Maps of Music

The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale (1999)

Where the lyrics of The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale take you, and where it was really made.

Finished in 1996 with its artwork ready, this album sat on the shelf for three years before Warner Bros. Records released it in 1999.

Place unknown

Do you know where this album was recorded, or where its cover was shot? Tell us and we will add it to the map.

The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale is the twenty-second studio album by Prince
Released 24 August 1999 by Warner Bros. Records
Recorded from 1985 through 1996
The last album Warner Bros. released to fulfill Prince's 1992 contract obligations

The album was submitted to Warner Bros. Records in 1996, complete with artwork, at the same time as Chaos and Disorder
It was released three years later, shortly before his Arista album Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic
It was Prince's first Warner Bros. release since Chaos and Disorder (1996), his eighteenth studio album
His three previous albums, Emancipation (1996), Crystal Ball (1998), and The Truth (1998), were released independently by NPG Records
Fans often complain the songs were overworked and watered down from the original versions heard on bootlegs, particularly 'Old Friends 4 Sale'

Studios credited on the release: Paisley Park in Chanhassen, MN; Sunset Sound in Los Angeles, CA; Davout Studios in Paris; Warner Pioneer Studios in Tokyo
Booklet note says the enclosed material was written from 23 January 1985 to 18 June 1994, and was originally intended for private use only
Song dates in the album sources vary, so the 1985 to 1996 span is taken from the main album article

Prince Rogers Nelson, born June 7, 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota; died April 21, 2016 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
Signed with Warner Bros. Records in 1977 at age 18; first album For You released April 7, 1978.
Career spanned funk, rock, R&B and pop, with estimated sales over 100 million records.

Breakthrough with Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981) and 1999 (1982).
Purple Rain (1984) made him the first singer to hold the number-one film, album and single in the US at the same time.
Sign o' the Times (1987) is widely considered his greatest work.
Changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol in 1993, becoming known as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince; reverted to Prince in 2000.
Won seven Grammy Awards and an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

The album received generally mixed reviews from music critics
AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it an unassuming, jazzy little record that is damn near irresistible
Erlewine said the tracks were comparable to the material on Graffiti Bridge (1990)
Entertainment Weekly's Marc Weingarten appreciated the album, saying it sounds more committed than a lot of his indie releases
Weingarten noted that Prince fans would enjoy the album more
PopMatters' Mark Zeltner enjoyed 'Extraordinary' and 'It's About That Walk' but criticized the lack of a cohesive musical theme
Mojo called it pleasing though predictable
The A.V. Club's Keith Phipps was disappointed and blamed Warner Bros. for a none-too-generous selection of material
NME's critic found the songs mediocre

United States: debuted and peaked at number 85 on the Billboard 200
United Kingdom: peaked at number 47, his highest charting album since Emancipation (1996)
Netherlands: peaked at number 16, a somewhat successful showing
France: peaked at number 64
Germany: peaked at number 44
Elsewhere the album was unsuccessful

The Hit n Run Tour in late 2000 was Prince's next tour after this album, since he had no tour to support it
Little promotion was done in the United States or United Kingdom to support the album
'Extraordinary' was released as the first promotional single on 10 August 1999, two weeks before the album's scheduled release
'Extraordinary' was occasionally performed during his 2002 One Nite Alone... Tour
The second promo single, 'The Rest of My Life', was released in Japan in 1999 and included 'Extraordinary' as the CD's second track