The Gold Experience

Last updated

The Gold Experience
Prince Gold.jpg
Studio album by
Prince
ReleasedSeptember 26, 1995
RecordedJanuary 1993; September 1993 – July 1994
Genre Funk rock [1]
Length65:04
Label Warner Bros., NPG
Producer Prince
Prince chronology
The Versace Experience: Prelude 2 Gold
(1995)		The Gold Experience
(1995)		 Girl 6
(1996)
Singles from The Gold Experience
  1. "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World"
    Released: February 24, 1994
  2. "I Hate U"
    Released: September 12, 1995
  3. "Gold"
    Released: November 30, 1995

The Gold Experience is the seventeenth studio album by American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Prince. It was credited to his stage name at the time, an unpronounceable symbol (shown on the album cover), also known as the "Love Symbol".

Contents

The album was produced entirely by Prince and released on September 26, 1995, by NPG Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album charted at number 6 on the Billboard 200 and number 2 on the Top R&B Albums. [2] The singles "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World", "I Hate U", and "Gold" charted on the Billboard Hot 100 at numbers 3, 12, and 88 respectively. [2]

On June 18, 2022, The Gold Experience was reissued for Record Store Day 2022. The reissue on vinyl is a replica of the original translucent gold expanded, limited promo album from 1995. [3] The day prior, the album's CD version was rereleased. This marked the first time the complete album had been reissued following the legal battle over "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World".

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Blender Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Entertainment Weekly A− [6]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [8]
NME 7/10 [9]
Pitchfork 8.1/10 [10]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [11]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [12]
The Village Voice A [13]

The Gold Experience sold 500,000 copies in the United States and peaked at number six on the Billboard 200, failing to meet the record label's commercial expectations. According to biographer Jason Draper, it may have undersold because Prince was losing touch with younger listeners and also because his contractual dispute with Warner Bros. Records overshadowed the album's promotion, which he had done well before it was released. [14]

Nonetheless, The Gold Experience was a success with critics. [14] Melody Maker called it Prince's best record in years, [15] while Vibe said it was his best since Sign o' the Times in 1987. [16] In The Village Voice , Robert Christgau wrote that it showcased not only the unbridled artistry displayed on his other records but also "a renewal. It's as sex-obsessed as ever, only with more juice—'Shhh' and '319' especially pack the kind of porno jolt sexy music rarely gets near and hard music never does." [13] He believed its best songs, specifically "Endorphinmachine" and "P Control", "funk and rock as outrageously and originally as anything he's ever recorded". [17] Jon Pareles was less enthusiastic in The New York Times , finding most of the songs to be minor successes and calling it "a proficient album, not a startling one; most of its songs are variations and retreads of previous Prince efforts." [18]

The Gold Experience was voted the 30th best album of 1995 in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics published by The Village Voice. [19] Christgau, the poll's supervisor, ranked it 10th best in his own year-end list. [20] In a retrospective review, Keith Harris from Blender cited The Gold Experience as the best album Prince recorded in the 1990s, "a mix of newly stripped-down funk and delicate balladry that reasserts his dynamic range". [5]

Several people speculated that the song "Billy Jack Bitch" was written about a Minneapolis Star Tribune gossip columnist known as "CJ". [21] [22] [23] Prince denied the song was about the columnist when CJ herself interviewed him. [24]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Prince, except where noted

The Gold Experience track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."P Control" (originally titled "Pussy Control") 5:59
2."NPG Operator" 0:10
3."Endorphinmachine" 4:07
4."Shhh" 7:18
5."We March"
4:49
6."NPG Operator" 0:16
7."The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" 4:25
8."Dolphin" 4:59
9."NPG Operator" 0:18
10."Now" 4:30
11."NPG Operator" 0:31
12."319" 3:05
13."NPG Operator" 0:10
14."Shy" 5:04
15."Billy Jack Bitch"
  • Prince
  • Michael B. Nelson
5:32
16."I Hate U" 5:54
17."NPG Operator" 0:44
18."Gold" 7:23
Special vinyl edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
19."I Hate U" (extended remix)6:17
20."I Hate U" (LP version)6:08
21."I Hate U" (quiet night mix)3:56
22."I Hate U" (single version with guitar solo)4:25
23."I Hate U" (single version without guitar solo)3:48

Notes

Personnel

Produced by Prince, except: 7, 12, 16, 18, co-produced by Ricky Peterson, and 5, co-produced with Ricky Peterson and Kirk Johnson.

Singles

Another track, "Shhh", charted from The Gold Experience in July 1994; it was not the album version, but rather a live version performed on The Beautiful Experience TV special, which aired in 1994. It received some R&B airplay, causing it to chart and peak at #62 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for The Gold Experience
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [53] Gold10,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) [54] Gold100,000^
United States (RIAA) [55] Gold500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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References

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  2. 1 2 "Gold Experience - Prince : Awards". Allmusic . Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Prince – The Gold Experience". Record Store Day. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  4. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Gold Experience – Prince". AllMusic . Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  5. 1 2 Harris, Keith (June–July 2001). "Prince — Every Original CD Reviewed: The Gold Experience". Blender . No. 1. New York. Archived from the original on August 20, 2004. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  6. ↑ Flaherty, Mike (September 29, 1995). "The Gold Experience". Entertainment Weekly . No. 294. New York. ISSN   1049-0434 . Retrieved September 16, 2011.
  7. ↑ Price, Simon (April 22, 2016). "Prince: every album rated – and ranked". The Guardian . London. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
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  9. ↑ "Prince: The Gold Experience". NME . London. September 23, 1995. p. 49.
  10. ↑ Light, Alan (March 5, 2023). "Prince: The Gold Experience Album Review". Pitchfork . Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  11. ↑ Kelly, Danny (October 1995). "Prince: The Gold Experience". Q . No. 109. London. p. 116.
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  13. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (November 14, 1995). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice . New York. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  14. 1 2 Draper, Jason (2011). "The Exodus Has Begun". Prince: Chaos, Disorder, and Revolution. Backbeat Books. ISBN   978-1458429414 . Retrieved August 30, 2015.
  15. ↑ Melody Maker . London: 38. October 14, 1995.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
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