My, my

Old Friends 4 Sale

5 Women

When the Lights Go Down
She Spoke 2 Me


Awesome music and performances. Great recording.

Certainly no 'contractual obligation'.

But true royal, real music.

I remember not hating two fo the songs or something.

Blixical said:

I remember not hating two fo the songs or something.

me too!!!

But nowadayz, you know NOW
|
I feel it stil does not do what it was supposed to do, but it sounds better, way better.

Somehow

When it first came out I wasn't really receptive to that style. Now that Im older I think it's a hugely underrated very solid album. My only real gripe with it is the old friends for sale lyric change. Otherwise i really like it.

lezama said:

Now that Im older

That's just it.

Night fell so dark this evenin'
The moon wasn't shinin' nowhere
Sometimes that old light in the alley would light up this old heart of mine
But now I'm wonderin' if there's someone up there who really cares

controversy99 said:

Yep, it's a very solid and enjoyable album. Great When the Lights Go Down Old Friends 4 Sale She Spoke 2 Me Good Sarah 5 Women Extraordinary It's About That Walk

I firmly believe 5 women is great too, if not the greatest tune of the bunch.

My Little Pill

I could never get into

And still don't

But I appreciate it more now

I know the 'original' recording of Old friends

And it's precious.
But it doesn't make me hate the released one

Au contraire

I love both

This woman said she wanted my baby
I told her I'd have 2 be deaf, dumb, and blind
2 fall in love with someone that I barely knew
The baby would never really have a father
Cuz I still, cuz I still, cuz I still, still, still, huh
Be stuck on U

Heartbreaking

Poplife88 said:

When The Lights Go Down is one of my all time fave songs.

Whenever I hear it, I am thinking: what else does he have in that vault of his?

title song will always be disappointing compared to the original.

if you the original maybe, but many don't.

I do, but I surely dont mind

Embrace said:

I love track 2, I am lazy and I can't remember the title..

Very funky track...

Big shame the album title track is not the original song...

thedance said:

^ haha, you are right "It's About That Walk" that's the title, thanks..

Embrace said:

I know the 'original' recording of Old friends

And it's precious.
But it doesn't make me hate the released one

Au contraire

I love both

we won't have any of that kind of measured and sensible talk around here thank you very much...

(I agree by the way )

Embrace said:

controversy99 said:

Yep, it's a very solid and enjoyable album. Great When the Lights Go Down Old Friends 4 Sale She Spoke 2 Me Good Sarah 5 Women Extraordinary It's About That Walk

I firmly believe 5 women is great too, if not the greatest tune of the bunch.

That song has great lyrics. Lyrically, it´s among my favorite songs. The music is nice, too.

This collection of songs is very underrated, and I think in hindsight these songs were much more than just a contractual obligation. I mean, when former NPG members mention them, they speak fondly of them and don´t seem to see this album or other contractual obligations as such. I think Prince always puts his heart into his music, whether the fans like the end result is a totally different matter (and yes, I know that sometimes even Prince himself gets bored easily with his new music, like back in 1994 when the Come album was released).

This album is a nice little gem with some very enjoyable songs on it.

Embrace said:

My, my

Old Friends 4 Sale

5 Women

When the Lights Go Down
She Spoke 2 Me


Awesome music and performances. Great recording.

Certainly no 'contractual obligation'.

But true royal, real music.

Prince would never have compiled it as such if not for the contractual obligation so in that sense, it was one. Nevertheless it's a magnificent collection of magnificent songs from the first part of the 90's and Prince managed to make it an extremely cohesive record that sounds as if everything had been recorded in a single set of sessions. I've always considered it his "Donald Fagen album", which is a hell of a compliment in my book

I remember the first song, "The Rest of My Life", scared the hell out of me right after I popped the CD in the car player for the first time. "DON'T LOOK NOW BUT THERE'S ANOTHER ROCKY ROAD!"

Is "The Vault; Old Friends 4 Sale" Great or What?

What.

I like it, but I was underwhelmed when I first got it. I'll have to revisit it to see if my feelings have changed. I remember my roommate in college was with me when I first put it on & he loved it & he hated Prince, go figure.

I love it . Jazzy funk . Sarah, Extraordinary, It's About That Walk, all of 'em .

warning2all said:

If it had 4-5 more songs it would be a great album. As it is, it has excellent musicianship, some strong vocals, a sense of lightness & fun like "Parade" tho nowhere near that work of genius. "It's About That Walk", "She Spoke To Me", "5 Women", "Extraordinary ", "Sarah", "When The Lights Go Down" are stellar. I hate that he disrespected his work with cruddy packaging, no promotion, and that's a bad habit he has.

There was little way he could have promoted it given that he didn't want to throw a bone to WB and that he was about to promote Rave.

i like most of it. what i don't like are "5 Women" and "Old Friend 4 Sale" on there.

they just don't fit somehow. on it's own 5 Women is a great song and Old Friends,

well, that new version is just

i've made my own playlist, adding some more song from the I'll Do Anything era.

01. The Rest of My Life

02. Make Believe

03. I'll Do Anything

04. It's About That Walk

05. There Is Lonely

06. Sarah

07. Don't Talk 2 Strangers

08. She Spoke 2 Me

09. Be My Mirror

10. When The Lights Go Down

11. Extraordinary

In that BBC Documentary I think Michael B says the majority of the songs were recorded in ONE AFTERNOON in Paris. And it was supposed to be a day off. Amazing! I like When The Lights Go Down but that's about it.

3rdeyedude said:

In that BBC Documentary I think Michael B says the majority of the songs were recorded in ONE AFTERNOON in Paris. And it was supposed to be a day off. Amazing! I like When The Lights Go Down but that's about it.

Pretty common by Prince's standards.

He recorded and mixed "When Doves Cry" in 24 hours.

The fact that this whole jazzy-lounge jam session did happen in one afternoon is technically impressive,
but says a great deal about how Prince thinks that everything he puts on tape
deserves to be released.

No, it doesn't, and if these songs were circulating as "escaped from the vault" (I mean the real one),
nobody would tell the difference.

They just don't add to something worth being called an "album".
These are fine songs per se, but the collection, the track listing, has little substance.
"The Truth", "Chaos and Disorder" are as insular, but at least they form cohesive artistic expressions.

The inclusion of "Old Friends 4 Sale" with Clare's arrangements, shows poor taste.
It's maybe the only Clare Fischer arrangement which I totally reject.
It's the ony one that sound as if it was an assignement : "make this symphonic!".

But the very subject, the lyrics are meant for the intimate atmosphere
the original version bears.

With orchestra, you get Prince whining on top of the mountain, or a cliff's edge, whatever,
it sounds pompous and ruins the perfection of the original.

That said, again, everything is well crafted, and I do like listening to the songs
if the iTunes shuffle mode brings them on.

But a "great" album? Come on.