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June 30, 2009:

Since I recently got my hands on a handful of Third Eye Blind promotional and import singles on CD, now seems as excellent a time as any to revisit musing on the concept of radio and single edits.

"Crystal Baller" was the second and last single culled from Out of the Vein in 2003. A powerful song with an insanely catchy chorus and bridge, it really deserved to be a hit. But coming as it was at the end of Third Eye Blind's tenure on Elektra (and for that matter, the end of Elektra's tenure of existance as a label), the song just seemed to slip between the cracks. Whether as consequence of incompetent promotion, insanely-rigid playlists, or both, the song barely made a ding in chart showings or popular consciousness. I never once heard it on the radio, in any case. (The general apathy to which "Blinded" and "Crystal Baller" were received on radio in fact soured me on the spectre of that medium in general, but that's a whole other can of worms.)

For a while, I wondered if the single ever really existed; since I couldn't find reference to a picture sleeve or catalog number anywhere. Now that I'm holding a copy of PRCD 1916 in my hands, I can confirm the latter; though the former indeed doesn't exist: The stark disc face is the closest thing resembling artwork for this seminal song. One gets the sense that Elektra were getting stingy with promotion, even then: While earlier promo singles often contained call-out hooks and spoken-word biographies tacked onto the track listings for radio playback, the "Crystal Baller" disc is bare; with no bones other than two incarnations of the said song in store.

The 4:15 "album version" is just that; although the solitary expletive is nonetheless edited from the song. The first track, however, is where things get interesting. Compared to the album version, the 3:40 radio edit:

• Is slightly but imperceptibly faster;
• Has a slightly different mix, with more noticeable echoing during choruses and overdubbed vocals on the end of the last;
• Mutes the expletive in the line "still wonder what the fuck it says;"
• Splices out the repetition of "what the whole thing's for" around 2:08;
• Omits the lines "The one I never gave you" through "I will show you everything" around 3:10;
• Fades out early during the guitar solo at end.

Regarding the muted expletive, I recall that there was some speculation back when OOTV was new that an alternate vocal track had been recorded that replaced the "offensive" line with "still wonder what the future says." Now that I've heard the radio edit, edited "album version" on the promo single, and edited album and confirmed that they all handle the edit in the exact same way, I can best assume that this alternate vocal track either was never used or never existed to begin with.

Some Third Eye Blind single edits are almost identical to their album counterparts, but that isn't the case here. Although I can't say if it's better, these differences add up to a variation that's an altogether different listening experience from the full-length, unedited incarnation of the song. Definitely an interesting sidenote; though it's a pity that so few have heard it.

©2009 Andrew Turnbull.