Prince Crystal Ball box set

Crystal Ball Prince

Released: March 3, 1998 Peak: 62 US, 91 RB, --UK, -- CN, -- AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.13 US, -- UK, 0.3 world (includes US and UK) Genre: R&B/funk/pop

Tracks, Disc 1: Crystal Ball Dream Factory Acknowledge Me Ripopgozazippa Love Sign (Shock G’s Silky Remix) Hide the Bone 2morrow So Dark Movie Star Tell Me How U Wanna Be Done Tracks, Disc 2: Interactive Da Bang Calhoun Square What’s My Name Crucial An Honest Man Sexual Suicide Cloreen Bacon Skin Good Love Strays of the World Tracks, Disc 3: Days of Wild (live) Last Heart Poom Poom She Gave Her Angels 18 & Over The Ride (live) Get Loose P Control (remix) Make Your Mama Happy Goodbye Click on individual song titles for more details, including songwriters, recording and release dates, chart peaks, versions recorded by other artists, and basic information aobout the song. Total Running Time: 2:29:27 Other Songs from This Era: Song Title

Rating: 3.081 out of 5.00 (average of 13 ratings)

About the Album IMHO, this is when Prince lost the plot. When it comes to artist vs. record company battles, it’s pretty hard to side against the artist, but in 1998 Prince seemed to be trying as hard as possible to show exactly why record companies have value. Prince signed to Warner Bros. in 1977 when he was 18 years old. There were some growing pains, but by the mid-‘80s, it was clear they’d landed a superstar. Prince reached the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983 with “Little Red Corvette” and “Delirious” from his top-ten, four-times platinum album 1999. The follow-up, 1984’s Purple Rain, spent 24 weeks at #1 and sold 26 million copies worldwide. This gave Prince leverage to set up his own label, Paisley Park. From 1985 to 1992, he released eight albums in partnership with Warner. Then the battle began. Despite being signed to a $100 million contract, Prince publicly claimed it was the equivalent of forced servitude because he didn’t own the master recordings or have creative control. He infamously took to appearing in public with “Slave” scrawled on his face. photograph by Brian Rasic/Rex Features as posted at TheGuardian.com Prince also changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol () under the argument that the record company owned the name “Prince.” Considering the symbol he’d adopted as his new moniker was unpronounceable, the press – at a loss as to how to refer to him – took to calling him “the Artist Formerly Known as Prince.” image from NPG Records as posted at Variety.com Despite the very public split, Prince still owed Warner Bros. several albums. This resulted in several archival releases, including 1993’s The Hits/The B-sides, 1994’s Come, 1994’s The Black Album (which had originally been slated for release in 1987), 1995’s The Gold Experience, and 1996’s Chaos and Disorder. The Gold Experience was actually jointly released by Warner and Prince’s newly formed label, NPG (New Power Generation), which he formed to replace Paisley Park. The first full-fledged release with NPG came in 1996 with Emancipation. Right out of the gate, Prince was testing his audience. Double albums are typically viewed as sprawling, over-the-top affairs that could be whittled down to one solid album instead. However, he’d had both commercial success and critical acclaim with 1987’s Sign ‘O’ the Times so maybe another multi-disc set could fly. Of course, this was more than a two-album set. It was a three disc collection. However, it seemed his faithful were still on board as the album reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified as double platinum. It’s then, however, pushed his audience’s loyalty a step too far. One could forgive the excess of Prince celebrating his newfound freedom with a bloated multi-disc collection. But would they go for two such projects back-to-back? The answer was “NO.” 1998’s Crystal Ball was a FIVE-disc set upon its initial release. The Truth was an album of new material by Prince and Kamasutra was recorded by Prince with the NPG Orchestra. Both have since been made available as individual albums. The other three discs were a dip into the archives from 1983 to 1996. The artist who so publicly lashed out at his former record company for taking advantage of him was now arguably taking advantage of his audience. To be fair, it’s hard to argue against any artist having the right to own his or her own material and maintaining creative control over the work they create. Certainly record companies have a long history of taking advantage of their signees, whether they be superstars or new artists with no clout. However, Prince’s obliviousness or outright apathy toward his audience and their budgetary constraints made it hard not to see him as an out-of-touch artist obsessed with only creating the art and not considering how it might be consumed by its patrons. The Songs Here are insights into some of the individual tracks. They are presented in order of when they were released instead of the album’s track listing. The songs “Sexual Suicide,“ “Dream Factory,“ “Last Heart,“ “Movie Star,“ “Crystal Ball,” “Crucial,” and “Good Love” are not featured on this page but on the page for the aborted albums Dream Factory, Camille, and Crystal Ball. Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs. They are presented chronologically based on when they were originally recorded.

Cloreen Bacon Skin Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: 3/27/1983 at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

An Honest Man Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: 12/17/1985 at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

Make Your Mama Happy Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: August 7-8, 1986 at Galpin Boulevard Home Studio in Chanhassen, MN Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

Tell Me How U Wanna B Done Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: January 1992 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, MN Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

What’s My Name Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: May 1993 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, MN Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

Strays of the World Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: May 1993 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, MN Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

Calhoun Square Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: 6/15/1993 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, MN Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

Interactive Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: June 1993 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, MN Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

Acknowledge Me Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: October 1993 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, MN Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

Ripopgozazippa Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: October 1993 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, MN Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

Love Sign Prince & Nona Gaye

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: January 1994 at Paisley Park in Chanassen, MN; 1994 at the Record Plant in Sausalito, CA Released: 1-800-NEW-FUNK (1994), Shock G’s Silky Remix: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

P. Control Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: 7/25/1994 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, MN Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998), Anthology: 1995-2010 (2018)

So Dark Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: 1/2/1993 and 1994 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, MN Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

18 & Over Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: 1994 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, MN Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

Get Loose Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: February 1993 and 1994 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, MN Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

The Ride (live) Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: 10/29/1995 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, MN Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

Hide the Bone Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: November 1993 at Studios Davout in Paris; 1994-95 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, MN Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

Da Bang Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: 1995 at Larrabee Sound Studios in Los Angeles Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

Poom Poom Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: 1995 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, MN Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

Goodbye Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: December 1991, 1995 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, MN; December 1994 at Ocean Way Recording in Los Angeles Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

Days of Wild (live) Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: 12/9/1995 live at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, MN; overdubs 1995-96 Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998), 6/27/2002 as a single

2morrow Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: November 1996 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, MN Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

She Gave Her Angels Prince

Writer(s): Prince Recorded: 1996 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, MN Released: Crystal Ball (box set, 1998)

Notes: -- Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com review BC Benoit Clerc (2022). Prince: All the Songs – The Story Behind Every Track. Octopus Publishing Group Ltd.: Great Britain PV PrinceVault.com WK Wikipedia Related DMDB Pages: First posted 7/27/2025; last updated 7/28/2025.