The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale is the twenty-second studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on August 24, 1999,[2] by Warner Bros. Records. The album was submitted to Warner Bros. Records in 1996, complete with artwork at the same time as Chaos and Disorder, but released three years later, shortly before Prince's Arista album release Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic. The album was recorded from 1985 through 1996. It was the last album to be released by Warner Bros. to fulfill his 1992 contract obligations.
Fans often complain that the songs have been overworked and watered down from the original versions that can be heard on various bootlegs, particularly "Old Friends 4 Sale".[citation needed] Little promotion was done in the United States or United Kingdom to support the album. "Extraordinary" was occasionally performed during his 2002 One Nite Alone... Tour.
Unlike his previous studio albums, Prince did not embark on a concert series or tour and did very little to promote the album. The lack of a proper tour would continue until the release of his twenty-fifth studio album, One Nite Alone... (2002).[5] Prince's next tour would not be until late 2000, when he began the Hit n Run Tour.[6]
Singles
"Extraordinary" was released as the album's first promotional single on August 10, 1999, two weeks before the album's scheduled release.[7][8]
Three further promotional singles were released from The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale. The second, "The Rest of My Life", was released in Japan in 1999, and included "Extraordinary" as the CD's second track.[9] "5 Women" was the third promo single, released exclusively in Germany.[10] The fourth and final promotional single, "It's About That Walk", was also released in Germany.[11]
After its release, The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale received generally mixed reviews from music critics. In a fairly positive review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called it "an unassuming, jazzy little record that's damn near irresistible."[12] Erlewine suggested that the tracks were comparable to the material found on Graffiti Bridge (1990). Entertainment Weekly's Marc Weingarten appreciated the album, stating that it "sounds more committed than a lot of his indie releases"; however, Weingarten noted that Prince fans would enjoy the album more.[13]
In a mixed review, Mark Zeltner of PopMatters enjoyed songs "Extraordinary" and "It's About That Walk", but criticized the record's "lack of a cohesive musical theme", also calling the track listing "a series of songs that were forgotten or discarded long ago by their creator."[15] A reviewer from Mojo was more mixed with the album, calling it "pleasing though predictable".[17] Keith Phipps, writing for The A.V. Club, was disappointed by the album, blaming Warner Bros. for the "none-too-generous selection of material".[18] Similarly, a critic from NME found the songs to be "mediocre", also noting that Warner Bros. takes "revenge on their erstwhile slave".[14]
Commercial performance
The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale was moderately unsuccessful after its release, peaking at the lower positions of most record charts. In the United States, the album debuted and peaked at position eighty-five on the Billboard 200.[19] In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number forty-seven, becoming his highest charting album since Emancipation (1996).[20] The album was somewhat successful in the Netherlands, where it peaked at number sixteen.[21] Elsewhere, the album was unsuccessful. In France and Germany, it peaked at positions sixty-four and forty-four, respectively.[22][23]
^Newman, Melinda (1999-08-07). "Doobie Get Their Due With 4-CD Boxed Set..."(PDF). Billboard. 111 (32). New York, NY, US: BPI Communications: 12. ISSN0006-2510. Retrieved 11 July 2023. Warner Bros. will release "The Vault...Old Friends 4 Sale," a collection of 10 original Prince songs, Aug. 24.
