Crystal Ball (box set)
1998 box set by Prince
Crystal Ball is a box set by American recording artist Prince. The set includes the eponymous Crystal Ball, Prince's twentieth studio album and second triple album, which consists of "previously bootlegged" material, as well as The Truth, Prince's 21st studio album.
The box set was initially only available through direct orders by phone and internet. The direct order edition included a fifth disc, an instrumental studio album by The NPG Orchestra titled Kamasutra. Shipment of this limited edition 5-CD version started on January 29, 1998, approximately two months before the release of the 4-CD version to retail stores on March 21, 1998.
The album Crystal Ball is Prince's second triple album in succession, following Emancipation. Each of the three CDs contain ten tracks and last fifty minutes, resembling Emancipation's 12-song, sixty-minute disc lengths.
In 2018, NPG Records released Crystal Ball and The Truth digitally on Spotify, iTunes, Tidal, and Apple Music.
In 2021, a special limited vinyl edition of The Truth was released on Record Store Day.
Crystal Ball
The album is largely made up of tracks recorded in two periods: 1985–1986 and 1993–1996.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Crystal Ball (box set)” is 1998 box set by Prince. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Crystal, Ball and Prince, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1998 box set by Prince” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3005991. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1998, 2018, 2021 and 1985.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Crystal Ball (box set)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Crystal Ball (box set) primary sources, Crystal Ball (box set) archive and Crystal research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Crystal Ball (box set)”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Crystal Ball (box set)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.