''Crystal Ball'' is an unreleased

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

recorded throughout 1986. The album was planned to consist of 3 LPs and cover a broad range of

musical styles A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from ''musical form'' and musical style, although in practice these terms are some ...

. Many of its tracks were repurposed for the 1987 album ''

Sign o' the Times ''Sign o' the Times'' (often stylized as ''Sign "☮︎" the Times'') is the ninth studio album by American singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Prince. It was first released on March 30, 1987 as a double album by Paisley Park ...

'', while others remained officially unreleased for years.

Evolution of the album

''Crystal Ball'' can be traced to late 1985 with what would be Prince and

The Revolution A revolution is a drastic political change that usually occurs relatively quickly. For revolutions which affect society, culture, and technology more than political systems, see social revolution. Revolution may also refer to: Aviation *Warner ...

's final album, '' Dream Factory''. Since '' Purple Rain''s release, each successive album became more of a collaborative effort between Prince and band members

Wendy and Lisa Wendy & Lisa (briefly known as Girl Bros.) are a music duo consisting of Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman. They began working with Prince in the early 1980s and were part of his band the Revolution, before branching out on their own and releasin ...

in addition to full band performances on certain songs. ''Dream Factory'' evolved quickly from a 9-track single album to a double-LP with an ever-changing track list of songs. A final configuration of the album was finally decided upon and the album was mastered. But, during 1986 Wendy and Lisa had increasingly become disgruntled with Prince's decision to expand the Revolution with non-musicians Wally Safford and Gregory Allen Brooks along with the attitude that these new members brought with them. Unhappy and outspoken about their feelings, they had to be convinced to remain with the band and go on tour for that year's

Parade Tour The Parade Tour (also called the Under the Cherry Moon Tour) was a concert tour by American recording artist Prince in support of Prince and The Revolution's eighth studio album '' Parade'' and his 1986 film ''Under the Cherry Moon''. The Hit n ...

. However, Prince himself felt slighted and by the end of the tour fired most of

. Thus, the album was never released. The versions of the songs that would get an official release years later had the contributions made by Wendy & Lisa either toned down or completely removed. Once Prince abandoned the project, he began recording a new album. He first recorded a track, "Housequake", in a sped-up vocal style similar to the title track of ''Dream Factory''. Pleased with the results, Prince continued to record in this style and ended up recording an entire album of songs in this new vocal style. Prince adopted the idea of releasing an album under the pseudonym '' Camille'' with no picture on the

album cover An album cover (also referred to as album art) is the front packaging art of a commercially released studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to either the printed paperboard covers typically used to package sets of and 78-r ...

to mystify the public and see if the album would stand on its own without Prince's name attached to it. The album reached the mastering stage, but as Prince continued recording songs, he felt the need to expand beyond a single album. Eventually he decided to combine various tracks from ''Dream Factory'', ''Camille'' and other newly recorded tracks into a 3-LP album called ''Crystal Ball''.

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

balked at the idea, convinced the album would not perform well as a three-album set, especially after the relatively poor sales for his previous release, ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

''. Warner Bros. and Prince compromised and settled on a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

. Prince added a duet with

Sheena Easton Sheena Shirley Easton (; born 27 April 1959) is a Scottish singer and actress. Easton came into the public eye in an episode of the first British musical reality television programme '' The Big Time: Pop Singer'', which recorded her attempts to ...

, but cut seven tracks. The set was renamed ''

''.

Releases over time

Though seven tracks were cut from ''Crystal Ball'', they have all been released in some form over the years. "Shockadelica" was the first to be publicly released as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

to "

If I Was Your Girlfriend "If I Was Your Girlfriend" is the second single from American musician Prince's 1987 double album ''Sign o' the Times''. The song was a hit in the United Kingdom but was only a minor hit in America. It was originally from the '' Camille'' project ...

" in 1987. "Rockhard in a Funky Place" was slated to be the closing track on '' The Black Album'' which was shelved by Prince in late 1987 and heavily

bootleg Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...

ged by fans. It finally saw a limited official release in 1994. "The Ball" was reworked, given new lyrics and became "Eye No", the opening track to 1988's ''

Lovesexy ''Lovesexy'' is the tenth studio album by American recording artist Prince. The album was released on May 10, 1988 by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album was recorded in just seven weeks, from mid-December 1987 to late Janua ...

''. Later in 1988, "Good Love" was released on the soundtrack to '' Bright Lights, Big City''. Prince released "Joy in Repetition" on his '' Graffiti Bridge'' soundtrack in 1990 (and many critics hailed it as the best track on the album). In 1998, Prince revived the concept of ''Crystal Ball'' with the release of a 3- CD album of the same name. The title track was the same one from the original 3-LP version; however, the set had little to do with the original concept other than the title track, a slight edit of "Good Love" and the fact that it contained three discs. Finally in 2001, a live rehearsal of "Rebirth of the Flesh" recorded with the ''Sign o' the Times'' band was released o
Prince's website
however, this version had profanity edited from the lyrics. The studio version has surfaced on the Super Deluxe Edition of ''Sign o' the Times'' released on September 25 2020, along with much of the previously-unreleased songs from the ''Dream Factory''/''Camille''/''Crystal Ball'' sessions.

Track listing

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crystal Ball (Unreleased Album) Prince (musician) albums Albums produced by Prince (musician) Warner Records albums Unreleased albums

Evolution of the album

Releases over time

Track listing

See also

References