Publication: Minneapolis Star-Tribune [US]
Date: February 24, 1998
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Title: Crystal Ball Review
Reviewed By: Jon Bream

Disc of the week

PRINCE, "Crystal Ball" (NPG)

This "Crystal Ball" does not look into the future; it looks backward. The multidisc set -- four CDs in stores, five via the Internet/mail-order -- is mostly a collection of Prince outtakes and leftovers, some of which have been heard in concert and widely bootlegged. As usual, the music is funky and often fun -- but most of it is for fanatics and completists only.

There are good reasons most of this stuff wasn't released. Some tunes just didn't fit with the album Prince was working on at the time; others are ideas or experiments that aren't fully realized. The best part of the package -- it comes in a standard square jewel box or in a clear plastic oversized hockey puck (crystal ball, get it?) -- are the liner notes. Prince doesn't give dates for any of the recordings but discusses details of the sessions, what prompted the songs and who they were written for. His comments -- both silly and serious -- afford insights into his wacky world.

Disc 1 features lots of electro-funk; highlights are "So Dark," a soulful Curtis Mayfield-like ballad, and "Movie Star," a silly rap that would have been perfect for Morris Day, for whom it was written. Disc 2 finds Prince on some wacked-out excursions, including "Cloreen Bacon Skin," a rambling, ad-libbed talking lyric over a James Brown groove, and "Good Love," which sounds like the Jackson 5 gone psychedelic pop. Disc 3 is the most vibrant, consistent and recently recorded of the three so-called "bootleg" CDs, featuring the oft-performed party jam "Days of Wild," the pining lite-funk "Last Heart" and the heavenly romantic ballad "She Gave Her Angels."

Disc 4 is "The Truth," 1997's curious, mostly acoustic album filled with songs about making choices and commentaries on how screwed up the music business is. Disc 5 -- available only through the Internet/mail order (1-800-NEW-FUNK) -- is "Kamasutra," the music Prince composed for his 1996 wedding to Mayte. Of course, there's more in the vault where this stuff came from.