Crystal Ball (box set)

Crystal Ball contains Prince's 20th and 21st studio albums and was released on March 21, 1998 by NPG Records.

The album contains "Crystal Ball" (which was Prince's 20th album) which is a three-disc set of previously bootlegged material, together with a fourth disc containing an album of 12 new acoustic songs called "The Truth" (which was Prince's 21st album)

The box set was initially only available through direct orders by phone (1-800-NEW-FUNK) and Internet. The direct order edition included a fifth disc: an instrumental studio album by The NPG Orchestra titled "Kamasutra."

The shipment of this edition started on January 29, 1998, approximately two months before its official release.

"Crystal Ball" is the second triple album in succession following "Emancipation."

Each of the album's three CDs contains 10 tracks and lasts almost exactly 50 minutes, mirroring "Emancipation"'s 12-song, 60-minute disc lengths.

Prince once planned to release a 3-LP album around 1986 (also called "Crystal Ball") and that album was edited down to a 2-LP and renamed "Sign o' the Times".

Eleven years later, its title track became the title track for this album.