Crystal Ball [BOX SET] [IMPORT]

Prince

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 3, 1998)
• Original Release Date: March 3, 1998
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Box set, Import
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: NPG
• ASIN: B00000JFYP
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #158,419 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Crystal Ball

2. Dream Factory

3. Acknowledge Me

4. Ripopgodazippa

5. Love Sign

See all 10 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Interactive

2. Da Bang

3. Calhoun Square

4. What's My Name

5. Crucial

See all 10 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Days of Wild

2. Last Heart

3. Poom Poom

4. She Gave Her Angels

5. 18 and Over

See all 10 tracks on this disc

Disc: 4

1. Truth

2. Don't Play Me

3. Circle of Amour

4. 3rd I

5. Dionne

See all 12 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Limited Edition 4 Cd Set In Exclusive Clear Round Container Packaging. Also Includes Circular 18 Page Deluxe Cd Booklet.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A true Hit and Miss Affair-- the ultimate Mixed Bag, November 1, 1999

By	TheBandit (SEA-TAC) - See all my reviews

Four discs. The first three could've easily fit onto two. So already its a rip-off. This would've been forgiveable if the music was all first rate; which it should've been. After all, any Prince fan has heard of the fabled 'Vault' where supposedly hundreds upon hundreds of finished, yet unreleased, songs lie.

But, no-- rather than jam-pack this set of 'vault' material with unreleased gems (as was originally promised), nearly one-third of the first three discs consists of lame re-mixes of previously available material.

To put it simply, the best stuff on discs 1-3 are all the songs that were recorded during the '80s. The title track is an epic classic, and songs like "Sexual Suicide", "Dream Factory", "Crucial", "Movie Star", make this set worth picking up for Prince fans.

Disc four is actually not really part of Crystal Ball, but rather a seperate album altogether: "The Truth", which is a collection of acoustic-based songs that represents some of his sharpest work of the '90s. Along with the '80s tracks on disc 1-3, this is the meat of the OVERPRICED package. There is some great singing, interesting lyrics, and (perhaps most importantly) SUBTLE production in abundance on "The Truth".

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost worth it, December 8, 1999

By	Tolerable Music - See all my reviews

The price is almost worth getting your hands on Disc 4 - The Truth, a mostly acoustic album that is the best thing Prince has ever done. A surprisingly subtle and playful album of beautiful acoustic playing and quirky sound effects. It almost sounds like he is paying homage to Ween, who are, beleive it or not, heavily influenced by Prince. I've found that Prince is most brilliant when he is not taking himself so seriously. My advice, unless you're a Prince collector, is to find someone who already has this and bootleg disc four.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There's really some good stuff on here, honest!, February 10, 2000

By	Joe Kenney "buttergun" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

Like most people, I've become pretty jaded with Prince's more recent music. I liked the Gold Experience (which is out of print, for some reason, while Chaos and Disorder is still in print....you figure it out), but everything since then hasn't really caught my attention. No wonder; he hasn't been releasing any of the good stuff! There are some really good, recent songs on here, like Da Bang, Lovesign, Get Loose, and Calhoun Square. The older stuff is pretty great, too, like What's My name, Dream Factory, and Sexual Suicide. I think overall my favorite song on the collection is Crystal Ball itself. I had always been under the wrong impression about this song, thinking that it would be some avante garde orchestral piece. There are some orchestra overdubs in it, but overall it's just a really long, really great, synthesizer-based funk song, already one of my favorite Prince songs. But is the price for this 4cd set justified? I think it is. Of course, I got mine for much less, on an on-line auction, so what do I know? The 4th cd, the Truth, it's all right, I did have bigger expectations for it, but some of the songs are pretty good, like Animal Kingdom and Man in Uniform. Disc 2 is probably the most playable, even if Cloreen Bacon Skin is on it. I think Prince went a little overboard, putting that entire song on there. It's an all right song....but after about 10 minutes of hearing the same beat, you don't feel like listening to it for another 5 minutes. And sure, we could lament over what songs the Artist didn't include in the set, like There's Others Here With Us, Dance with the Devil, Rebirth of the Flesh, or even the uncut, 10 minute version of Computer Blue, but what would be the point? Prince has more songs than he knows what to do with, he should just release them all. So in the end, I'd say this would be a worthwhile purchase, if you're a Prince fan. I've had mine for a few weeks, and have been playing it ever since. And that's one to grow on.