Gotta be.

He's "free" now. He's got all this stuff that most of us already have in watered down quality. He KNOWS we'll pay for the material even if he polishes it up with over-production and censors out the naughty parts. So why else would he sit on it like this? Maybe in about 10 years he'll retire and just release this stuff sporadically through his club to fund it. Either that, or leave it to his wife when he's gone so she'll have income.

I'd hate to see the Warner Brothers suit or some shit sucking producer do with all his stuff what they did to Hendrix, Marvin, etc.

I'm wondering just exactly how much is left in the vault. I know we've got a lot of stuff on bootleg and that, but I wonder if he mines the vault for songs for release, I mean, songs like Rave were around for a decade before release, he could be using this stock as inspiration and source for much of his released material. Eg, the guitar solo on the Scandalous Sex Suite is a slowed down version of the guitar solo on Dear Michaelangelo off Romance 1600. Perhaps the vault stays as it is otherwise we'd recognise more repetetion in his work. Just a thought.

I think it's pretty apparent when Prince uses an old song on a new release thes days.

The odd thing about Rave is, he based a comeback album and project around one of the most boring and flacid songs in his unreleased catalogue.

If you're wondering how much is left in the vault - go grab one of the Uptown books, you'll see there are hundreds of songs, alternate versions and live shows that are NOT circulating.

Will we hear them all? Never.
Will we hear more than we have now? Yes, it's pretty much a given.

Right now, I think the vault is more important than any new material Prince releases.

That is what's left in the vault. There is speculation that many of hte master tapes are ruined. Wasn't there some emergency thing they were doing to "bake" the tapes?

Anyway, we'll never know all that is in there. I also shudder to think what happenes to all that once he dies.

superspaceboy said:

I fear the same. Alan Leeds expressed concern about it in his Q&A responses a few weeks back. He was concerned that his catalog wasn't being taken care of properly. If it's true, it will be a f***ing tragedy.

Does anyone have real knowledge of the state of the stuff in the vault?

It would be the best thing in the world if Warners had full control over his music, I like his music too much to trust the nutso little guy, he has more talent than sense. A big business conglomerate like Warners would take real good care of their cash cow.

homeandmantel said:

Sad but true

herb4 said:

I believe that his original intention was that all that vault material was his "nest egg" for the future, for his legacy, his children, for when he was retired/too ill/dead.

I think that as time has moved on, because of his damaging career moves starting with the Warner/Slave era, the following albums lacking in quality, distribution, promotion; the name-change mockery, the going to war with the fans and the suits in the record industry.... not only is his back catalog now lacking the presentation it deserves, the future of his VAULT is questionable.

I think he damaged his career irrepairably to the point where he has eroded his fan base signifigantly enough that there is neither demand from the public for more product, nor companies that would be able to produce VAULT releases without it becoming too much of a headache to be worth the bother:

Just look at whats happening with the "Ultimate Prince" release.


Additionally, I think Prince is not any longer particularly proud of the content of some of the vault stuff WE love so much because it clashes with his new outlooks/attitudes on life. Futher, I think his EGO is so huge that he IS indeed "competing with me in the past" to paraphrase "Don't Play Me", and to validate VAULT recordings to release over new tracks--his ego can't accept the implications.

SO, while the VAULT was/is a tantalizing carrot dangling out for fans, I think as time passes it's becoming a tragic waste. I'm not hopeful like I was in 1998, when hopefully "Crystal Ball" was a sign of things to come.

It's a damn shame.
[Edited 1/31/06 22:02pm]

What I actually think is going to happen is this: Prince will announce, as part of his "3121" release schedule a competition to find the five golden CDd, the finders of which will be permitted to a personally led guided tour of Paisley Park! Then, one by one the CDs will be purchased by 'newbies' and 'naysayers' until there's only one left and that will be found by.... me, you, whoever, so long as they own an original "For You" and know all the words to at least one of the extended versions of "Days of Wild". Then, the five will be met at the gates of Paisley Park by a sanguine Prince, who will lead them around and about all the glorious palace's marvellous rooms, some will fall by the wayside as they touch musical instruments and sing original lyrics to Prince songs, until there is only me, you, whoever left, then Prince will take me, you, whoever into the Vault and bequeath me, you, whoever the keys! That's what I think will acutally occur.

BoySimon said:

why thank you, but it's just a notion.

I think from the outset Prince's attitude towards his unreleased recordings seems really strange. On the one hand we all know his music surely means a lot to him but then on the other hand he cannot be bothered to have the deteriorating tapes be saved (assuming those stories are up-to-date and accurate)?
His unwillingness to release them I can understand, I think he simply wants be seen like he is at this very moment. We all know that he changed (and I don't mean the religion thing neccessarily, more the changes he always went through) and those recordings simply might not represent him today.
Apparentally, the money he could make does not mean that much to him.

But, you know... it's Prince. He might release his whole vault tomorrow.
[Edited 2/1/06 13:06pm]

What's this deterioration crap?

I have shitty cassette tapes 20+ years old
that still sound good.

warning2all said:


Shhhhh - we are not allowed to talk of such things.
Its a secret.

he did mention 'old friends' in the interview. could these be old songs.

origmnd said:

I don't know how cassette tapes compare to the actual mastertapes, but of course those should be around a little longer than 20 years.
[Edited 2/1/06 13:08pm]

calldapplwondery83 said:

exactly ...what did prince record on ? memorex cassettes ? my tapes practically
burned up and still play

Dude he made like 50 million in '04. He's not studing those crusty tracks.

origmnd said:

The original multi-tracks would be on magnetic tape. No matter what the perceived shelf-life of those tapes were originally, they are most definately breaking down as we speak. Mag tapes oxidize, become brittle, and eventually become useless. Baking them in an oven may give them a one chance, last option if they have become "fossilized".

But, surely Prince has taken care of all of this... right?

i'm sure prince has taken care of all his unreleased masters.. stop scaremongering! his music is his children, of course he takes care of them he's not a fool

Who knows. Obviously problems could be taken care of.

The big picture we just all are sort of wish. The vault stuff could be destroyed so why not release it all, so we have it. Come on Prince all your music will be wasted..release it now!! Fill up the download store..more b-sides, more crystal balls..NOW!

Iran has the nukes..release the stuff

For just about his entire career Prince has shown that he has an extra short attention span when it comes to his music. Purple freakin Rain only held his interest for a year. As long as he's got new music to make and people still interested in it, releasing old stuff is probably fairly low on his to do list.

That said, sooner or later I think he'll release it.

Universaluv said:

I think so too. Like he always has been doing, every now and then an old track will surface on a new album. Maybe, just maybe, one day he will release an entire vault album.

That said, I don't think him having a short attention span when it comes to his music is the only reason why "the vault" is not released...

I've said it before.

At his demise , the people who have the
uncirculated tracks /videos will start their own internet record companies and make all the profit he wouldve made.

origmnd said:

that'd probably be his heirs.