violetcrush said:

PeteSilas said:

couple other things about SOTT, it was after Purple Rain and 3 or 4 excellent albums, most pop artists of his stature are losing steam way before that many great albums and this one might have been his best. Another thing is, thematically, he was still going with biblical/apocalyptic themes to his albums. so, his sound and image was ever changing but the central themes seemed to stay the same.

Don't forget though - most of the songs were carried over from the time period during or right after Purple Rain. He had recorded some of the "Dream Factory" songs before the PR tour had started, and many more during the ATWIAD/Parade period. Amazing to think how things might have gone if he had kept the Revolution for one more year, and been able to release the 3 disc Crystal Ball as originally planned. But yes, he never stopped including the biblical themes.

that's right, i could never take the place was said to have been around since the dirty mind era which makes perfect sense to me because it had the same girls group type of melody and lyrics that when you were mine had. And Sott was what was left over after the abandoned crystal ball cd. Warners was right from a commercial stand point on that one.

PeteSilas said:

violetcrush said:

Don't forget though - most of the songs were carried over from the time period during or right after Purple Rain. He had recorded some of the "Dream Factory" songs before the PR tour had started, and many more during the ATWIAD/Parade period. Amazing to think how things might have gone if he had kept the Revolution for one more year, and been able to release the 3 disc Crystal Ball as originally planned. But yes, he never stopped including the biblical themes.

that's right, i could never take the place was said to have been around since the dirty mind era which makes perfect sense to me because it had the same girls group type of melody and lyrics that when you were mine had. And Sott was what was left over after the abandoned crystal ball cd. Warners was right from a commercial stand point on that one.

I think that was one of the big contentions with Wendy and Lisa - they had participated on some of the SOTT tracks (but he erased their contributions), and many more of the unreleaased songs. Not sure of WB was right from a "hindsight is 20/20" perspective. I do think it would all have been too over the top for the masses back at that time, but looking at all of the additional music now, it would have ended up being an amazing piece of work. And Prince had that vision back then..

[Edited 6/8/18 11:03am]

violetcrush said:

PeteSilas said:

that's right, i could never take the place was said to have been around since the dirty mind era which makes perfect sense to me because it had the same girls group type of melody and lyrics that when you were mine had. And Sott was what was left over after the abandoned crystal ball cd. Warners was right from a commercial stand point on that one.

I think that was one of the big contentions with Wendy and Lisa - they had participated on some of the SOTT tracks (but he erased their contributions), and many more of the unreleaased songs. Not sure of WB was right from a "hindsight is 20/20" perspective. I do think it would all have been too over the top for the masses back at that time, but looking at all of the additional music now, it would have ended up being an amazing piece of work. And Prince had that vision back then..

[Edited 6/8/18 11:03am]

ya, that was just one of the more punkish things Prince did, he was an asshole in those years, no two ways about it. but as far as WB, no, prince didn't have the ability to stand still long enough to milk any album, he abandoned PR before a european tour jsut because he was tired of it. He didn't even tour sott in the us, and he was already off to his next stuff almost as soon as he was done with it, just like he always did. great from an artistic perspective, dumb from a commercial perspective.

PeteSilas said:

violetcrush said:

I think that was one of the big contentions with Wendy and Lisa - they had participated on some of the SOTT tracks (but he erased their contributions), and many more of the unreleaased songs. Not sure of WB was right from a "hindsight is 20/20" perspective. I do think it would all have been too over the top for the masses back at that time, but looking at all of the additional music now, it would have ended up being an amazing piece of work. And Prince had that vision back then..

[Edited 6/8/18 11:03am]

ya, that was just one of the more punkish things Prince did, he was an asshole in those years, no two ways about it. but as far as WB, no, prince didn't have the ability to stand still long enough to milk any album, he abandoned PR before a european tour jsut because he was tired of it. He didn't even tour sott in the us, and he was already off to his next stuff almost as soon as he was done with it, just like he always did. great from an artistic perspective, dumb from a commercial perspective.

Yes, but he was very serious about the Crystal Ball triple album - Susannah Melvoin was serious with him then and singing with him on many of those songs - she stated it was a very big deal to him. Biographies have stated this as well. He really wanted that triple album.

*

Regarding the "standing still" and tired of touring - yes, he was definitely done with the PR touring. Everyone in the camp, including Prince, has stated that he just couldn't do it anymore. However, I think the SOTT tour might have been a bit different. Cat Glover stated in an interview that when they did the shows in Europe the crowds were holding up signs saying "where is The Revolution" and they were screaming "where's Wendy & Lisa?!" She said Prince was really pissed off. I think on some level he may have been worried about the reception in the US as well - and also competing against the PR tour in the US. Not sure he would have topped that tour.

*

Here's the scoop on the SOTT process from princevault.com:

Recording process

Eight of the album's seventeen tracks were included on various configurations of the Dream Factory album, planned as the fourth album by Prince and the Revolution. When the Revolution was disbanded in October 1986, Prince reworked the album.

In late October 1986, Prince worked on an unrelated album, Camille (to be given the artist credit of Camille), on which Housequake, Strange Relationship and If I Was Your Girlfriend were included, before combining elements of the two projects to create Crystal Ball, a triple album initially also credited to Camille, but possibly also considered to be credited solely to Prince.

Warner Bros. were skeptical about releasing a triple album, and Prince removed seven of the 22 tracks and recorded the radio-friendly U Got The Look, completing the album on 15 January 1987 with the recording of an introductory piece acting as a segue from Sign O' The Times to Play In The Sunshine.

i know he was serious but he wasn't seeing things from WB's point of view.

violetcrush said:

PeteSilas said:

ya, that was just one of the more punkish things Prince did, he was an asshole in those years, no two ways about it. but as far as WB, no, prince didn't have the ability to stand still long enough to milk any album, he abandoned PR before a european tour jsut because he was tired of it. He didn't even tour sott in the us, and he was already off to his next stuff almost as soon as he was done with it, just like he always did. great from an artistic perspective, dumb from a commercial perspective.

Yes, but he was very serious about the Crystal Ball triple album - Susannah Melvoin was serious with him then and singing with him on many of those songs - she stated it was a very big deal to him. Biographies have stated this as well. He really wanted that triple album.

*

Regarding the "standing still" and tired of touring - yes, he was definitely done with the PR touring. Everyone in the camp, including Prince, has stated that he just couldn't do it anymore. However, I think the SOTT tour might have been a bit different. Cat Glover stated in an interview that when they did the shows in Europe the crowds were holding up signs saying "where is The Revolution" and they were screaming "where's Wendy & Lisa?!" She said Prince was really pissed off. I think on some level he may have been worried about the reception in the US as well - and also competing against the PR tour in the US. Not sure he would have topped that tour.

*

Here's the scoop on the SOTT process from princevault.com:

Recording process

Eight of the album's seventeen tracks were included on various configurations of the Dream Factory album, planned as the fourth album by Prince and the Revolution. When the Revolution was disbanded in October 1986, Prince reworked the album.

In late October 1986, Prince worked on an unrelated album, Camille (to be given the artist credit of Camille), on which Housequake, Strange Relationship and If I Was Your Girlfriend were included, before combining elements of the two projects to create Crystal Ball, a triple album initially also credited to Camille, but possibly also considered to be credited solely to Prince.

Warner Bros. were skeptical about releasing a triple album, and Prince removed seven of the 22 tracks and recorded the radio-friendly U Got The Look, completing the album on 15 January 1987 with the recording of an introductory piece acting as a segue from Sign O' The Times to Play In The Sunshine.

PeteSilas said:

i know he was serious but he wasn't seeing things from WB's point of view.

violetcrush said:

Yes, but he was very serious about the Crystal Ball triple album - Susannah Melvoin was serious with him then and singing with him on many of those songs - she stated it was a very big deal to him. Biographies have stated this as well. He really wanted that triple album.

*

Regarding the "standing still" and tired of touring - yes, he was definitely done with the PR touring. Everyone in the camp, including Prince, has stated that he just couldn't do it anymore. However, I think the SOTT tour might have been a bit different. Cat Glover stated in an interview that when they did the shows in Europe the crowds were holding up signs saying "where is The Revolution" and they were screaming "where's Wendy & Lisa?!" She said Prince was really pissed off. I think on some level he may have been worried about the reception in the US as well - and also competing against the PR tour in the US. Not sure he would have topped that tour.

*

Here's the scoop on the SOTT process from princevault.com:

Recording process

Eight of the album's seventeen tracks were included on various configurations of the Dream Factory album, planned as the fourth album by Prince and the Revolution. When the Revolution was disbanded in October 1986, Prince reworked the album.

In late October 1986, Prince worked on an unrelated album, Camille (to be given the artist credit of Camille), on which Housequake, Strange Relationship and If I Was Your Girlfriend were included, before combining elements of the two projects to create Crystal Ball, a triple album initially also credited to Camille, but possibly also considered to be credited solely to Prince.

Warner Bros. were skeptical about releasing a triple album, and Prince removed seven of the 22 tracks and recorded the radio-friendly U Got The Look, completing the album on 15 January 1987 with the recording of an introductory piece acting as a segue from Sign O' The Times to Play In The Sunshine.

Right - he had a hard time looking at it from a business/marketing perspective, but from an artistic standpoint he was right about the music. He wanted it all out there.