Crystal Ball Club

Despite being in one of his all-time prolific periods in the early 90s, Prince still had creative juice to spare: writing, recording, and often producing tracks and albums for collaborators old and new. Join Mike and Nathan as we examine the best -- and the rest -- of this incredible explosion of creativity.

While we mostly stay focused on the music at Crystal Ball Club, Prince's epic fight with Warner Brothers and his concurrent name change loom so large it would be almost impossible to understand some of his artistic choices in the rest of the decade. Join Mike and Nathan as we explore this turbulent time in Prince's life and art.

Forget reading the morning papers, Mike and Nathan break down Prince's most ambitious recording project yet, 1992's simultaneously amazing and frustrating [LOVE SYMBOL].

Fans earnestly debate how Prince's early 90s work stacks up against his 80s golden period, but there's little disagreement that his cinematic output was a straight arrow down -- from the exhilarating heights of Purple Rain , to the lovable oddity of Under the Cherry Moon , the clunky Graffiti Bridge , and finally here: the largely embarrassing 3 Chains o' Gold . 3 Chains might be tough...

By 1991 the music video as a commercial and artistic medium was in full flourish. Could Prince -- master of the recording studio and stage, and sometime movie star -- compete with music video powerhouses Michael Jackson and Madonna? Or were his DIAMONDS AND PEARLS era videos early signs of his anti-commercial instincts? Join Mike and Nathan for a conversation about every single official (and unoff...

Prince may have been departing his true "golden period" by 1991 but he was as prolific as ever. Mike and Nathan take a deep dive through the vault (aka the DIAMONDS AND PEARLS SUPER DELUXE box) to carve out bonus albums from the dozens of tracks left on the floor of Paisley Park.

Don't call it a comeback? After two soundtrack detours in 1989 and 1990, Prince returned in 1991 with his first proper album since LOVESEXY with DIAMONDS AND PEARLS. Recognizing that hip hop was no fleeting fad while also dipping his feet into smooth adult contemporary sounds, the Purple One entered his 34th year with a brand new band, all new material, and determined to stay on the cutting edge....

Rival Michael Jackson may have been the king of the music video, but in the 1980s Prince was a bone fide movie star. As the 90s dawned, Prince -- and his fans -- were into some choppy waters with the release of GRAFFITI BRIDGE. Join Mike and Nathan as they explore this endlessly frustrating and fascinating film and ponder how Prince's movie career might have taken a better turn. (Jump to movie...

Prince kicked off the 1990s with his fourth soundtrack album, this one for GRAFFITI BRIDGE, a sequel to Purple Rain that reunited Prince with Morris Day and the Time, and added stars both established (Mavis Staples, George Clinton) and up-and-coming (Tevin Campbell). Unlike the peerless PURPLE RAIN album, Prince crams in multiple guest songs and subpar tracks alongside some of his finest work. The...

Rare among era-defining pop artists, Prince spent his entire career creatively and personally anchored to a secondary market -- his hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Resisting the lure of LA or NY, Prince doubled down at the height of his career by building a world class recording and film production facility in the MPLS suburbs near his home. How did the construction of Paisley Park change Prin...

Did the 90s start on January 1st 1990 or 1991? Neither, they began on June 23, 1989 with the release of BATMAN, the first modern blockbuster, with a dizzying array of cross-promotions, product tie-ins, and of course a hit soundtrack by PRINCE. Prince left his imperial decade behind and embarked on the strange journey of the 1990s with this unforgettable album. Join the Crystal Ball Club as we revi...