On the one hand, I'm amazed that it's 2003 and so little of the circulating bootleg tracks have made it to an official release. Basically we got Crystal Ball...just 4 years ago Prince was still really hyping up the worth of the Vault with Kurt Loder...so where is it, already?

But then I was listening to my boots in the car and at work and I realized that although there are still missing songs and the quality could often be better, I already own most of the famed Vault recordings...Testament and Revelation pretty much have it all...and I've been acquiring these songs over the last 5 or 6 years...slowly at first, and then a flood. I'd still love for Prince to release all this stuff officially so I can get it in better quality and more people can enjoy it, but for example, his version of The Dance Electric is PERFECT. That's as essential as a Prince song gets, in my collection. Many of my favorite tunes are bootlegs...and many aren't. I guess what I'm saying is that although Prince seems to have decided against releasing the Vault tunes, for many of us we are currently experiencing The Dawn. So Get On Up and Work That Fat, yo.

Thoughts?

I need to get my greasy fingers on a copy of Testament
one of these days.

theblueangel said:

I think we have heard a majority of the good stuff he has--sure he writes a song a day etc but I really dont care too much for the hidden stuff he wrote in the 90's and on...plus I am a main fan of the 1982-88 material--Ive heard most of the good stuff..so he can tease and entice all he wants. By the way he will NEVER release any boot stuff from the 80's in the unreleased configurations.

Sure there are many GREAT unreleased tracks - some of my favorites being In A Large Room, Wonderful Ass, In All My Dreams etc, but I don't think there would be many that aren't in circulation on bootleg. There are probably heaps of stuff that is unfinished that hasn't surfaced, but I think most of the good stuff is out there if you know where to find it. People look on the Vault as if it's the holy grail or something.

i don't think we'll ever hear the earlier vault material because prince might be afraid of being disfellowshipped if he released it

I think you can't say that you have heard most of it already.

Abrazo said:

I think as far as the 80's material goes, you can say that you've heard most of it already.

Biographers like Per Nilssen seem to have summed that up nicely. Being a Prince fan from way back I recall talk of the infamous vault of songs that existed. For me, it really pertains to the 80's material. That was when the talk started.