ChloeNPG36 said:

Lets not 4get that he just finished his AMAZING tour of Australia! Theres only so much 1 man can do... A new album would be insane though!

OldFriends4Sale said:

ChloeNPG36 said:

Lets not 4get that he just finished his AMAZING tour of Australia! Theres only so much 1 man can do... A new album would be insane though!

You post made me think of 1984/85 premiere of Purple Rain, released Purple Rain album, Glamorous Life, Ice Cream Castles & Apollonia 6, B-sides, Sugar Walls, all the outtakes, while on tour recording ATWIAD music and the Family music

He sure did. believe he can still do that & still is. But not releasing anything. He just focusing on releasing the beautiful Andy project...

kewlschool said:

Cerebus said:

Stuff...

The flow (with some exceptions) didn't really bug me. And I love the version of Crystal Ball on it.

I still want Crystal Ball 2, please, Mr. Nelson.

I think it's something he should have done every year or two. Maybe not a three disc set, but some kind of archival release.

I love the version of Crystal Ball that's on it, for sure. But I love the other, longer version of Crystal Ball more.

More on this in a bit...

funkomatic said:

Cerebus said:

Stuff....

"Crystal Ball" didn't work neither as an album nor as an archive collection. It was in every aspect unfocused.

That's your opinion, and I respect it, but I don't agree. It was a collection of unreleased material, period. It was exactly what it was advertised as being. I just think it could have been done better.

HonestMan13 said:

Cerebus said:

We know there are better, original versions of some of those songs. Why change them? People didn't want edits and new parts, just a clean release of those tracks.

This is where the 'are we spoiled thread' kicks in. There are so many fans who just don't want a single thing done to a classic unreleased track other than improved sound quality. This comes from the notion that the version we've grown to appreciate is the only version there possibly is. That is a flawed concept since we've learned that Prince has used bits of songs to create other songs and reworked tracks until they are no longer anything like the original concept(like Summertime Thang becoming The Latest Fashion). Even recently the piano intro on 'Our Destiny' is clearly from 'Condition Of The Heart'. The truth is we don't have any idea what any unreleased track was supposed to end up being or if Prince ever considered it "completed". We've just come to accept certain tracks are "done" because that was the version we've grown accustomed to hearing.

The Truth kicks ass! I still wish he did that MTV Unplugged episode he spoke about back then!

It's not a "flawed concept". In my opinion (unarguable, because it's just my opinion), the original versions were better. In that regard, those are what I wanted to hear. Not something that's been edited, had parts removed and/or new parts recorded.

To that point, what kewlschool said and the rest of what you are saying here...

Prince knows what's out there, to be sure. With the first Crystal Ball it seemed like he was going to show people how he could do something better than what we'd already heard. Same thing with Extra Loveable. The thing is, most people didn't/don't want that. Most people don't want a 2012 version of a 30 year old song, we just want to hear that 30 year old song treated the way we always thought it should be. Most people REALLY WANTED clean versions of those old bootlegs. Hello, have you heard Box O' Chocolates? People want that.

So, if there are masters that can be worked with for those tracks, use them. If there are various versions, include them. If there are parts that went from one song to another, include both songs and show the progression of the process. THEN if you want to re-record, or record new parts, make edits, etc., include those, too. But just giving us what we want halfway doesn't really cut it.

In this day and age, that last paragraph is pretty much a regular occurrence. Bands and solo artists with FAR smaller followings than Prince (even these days) release comprehensive archival sets containing all of that stuff. Prince could destroy all of them if he would take such a release seriously.

Again, I appreciate Crystal Ball for what it was; a collection of unreleased tracks. It just wasn't the unreleased tracks a lot of people were looking for.

Also, after all that I feel like I should add that I have actually given up on this happening. I truly believe he's washed his hands of it. Anything that ever sees the light of day (officially) won't come until after he's dead and gone. And that's only if he doesn't destroy all the tapes, hard drives, videos, etc. Since I expect dude to live to like, 97, most of us will be gone before then anyway.

And yeah, The Truth is real nice. I saw the Musicology tour, like, a lot! The acoustic guitar portion was a favorite every time.

bluefish said:

Giovanni777 said:

I'd say he is disgruntled with both the state of the "single-minded" music trends - All based on singles not albums, and downloading mp3s via iTunes, combined with the constant negativity and bashing he gets from a lot of his fans.

My thoughts exactly, G.

But Prince was a singles artist before the term in it's current meaning existed. Prince KILLED it with his singles. Seven inch, twelve inch, CD-Maxi - all of 'em. If he would go back to actually caring about them - like he did from the late 70s to the early 90s - he would still SELL like crazy, regardless of how well they charted.

And as far as digital sales go, that's probably the way he would make the most money with the archival sets. No physical overhead, just funnel an album to iTunes every 6-18 months and watch the cash roll in.

Cerebus said:

funkomatic said:

"Crystal Ball" didn't work neither as an album nor as an archive collection. It was in every aspect unfocused.

That's your opinion, and I respect it, but I don't agree. It was a collection of unreleased material, period. It was exactly what it was advertised as being. I just think it could have been done better.

You do agree, because you argumented the same way.

Prince tried to make it more than it was and failed.

Cerebus said:

kewlschool said:

The flow (with some exceptions) didn't really bug me. And I love the version of Crystal Ball on it.

I still want Crystal Ball 2, please, Mr. Nelson.

I think it's something he should have done every year or two. Maybe not a three disc set, but some kind of archival release.

I love the version of Crystal Ball that's on it, for sure. But I love the other, longer version of Crystal Ball more.

More on this in a bit...

The edit of Crystall Ball on Crystal Ball is pretty tight. I think it's my favourite one.

[Edited 6/26/12 0:40am]

pfunkomatic said:

Cerebus said:

That's your opinion, and I respect it, but I don't agree. It was a collection of unreleased material, period. It was exactly what it was advertised as being. I just think it could have been done better.

You do agree, because you argumented the same way.

Prince tried to make it more than it was and failed.

I don't play games with people like you. I don't agree and I explained it clearly. You twisting the words around to mean something they don't so you feel better about your own opinion doesn't make you right. We have a different opinion on the matter. Why is it so hard to just accept that like an adult and move on?

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Cerebus said:

pfunkomatic said:

You do agree, because you argumented the same way.

Prince tried to make it more than it was and failed.

I don't play games with people like you. I don't agree and I explained it clearly. You twisting the words around to mean something they don't so you feel better about your own opinion doesn't make you right. We have a different opinion on the matter. Why is it so hard to just accept that like an adult and move on?

OMG! It's not about games, it's about what you have written. Should I quote your post again?

Cerebus said:

Personally...

I thought the mixing of eras, edits and forcing the songs to "flow" into one another all took away from their impact.

We know there are better, original versions of some of those songs. Why change them? People didn't want edits and new parts, just a clean release of those tracks.

It felt like Prince wanted Crystal Ball to be some sort of event, rather than just the archive collection that it was.

And I do believe that the songs would feel stronger and just generally make more sense if they were done by era, session, album, year, etc. Some sort of cohesion.

Having said that, I was still thankful to finally get something like Crystal Ball and I'd be happy with another one.

The Truth is still my favorite disc, though.

So where am I wrong that this statement is proof enough to say that Crystal Ball didn't really work as an album or archive collection the best way?

I can only speculate about why you don't want to be associated with that opinion. Maybe because you just don't want it to be heard this radical, out of my mouth or whatever.

Where's the clear explanation you're talking about?

[Edited 6/26/12 23:07pm]

STOP turning this thread into a quality issue......

funkomatic said:

Blah blah blah

I told you, very clearly, that I believed it works as a collection of unreleased songs, which is what is was advertised as. Then I explained how I think he could do it better. I'm not sure why it's so difficult for you to understand, but unless something other than "you're wrong" is said, this conversation is over. It's not about right or wrong - my opinion is different than yours.

funkomatic said:

Cerebus said:

That's your opinion, and I respect it, but I don't agree. It was a collection of unreleased material, period. It was exactly what it was advertised as being. I just think it could have been done better.

You do agree, because you argumented the same way.

Prince tried to make it more than it was and failed.

Interesting. I loved that set exactly 4 what it was. I still play it on a regular basis.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Yeah, it's probably better you stick to emoticons. You don't do so well when words are involved.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Cerebus said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Yeah, it's probably better you stick to emoticons. You don't do so well when words are involved.

Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black??

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Cerebus said:

Yeah, it's probably better you stick to emoticons. You don't do so well when words are involved.

Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black??

Uhhhh, no! Nice try, though.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Cerebus said:

Yeah, it's probably better you stick to emoticons. You don't do so well when words are involved.

Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black??

At least he uses words to communicate with others.

smoothcriminal12 said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black??

At least he uses words to communicate with others.

I use words quite well under any circumstances, thank you very much. The fact that some people lack basic reading comprehension skills, any sense of logic or an understanding of deductive reasoning is REALLY not my problem.

Opinions are great! We all have them and it's fun to discuss and debate them. But unless you're involving a quantifiable, inarguable fact in the conversation, nobodies opinion is wrong or right. And if you present an opinion that does not contain those variables as a fact, then you deserved to be made fun of.

Words have meanings. Putting them together changes those meanings any number of ways. Learning what those words mean and how their meanings change when you string them together in a sentence is a valuable tool. Telling somebody there opinion is wrong because you disagree holds ZERO meaning or worth.

Cerebus said:

funkomatic said:

Blah blah blah

I told you, very clearly, that I believed it works as a collection of unreleased songs, which is what is was advertised as. Then I explained how I think he could do it better. I'm not sure why it's so difficult for you to understand, but unless something other than "you're wrong" is said, this conversation is over. It's not about right or wrong - my opinion is different than yours.

Calm down and stop the projections! All I wanted to understand was: how can your opinion be different from mine after all your posts being full of criticism for Crystal Ball (album and archive collection). That's all!

BTW: Thanks for replacing my words with blah blah blah! Unlike you I've tried to take your posts seriously. It seems as if you don't want me to.

funkomatic said:

Cerebus said:

I told you, very clearly, that I believed it works as a collection of unreleased songs, which is what is was advertised as. Then I explained how I think he could do it better. I'm not sure why it's so difficult for you to understand, but unless something other than "you're wrong" is said, this conversation is over. It's not about right or wrong - my opinion is different than yours.

Calm down and stop the projections! All I wanted to understand was: how can your opinion be different from mine after all your posts being full of criticism for Crystal Ball (album and archive collection). That's all!

BTW: Thanks for replacing my words with blah blah blah! Unlike you I've tried to take your posts seriously. It seems as if you don't want me to.

Don't get your panties in a bunch - I remove words from quotes all the time in order to keep the strings smaller. People know what was said, and if they don't all they have to do is scroll up a little.

Thing is, I don't think you were taking seriously anything I said, or even really processing it.

I said (for like, the third of fourth time now) that I appreciate Crystal Ball for what it was; a collection of unreleased songs. Prince said he was going to release a box set worth of unreleased material, and he did! 100% truth in advertising.

You then posted that I said otherwise. Well, show me where what I said ever contradicted that statement. You can't, because I didn't. In order to do so I would have had to say "it doesn't work as a collection of unreleased songs", and that just didn't happen. That's what YOU said.

I never went back on my belief that I appreciate Crystal Ball for what it is. I simply stated my opinions, as part of an open, onging conversation, about how I think he could have made it better. Because YOU don't like it and want people to agree with you, you decided that I said what you needed to hear and demanded I agree with you about contradicting myself. No. I do not, and I did not. And as I've already stated, if you can't understand the difference, it's not my problem.

We waited for more than a decade for an official collection of unreleased songs and Prince finally gave us one. I will forever accept it as him trying to do something the fans wanted. I just think he could have done a better job.

Edit: Oops. Left off a word.

[Edited 6/27/12 20:50pm]

One more thing, "calm down"? You have no idea whether or not I'm "calm". But I can assure you that my heartrate never went above resting at any point on this thread. This is me, for better or worse. If you try to tell me I said something I didn't say I'm going to defend myself, vigorously.

Cerebus said:

One more thing, "calm down"? You have no idea whether or not I'm "calm". But I can assure you that my heartrate never went above resting at any point on this thread. This is me, for better or worse. If you try to tell me I said something I didn't say I'm going to defend myself, vigorously.

I'm having a heart palpitation right now over this... I really need to cut out those cigarettes...

Graycap23 said:

funkomatic said:

You do agree, because you argumented the same way.

Prince tried to make it more than it was and failed.

Interesting. I loved that set exactly 4 what it was. I still play it on a regular basis.

A very sensitive issue in the end. Fact is: There's some really good material on it. On the other hand: Did it get the best treatment possible? IMO it didn't. Far from it.

[Edited 6/27/12 15:01pm]

funkomatic said:

Graycap23 said:

Interesting. I loved that set exactly 4 what it was. I still play it on a regular basis.

A very sensitive issue in the end. Fact is: There's some really good material on it. On the other hand: Did it get the best treatment possible? IMO it didn't. Far from it.

[Edited 6/27/12 15:01pm]

Hence.......bootlegs and various "outtakes".