Prince (January 29 / March 3 1998) Crystal Ball - Album

Crystal Ball is Prince’s twentieth studio album (credited to ), his second triple album in succession, and the first to be released and distributed completely independently. It is a vault collection of previously unreleased material spanning 1983–1997, originally available via direct mail order in January 1998, with retail following in March.

RELEASE DETAILS

Artist: Prince (as )

Label: NPG Records

Catalogue: 9362-46314-2 (retail)

Format: 3×CD (mail order included bonus Kamasutra and The Truth)

Country: Worldwide

Released: January 29, 1998 (mail order) / March 3, 1998 (retail)

THE STORY

A deep dive into Prince’s legendary vault featuring outtakes, alternate mixes, and long-sought-after tracks. The album showcases material from different eras, including extended jams like “Cloreen Bacon Skin” and “Days Of Wild,” mixed with remixes and newer recordings.

CONTEXT & NOTES

Released after Prince gained full artistic freedom post-Warner Bros., Crystal Ball was sold primarily via 1-800 New Funk pre-orders. The mail-order version came in a unique round “crystal ball” case with The Truth and Kamasutra. It marked Prince’s pioneering independent distribution model, though it faced delays and customer service issues often referred to as the “Crystal Ball fiasco.”

TRACK LISTING (1996 Original 3CD)

Disc 1

Crystal Ball — 10:28

Dream Factory — 3:07

Acknowledge Me — 5:27

Ripopgodazippa — 4:39

Love Sign (Shock G’s Silky Remix) — 3:53

Hide The Bone — 5:04

2morrow — 4:14

So Dark — 5:14

Movie Star — 4:26

Tell Me How U Wanna B Done — 3:16

Disc 2

1. Interactive — 3:04

2. Da Bang — 3:20

3. Calhoun Square — 4:47

4. What’s My Name — 3:04

5. Crucial — 5:06

6. An Honest Man — 1:13

7. Sexual Suicide — 3:40

8. Cloreen Bacon Skin — 15:37

9. Good Love — 4:55

10. Strays Of The World — 5:07

Disc 3

1. Days Of Wild — 9:19

2. Last Heart — 3:02

3. Poom Poom — 4:32

4. She Gave Her Angels — 3:53

5. 18 & Over — 5:40

6. The Ride — 5:14

7. Get Loose — 3:31

8. P. Control (Remix) — 6:00

9. Make Your Mama Happy — 4:01

10. Goodbye — 4:35

PERSONNEL Musicians Prince (as ) — all vocals and instruments (except where noted)

ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS AND BACKGROUND

• Susannah Melvoin — background vocals

• Wendy Melvoin — background vocals

• Sheila E. — sampled vocals

• Boni Boyer — vocal intro

• NPG Hornz (Kathy Jensen, Steve Strand, Dave Jensen, Michael B. Nelson, Brian Gallagher) — horns

• Michael B. — drums

• Sonny T. — bass

• Tommy Barbarella — keyboards

• Mr. Hayes — keyboards

• Carmen Electra — vocals

• Mayte — background vocals

• Eric Leeds — horns, saxophone

• Morris Day — drums

• Jill Jones — background vocals

• Kirk Johnson — drum programming

• Mike Scott — guitar

• Rain Ivana — NPG Operator voice

• Clare Fischer — orchestral arrangements

Production

• Prince (as ) — producer, arranger

• Hans-Martin Buff — project engineer, mastering

• Brian Gardner — mastering

• Multiple additional engineers from various sessions

• Steve Parke — package concept and design

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PACKAGING HIGHLIGHTS

• Mail order: Round plastic “crystal ball” case (5CD with The Truth + Kamasutra)

• Retail: 4CD jewel case set with The Truth and booklet

• Artwork and credits initially online only for pre-orders

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CHARTS 

America 

USA: Billboard 200 | 14 Mar. 1998 | 62 | 25 weeks

USA: Billboard Top R&B Albums | 14 Mar. 1998 | 59 | 4 weeks

The album is largely made up of tracks recorded in two periods: 1985–1986 and 1993–1996. The only exception is "Cloreen Bacon Skin", recorded in March 1983.

No tracks were recorded specially for this album. However, "2morrow" was recorded after the completion of his previous album, Emancipation, making Crystal Ball the first album on which it could have been included. The album contains seven remixes or alternate versions of previously released tracks: "Love Sign (Shock G's Silky Remix)", "So Dark" (a remix of "Dark"), "Tell Me How U Wanna B Done" (a remix of "The Continental"), "Interactive", "Good Love", "Get Loose" (a remix of "Loose!"), and "P. Control (Remix)".

This is the first Prince album of new material to feature previously released songs, although it primarily serves as an outtakes compilation rather than a studio album as such. Prince avoided using tracks that strongly featured the Revolution, as he intended to release a companion album, Roadhouse Garden, in 1999, containing previously unreleased Prince and the Revolution material (this album remains unreleased, however).

Copyright information on the album is given as 1997. No singles were released from the album, although "Love Sign" and "P. Control" had both previously been available as promo-only singles connected to their original albums, 1-800-NEW-FUNK and The Gold Experience, respectively. Although videos for "Acknowledge Me", "Interactive" and "18 & Over" were made a few years before this release (and not connected to any albums), they were not used as promotional tools for Crystal Ball. "Days of Wild" was released as a limited-release single in 2002, using a different live version than included here.

Prince did not tour or make any TV appearances to support the album. The album reached number 62 on the Billboard 200, and number 59 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

SOURCES Album liner notes, official discography, Discogs, 45cat, Official Charts, Wikipedia, Prince Vault.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE All album artwork, photographs, logos, and original text excerpts remain the property of their respective copyright holders. This entry is a transformative, non-commercial archival summary created for historical documentation and educational reference.