guitar
My only competition is… well, me in the past
And time and time, if time existed, movin' ever so fast
Don't play me

U couldn't play enough of me now 2 make me feel like a star
Don't play me, I already do in my car
Don't play me

Don't be mad at me, the curtain puller in the game
Maybe all, how U call us, niggas ain't the same
It's all good when U know the only fame
Is the light that comes from God and the joy U get 2 say His name
Don't play me (Don't play me)

I've seen the mountain top and it ain't what U say
Don't play me

I already got laid

© 1997 Emancipated Music - ASCAP





[Edited 3/12/10 10:38am]

OldFriends4Sale said:

Yes, the title fits the song. Usually when someone uses the phrase "don't play me", it's about confrontation. In this case, it's about his music. He's saying that people don't have to "play" him because he's already accomplished everything. It's also about radio programmers that didn't want to spin his independent music.

The Truth

What if half the things ever said turned out 2 be a lie
How will U know the truth?
If U were given all the answers when U stopped 2 wonder why
But how will U know the truth?
Everybody's got a right 2 love
Everybody's got a right 2 lie
But the choice U make, it ain't no piece of cake
It ain't no motherfuckin' piece of pie

What if time's only reason was 2 give us all somethin' 2 fear
And if so, y'all, the end of the journey's so clear

Questionnaire – "What did U stand 4?"
Questionnaire – "Who did U save?"
When it gets right down 2 it
Wait a minute
When it gets right down 2 the nitty of the gritty
When it gets right down 2 it
Did U take more than U gave?

Everybody's got a right 2 love
Everybody's got a right 2 lie
But the choice U make, it ain't no piece of cake
It ain't no motherfuckin', motherfuckin' piece of pie!

Mm, well
Gotta tell the truth, y'all, gotta tell the truth! {x3}

If there was just one day when everybody told the truth
We'd all trade bank accounts and move 2 Neptune

© 1997 Emancipated Music - ASCAP

OldFriends4Sale said:

It might be from the 80's originally, then he re-recorded it. However, since he is using the word "karma" towards the end it makes me believe that the song might have been quite new at the time of release. I remember him mentioning about a book he was reading at the time by Gary Zukav about spiritual growth, "Seat of the soul".

Also, I detect a sound during "naa-na-naa-naa.." which sounds similar to his symbol guitar.

Fascination

Fascination - I want U
Fascination - I want U, I do

Fascination chamber lands on the round that kills
The art U hoped 2 mirror life leaves blood upon the sill
The dream U keep dreaming is better than the life U lead
The papers run out a day and 13 hours before the weed
U're so high

Fascination - Still I want U
Fascination - Still I want U, I do

The head U thought was rollin' is now reason 2 be bored
The rapper that gave that head will thank his manager before the Lord
And the headache that U moan about
Feels much better than the treatment would
The pill's gonna leave a side effect that'll take another pill 2 correct
And the whole thing's leaving U feelin' less than good
And U're still high

Fascination {x4}

Do U mind if'n I just watch U shake it?
Shake it {x4}

Fascination - I want U
Fascination - I want U, I do

The most vital thing in pop is the epitome of doom
U wake up in a cold sweat cuz one of them's in your room
(There's one of them in your room)
Singin' on the telly makin' more bucks than sense
So called King gives birth 2 so called Prince

A breakup's bitter taste still heal when the love is gone
And the breaks U wish 4 finally come along this song
Working it out
Work, work, work, working it out

Fascination

© 1997 Emancipated Music - ASCAP

[Edited 3/15/10 14:08pm]

0-+>
[Edited 3/16/10 6:09am]

0-+>
[Edited 3/16/10 6:12am]

Animal Kingdom

I saw a friend of mine 2day
In an ad sayin' what would do my body good
I told him he was wasting time, I say
If God wanted milk in me
The breast I suck would have a line around the hood

No member of the animal kingdom nurses past maturity
No member of the animal kingdom ever did a thing 2 me
It's why I don't eat red meat or white fish
Don't give me no blue cheese
We're all members of the animal kingdom
Leave your brothers and sisters in the sea

Animal, animal kingdom {x2}

Who told us we should eat the swine?
U can bet your final money it damn sure wasn't no friend of mine
What about the clams on the shore?
Souls in progress, here come the fisherman - soul no more

No member of the animal kingdom nurses past maturity
(Nurses past, oh yeah)
No member of the animal kingdom ever did a thing 2 me
(Ever did a damn thing)
So I don't eat no red meat or white fish
Or funky, funky blue cheese
We're all members of the animal kingdom
Leave your brothers and sisters in the sea

Animal, animal kingdom {x3}

© 1997 Emancipated Music - ASCAP