The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale - Prince (CD 1999)

THE VAULT . . . OLD FRIENDS 4 SALE was the last album of Prince material Warner Bros. released to clear out his contract. Using music originally recorded between 1/23/85 and 6/18/94, Warners gave us 39:21 of some of the best tunes in years, and a whole new way of looking at Prince. While "The Rest of My Life", the 1:41 opener is about the most "common" Prince song on here, the second song, "It's About that Walk" is a perfect glimpse of what the rest of the record holds. It's got the jazzy horns and swinging tempo prevelant on these 10 short songs, along with the lyrics we love him for. "A**...

Now typically I wouldn t pay more than $10 for a CD with only 10 songs that didn t even reach 50 minutes long but I think this album is an exception. Here, Warner Brothers got their hands on a few songs that Prince might not have intended to release. The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale is a collage of material that the liner notes say, was written during the period beginning 1/23/85 and ending 6/18/94 and was originally intended 4 private use only. This original intention is definitely expressed by Prince in the cover art. It features him lounging backwards in a chair, elbow resting on the back of..

This album is not my favorite from Prince - not even close. But there is still an incredible show of musicianship in the set of songs presented. Perhaps the greatest drawback to the album is its lack of cohesiveness. The Vault... was put together as a compilation of songs he recorded under the ownership of Warner Brothers. As far as I know he had no part in the putting together of the album. The album lacks a flow because the songs were created at different times in his career and lack any central theme or style. Depending on the style of music you like, or maybe even your mood at a given...

Every Prince fan knows about The Vault, that legendary locked room in his Paisley Park studios where thousands of unreleased songs lie dormant. Years of bootlegs have unearthed hundreds of those in varying sonic quality, and last year's Crystal Ball project was supposed to be an all-encompassing compilation of its most representative songs. But the fans will tell you -- most of his best bootlegged songs still haven't seen the light of day. Where were "Extra Lovable," "Wonderful Ass" and "Moonbeam Levels" when Crystal Ball was being assembled? Prince had another go-round at creating a Vault...