Crystal Ball (box Set) - Album Controversy

Album Controversy

The album is a source of much controversy and a sore spot with many fans. Initially promised to be released in early 1997, Prince later stated that he wouldn't even press the album until he received a minimum of 50,000 pre-orders. Even after pre-orders were received, it was nearly a year before fans started receiving their copies. The shipping process was poorly managed, and some fans received their orders months later, if at all. Fans were also promised a transparent package in the shape of an actual crystal ball; instead, when the album finally shipped, it appeared in a flat circular container that many fans dubbed "the Plastic Hockey Puck" or "Crystal Petri Dish." Fans who pre-ordered the disc were directed to a website containing the liner notes and cover art for consumers to print, cut out, and place in their CD case.

The album was also made available in retail stores, which questioned the need for pre-orders in the first place. Furthermore, the album that appeared in stores contained an actual booklet with cover art liner notes, which the pre-ordered copies did not. As a peace-offering, Prince included a fifth disc, Kamasutra, which was not available in the version shipped to stores. Some customers also received a New Power Generation concert t-shirt or a cassette tape of the newly recorded "The War" for free.

The contents were also a point of contention with fans. Although advertised as a decades-spanning collection, most of the tracks were from the mid- to late-1990s. Also nearly a third of the tracks were remixes of previously released material. Some of the other tracks were unnecessarily edited; this was a particular problem since Crystal Ball's stated purpose was to eliminate the need for bootlegs, yet fans would still have to depend on said bootlegs to hear the full versions of the songs. Many consumers also complained that there was room for more material on the three discs, which ran about 45 minutes each. Indeed, the set could have easily fit 5 or more additional songs per disc. Others complained that the "bonus" albums The Truth and Kamasutra were filled with sub-par material. All in all, the album was considered a debacle. Prince inadvertently alienated a large portion of his fan base due to his poor handling of the release, particularly in his sizable online fan community, where a number of anti-fan sites sprang up citing Crystal Ball as the catalyst.