“The Vault.”
If you are a hardcore fan of Prince, you’ve heard stories for years of the legendary vault inside the singer’s Paisley Park estate, where hundreds — if not thousands — of unreleased songs and videos are stored. Songs and videos that for one reason or another, Prince deemed not worth releasing at the time.And by the way, when I say “vault,” I don’t mean figuratively–this was a giant, temperture controlled bank style vault, with a combination lock only Prince knew, and which he took to his grave. Recently, in light of Prince’s passing, his vault was drilled into and opened to ascertain the value of its contents. It was said afterwords that there was enough music in there to release a new album every year for the next one hundred years.
So what do we know is in this infamous vault? Here’s some of the stuff we know to be in there, that fans can’t wait to get their hands on. And we also learned of some stuff this it probably not real, but would be amazing if it were. Here is just a sampling of what we hope to find:
Live – Multi-Disc Live Album Set
Prince’s live shows were the stuff of legends, but he never released a live album, with the exception of One Nite Alone, which was an intimate piano show. But it turns out there were plans with “Live,” a multiple disc live album set featuring songs recorded on tours between 1987 and 1993: the Sign o’ the Times Tour, the Lovesexy Tour, the Nude Tour, the Diamonds and Pearls Tour, and the Act I and Act II. Sign us up right now.
Unreleased Projects with The Revolution
It was with his band The Revolution that Prince recorded most of his best work of the ’80s –1999, Purple Rain, Around the World in a Day and Parade. But there was more work with the band that never saw the light of day, like Dream Factory, a double LP project from 1986. There was also a reunion with the band in 1988 that resulted in an album called Roadhouse Garden that was never released, and remains in the Vault.
Prince’s Children’s Album, Happy Tears
Prince and his then-wife Mayte Garcia had a baby in 1996, which they named Boy Gregory. Sadly, the child died a week later due to a rare medical condition. Before that though, in preparation for their new kid, Prince and Mayte recorded a children’s album called Happy Tears, which was supposed to have been released November 1996, and was going to include a book of children’s stories with it, also credited to Prince and Mayte. The death of his son likely caused Prince to shelve the album, but it remains in the vault.
Purple Rain: 30th Anniversary Remastered and Expanded Edition
This was actually announced back in 2014, when Prince regained control of his masters from former label Warner Brothers. The remastered version of his most famous album would also include music from the film from non-Prince acts like Morris Day and the Time and Apollonia 6. Of all the things in the Vault, this one would no doubt be the most popular. For some reason this never got released, but hopefully we will get it in the near future
Listed above are the things we know for certain to be in Prince’s vault — but there are rumored things as well, rumors which sound cray-cray on the surface, but with Prince….well, you just never know. A jokey list of 99 Things Found in Prince’s Vault recently surfaced online, and although this list is mostly for laughs, it would be so amazing if the below items were somehow real.
“Unity 4 The People” with Michael Jackson
The “Holy Trinity” of ’80s pop were Michael Jackson, Madonna, and of course Prince. Prince worked with Madonna on the duet “Love Story” for her album Like a Prayer, but never worked with his #1 rival Michael Jackson. Or did he? Turns out, among the items said to be in the Vault is a duet with MJ, recorded for charity, called “Unity 4 the People.”
Can this single possibly live up to the hype of being a Prince/Michael Jackson collaboration. Is it even real? Probably not.
All The Batman Stuff We Never Knew About
Prince was always a huge Batman fan, which was why he recorded the soundtrack to the 1989 movie in the first place. But according to the aforementioned, fake list, his Bat-geekery possibly didn’t stop there. Rumored to be found in the vault was the Batdance Project—Remixes and expanded versions featuring ’90s group Roxette as Catwoman, Catsuit, a slow jam concept album inspired by Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman from Batman Returns, a Robin concept album, and a Mr. Freeze concept maxi-single Batman And Robin tie-in for a promotion with Dairy Queen. Plus, there was said to be a tribute album to Heath Ledger called Joker, and another one on the way for Suicide Squad’s Jared Leto version, called Joker 2. Though this is definitely a joke, we would cry tears of joy for these items.
Pure Energon – A Transformers Themed Concept Album
Lol. No way. But if our fake list was fact instead of satire, then Prince wasn’t just a geek over Batman–he loved the Transformers too?? The list says he recored a Transformers themed concept album called Pure Engergon with ’80s New Wave group the Information Society, best known for their song “What’s On Your Mind.” I know this one is BS, but again, how amazing would this be?
What are you most excited about that might be in the Purple One’s vault? Let us know in the comments below.
Revisit our tribute to Prince on Nerdist News:
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