Publication: Music Central [Internet]
Date: March 5, 1998
Section:
Page Number(s):
Length:
Title: Crystal Ball Review
Reviewed By: Mark Brown

Prince
Crystal Ball
music central critic 4 Stars
music central readers 4 1/2 Stars
average rating of
27 ballots cast
cast your vote

Here he goes again. This is the Artist breaking the rules while showing that, yes, he could easily play by them if he only wanted to. From the three discs of Crystal Ball you could easily carve a sharp, stunning album of the best material - the hard rock of "Calhoun Square", the light soul of "Crucial", the blues-busting "The Ride", the urgent funk chaos of "What's My Name?" and the smooth groove in "Goodbye", for starters.

Compiled of leftover tracks from the early '80s to the present, Crystal Ball is hardly just a conglomeration of castoffs. While not as cohesive as Emancipation, its songs are better, friskier and more fun than the Artist has been in years. Even the throwaways, including a 15-minute James Brown-style studio jam called "Cloreen Baconskin", are fascinating. The tone is perhaps best set by the comment Prince makes to an unidentified musician before launching into "Calhoun Square" - "Listen to the drummer, but you still wanna have fun. It shouldn't be work."

A fourth disc - the new acoustic album, The Truth - comes tightly carved: sharp, snappy and lively. Simply hearing the Artist's voice adorned with just crisp acoustic guitar is so compelling that it's hard to tell exactly how good the songs are. Far from a collection of demos, this is a genuine, full album that could be an adult radio hit if released separately; it would fit in well with the Tracy Chapmans and Dog's Eye Views of the world. "Circle of Amour" is one of the prettiest ballads he's written in a while; the execution and production are perfect. For a man who has at times made a career of excess, the restraint of The Truth is a delight, despite the occasional loopy lyric in something like the anti-milk anthem "Animal Kingdom".

On the other hand, Kamasutra, (included only for fans who ordered their box set by mail) is simply pretty new-age background string music. No wonder he tossed it in for free.