Crystal Ball [Box] - Prince (CD 1998)

The 3-disc CRYSTAL BALL set, originally intended as an internet-only release and then later released in chain stores around the country (thankfully, otherwise I wouldn't own it) is what EMANCIPATION should have been. For that matter, it's probably what the box set should have been, at the very least some of these songs should have made up the third disc there and the "hits" relegated to 1 disc instead of 2.

The title song, at just over ten minutes, is the very sound of melancholy, with a little confusion and desperation brought in in the last half. Heavy on the drums and bass with only minimal instrumentation aside, it sets the mood for the rest of the set in that you don't know what to expect from here on out, one song to the next.

"I can't remember my baby's voice / Cuz she ain't talkin' no more / Only the sound of love and prayer echo / From the yellow floor, yellow floor / She's sayin' 'Dear Jesus, save us temptation / Dear Jesus, save us from hell / Save us from the madness that threatens us all / Can you hear us, it's hard to tell / In your name we pray.'"

What we get is some of the best Prince in years. Certainly it's better than 90% of EMANCIPATION. Comprised of songs from many different periods in Prince's career, on the first disc alone we're treated to the amazing "Crystal Ball", then the poppish "Dream Factory", the funk-heavy rock song "Acknowledge Me" (one of my favorites from the set), a reggae-styled "Ripopgodazippa" (featured, unfortunately, in the movie Showgirls--what's worse, that it was in that movie, or that I know it was?), and the ultra-smooth "Lovesign". So far, CRYSTAL BALL is shaping up to be probably the crowning glory of Prince's career (okay, so he'll still never replace SIGN "O" THE TIMES, at least not in my mind). Listening to it again, it makes me a little sad at how energetic these songs are, knowing they're a mix of old songs never intended for a record, and some songs that were replaced ("Acknowledge Me" should have opened THE GOLD EXPERIENCE, but was replaced by "P Control"). We continue with the hip-hop, guitar-hooked and bass bumpin' "Hide the Bone" and one of the rawest Prince vocals in a LONG time. And if anyone is jonesin' for a Prince ballad, "2morrow" delivers in top form. We begin rounding out Disc 1 with a remixed "Dark" from COME, retitled "So Dark" and minus the drums at the beginning, but otherwise it sounds to me like the same song. "Movie Star" is a hilarious tune, originally meant for The Time, Prince talkin' like a player and just havin' a good time. "So do you like environmental records? Crickets chirpin', water rushin'? Supposed to make ya horny, just make me wanna go the bathroom. Actually this one's not bad, check it out. So, like, what's your name?" ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ "Aw, wow, that's dog." We end on a low note, unfortunately, with a remix of PART of "The Continental" from the SYMBOL record, an excerpt of Carmen Electra's spoken end bit set to a little funkier beat. A let down of an end, really, but we've still got 2 more discs to make us forget that nonsense.

Disc 2 starts off just as strong as the first one ever was. In a different world, "Interactive", the first song would have followed "Acknowledge Me" on THE GOLD EXPERIENCE, but both songs were replaced by "P. Control" and "Endorphinemachine". In sound and energy, the four songs are pretty interchangeable, and they're all pretty good.

"Da Bang" is another funk-rock song as is "Calhoun Square". There is one difference in "Square" from the first two, however. If anyone ever had to define the one funkiest song ever recorded by Prince, it would be this one. From the spoken opening, "Listen to the drummer, but you still wanna have fun, it shouldn't be work: 2, 3, Baby," to the @$$-kickin' bass hook and drums, right down to Prince's laid-back, sly grin vocals and roarin' guitar solo, "Calhoun Square" is definitely in Prince's top ten of all time. Play this one LOUD.

"What's My Name?" is another exercise in the bass mastery of Prince, and "Crucial" is just another example of what makes his ballads so d@mn good. The very short, a cappella "An Honest Man" reminds us of his vocal skills. "Sexual Suicide" is based on a drum beat Sheila E. showed him, after which "he snatched the sticks and pushed record". Not a bad song, but, honestly, it's probably my second least favorite from disc 2. "Cloreen Bacon Skin" is one of my favorites. It's about 15 minutes long and there's no real song there--no lyrics and no point--just Morris Day on drums, Prince on bass, and lots of free time to mess around, making up a funky nothing song on the spot. "Good Love" would be my third least favorite. It's not a bad song, but if I were given 3 songs to remove from the tracklist, this would be my last pick. It's pretty upbeat and "pop", but there's nothing that really makes it stand out. "Strays of the World" would be my very least favorite. It's slow, sweeping, grandiose trappings aren't fooling me. Prince's voice sounds like crap, the music is boring, and the lyrics inspire nothing in me. This would have been a decent song from almost anyone else, and they might have gotten a hit from it, but I just expect more from Prince. "Originally intended 4 a Broadway musical", the liner notes say. Yeah, it sounds like something I'd want to sit through for 2 hours. Whatever.

Disc 3 starts with "Days of Wild" a live recording of a solid-@$$ jam, Prince rapping with a live band behind him and lots of funk. On the downside, after a while it's another victim of the Prince over-produced syndrome, going on and on long past the point he should have stopped. But the first half of the song is so good, it doesn't even matter all that much.

"Last Heart" is another too-pop song, and "PoomPoom" is a wonderful look at what Prince does with his downtime. "Never intended for any album, just a funny track to make a female laugh".

"She Gave Her Angels" is a beautiful ballad with the requisite killer guitar solo--this one should have been a single, d@mm!t. "Fate as she designed it took her from her man / Destiny and love don't always go hand in hand / As the world lay waiting like an embryo in a womb / She gave her angels that night in June / She gave her angels to her man because her man had none / To watch over him 'till she returned, her man, her lover, her son."

"18 & Over" is a Prince lyric if ever there was one, but the vocal, that "swagger" in the voice, I think he's channeling Snoop Doggy-Dogg. Still a cool song. "The Ride" is the song to make you stop. You listen to it again. And again. And again once more, soaking up the pure juke-joint blues, the abrasive guitar, the guttural, throaty sound he gets from the strings, and you wonder why Prince doesn't record more blues. Solo? What solo? That's wasn't a solo, that was mojo magic.

"Get Loose" and "P. Control" are both remixes, "Get Loose" remixed from COMEs "Loose" with the lyrics removed, and "P. Control", obviously, from the opening song on THE GOLD EXPERIENCE with maybe a little more bass in the bottom. Why either of these were included, I don't know. "Make Your Mama Happy", though, that's a song I can understand being on here. It's simple pop-funk attitude makes it an obvious choice for CRYSTAL BALL. Finally the experience is done with the beautiful ballad "Goodbye". "Why'd I ever let you in this morning? / Why'd I let you come inside my door? / I should have known without that smile adorning / your face a kiss was not what you came for / That's when your hand reached out to touch me gently / At least that's how it happened in my mind / For that matter, whatever to make you reconsider / Is there truth when you make love to a lie? Excuse me, but is this really goodbye?" A heartbreaking song oozing sorrow. If you gotta wrap up almost 3 hours of some of your best music, why not go out with a bang?

Now HERE'S a 3-disc Prince collection worth the money. It's not a collection of hits and sub-hits with some B-sides thrown in, it's not an overdone testimony to his freedom as an artist, it's just a look back at some of the stuff we never got to see in the first place, some of it from Prince still in his prime. CRYSTAL BALL is a must-have collection for everyone.

I wanted to end this review with a short review of THE TRUTH, the mostly acoustic extra CD in the back of the set, but I think I'll pass. Why? THE TRUTH is another great record--minus a song or two here and there, to be honest--but instead of reviewing it, I decided to just say a few words about it and let it go. After all, there's no reason in the world a review needs to be as long as my EMANCIPATION review was, and CRYSTAL BALL, including THE TRUTH, is a whole disc longer. In short, THE TRUTH is a scaled down version of great Prince, no computers, no programmed beats, no extended jams at the end. Just Prince and a guitar, with a couple songs that make you slap your hand against your thigh and bob your head with his strumming. Then there's the gut-wrenching "One of Your Tears" ("Sometimes I wanna die and come back / As one of your tears") and the chilling ode to our dearly departed, "Comeback" that testify to his strength as a true musician, and not just someone who has to rely on all the bells and whistles of a big production to get our attention.

Buy CRYSTAL BALL and, if you love music, you'll find a whole lot on here to get in to, no matter what kind of music you like (unless you're a country fanatic, I guess). That's my recommendation, anyway.