Maps of Music

The Truth (1997)

Where the lyrics of The Truth take you, and where it was really made.

The album was first sold only through Prince's own website, and its CD was released only inside the Crystal Ball box set.

Key places

Where all tracks were recorded (1997)

Recording site Paisley Park Studios — Prince recorded all tracks for The Truth at his Paisley Park Studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota, between 1 December 1996 and 30 March 1997. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• The Truth: 21st studio album by Prince, who arranged, composed and produced all songs
• Released 29 January 1998 on his own label NPG Records
• Fifth release under his unpronounceable symbol pseudonym
• Mostly an acoustic album; the CD is sold only together with the box set Crystal Ball (1998)
• First available only through Prince's own website
• Released as a separate download album on Tidal in December 2015; on other streaming services since 2018
• Genres: contemporary R&B, funk and pop

Background

• Recorded after Emancipation was completed in October 1996
• Planned worldwide release at EMI-Capitol was not carried out after the EMI Group label closed in April 1997
• Prince announced a limited cassette release through his website 1-800 New Funk.com from May 1997, then dropped it for reasons not publicly known
• Final release came at the end of January 1998 as part of the Crystal Ball box set
• Prince gave the unreleased cassette to friends and staff, including engineer Hans-Martin Buff
• Inspired by singer-songwriters Joni Mitchell and Tracy Chapman, and by Bruce Springsteen's albums Nebraska and The Ghost of Tom Joad

Recording

• All tracks recorded between 1 December 1996 and 30 March 1997 at Paisley Park Studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota
• Prince's acoustic guitar is the dominant accompaniment throughout
• Prince also plays bass, keyboards and drums on many tracks
• Animal Kingdom and Man in a Uniform were co-written with Rhonda Smith, then bassist of The New Power Generation

Cover

• No separate cover: the album is part of the Crystal Ball box set
• Steve Parke was art director and photographer for the unreleased cassette version
• Parke had completed a full layout and was disappointed that the release was cancelled

Sources: de.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Prince Rogers Nelson, born June 7, 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota; died April 21, 2016 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
• Signed with Warner Bros. Records in 1977 at age 18; first album For You released April 7, 1978.
• Career spanned funk, rock, R&B and pop, with estimated sales over 100 million records.

Career

• Breakthrough with Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981) and 1999 (1982).
• Purple Rain (1984) made him the first singer to hold the number-one film, album and single in the US at the same time.
• Sign o' the Times (1987) is widely considered his greatest work.
• Changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol in 1993, becoming known as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince; reverted to Prince in 2000.
• Won seven Grammy Awards and an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Music critics mostly wrote positive reviews of the album
• Mark Brown of Sidewalk.com: 4 of 5 stars, praised it as a cohesive, sharp and lively work
• Mike Goldsmith of the New Musical Express: 7 of 10, called it a smaller revelation and a unplugged album that moves easily between 1960s soul, acoustic funk and easy listening
• James Hunter of Rolling Stone: 3.5 of 5 stars, described the title track as a formally demanding, reduced treatment of responsibility and honesty
• Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic: 3 of 5 stars, a small, structured album with a mood similar to Chaos and Disorder but with stronger songs
• David Wilson and John Alroy: 3 of 5 stars, praised the title track, The Other Side of the Pillow and Animal Kingdom, but criticized overloaded arrangements
• Jim Walsh of the St. Paul Pioneer Press: critical; singled out Circle of Amour, Dionne and The Other Side of the Pillow, but called Comeback, Man in a Uniform and One of Your Tears filler
• Per Nilsen: critical; found the music mostly sluggish and dark, with songs that had to stand on their own without Prince's usual arrangements

Reappraisal

• The album received no separate rating: the star counts reported by critics refer to the whole Crystal Ball box set
• 12 June 2021 (Record Store Day): The Prince Estate released it as a limited LP of 13,000 copies, its first release as a separate album on vinyl
• 9 June 2023: released again as an LP without limitation, available permanently to all retailers

Records

• 1998: appeared only with the Crystal Ball box set, which reached number 62 on the US chart
• Crystal Ball did not chart in other countries
• June 2021 vinyl release re-entered the charts: US number 64, Denmark number 24, Portugal number 26, Netherlands number 31
• No chart placement in Germany, Austria, Switzerland or the United Kingdom
• No gold or platinum status internationally
• Prince stated that Crystal Ball sold about 250,000 copies worldwide, counting sales via his website

Sources: de.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Hans-Martin Buff said Prince recorded the title track and Don't Play Me in one continuous take, exactly in the version that was released.
• The copyright mark on the CD is dated 1997, although the album came out in January 1998.
• The unreleased cassette was given away by Prince to friends and staff, including engineer Hans-Martin Buff.
• Prince did not mention in the liner notes that David Haynes played the bass drum on Fascination.
• Only two cover versions of songs from the album are known: Sofian Benzaim with Ole Staveteig (2008) and Maceo Parker's version of The Other Side of the Pillow (2020).

Sources: de.wikipedia.org

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