is this not an amazing cd. maybe the best througt 90'ies period ?

many very good songs, excellent melodies, lots of hooks, soul and fun.

a very underrated collection af songs?

thoughts ?
[Edited 1/5/05 13:58pm]

Gotta agree this is one of P's better '90s efforts. At the risk of total flame-dom, I much prefer 'The Vault' as a complete album to, say, 'The Gold Experience' (an hugely over-produced mixed bag IMHO). 'The Vault' may be a contractual obligation but it's pretty damn good for that!

Fav tracks -

'When the Lights Go Down' (classic Prince in any decade)
'Extraordinary' (lives up to it's title. Gorgeous. And the ONA Live version is as good if not better with Candy Dulfer's added sax solo)
'Old Friends 4 Sale' (I actually prefer this '91 take to the legendary '86 era version tho musically they are near identical - Lyrics like 'The moon fell darkest in Persia' ?! Prince on best bonkers form!)
Also respect to 'There Is Lonely', which fits excellently next to 'Old Friends'.

Great stuff! This is one of my most played Prince CDs.

Miles said:

The only song I like on this album is 'When the Lights Go Down' I much prefer Emancipation for a 90's album.

A greatly overlooked gem of an album. Not the toss-away that it's sometimes made out to be.

I skip the title track and my little pill, other than that I LOVE this album. Extraordinary is too fricking sexy for words.

When The Lights Go Down

That's the hottness right there!

Parts of it are OK but that's all. With a name like "The Vault", the first thing that came to my mind was "the old Prince". I bought it on my lunch hour the first Tuesday it came out. When I returned to work from lunch, I was reading the inside cover and it said the tracks were recorded between 1985 and 1994. Well, this time was a new type of disappointment. Knowing what years it was recorded, I was disappointed before I even got home to listen to the album.

Once again, wrong vault stuff Prince. Try releasing something from 1978 to 1984. Not only will the fans like it better but it will also sell better.

squirrelgrease said:

u r so right! I remember buying this the 1st time it came out. I was hyped. It’s always nice when u can play one of P’s songs all the way thru and enjoy all the songs like Musicology. The only cut on it that I don’t really care 4 is my little pill, other than that it’s classic P. Extraordinary, 'Old Friends 4 Sale', 'When the Lights Go Down', and 'There Is Lonely' are totally priceless. As many times as I’ve played that CD I should be tired of it. It’s really funny how we all love P and have such different taste 4 his music and yet we view it so differently. That’s what makes his fan so unique.

My fave of the nineties easy.

The Vault is actually a Warner's Brothers release that Prince allowed them to put out to fullfill one of his album requirements. This was also during the period when he was unhappy with Warner Bros.

its a great album. some classics like old friends 4 sale, and there is lonely as well ExtraordinaryBUT the cover art is an embaressing pile of shite! oh and better than the gold experience? helll no! (in my opinion anyway!)

Nath xx
[Edited 1/7/05 8:23am]

My only complaint....I wanted the ORIGINAL Old Friends 4 Sale not a new version.

Miguel

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

here here!! i love this album though..dont listen to it as much as i should...

1sexymf said:

Really!!!!!?????

It's a good CD, and yes underrated, but not the best of the late 90s. WB missed the mark with this one.

Miles said:

I agree completely. The Vault is one of my favorite Prince releases of the 90s. Not only do I prefer it to The Gold Experience, but I also prefer it to Emancipation and Rave.

I do listen to that CD on "cool autumn nights"!